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This question has been closed, and points have been awarded.
Sports Forum Mktg Adv & Innovative Content
Posted By: k4_kunal* on 1/5/2005 9:09 AM (CST) 250 Points
Dear M'profs!
I am about to publically launch a sports forum, since this is my first venture with the net, i seek your vital guidance in this regard. Imp details are as follows:-
1) Target Mkt - Global Sports fanatics, sportsperson & anyone associated with the business of sport, with special focus on India.
2) Primary Obj - Creating initially a non-profit online sports community -> making it active offline too -> and with the popularity of the site, commercially exploring viable business propositions.
3) Expected USP -Designing, Content richness & Interactivity(Get2gethers) etc.
4) Location : India

CHALLENGES:
1) Ways to derive initially the target audience to the site.
2) Type of content to put on the site initially to attact members & acquire good registrations
3) Sources to get fresh/original/ interesting content for
target mkt.
4) Cost-effective/ Zero Cost ways to Mkt, publise & make the target mkt aware of the site.
5) Ways to tie-up with similar target mkt sites/portals in
other domains (without any initial credibility & standing).
6) Any suggestions as regard to creating /designing a sports forum are welcome.

I look forward to your vital advice before finally going public. A happy & prosperous new year to all and my heartiest thanks in advice.

take care
k4_kunal
New Delhi
India

Posted by: AndrewS Member Response
1/5/2005 10:01 AM (CST)
Hi and welcome to marketingprofs Know-How Exchange.

It might be worth you looking over the Guidelines if you haven't all ready.
And also search the forum for similar questions and answers.

You might even find the answer you need from a simple Google search.

Enjoy your time here, but try to make it as productive as possible for yourself :-)

Good Luck

Andrew
 
Posted by: Sharon Moderator Response
1/5/2005 1:39 PM (CST)
Hi kunal, and welcome back!

What's your revenue model or how will you make money on the site?

Community sites are not usually big profit makers, so you will need to have a solid idea for generating income to support your idea.

Also, why do you think all sports fans want a single site. Most sports fans I know frequent sites that concentrate on the sport they are most interested in. How will your site be different and better than these sites?

Good luck.

Sharon
 
Posted by: mgoodman Accepted Answer
1/5/2005 8:54 PM (CST)
You probably ought to do some serious research among your target audience and essentially ask them what it would take to get them interested in a site like the one you describe. I wouldn't be quite so direct, though, because they might not really know the answer.

Instead, why not ask them what they do now to enjoy sports ... what they'd like to do but can't ... why ... what else they would like ... etc. Ask them to invent new ways to enjoy sports ... get them thinking creatively.

Then, after they've done that, you can ask a few questions about what they'd want to see in a website targeted at sports fans. What it would take to get them to try the site, and to return on a regular basis.

This is one case where market research is probably going to be very important. Ideally, it should be quantitative, projectable research, but even some qualitative research would be better than nothing. Just be sure it's conducted by an experienced professional.

Hope this helps.
 
Posted by: JOEL Accepted Answer
1/30/2005 3:04 AM (CST)
Hi
Due to the broadness of your forum it would probably be advisiable to first concentrate on a specific sport. e.g look for a popular sport segment maybe in your case cricket and appeal to that audience first.
By going general you may not capture as many responses as you may desire but give some specification to the forum and the interest may grow Then you may venture into other sports or on the other hand try discussing a less popular sport that may be gaining popularity and use that as a test driver for your venture.
cheers
joel

 
Posted by: Sanjeev Kumar Vyas Accepted Answer
1/30/2005 9:35 PM (CST)
1) Ways to derive initially the target audience to the site.
Buy some traffic, Do online marketing goggle adwords, other pay per click options. DO NOT SPAM.
2) Type of content to put on the site initially to attact members & acquire good registrations.
I would suggest that you get 100 people or more you friends, colleagues, anyone and test your site design. Ask them if they like it. if only 10 of 100 like your site change it.
3) Sources to get fresh/original/ interesting content for
target mkt.
4) Cost-effective/ Zero Cost ways to Mkt, publise & make the target mkt aware of the site.
See ans1.
 
Posted by: telemoxie Member Response
2/1/2005 11:55 PM (CST)
If this were my project, I would begin by building a list of 20 or more competitve "sports portals" - and get an idea of how they are set up, and how they are funded. Once you find a site of interest, do a Google search on the URL and find who links to them, and look at those sites. With minimal marketing dollars, a very good promotional strategy might be to find sites which currently send traffic to similar sites, and encourage them to post a link to your site.
 
Posted by: k4_kunal* Author Response
2/2/2005 8:56 AM (CST)
Thanks for your vital suggestions, currently my pimarily challenge is to get traffic on the site. I look forward to tie-ups with other sites that cater to the targeted audience.

k4_kunal
www.khelnayak.com
 
Posted by: Val (Moderator)* Moderator Response
2/4/2005 2:16 PM (CST)
Hello all. I am closing this question, since its more than two weeks old. We do this to make sure members' contributions are rewarded in a timely manner and to improve the visibility of newer questions.

Thanks, so much, for participating!
Val (Moderator)
 


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