Peter Davis - Why does he want to buy your forum @petertdavis

Brandon · Oct 16, 2012

Here is our latest interview and it's by Mr. @petertdavis, Thank you for your time on this.
I apologize ahead of time for this image, if anyone wants to make a better one, please do.

I see the "I buy forums" link in your signature on some forums, do you buy these for yourself or do you buy them for other people? – Both. I’m very particular about what forums I add to my own portfolio, and have averaged one or two purchases a year for the past several years now. I’ve also enjoyed assisting others in finding and acquiring forums. It can be a really fun business if you understand what you’re getting into. I’ve moved a lot more toward only working on my own forums over the past couple of years. I still enjoy working with other people helping them acquire forums but the one part of the business I didn’t enjoy as much was selling. Especially helping other people sell their forums. I’m happy to give people advice, of course, but it’s often the case that a person wanting to sell their forum sees value in it that very few people, if anyone, can see, and the time a broker would need to invest in finding just the right buyer is almost never justified by the paltry fee that you can earn.

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Read the rest of the resource here.
http://admin-talk.com/resources/6/

cpvr · Oct 18, 2012

What do you use for SEO on your forums? Do you use vBSEO? or Friendly URL'S? What techniques do you use for XF? – I regret using vbSEO, wish I never had installed it. Wayne Luke was right, and he told me years ago not to use it. It seemed like a great idea all of those years ago when it first came out, and it probably did help get sites indexed and bring in more organic traffic. Right now, however, it feels more like an albatross hanging on my neck, and has been the root cause of many forums being compromised.
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Glad to see him speaking out against vBseo. I always thought the same as well.

Where do you see new forums go wrong? - With too much focus on the software, and design, and not enough focus on the people. There are countless forums out there that have gone on to great success simply using the default install of the forum software. The flip side of that coin is that there are countless forums out there that have done beautiful jobs with custom designs and failed to gain a critical mass of members. I’m not saying I don’t appreciate good design, but it’s not critical to your overall success.
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Well said!

Are there forum topics you’ll stay away from, or how do you pick and choose what sites to make an offer on when buying? - I wouldn’t get into anything that is illegal, or adult content (porn). I also avoid gaming forums. The best approach, in my opinion, when buying a forum is to focus on ones that fit nicely into a portfolio. Maybe you can find some synergies among a small portfolio of websites that a single one wouldn’t have. For example, if you owned a forum for Boston Red Sox fans, you might be interested in buying a forum for Boston Bruin fans. And then one for New England Patriot fans. You’d be growing your appeal to advertisers who wanted to reach the Boston sports fan market. Plus, you’ll be able to cross-promote your websites as a high percentage of your Red Sox fans are going to like the Bruins and Pats too, and vice versa.
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The Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots, my two favorite teams!

fattony69 · Oct 18, 2012

Brandon said: ↑

Do you do most of the work or do other Administrators/ Moderators? - It really depends on what work. When it comes to tech stuff, I do. But, most of the admins and moderators on my forums post more than I do, and I’m ok with that because I never wanted to have a forum that revolved around me or depended on me to keep discussions going.
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This is where I screwed up.

Brandon said: ↑

Are there forum topics you’ll stay away from, or how do you pick and choose what sites to make an offer on when buying? - I wouldn’t get into anything that is illegal, or adult content (porn). I also avoid gaming forums. The best approach, in my opinion, when buying a forum is to focus on ones that fit nicely into a portfolio. Maybe you can find some synergies among a small portfolio of websites that a single one wouldn’t have. For example, if you owned a forum for Boston Red Sox fans, you might be interested in buying a forum for Boston Bruin fans. And then one for New England Patriot fans. You’d be growing your appeal to advertisers who wanted to reach the Boston sports fan market. Plus, you’ll be able to cross-promote your websites as a high percentage of your Red Sox fans are going to like the Bruins and Pats too, and vice versa.

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Time to create a Boston Sports Forum Network...

petertdavis · Oct 18, 2012

Yea, I'd love to run a network of forums focused on the sports teams in the region. Would even be interested in partnering on it too. I've tried a couple of times to find out if any of the owners of the popular ones would be interested in selling, but no luck on that end.

WEfail · Oct 18, 2012

From experience sports doesn't pay, awful CPM unless you can get insertion orders direct from them.

Well, if you have anything on your desk you are looking to get rid of let me know. I am on the hunt.

petertdavis · Oct 18, 2012

Yea, I kind of guessed that. If I ever end up with forums for Boston area sports teams it would be out of interest rather than out of wanting to maximise profits. Same reason I bought Historum.com and you're doing the RC forums.

WEfail · Oct 18, 2012

petertdavis said: ↑

Yea, I kind of guessed that. If I ever end up with forums for Boston area sports teams it would be out of interest rather than out of wanting to maximise profits. Same reason I bought Historum.com and you're doing the RC forums.
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Yea, thats a pretty nice site... When it's time, let me know

Miner · Nov 22, 2012

Interesting info and interview from experienced master of forums.

Peter Davis - Why does he want to buy your forum @petertdavis

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