Forum Administration
Every active forum has to be under control, and hiring a moderator, global moderator, or co-owner to help is a great way to do so.
Depending on the way you decided to create your forum, you may have other options to how to supervise it. If you are a 50/50 owner with someone else, they can help you monitor and manage the forum. You may also decide to hire someone, some active members may choose to take the role free of charge, or hire someone to be a moderator for payment by a timed basis, as well as hiring a co-admin or global moderator and pay with a percentage of the forum’s profits.
Finding a good moderator:
Members from your forum - If you choose to look for a free moderator then you may want to look on your own forum. Post a thread, stating that you are looking for a moderator to help out and post your requirements. You would want to look for someone who does not advertise a lot on your forum, or spam. A member who is active with a fairly large amount of posts and isn’t a new member is a prime pick for this position. Make sure whoever you pick does not abuse this power and they understand what they are doing.
Paying moderators on a regular basis is always a better option as you know you are getting someone who knows what they are doing and has experience with your board’s management. This should not cost too much and could go from $50-200 a week depending on how large your forum is. Cheaper workers may be as cheap as $50 a month and others may work for the simple ability of advertising on the forum.
Using your co-owner to help manage the forum - Depending on what role your partner holds, he may be able to help you. However, if your partner is mostly advertising, and providing money to invest in advertising, he may not be the best person for this position. A partner who helps with logos, designs, and odd tasks may be the best for performing this task; however you may have to teach him how to manage around the cPanel of the forum.
Whatever method you choose, keep in mind the financial status of your web site. You don’t want to spend more then you make when the forum is already a miniature success. Starting off with your forum, you will have to invest some cash, but when the forum is bigger and is making money, you have extra play money to work with.
Also remember that you will not need any forum moderators to help manage the forum until it is fairly large. At a smaller size, you can manage the forum yourself and get a little free help as well.
You should be able to manage the forum by yourself until there are 300 active members, or 10, 000 posts.
