When you run out of ideas for starting up new threads

I'll either request packages or if I'm really stumped, I will look around for post exchange threads, although I'm not too fond of post exchanges these days, though.

 

When Owning a Graphics Forum my mind finished with my ideas, and the posting went down after time and then found out that I was only one that was active.

 

That's ironically funny cause that's EXACTLY how I write, not just for forums. I do LOTS and LOTS of reading. It's not even funny how much reading I have to do on any particular subject. A couple hundred articles later, I'm usually a mini-expert on a subject and have 100 articles written in my head. I can spin an idea out sixteen different ways to suit the situation.

The other day I had a question about the Google Panda update and made the mistake of reading about it, now that's all i can write.

I'm doing some how-to writing jobs coming up, so I have to get myself back in the mode of writing how-to's.

I like doing those, but it takes a mind set all it's own.

As for whether or not I ever run out of ideas.... uh, NO!

I run a general forum and the vineyard is full of plump and juicy grapes to pluck.

I'm blessed to have the best super mod on the planet helping me on the site. She's a life saver and a joy to be around and is constantly starting good discussions. I have to run to keep up.

Another one of my best friends online specializes in writing on her blogs about gardening and frugal tips. And, she is always coming up with clever discussions in that realm. I don't run a gardening forum but with it being a general forum, there is room for everyone. And, that keeps discussions going.

And, then there's another guy on my site who happens to own his own forum too and he knows lots about MMORPG's and Marvel comics. So he's always starting those discussions. And, when he starts one about Marvel, I come back and start another one. We egg each other on in that way. A little competition is good for the blood. It keeps the forum stirred up. We're all conspiring to greatness.

Being surrounded by talented brilliant people is the best motivation I have to act smart and be smart.

My best advice for you as admin of an admin how-to forum would be to go out to other admin forums and lurk around and see what they are talking about, see the important issues of the day over there.

I'm not saying you would want to copy their discussions, just see what has their forum members buzzing. That will provide bushes of inspiration for new threads and topic starters.

If you can jump into the middle of a discussion that has good buzz on another admin forum and make a relevant comment and then leave a link in your signature line, you're likely to draw some of those people back to your own forum.

It's a double bonus.

 

I have run out of idea's before and that's when I turn to the web for ideas. I visit 50~100 websites a day and I usually find something to talk about.

 

Yea that's what I do too, the web is a great place to look for ideas for starting up new threads.

 

That works too, and really helps with ideas/inspiration. Personally, its always good to check out what users are saying on related forums, and then turning it around and coming up with your own threads.

 

Well, thats when things turn sour. Why did your members stop posting? Did you go inactive for a bits of time? Did you ever ask them what they wanted out of your community?

 

That's the kind of thing that happens to everyone.

But that's the reason you have to try to grow out your forum early on or use post services. However, you can use the net as your friend to inspire new topics. Just look around at other sites interesting topics and variate your own posts from them. DON'T copy them. Just write up your own version.

 

Good ideas! I'll have to try them, such as StumbleUpon. If I have a block, I will reference to the news, such as the Drudge Report (a conservative leaning news medium ) which delivers random news samples from different news, blogs and various websites.

 

I suppose so, but I also have a lot of ways to get new ideas, so it's not a huge deal. One way is to just consciously be aware of whatever you're doing throughout the day. You never know when something can relate back to your own forum, even if it seems unrelated, and you can spin it into a good thread. I keep up with a lot of sites, too, which ends up sparking ideas. It's not uncommon for me to be on a gaming or cooking site, and end up thinking of a question I'd want to ask on an admin forum.

 

I do a few things mentioned in this thread, write topics down from time to time then pull them out when needed. I also have my sites setup on www.hittail.com and they'll analysis your search hits and offer suggestions for you as well, I've done that more then anything to get new content.

 

As long as there are new movies and music coming out and other stuff, I generally don't run out of ideas of new topics

 

I just browse other sites and feeds. I subscribe to a lot of feeds/blogs so it's usually pretty easy to look through things and come up with ideas. Depending on the niche, reading the news can often spring up new ideas, too. I don't usually run into the issue, though, because I'm constantly reading those things anyway and coming up with new ones as I go.

 

The blogs that I read on a daily basis, and news sites, tend to help me come up with new ideas. And on a side note: music also helps me. I browse a lot of different forums and blogs on a daily basis, so ideas are always flowing for me. It's all about turning those ideas into content.