Will I get snuffed out by the big competition? (BMW Forum)

[TheGodfather]

Hey guys,

How do I go about finding out/ researching to determine if it is worth my while to start a BMW forum?

There are about 5 very successful forum sites that have sub-grouping for the particular NEW BMW series vehicle I want to create a forum for.

The new BMW line is just coming out now, and I feel a single site geared toward owners of the new vehicles would be successful so long as the already established GENERAL BMW forums with BMW series sub-forums dont snuff me out.

Obviously I would have to market the forum heavily, but beyond this how do I capture my share of this BMW forum market?

Again please note: currently the sites in existence are not dedicated to this new BMW model, but rather the whole BMW model lineup. I would like to create a forum dedicated to JUST the new model with possible expansion in the future.

Thank you in advance,

[BrendanMcGann]

Go for it if the model catches on and gains a large following its win win

[armenh]

I got very excited when I read this question. I am an avid BMW enthusiast myself! I am a member on a few of the BMW forums.

Which new BMW are you referring to the f10 5 series? f30 3 series? Or the new lineup of BMW's which will be rolling out after each other following the f01 7 series styling.

This is a very tough market to go up against. bimmerpost.com and bimmerfest.com all have THOUSANDS of loyal members, me being one of them. The kind of attachment many of the individuals have on these forums is immense. We organize meets through the website, have car stickers which include the website name and think we are part of the best bimmer forum out there.
You must add something new to the site you create, there is no point of just opening up another forum for BMW's. There must be something missing now that you can address. The key to having a successful forum is by getting many of the informative, veteran posters on other sites to join your site. This way many others will follow as well.
I will try my best to answer your question in my perspective if you can provide me with some more details regarding what you want to do.

[TheGodfather]

Hey thanks for the input so far,

I am also a big BMW forum user (xoutpost.com) username: TheGodfather

The biggest hurdle I have to over come is filling up the forum with posts from a VERY early stage.

How do I do this when there are very few owners of these vehicles right now.

Also getting forum veterans to join will be near impossible unless they own the vehicle of interest. Forum veterans are pretty loyal to their chosen BMW forum. And if they have anything to add regarding the new BMW model, they will simply do so on the forum they are loyal to.



I am slowly answering my own question (or rather gaining confidence in my idea) thinking that although there are well established BMW forums such as Bimmerfest.com, xoutpost.com etc. I feel the market is large enough for one more.

The IMPORTANT POINT regarding my forum is its not a multi BMW forum.

My thoughts are this:

If I wanted info etc on my BMW X5 I might lean towards a forum that is uniquely and specifically geared to the X5, that also has many posts and users.

Getting the posts will be difficult in the beginning, the users will follow.

[armenh]

Hey thanks for the input so far,

I am also a big BMW forum user (xoutpost.com) username: TheGodfather

The biggest hurdle I have to over come is filling up the forum with posts from a VERY early stage.

How do I do this when there are very few owners of these vehicles right now.

Also getting forum veterans to join will be near impossible unless they own the vehicle of interest. Forum veterans are pretty loyal to their chosen BMW forum. And if they have anything to add regarding the new BMW model, they will simply do so on the forum they are loyal to.



I am slowly answering my own question (or rather gaining confidence in my idea) thinking that although there are well established BMW forums such as Bimmerfest.com, xoutpost.com etc. I feel the market is large enough for one more.

The IMPORTANT POINT regarding my forum is its not a multi BMW forum.

My thoughts are this:

If I wanted info etc on my BMW X5 I might lean towards a forum that is uniquely and specifically geared to the X5, that also has many posts and users.

Getting the posts will be difficult in the beginning, the users will follow.

Which vehicle did you want to start a forum about if you do not mind me asking?

[DerekS]

You hit the nail on the head: you need dedicated posters who know their stuff.

A forum is only as good as its content and its membership. I used to check out new car forums all the time and bail out once I determined that the content was all fluff.

Back in the day when I was a regular poster on "Stangnet" which was the biggest late-model Mustang forum, a bunch of guys who were into drag racing the new 4.6L Mustangs branched off and started a forum called "ModularDepot," referring to the new motor. That site took off because the membership was hardcore, and the focus was narrow and specific.

Since you're already a regular on an established board, I'd start trying to get the best/smartest posters and try to lure them onto the new board. Promise them a "Founding Member" position, or maybe make a few of them moderators.

If the content is there, the membership will follow. Good luck.

[TheGodfather]

I took a totally different direction guys.

I ditched the BMW forum concept (way to broad, way to much competition)

I was going to make a forum for the new BMW X1 model btw.



Instead I decided to create a forum for my University. There is no other University forum site for my school, so I thought I should start one.

Here it is, I am just working on marketing now, and slowly learning how to mod phpbb3. Despite its simplicity, so far I am quite impressed with myself... I guess I really have not done anything yet!

I need your expert suggestions guys... maybe I will make a new thread for this.


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