Looking to start a successful community.

[Escable]

Hello,

I've been a licensed customer since 2004 and haven't really had much luck in getting a community going and sticking around.  I had one for my family, and then a general one where I paid for people to come and post to try to get it started.  Long story, but I don't actually have a customer base I can tap into for a community.

I've been struggling for an identity.  I have many personal interests, mainly revolving around IT / Online Gaming / Data Center services. 

I am looking for ideas for forums and categories, and was hoping that someone had some suggestions for me to build a general community.  It doesn't have to be technology specific, as my domain isn't really specific to technology.   To me, it's about escaping from real life grind (work, traffic, etc) and having an escape to go to.. and that's what I'm trying to gear the site towards.

Anyone have any ideas on categories / forums people would enjoy?

 

-- Dustin

[Joel R]

Hi @Escable

Here are some avenues to help you get started: 

1. Are there existing groups, social media pages, or forums around your interests? Join them, and see if there's an underserved need or niche or passion.  

2. Are there newsletters or blogs that you follow, on topics where you'd like to learn more information about? 

No matter what interest you pursue, I would encourage you to do prep work in advance over many months and ensure you have a core group of 5-12 active users who will register when you launch. Most communities launch on what I call "a hope and a dream" -- they launch way too early, thinking a pretty theme and some plugins is enough.  (It's not!) You can follow the CHIP model that I posted about before: 

 

Good luck and keep us posted.