Online Forums can Grow Your Business - Learn How - Podcast

People love to talk.  Even online, communities built around text-based message boards are tremendously successful.  Would you like to learn how to put online forums to work to grow your business?

Patrick O'Keefe, Author of "Managing Online Forums", is my guest on this week's podcast of the E-Commerce Success Radio Show.  We spent a great hour together discussing the opportunities and operations of Internet-based communities.

I invite you to listen to the interview using the player at right. Key points that emerged from our discussion included: - You need to have a focus for your community.  It's difficult to attract users to general purpose discussions.  Having a focus will help potential users understand what's in it for them.  Patrick's communities include KarateForums.com, BadBoyBlog.com, and PhotoshopForums.com, for example.  Each of these forums is full of people interested in those specific topic areas.

- Forums can be both fun and profitable.  The most successful online communities are based on the personal enthusiasm of the founder.  This means that they are often recreational or social to start with, or are founded specifically to serve the customer service or promotional needs of the founder's business.

- PHP BB software is Patrick's choice for forums.  He also recommends others including VBulletin, Invision's Power Board, and BB Press.  Ning is a newer provider that we agreed deserves consideration, too.

- Establishing behavior and posting guidelines for member behavior is critical.  This is followed closely by consistent and fair enforcement of those guidelines.  Encouraging civil discourse and repeat traffic is your goal - and that will only happen if people enjoy their time in the forum.

- Recruiting volunteer moderators is key to growth.  Identifying the most consistently active and well-behaved posters is a good way to find volunteer moderator assistance. 

- Good topic areas for new online communities can exist wherever you see a need.  Any time you have difficulty finding information online, that can represent a hole in the market. You may be able to profitably fill it by establishing a new community forum to discuss the topic and share support and social interaction with like-minded people.

For lots more specifics on the topic of managing online forums, please listen to the podcast or buy Patrick's book, Managing Online Forums (AMACOM).

And check out my Archive of E-Commerce Success Radio Show podcasts here.  There are lots of great FR-EE MP3 downloads about Facebook Marketing, Public Relations Strategies, Google Adwords, Article Marketing, Web Copywriting, Online Video viral promotions, and more!

Subscribe to my weekly E-Commerce Success Show podcasts here or at iTunes, too.

[Please COMMENT to let me know what you thought of this interview and topics you'd like to hear more about?]

Comments

[Patrick]

Thanks again for having me! It was fun.

Patrick

[Jim Vickers]

Hi Scott,
Enjoyed your interview with Patrick O'Keefe. Can you help me with something though? Forums and blogs seem very similar. What is the distinction between a forum and a blog? And why would someone choose one versus the other? I (and maybe some others) appreciate your insight here. Thanks again and keep up the good work.
Jim Vickers

[Patrick]

Dear Mr. Vickers,

Glad you enjoyed the interview. I know you asked Scott and not me, but I figured I'd offer my thoughts. :)

At their core, blogs and forums have a lot of similarities. See this article for examples: http://www.jeffro2pt0.com/similarities-between-a-blog-and-forum

One of the biggest things is that, with a forum, generally anyone who registers can start a new topic. Whereas, with a blog, only the blogger or team of bloggers can make a new post, that others can then comment on.

So, to that end, if you are looking to encourage community on a wider level where people can bring up their own topics, rather than just responding to ones that you set and people can get to know one another in a more social setting where they are free to exchange messages in a system that is well designed for that interaction, forums make sense.

Not everyone wants or needs a forum (same for a blog). But, they can work together well, if you have that need and are willing to dedicate time to it.

Thanks,

Patrick

[Scott Fox]

Well said, Patrick. Thanks for visiting.

Jim - hope that Patrick's answer helped?

[Jim Vickers]

Patrick & Scott,
Thanks for the excellant response. It was quite helpful in understanding some of the distinctions between blogs and forums. I will read the artical you recommended. Thanks again Scott for the very valuable web programs you provide your audience. Keep up the good work!
Jim Vickers