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My partner and I started our own Q&A community for filmmakers. I realize this kind of community is not gigantic but there are a lot of sites out there servicing the needs of this type of community; such as filmmakers.com, indietalk.com, indieclub.com and the list really does go on. Also, none of them are "Q&A" sites. They tend to be traditional forums or blog/article based.

We have started seeding the site. We have a twitter account and a Facebook page as of last week. We are about to start developing Facebook integration apps and have been tweaking the UI based on usability tests done on our demographic. As far as marketing goes we are advertising on Facebook and Stumbleupon. However, I am not a marketer. I am a developer by trade. I really have know what I'm doing. I would hire a marketer if I still had a dime to my name. It's a sad day when you can no longer boot strap because you sold the boots.

We "launched" about two months ago, get about 250 page views a day and there have been a few users to join and contribute. I've always wanted to start my own company and I am hopeful that this is a modest step in the right direction. We have had some progress but I am wondering if it is enough. Of course I would like to see more progress but am I asking for too much too soon? When do I know if I have misjudged the market and I need to move on? Am I too focused in one direction and not focused enough in another? Should I go ahead and start trying to find a VC?

I have attempted to start something like this several times now and this is the farthest I have ever gotten. Any advice at all would be much appreciated.

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3 Answers

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I think you're definition of "growing fast enough" is a bit subjective. Here are some things you need to remember:

  • Creating an online community is extremely hard because you have a chicken + egg problem. You need active users to get new users.

  • Anyway can come up with an idea, a lot of people can build the site, but few people can focus and persevere long enough to get the initial traction needed to grow. Starting an online community is extremely hard work...

Cheap and Free Experiments

  • Change your tag on your homepage to have some keywords in it. You don't have a brand, so people won't be searching for "Answer Junket". They will be searching for "Community for Film Makers" or the like. Use the Google Keyword Tool to figure out what people are searching for

  • Use the Google Keyword Tool to find what people are searching for, and write some interesting blog articles to try to target those keywords. Make sure those keywords are in the blog's title

  • Setup TweetDeck to monitor people tweeting about stuff that is relevant to your community

  • Read Inbound Marketing

Articles you should read

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And here's another related question right on this website: answers.onstartups.com/questions/13088/… – Andy Cook Mar 9 '11 at 20:45
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Thanks for the advice Andy! I'll be sure to check that stuff out. I wish I could answer some questions and give back more than a thank you. Maybe one day when I know a little more. But, in the meantime... thank you! :) – user8404 Mar 10 '11 at 0:01
up vote 1 down vote

The question is fast enough for whom? Do you mean a. fast enough to get you enough users to drive some modest revenues with Google ads, or b. fast enough to ensure that you are building the best Q&A site on the web for filmmakers? Assuming it's b. why wouldn't you do this on Stack Exchange by supporting one of the proposals on Area 51?

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I really just wanted some feedback on if we were moving along at a good pace. Also, this site is a small part of what we are trying to accomplish. What we hope to achieve in the end is still being built. We are starting this site to go ahead and start getting the hearts and minds of our demographic. In a sense, we are building our application and community in parallel. So, I'm not worried about Stack Exchange and I'm sure that "Big Bad" Stack Exchange is not worried about me either. – user8404 Mar 11 '11 at 20:57
up vote 0 down vote

I'm not clear what the goal/plan is... the other sites could quickly become Q & A sites so is that really a strategic advantage? Do the other sites charge?

Yahoo Answers is huge but it's still free, and will always be free, and Google tried to make money on their own Q & A and failed.

You're in a niche of a niche... look at the topics that sell on JustAnswer.com.

I frankly (sorry) think that just because you have fantastic expertise to sell doesn't mean folks will buy it. I think most 'coach' sites are trying to brand themselves online to turn it into speaking/consulting gigs (to me most business books double as brochures...).

But again...why?... what is the plan to commoditize? What's the vision with some real-world numbers? What do you get for your 40-80 hrs. a week? (There may be great answers to this... I really am asking, not dissuading).

I strongly recommend the Jason Cohen (smart bear) podcast as well as Foolish Adventure Show with Izzy and Tim.

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