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Is it hard and expensive to start a forum???

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April 24, 2017
N0VA Author Level 1

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I always wanted to start a forum,but I'm not sure if it will be successful.I actually don't know how much it would cost to maintain a forum.Some say to start a forum,you'll need about 100$...... I tried with free forum software,free domain and hosting but it was hard to get active members.Is it because I used free domains and stuff??? The thing is I can't risk money on something I'm not 100% sure,after all 100$ is something big....lol After you start a forum,can you earn money, at least just to cover the expenses???
I'd really appreciate some advises....
17

Comments 17

April 25, 2017
Shortie861
Hi there, I wouldn't say it would cost a lot to start a forum, no. To own your own forum you would only really need to pay for hosting and a domain name which in most cases will not set you back very much at all, you can always use free forum software such as MyBB which I always say is like a free Xenforo or vBulletin forum software. The only other thing that you may need to invest money in maybe forum posts if you want to fill your forums up with informative posts.

If you want to look professional I wouldn't advise going for free hosting or domain names as a lot of the time people do not take you seriously with free hosting also, if you want to move to paid hosting and domain at a later date not all free hosting allows you to transfer your data so in most cases it would cost you a lot of data if you did want to move.

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augusta
I believe that having a forum is the least problem because you can start it on a free domain and hosting like blogger but what is always the big deal is the promotion and having steadying members.If its anything that kills forums I think its lack of traffic and members, of course, no matter how nice a forum has been designed to look without active activities by members it going to be a flop.So it not that expensive but it a bit hard but it doable because people are succeeding.

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N0VA Author
Thanks for the advice Shortie..... if I use free domains,will it affect the traffic..... I guess it will.......

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Cristian
Trust me, the real reason isn't the free hosting and the free domain. It may be an issue if you ever want to promote such a forum but then again, if you have a budget for real promotion, you will have a few bucks for a custom domain and a cheap hosting services.

No, the real reason behind all of this may be that forums are kind of dead in 2017. The Facebook and Snapchat generations don't really like waiting for answers, they want everything to be instantaneous. Few active communities of forums exist anymore and most of them are very old already, so yeah, this is the reason.

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cmoneyspinner
Thank you. That's a very sensible answer and it is probably the explanation for why I've been hearing people say the number of forums are decreasing. I am not in the Snapchat generation.

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clara1993
You are somehow right dear, Only few people are interested in forums for real, some people can only check with it only if it makes they profit from them and if it doesn't make them profits then hell they won't be active again :-(
However you can make it as easy and cheap as you want your forum to be or as complicated and expencive as you want, if I was the one to invest 100 in my new forum I would start with free domain, ... everything free and then invest the $100 in comments and posts

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N0VA Author
lol, actually I was a bit lazy in promoting..... it is mostly because I'm not sure it will be successful, and I do not want to spend time or money to something that is almost impossible to achieve....

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April 27, 2017
N0VA Author
wow,too much of a risk and too much expenses.....

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June 20, 2017
bomb2060
@achie007
I don't likeep beating about the bush. If your question is honest, and you really need a honest answer, I would say you are bound to fail.

And you will fail greatly, because a forum should not be a business. You are building a community, a community that will come to discuss issues around a subject that they love most.

It is very disrespectful of you to look at this as business and profits. Trust me $100 is very little, compare to what the persons in the community will gain from interaction with like minded pepole.

What I will advice you is to stop trying to look for business in forums. Select a niche or subject that you love most.

Ask yourself, what would you do religiously and in a committed manner even if it was not earning you a dime?

Then when you get that thing. Get to meet and interact with people in that sector. Let them know that you are a. Authority in matters of that subject. Then bring them together in a forum, bothe offline and online.

Trust me, you don't need a million members to make millions daily. I know a forum that makes over $100 daily and members discuss nothing serious!

let it come from your heart. And all money will follow you thereafter.

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July 1, 2017
MariaC
Well, you don't expect to make it big just within some small period of time and to be sincere, you have to invest in it first. The idea of you don't want to put in money to something you are not sure shows you don't believe in it yourself. How then do you expect people to take your blog or forum serious.

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July 7, 2017
Corzhens
I agree with @shortie861 that creating a forum requires a minimal expense for the domain name registration and the hosting fee. However, I have seen not just a few forums with nothing in it because they are waiting for walk-ins which are very rare now. That is the reason why the paid-to-post sites are getting clients - forums that need content pay a fee to have members to post on their forums. When the forum has substantial contents then it is easier to gain walk-in members.

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September 16, 2017
DarthHazard
You don't need $100. Technically, you will need around $10 so that you can buy a domain for the forum. Other than that, you can make do with free resources and content to start with. You can use free hosting (there are some great ones out there that you can start with), a free theme and a free software like myBB. And then once you start to do well, you can think about moving to paid hosting or upgrading your theme to a premium theme or a custom one.

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October 24, 2017
itommy
According to me, it is not hard and expensive to open a forum and you will not need about 100$ to start a forum. Let's calculate the amount, for example, you need about $10 for the domain, $5 for a hosting package, shared hosting can be a good one for new forums.

The rest you can use for advertising your forum to build forum with members and posts. So it depends on you.

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November 11, 2017
vinaya
I don't have a forum, however, I don't think it is really hard to start a forum. First of all you need members, once you have members, you will have to encourage them to remain active on your forums. Forums are user-generated content sites, you don't have to build contents, the members will develop contents. However, you have to compensate the members with rewards so that they continue to build contents. You can also join forum post exchange sites like Postloop and The Forum Wheel and acquire paid contents.

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December 29, 2017
mildredtabitha
I have also been wondering the same and I must confess that most responses here are very helpful. I would also not run to investing especially if I have no experience in it. I would rather attempt the free hosting and if it works, I will continue with the free domain and try to earn from the forum too. I also won't mind paying my members.

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