I spent days finding the right host, hours installing and modifying my site, lots of tech support communication and basic tweeking.
The last thing which should've been the first thing is "Where Do I find People to Join?" I need to populate my site but not having any luck. Am I the only one with this issue or am I missing something that people on here already know?
Either a physical community of people that actually know each other in the "real world" like YouDidntDidYou.co.uk or a community of shared interests ie Boonex is a community of people with a shared interest in bring communities together. Otherwise its not just going to happen people just aren't interested in joining communities for the sake of it.
Dolphin/Hookie see more
You will have to invest if it is for your pleasure or for business it doesn't matter.
Its not just putting a community site there and people will come,
http://www.story.com
-a good domain name
-a good brand
-a target of people
-a good SEO work (part of online marketing)
-a good brand management
-a good design
-some good advertising campaign
-a lot of dedication..
-a lot of patience..
you can do all this by yourself, it's not easy but it's not impossible either.. this list is just the base of a solid "pyramid" you can build.. read about every aspect first..
I can't agree more with what has been said by other friends in here.
There is a Forum Population Service you can use, but it ONLY helps to a certain degree at a startup level :
http://www.wiredflame.com/population/
Check their site out.
If you believe in your site, and have already a strategic plan in place... give it some love and results are a matter of time. There is space for everything if it's marketed properly to the right target group of people.
I suggest you create your see more