After creating a forum based RPG, it’s time for the administrator to begin work gathering members. He does this through creating an advertisement that describes his site – often including the Plot – and then spreading it, a task that can often appear much more daunting and costly than it truly is. The most common mistake made by new Forum owners is their investment in costly schemes when there are many effective advertising services available for free.
One thing administrators should consider before starting to advertise is asking family members and friends to join. Advertising a forum that, at first glance, appears to have no activity will likely not appeal to guests and thus they will not join the RPG. The increased member traffic, no matter how small, will make the forum more appealing to visiting guests. Once this is accomplished an administrator can advertise with a greater chance of success.
There is a great variety of sites offering their advertising services, from easy to use forum directories to rated listings, guest friendly RPG’s and resource sites, at no cost. They cater specifically to Role Playing Forums, thus enhancing the chances of a new advertisement being seen by actual players. Below are a few examples, as well as the pros and cons of using the service.
Forum Directories
In most cases forum directories are run by fellow RP’ers and they also serve as friendly communities willing to help new members. Examples of such directories include RPG-Directory, Red Carpet & Rebellion, Caution 2.0 and Blank Pages.
Pros:
Forum Directories consist of communities that welcome and often offer assistance to new members.
They have a large member base consisting of Role Players, increasing the chances of an advertisement being spotted by an actual player.
They are completely free.
Directories offer a multitude of other services at no cost to help administrators and members alike.
Cons:
Registration, and sometimes post count, is required to access some services.
Sites need to make a good first impression, or risk being lost amongst the other advertisements.
Rated Listings and Topsites
The A List, VoteForums and Distant Fantasies are examples of Rated listings and topsites. Unlike Directories these are not communities – they only require an advertiser to submit a button and a short description which will then, after being approved by a moderator, be displayed in the listings for browsing RP’ers to find.
Pros:
Many sites link back to these topsites, increasing the flow of visitors that might find a new site.
The buttons for the topsites can be displayed on a new forum, allowing members to vote for the site and increase their rating.
They are completely free.
Cons:
New sites have lower ratings and thus harder to find as they are farther back on the listing.
Moderation periods can last up to a month.
Resource Sites
There are the sites that do not directly focus on advertising forums. One such site is Hollow Art. It’s main purpose is to provide base icons of celebrities – often used as ‘play by’s’ on RPG’s
Pros:
Because it offers a selection of ‘play by’s’ it is popular amongst RP’ers.
They are completely free.
Cons:
They have certain image and submitting requirements.
Because advertising Forums is not their main purpose advertisements are sometimes overlooked
Guest Friendly Forums
Guest friendly advertising areas can be found on most RPG’s. Some do have rules before someone can post their advertisement, but this is one of the quickest and easiest ways to spread the word about a new Role Playing Game.
Pros:
One can post on multiple sites, post daily and spread the word quickly to a variety of forums.
They are completely free.
There is no limit to the amount of sites one can post an advertisement on.
Cons:
Guest forums are utilized by many advertisers and an advertisement that is not frequently ‘bumped’ can be lost amongst all the advertisements.
Although they will visit an advertised site, members of forums that have been advertise on will rarely join another RPG.
At first glance these options might not appear too appealing – some of the afore mentioned sites have membership or posting requirements while others appear unprofessional when compared to paid advertisers. One thing any administrator should take into account is this: these directories and communities have a large member count consisting mainly of role players. They are the target ‘market’, and these are the locations they most often browse. The chances of an actual eager player spotting your advertisement here is much higher than in an expensive directory that has little to nothing to do with Role Playing.
An administrator should also always remember to be friendly and helpful, and to interact with their guests whenever possible. A C-box is a great and affordable way to accomplish this as it is a free service both members and guests will have access too. Advertising constantly and building relationships with visitors will aid in spreading the word about a new site, as well as building the reputation of the administrator.
An advertiser should not be too disappointed if their guests rarely register. It takes time and dedication to build up site popularity.
