So i'm trying to think of some more ways to promote my forum.

[Yzer]

A couple weeks ago I started http://USimports.org. It is a nationwide auto forum that is not limited by make or model. Some ideas that I have had or done so far are:

--Myspace account
--Posting picture on other auto forums with USimports.org at the bottom
--Making a video with USimports.org at the bottom corner.
--I have already sent out emails to everyone I know and that is what got the 45 members we have.
--I have posted a bunch of pictures on my forum, then posted a couple on other forums and said "click here for the rest of the pictures" and had a link to my forum... (This increased my traffic pretty good)


Feel free to check out the site and give me your opinions on it and what else I can do to market it! All comments and criticism is welcome!!!

--Mark

[dkon26]

You need more content and I would suggest changing your layout. The default vbulletin colors and images are quite boring and dull.

[Yzer]

You need more content and I would suggest changing your layout. The default vbulletin colors and images are quite boring and dull.


Thanks for the feedback! I agree with this 100%. We are doing everthing we can to fill the site up with content. I think I have around 1/3 of the posts on there! :D

I am also still looking for that perfect color combination. Another question I have is how to get that fade on the bars across the screen? They fade from dark blue to white. When you change it to any other color it is just a solid color. I would like to change the color but keep a fade. I think it looks much more professional. Maybe black to white or grey :confused:

[CHIPIT]

The gradients? Those are images, you will have to create one yourself with the desired colors.

http://tools.dynamicdrive.com/gradient/

[Mark K]

Submit a sitemap to the major search engines, SEO might help, signatures in other forums that you might post in. submit site to a few link directories.

Just a few things to get you started

[Yzer]

The gradients? Those are images, you will have to create one yourself with the desired colors.

http://tools.dynamicdrive.com/gradient/



THANK YOU!!!! That was exactly what I was looking for!

[Yzer]

Submit a sitemap to the major search engines, SEO might help, signatures in other forums that you might post in. submit site to a few link directories.

Just a few things to get you started


Good info... Im still a noob to a lot of this stuff. I need to get this done.

[airmcnair06]

I am getting a forum soon..and here is what I plan to do

1. put a link to your site in your sig on other forums (a good one that works well and makes people click is if you mask it with "DONT CLICK HERE"). I click 99% of those links lol

2. Become affiliates with another forum. Exchange buttons or links. You post their link in your affiliates section, they do the same for you


3. your site doesnt look very good to be honest. maybe bring some type of content besides the forums. build a homepage and post something unique on it.

4. post your link in as many places as possible. One good thing to do is to post videos on youtube that are really going to get a lot of hits (like Danica Patrick winning her first race and just put your url in the video, very visible. and at the end...put something like "for more...go here" (which i think you already did if I recall)

5. Dont rely on the forums alone. Me and my friend(co-webmaster) plan to provide content that actually involves us and our personalities along with a lot of user interaction(I wont say exactly what though, sorry). We think this will cause people to come back because they have a voice being heard by their webmasters...

Hope that helps.....I haven't even bought my domain for my new site yet so I cant provide proof that this stuff works, but I have created and run over 5 websites before and am building my experience in this field. This will probably be my biggest project to date

GOOD LUCK! Feel free to pm me and exchange affiliate buttons/links in the near future

[Yzer]

Thanks airmcnair06! The affiliate idea is really a good one! I need to try to think of ways to incoporate that into the forum somehow.

The "dont click here" is a good idea as well. I wanted to be very careful on where I was posting with USimports.org in my sig but "dont click here" seems like it would work just fine! :D

And I agree on the look of the site. It is very bland right now. We are taking things one step at a time. The site has been online for maybe 2 weeks now and that is the next big step. I am still trying to decide on what colors to go with.


I will get there eventually! :)

[Yzer]

another idea that we had was to go to car shows, take pictures of all the cars and pass out a flyer or card and tell them we will be posting the pictures here. There is a car show this weekend locally that we are going to test it out on.

[Wayne Luke]

You need to build yourself a street team from among your visitors. These people would go to the car shows in their areas, take pictures, promote your site, wear your gear. You can have hats, tshirts, stickers made inexpensively with your branding and you can give these out to the users who volunteer to be on your street team.

When taking pictures of shows, watermark them when you put them online. Then if you do the originals in high enough quality you can sell them as stock photos as well. You could split the revenues of the photos with the people that submit them. Since you can require a photo credit, you could see your photos leak into magazines which will bring a little more publicity over time.

[jacobsen1]

How long has the site been up?
For us it was pretty slow to build at first outside of those first few friends that joined. I posted the site in the OT section of a few forums I'm on and that brought in quite a few people. I have a link in my signature where I can. But the biggest thing that's working for us right now is content. We have a blog we try to post to as often as possible. I have tutorials there and on the board, and I encourage reviewing equipment by my members. I've noticed equipment reviews bring in most of our guests.

[Yzer]

You need to build yourself a street team from among your visitors. These people would go to the car shows in their areas, take pictures, promote your site, wear your gear. You can have hats, tshirts, stickers made inexpensively with your branding and you can give these out to the users who volunteer to be on your street team.

When taking pictures of shows, watermark them when you put them online. Then if you do the originals in high enough quality you can sell them as stock photos as well. You could split the revenues of the photos with the people that submit them. Since you can require a photo credit, you could see your photos leak into magazines which will bring a little more publicity over time.


Good stuff!!! We are in the process off getting some shirts and business cards made. Right now we are trying get some contests going to encourage people to participate.

The site has been up for less than a month. We know the majority of the people that post. jacobsen1, how is your site doing now? Is it auto related?

[SSandgirls]

You could also create a Youtube account in the name of your site... and upload videos there that youve made. .. Link back to your site through your Youtube profile. :)

[Yzer]

Good idea! Thank you very much! You guys are very helpful over here :D