The lbb forum has moved to http://www.localbizbuilders.com/forums

When you get there and try to log in for the first time you will NEED to request a new password–YOUR EXISTING ONE WILL NOT WORK

The old forum is still working although the posting will be limited to only a section or two. It is at:

http:/www.localbizbuilders.com/index.php

I have sections on BOTH forums(old and new) for anyone with problems.

KEith

I sent out a private message to all members not to long ago stating how I ws interested in switching the forum from the Simple Machines forum application to the VBulletin app.

I have not forgotten and actually have been putting a lot of time into considering this. The VBulletin platform has so much more flexibility and expandability than the current one we are using. I also found that I should be able to transfer almost everything directly from our current site into a new one. There is a program that will transfer everything for me, so that is a great relief(provided it works!)

The forum itself has nothing really wrong with it, but I think as we grow it will lack certain things that I can only get with VBulletin. I am trying to think ahead and be pro-active, but the more I visit similar forums using VB(like the Warrior Forum) the more I really see the usefulness of it here at LBB.

This is a semi-costly project, as well as time consuming, so that weighs on me as well. But the SMF format is very weak, and although good right now, we are already outgrowing it, and there are so many things I want to do over time that cannot be done via SMF.

Once I make a final decision I will let you all know, and also keep you informed when it’s ready to be used if I go that route.

I see the LBB Forum only getting better and better, so I want to make sure that the user experience continues to improve as we grow…which is a tough balance! Thanks for being patient with me on this, I know I have been pissing and moaning about this for a while now!

Well we are a day or two into YEAR TWO of the LocalBizBuilder forum! I never once thought the forum would be doing as wll as it is and I owe it all to the members and most especially to the Moderators!

People like Vince Runza, Tink Boord-Dill, Do Englehardt, Patty Gale, Kevin, Johm Melanson, Ilene, and Mark from EasyOfflineRiches.

I recently asked a handful of members to help with some administrative tasks and to help to form a new direction for the forum and thus formed a Noard of Directors. I realized that I could not do it all alone, and needed help.

These members are myself and:

Do Englehardt | Ilene | John Melanson | Tink Boord-Dill

With the help of the above members the LBB forum will continue to improve over this year and the years to come!

Some changes on the horizon are a change to the forum layout. At some point inthe near future I will be changing the forum software from the Simple Machines Forum(SMF) application to the vBulletin application. This is a costly and time consuming project, but I feel that to allow future growth the vbulletin platform will be better for our needs.

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Well, the forum made it through it’s first year of operation! January 8th marks the one year anniversary of the LBB forum, and my has it grown bigger than I could have imagined.

Granted, we are not the Warrior Forum, but I think for a niche site it does pretty good. Heck, for the past 6 months the site has been slightly above or slightly above an Alexa Rank of 50K, which is pretty damn good in my eyes!

I have made my share of mistakes over the past year, and occasionally I have done some things right. But I have learned from each experience, which leads up to this post.

WHAT DO YOU WANT?

As forum members and constant contributors, please let me know what it is you would like to see. Post your comments below so we can figure out how to improve the forum going forward.

If you are happy the way it is, don’t be afraid to speak up as well, as every comment will be effective as we go forward.

Remember, the forum itself is a place for ALL members to contribute, learn, share experiences, and overall help each other out in the pursuit of a career in the offline niche.

So don’t be shy, please post thoughts on improvement below.

I guess when you are wrong you are wrong. I will have to admit at this point that I made a huge mistake in creating the LBBSF(LocalBizBuilders Special Forces) social site without explaining it’s potential.

Let me explain…I was a bit lax in explaining the potential of this site, as I was under the understanding that not only were social sites and ther benefits obvious, but that LBBSF members actually might be able to use it. See, I went ahead and instituted it without even asking(lack of market research)! I should know better, and only blame myself. Albeit late, I will explain it now…

My vision for the socail site was to have a more interactive environment for members to be able to work together. At least more interactive than the forum itself. The forum is great, but you are limited in how you interact. You post…people reply, easy. Well with the social site, you could actually create ‘groups’ based around your area of expertise or interests.

For example, autoresponders. Let’s say your business model is based around selling the autoresponder service to businesses. The forum itself is great, but with the social site you could actually start an AR group and start your own discussions based on this individual sub-niche. You could post video’s, reports, training or whatever your imagination could dream up. Granted, some of this could be done on the forum, but to me the forum seems flat and 2 dimensional while the social site gives a more pleasing platform.

Another seemingly great benefit is that the social site allows members to be more about YOU. You can customize your profile, and for those who are experts in their area of expertise, you can really use the site to brand yourself. Heck, you can create your own group, even create or add content to your own blog right on the site. You can upload video’s right to the site, start a mini forum discussion, and pretty much run your own business right from there.

Now, the one thing I did not explain was the fact that not only can you use it for offline related material, but Internet Marketing(IM) related topics as well!!

So for those SF members that have not taken a look or would like to take another, the invite link is the SF General Discussion board, the top post(stickied at top). Just click on that and sign in. It is hosted on a ning.com platform, so if you are already a ning member just login with your email addy and passwod you already created. If not, type in a valid email address and create a password. It is a seperate site, so it can be different than what you use on the forum.