going rate for forum posting

[steveto]

What's the going rate to get someone to post in forums for you?

I am thinking of outsourcing some work, but not sure what to expect.

[MrDude]

http://www.postonmyforum.com/
http://www.inb0x.com/inb0xdnn/
http://www.forumpost.org/services.php

As a guide

[myst woman]

i did posting on postonmyforum.com.
I stopped when one of the forum admins for a project Im'd us to click the google when we went to the site.

[amcdonald]

I have tried several posting services and wasnt happy with any of them, Broken english, 5 word posts, way off topic, etc. I would never use a posting service again, instead I will use adwords to drive traffic to the site and wait for users to create the content and encourage posting through contests and other incentives.

[MAllie]

Yes. I think with forums it really is a case of Build it and they will come. Otherwise what's the point, as it's never going to be successful anyway?

[RTM.net]

I have tried several posting services and wasnt happy with any of them, Broken english, 5 word posts, way off topic, etc. I would never use a posting service again, instead I will use adwords to drive traffic to the site and wait for users to create the content and encourage posting through contests and other incentives.

Agreed. The only way to go is to get a few good users (real ones)... rally around them, foster a community spirit and...

Yes. I think with forums it really is a case of Build it and they will come. Otherwise what's the point, as it's never going to be successful anyway?

Successful community building is never a passive endeavor. On the contrary, it requires lots of blood, sweat and tears... in the form of admin and moderator participation. The launch period is pretty labor intensive, and while the long term reward is a loyal community and repeat traffic with high stickiness factors... that also means visitor blindness to traditional site monetization methods such as AdSense.

It's tough to build a successful forum, and it's tough to monetize it afterward. More often than not, the most successful online communities are built based on passion by the early users. Those early adopters are rarely paid for their participation.

My $0.02...

Rob

[MAllie]

I agree with that, but saying that if you build it they will come doesn't mean sitting back and waiting. If you build a forum well and let people know that it's there, they will come, even if it takes a while. But when they come they have to see real posts, from real people who are genuinely interested in or know a subject. A forum full of paid posters is not really a forum at all. For it to be a true forum there has to be more than just the shape of a forum. There has to be genuine interchange such as we get on here, and members helping one another or seeking information. It has to feel like a home that members will want to return to, not a railway station full of strangers who are obviously merely passing through.

[myst woman]

I have forums and people have been coming to them for years and pitching in with graphics and doing admin stuff. It's like I know them.

[Acro]

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[Seraphim]

HAHAHAHA! Damn near pissed myself.

The mods removed the original post, too bad...

[Acro]

It's ironic that in a thread asking for cheap labor (forum posts) there is one such great sample of outsourced ingenuity Also, note the keyword relativity, "Ford escort" and "Asian escorts".

[kspd]

I have built several successful communities and of course it is hard to get things started.. Visitors never want to post on an empty forum.
And no one is going to want to participate in a forum full of bad english written by an army of people paid to post but who have no real interest in your site.

The best tactic I have used is advertise that your community is accepting applications for a "private beta test" put out a lot of hype about it on some social networks, get some bloggers to mention it..
Accept a few hundred people and give them access... Instruct them to make posts, have discussions, fill out profiles, add photos, and test all the features and use the site... Tell them to look for bugs, report usability issues, etc.. Offer some sort of reward or prize to the "best beta tester" to ensure that a good percentage will diligently post and use all the features.. (More than half will still only look around once and never returned.. satisfied that they got in and someone else did not)

When you are ready to open it up to the public.. You have a site that already has a bunch of content, it has been tested completely allowing you to make some final tweaks, you have a core group of users who will likely stick around and all the people who didn't get in to the super special beta test are anxiously awaiting to see what has been hidden from their view the whole time.

Maybe this is not perfect for every type of forum or community.. Some topics might be better suited than others.. But I think it is much better than paid posts.

[myst woman]

hmmnn