Are Forum And Discussion Boards Really Needed?

February 10, 2009 · Filed Under Internet Marketing, ecommerce · 1 Comment 

Everyone Has One

While listening to the Brainstorming Bonanzle internet radio program last night an interesting discussion regarding the forums and discussions ensued. The focus of the discussion was how to improve the discussion or forum boards on Bonanzle. While a lot of great ideas were brought forth, it got me wondering if ecommerce sites really need them?

What Are The Boards For?

Before we can think about whether we need these discussion boards we need to understand what the intended results or purpose will be. Some sites have created the discussion boards for the exchange of ideas among users. While I agree with this concept, I wonder how many users of a site actually participate on the boards, and if users really do share valuable ideas? My personal experience has been that a small percentage of the sites users actually particpate on these boards. My guess is less than 5% of registered users actually participate on most site discussion boards on any sort of regualr basis.

A Place To Complain

While I admit wholeheartedly that the prospect of a place to share ideas and strategies would be most useful, the sad truth is that a significant portion of the forum or discussion boards I have looked into are merely a venue for users to complain. Whether it is to complain about the site or other users, this situation is rampant across the internet. The problem is that these comments are seen internet wide, not just by the users of the forums. The majority of these discussion or forums are indexed by search engines and these comments viewable by anyone.

While I truly believe in there being a place for open honest discussion the truth is that is not happening. When discussion boards allow unrestricted access  without moderation they very very frequently become a free for all. Forums are in my opinion NOT the correct venue to voice complaints about a site. There are customer support channels to do this. Call the company, email them, write snail mail, or just leave the site. What I really don’t understand is the person that posts the same complaint day in and day out! If they are that unhappy with a site they should simply LEAVE.  

Moderated Boards

Some ecommerce sites discussion boards are moderated. Some by staff, some by volunteers. This often leads to complaints of censorship. While I don’t like censorship any more than the next person, it occurs to me that the site owners have EVERY RIGHT to protect themselves. I moderate my chat boards for my radio program, why should discussion forums be any different?

Do Site Owners Really Need Forums? 

I believe that if regulated correctly there is a very significant benefit to these boards, yet if unregualted or unmoderated they lose much of their usefulness.

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February 2, 2009 · Filed Under Internet Marketing, News, ecommerce · Comment 

Bonanzle Wins “Excellence in Technology” Award as Best eBay Alternative of 2008

February 2, 2009, Kirkland, WA - In what writers called “a runaway,” Bonanzle.com was recently named the top eBay Alternative of 2008 by readers of SmallBusinessComputing, a Jupiter Media company.  Over a six week period from November through the beginning of January, readers were asked to choose between Bonanzle and other eBay alternatives, including Etsy, eCrater and Wigix.  Bonanzle was declared the winner on January 28th.

“This award validates our commitment to providing users with a marketplace that goes beyond the buzzwords often used to describe it:  more social, simpler, and more fun.  We worked for almost two years to build Bonanzle before we launched it.  The payoff has been an experience so simple yet rich that it has turned many of our users into Bonanzle promoters.  These users have helped to drive our traffic up more than 50% every month since we launched – their efforts are really starting to add up, even as we’re still almost completely unknown to the national media,” says Bonanzle CEO Bill Harding. 

Walt Kolenda, a professional auctioneer and regular contributor to The Examiner, says of Bonanzle, “People in the community are so impressed and appreciative of the opportunity here that they fill the forum with tips and suggestions about how to get the site and individual stores juiced in the search engines… the users have become evangelists for the site, and there is no amount of advertising money in the world that can replace that.  This is how sites go viral, this is how fortunes are made.”

SmallBusinessComputing’s editors also praised Bonanzle, adding, “This startup combines an easy listing process with cutting-edge features such as on-the-fly image cropping and live chat and an avid seller community. The founders are scaling up to meet increasing traffic, and we can only hope it continues to thrive.”
 
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For PR inquiries, please email Mark Dorsey at mark@bonanzle.com, or call us at (206) 396-7321. We are happy to provide interviews or help build story content for all media sources of reasonable size.

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