The cycle of your forum

[Robby]

Hello,

I thaught i would start a topic on the life cycle of popular forums.
What worked and did not work for you?
How many posts did you have in the 1st, second, third year...?
Did you accomplish your goals for the forum?
When did you see some revenue?

 

[LPH]

What worked and did not work for you?

Worked: Constantly trying to improve the site
Failed: Trying to be like other sites. It's important to innovate, create, and be unique.

How many posts did you have in the 1st, second, third year...?

http://www.tuxreports.com/about/

Did you accomplish your goals for the forum?

No. This will never be the case.

When did you see some revenue?

Immediately upon putting up ads. In the 90's - that was easy. By late 2000s the larger forum earned 3k/mo but all ads are now removed from the whole network. Ads are a PITA for everyone. It's time to move beyond ads.