Member Avatar for billythehamster

Hi All

I launched my site just over 1 month ago, so far I have had over 400 members sign up and it's growing between 5 and 10 members a day. The site does other things other than have a forum but it's the forum I want to develop.

I have hardly any posts a handful of members have posted and I always reply and constantly check to make sure no posts go unanswered. Can anyone else offer any suggestions on how to encourage more postings?

I have looked into paid postings but that doesn't really appeal, I'd rather grow a genuine community. Anyhow it's quite a specialist site so I doubt I would get useful postings.

Can anyone share their experiences on how long it took to get regular postings? Am I being too impatient? What ratio of members to posters can I expect?

Thanks

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by harishankar

Dani AI

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Early traction plus a tiny, steady core is exactly the pattern most niche communities follow. Build on the thread’s suggestions from and about consistent stewardship, but turn that energy into a few repeatable, low-friction processes so new signups convert into one small action instead of sitting idle.

Practical, immediate moves: pin a single, ultra-simple “starter” thread and make it the first thing new members see; send a short welcome message that asks for one tiny response (one sentence or a single poll click); create several “micro-threads” — single-question or one-line prompts that take under a minute to answer; run a themed week and include a short digest that highlights two or three good replies. Schedule rather than improvise so the forum shows predictable activity without needing heroic daily effort.

Keep and grow the core by giving them ownership. Formalize a tiny ambassador role, spotlight a “member of the week,” and ask top contributors to co-host a themed discussion. These are low-cost recognition moves that increase retention more than transactional rewards. Be cautious about quick fixes mentioned earlier in the thread: paid seeding or multiple account posting can raise numbers briefly but usually damages trust and long-term participation; weigh short trials carefully if considered at all.

Measure what matters and set realistic timing. Use the simple heuristics many communities use (a small core creates most posts, many members lurk) and track repeat contributors, replies per thread, and first-post conversion from new signups. Expect steady improvement over months rather than days; focus on lowering first-post friction and rewarding the people who already show up.

Recommended Answers

All 15 Replies

Member Avatar for dojo

Just keep on posting. I have set myself a table with my new topics plans for the 6 forums I run. I made it a rule for myself to try to come with 5 new topics a day (if the forums are not that active in that day). Don't let your forums get to another day with no posts. Little by little people will start posting. Make sure you remind your members the forums are still alive, put a new feature and the email them all to announce it. :)

Member Avatar for Dani

That's definitely the way to go. Even at the size DaniWeb is, I still regularly post to keep discussion going. It never ends, but I guarantee you will see progress if you're dedicated and devoted to making it succeed. Just give it a little more time.

Member Avatar for billythehamster

Well the good news is I kept posting and have about six regular posters now. So persistence does pay off, lets hope it continues.

Member Avatar for The Evolution

Make sure you include competetions to get them posting and give them anything else that will promot them to post like things you can unlock.

Member Avatar for nomax5

Yay, billythehamster I am pleased for you !!
you asked your question so eloquently and the responses you got were very encouraging.

My site is not a forum but a site where members vote and I am having the same problem getting it going.
its like starting the lawn mower you just keep pulling that cord and one day it will start up.
Thats providing you've got petrol in it =)

Member Avatar for Dani

But once it starts up, you can never stop steering it, or else you'll end up mowing over your neighbor's tulips.

Member Avatar for nomax5

Look after those 6 !!

treat them like gods!!

just don't let them go.

Member Avatar for Aneurysm

What is you site's URL?

Member Avatar for 010081

i don't really get your site post then url ,anyway which forum are you using

some important points may be:
1.forum layouts (make like a pro so members get interested
2.is forum busy? ( get yourself 5-6 ids and start posting like crazy,ask yourself then reply yourself with other ids ,this makes forum busy so people will be interested)
3.offer some good services (you haven't posted what service you offer,website????)
so so so

Member Avatar for Dani

Look after those 6 !!

treat them like gods!!

just don't let them go.

Yes, DaniWeb survived with fewer than 10 members for a very long time before things just started catching on. Many of our founding members are still here today.

Member Avatar for cyfm

Same with my community, at first we only had thirty members and about 5 of those remained active. However a year and a bit later and we have around 500 members and most of them are fairly active.

Member Avatar for Dani

Yup, that's what happens. However, I have to praise you for having a majority of your current members fairly active. This becomes harder and harder to accomplish as your community grows.

Member Avatar for calibrate

Hi All
Can anyone share their experiences on how long it took to get regular postings? Am I being too impatient? What ratio of members to posters can I expect?

Thanks

Hi
We have a site which is pretty much a niche area, devoted to collectors of specialist geologic specimens. We were actually surprised to see that even some of the fairly generic posts from the forum posting service that we used in the early days, resulted in a quite good upsurge in interest from our target audience. It seems that when a forum looks busy from a distance, it stimulates and encourages people to start posting. We were very careful about which service we chose, though :lol: . I would be happy to recommend them privately.

Hope this helps

Member Avatar for gilb29

Your lucky 400 members in 1 month , i only got 47 in a month :( . and mine is the on the biggest sport on the world soccer (if your USA :) ). and i get people to post can i hell. i get the vistors but just cant get members ...

Member Avatar for harishankar

Getting registrations is no big deal. The biggest problem is making people stay and enjoy your community. This needs work, commitment and dedication over a period of time and does not happen instantly.

Anyway, you have some pretty impressive stats already so I guess you just need to keep at it. Good luck.

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