How do you gauge forum "success"?

I'm curious to know when you can officially say that your forums were a success...is it when you reach a certain number of members? certain number of posts? certain amount of revenue? is this when you break even or start making profit? is it when you do not need to advertise any more? or is it simply when people start to refer their own friends?

There are so many different ways to gauge success...and I have a feeling it is most often in the eye of the beholder, the forum owner. Here, I think my success would be when I reach the point of not having to advertise on my own, and also to the point where people can ask any question and it will be answered in timely manner.

Let me know when you considered your forums a success, or what you are trying to reach in order TO succeed.

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I think a forum has become a success when it has become self-sustaining. By that I mean the community could take care of itself for a while without you. That means it makes enough revenue to pay for hosting and any additional costs the forum requires, there are enough active members to visit the forum and make that revenue for you, there are enough mods to moderate the forum, there are enough new registrations per day so that you don't really need to advertise anymore because word is getting around on its own, etc.

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For me, if I'm having fun and breaking even, I usually consider it a success. However, if I have different goals, then I gauge it differently. For example, I considered my ex forum a success when it had more registered members, posts, and threads than my 2 rivals.

Yeah, I'd also consider it a success when your forum can run by itself. Pays for itself and all news topics and such.

<span style="color:#000099">Edited by gprime, to correct some of the spelling errors. Please proofread next time.
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Forum success?
My target for forum success is getting moderate active member.Around 10-20 keep posting on the board.Creating a never-ending community.

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Unity Through Service
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I would have to agree..Once you can have your board run itself with almost no input from you except your normal talking on the boards, and it at least pays for itself, I think it's a success.

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Free Domain Name, on me

id say mine is when someone posts and less then 30 secounds someone else responds lol..

or i gues just a happy active community

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When you can leave for a few days and you see that your forum has received a ton of new posts/threads.
That's when I'd say my forum was a success.

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That, I believe, can be a short term thing though...I would say that for your forums to be a true success, you should be able to leave them for weeks at a time and they still remain active.

Leaving for a few days would simply give you a good sign that you're on the right track...if you can leave for a few days and they remain active, keep doing whatever you are doing because it is working.

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...some super-sweet signature

I would consider my forum successful when tons of folks flock to my forum because they KNOW they can find a good deal or freebie or sweep at all times AND they want to contribute their own finds for others to benefit. They can count on my forum for this info and it is reliable to them in that sense. I know of about 5 deal forums (similar to my idea) that are huge and people (myself included) love them, can't get enough. But i also realize it is not easy to build an active forum overnight. It takes alot of work and due diligence and networking.

When this happens to my forum, i would consider it a success.

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