this is not about comparing sites ... this is about what makes a site a BIG success

• content (most of your resources should go into content)
• good design / usable interface / colors
• marketing/pr

Just imagine where you would be today if you started with a 'professional' design.

You could have 2 out of the 3 (from the above list); but, 'success' would take longer and it would be harder to achieve.
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Heh. :banana:

I completely understand the point you two are trying to make. What you fail to understand, however, is that I disagree.

My site started around the same time as one with a more 'professional' design, however, we currently have double the members. Mainly due to very good content, excellent site structure and navigation, and very good PR. (By good PR, I mean good articles and mentions in national press)

There's no need to try to convince me of what you feel is the huge importance of a so-called 'winning design'. We'll just have to agree to disagree. k?

LOL ... you didn't have a "professional" design if you had to drop it

my 8 year old could make a "professional" design

I agree ... let's leave this as-is.

build the site for 1k, then spend the other 6k on the small ads in the back of CardPlayer Magazine

DeuceAce eh... you're famous ;)
http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/show...ht=Deuce%20Ace

Design, notwithstanding, I HIGHLY recommend spending a significant portion of your budget on PR. Not advertising. Not marketing. True Public Relations. By that, I don't mean press releases, either.

Join a good media service so you see what journalists are writing about. A solid mention in an article about your site will be worth more than any ad (or so-called winning design)

Are you an 'expert' in poker? Offer quotes and commentary to journalists on the topic.

Back when my site was just a 'patch work quilt' we were mentioned in USA Today, and the traffic from the article nearly crashed my site. Years later, I'm still getting traffic from the online version of the article.

You might even want to hire a good ghostwriter to write a few articles about your site, and submit them to online poker magazines, or other magazines looking for poker-related content.

Don't JUST go for poker magazines...also consider places like 'airline' magazines. Their readership is high, and many readers take articles of interest with them.

Thanks for posting this...very interesting.

Sorry, but what is a ghostwriter?

I know nothing about the PR side of things but I'm starting to realise that its a lot more important than I thought.

If I can get some attention to the site by methods that isn't actually advertising, some articles on sites with links to the site would be great.

I'm going to take a good look into getting a writer to do articles and include links to my site.

My budget has actually gone up now so I really need to start getting a plan into action.

My new design is almost complete, I just PMed the person that started that thread on SP, that wasn't a design I got from vbulletinskinz.com, not sure if it was just filler text or what..My skin is totally different from that.

Thanks for posting that link SirAdrian, I didn't see that post before :)

Thanks to EVERYONE that is giving suggestions, I have put a lot of thought into a lot of them and I will be using them :)
Still looking for any others if anyone has ideas floating around ;)

If I had $7000 dollars to invest in a website, I would probably spend most of that just buying an existing one because in 10 months or so you have already made that money back. I guess it kind of acts as a nice secondary income.

Since this is about forums and not just a random site... I would probably start a community site for my local area, because the one we have pretty much stinks... Maybe even something like Craigs List so users can buy stuff. Just looking at the school district marketplace (my father is a teacher), there are a ton of people selling/buying things here.

As far as spending goes: I would build it myself, maybe pay someone to design it, but not 1000$, because most of the great sites have simple layouts (few graphics!). The only thing I can see costing money is hosting fees if it grows large, but the ad revenue should cover most of that.

A ghostwriter is someone who is hired to write something on your behalf. It's done all the time in the publishing business. If you ever wonder how some authors crank out so many books, or how celebs write their books - many times they're ghostwritten.

In your case, if you're an expert in one or more aspects of poker, but you're not necessarily a writer, you could formulate a great 'outline' of an article, and have a ghostwriter pen it for you. Then submit it to publications with your byline and website.

Regarding PR, best to sign up with a good service (about $75-$99 per month), and keep an eye on the queries that journlists are sending out. When you see one that you can offer some insight, respond. Your quote will typically carry the attribution, "say John Diver, founder of www.DueceAce.com" (or something like that).

It may 'seem' small, but one mention like that in an article in the entertainment section of USA Today will go far - trust me ;)