[bens1901]

Hi all.

I'm thinking of starting a bulletin board site.

It seems that people only really participate in a BB when they know that there's a crowd there to talk with. So....the challenge....how do you make a crowd exist when there isn't one already there?

Has anyone started a BB?...how did you attract people to participate?

Thanks for any info.

-Ben

[Simon Mundy]

Originally posted by bens1901:
Hi all.

I'm thinking of starting a bulletin board site.

It seems that people only really participate in a BB when they know that there's a crowd there to talk with. So....the challenge....how do you make a crowd exist when there isn't one already there?

Has anyone started a BB?...how did you attract people to participate?

Thanks for any info.

-Ben

Had to to one for a rock band's site once and their fan base was pretty small.

Let's just say that if you logged the IP address of all the different 'members' they might all look suspiciously similar...

Have a few beers, assume a few different personalities and type away like a madman.

After a while it won't feel like 'empty room syndrome' in the BBs and other people will gradually start to participate. I'm talking 3-6 months, though. Perhaps a more tech-driven BB will grow more quickly.

[philzilla]

sneaky, Mundy. very sneaky

i'd suggest keeping things simple at first. it's better to start off with maybe 3 different fora with low traffic, than having 15 empty ones. expand over time, as demand grows.