How many times have you failed before ?

[Cedric]

As someone who's been in this industry for a while, I'm sure we've all experienced our fair share of failures. Whether it's a website that didn't perform as well as we hoped, a marketing campaign that fell flat, or a project that just didn't work out, failure is an inevitable part of the journey.

So, let's get real here: how many times have you failed? And what did you learn from those experiences? Did they lead you to pivot your strategy, try something new, or just push you to work harder?

I'll go first: I've had my fair share of failures, especially in the early days of my career. But each time, I tried to learn from my mistakes and use them as fuel to do better next time. One of my biggest failures was launching a forum that had a lot of potential, but didn't generate the traffic or activity I was hoping for. I learned not to give up that easily and that I need to work hard on the forum almost every day.

So, how about you? How many times have you failed, and what did you learn from those experiences? Share your stories, insights, and tips with the community – let's help each other grow and succeed!

 

[Kale]

It's important to remember that failure is not a reflection of your worth or abilities. Rather, it's an opportunity to learn and grow. Each time you fail, you can use that experience to improve and try again with a new perspective. Failing is a natural part of the learning process, and it's common for people to fail many times before achieving success. In fact, some of the most successful people in history have experienced multiple failures before achieving their goals.

I've failed many times owning a forum or website. I have learned from those failures, and hope to do better with my current forum. Also remember don't be discouraged by failure. Instead, use it as motivation to keep trying and push yourself towards success.

 

[Cory]

I've failed about two different Yu-Gi-Oh boards due to a lack of motivation and the fact that I feel like people just use social networks for that type of stuff nowadays. I didn't really invest much time into advertising the boards or posting a lot of content to them, I guess I get more of an adrenaline rush by helping people and providing resources because I've had two successful resource boards. If you really want to pursue something you need to have a passion for it, engage in the forum, and drive visitors to it.

 

[Arantor]

"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better."

I have failed many, many times. But each 'failure' was instructional.

 

[Tracy]

It's only a failure if you don't learn from it.
That's like I actually got someone from a search that took the time to join and thank me for a guide that I did. That's one of the things I have learned.... simple posts are fine... but if you can extend your site to actual guides/articles (depending on the niche) that can help others, they seem to be easier to find... this article was using Bob's AMS add-on for XF. And the thing was, it was a simple 2 minute to read article with images showing basically how to attach an EAF to a certain style telescope that there is not a lot of info out on.

 

[Shortie]

I have had a few times where I have failed when it's come to running a forum or even a blog, I think it is inevitable that it will happen at some point, usually in the beginning if you are new to it and still learning. I have had forums that never took off in the beginning because I myself was still new to running a forum and due to not understanding SEO and marketing, the forum didn't succeed. When I tried again with another forum, that one was more of a success and was open for around 8 years throughout that time I learned SEO and marketing to ensure my site thrived this time.

 

[Cedric]

It's only a failure if you don't learn from it.
That's like I actually got someone from a search that took the time to join and thank me for a guide that I did. That's one of the things I have learned.... simple posts are fine... but if you can extend your site to actual guides/articles (depending on the niche) that can help others, they seem to be easier to find... this article was using Bob's AMS add-on for XF. And the thing was, it was a simple 2 minute to read article with images showing basically how to attach an EAF to a certain style telescope that there is not a lot of info out on.

Agreed. I’ve been approached on the XF support forum with a PM saying that they like the articles here and asking for permission if they can translate to their language with a backlink here. Was very pleased to hear some positive feedback about this and of course I inclined the request.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I've failed more times than I can count. But really it was my own fault for giving up on my old projects before they really could flourish. If you feel like you are failing, then look for ways to better yourself as a webmaster. This can be said about anything in life though, the only time you fail is if you give up.

 

[Heatman]

I've failed more times than I can count. But really it was my own fault for giving up on my old projects before they really could flourish. If you feel like you are failing, then look for ways to better yourself as a webmaster. This can be said about anything in life though, the only time you fail is if you give up.

This was exactly what happened to me with my first forum project. I was in so much haste to have success but it wasn't coming, then I had to throw in the white towel. Some years later, I saw another forum project with the same idea I had years ago being very successful. It could have been me but I gave up too soon.

 

[joelr]

One of my biggest failures was launching a forum that had a lot of potential, but didn't generate the traffic or activity I was hoping for. I learned not to give up that easily and that I need to work hard on the forum almost every day.

One of the hidden secrets is that most forums start too early.

Most forum admins don't do enough research or work on what's important: their value proposition, their content backlog, defining their audience and user journey, building a private preview and getting early feedback, early promotion, etc. Most forum admins also spend time on totally the wrong things early on too: themes and plugins.

Forums should only be built once you have an audience.

 

[Arantor]

Hear hear.

Too many still talk about forums as if they were part of a golden age of 'build it and they will come'. Thing is, it wasn't true even then, even if for many it felt like it.

 

[Reverie]

The forums that failed the most were due to either not enough memberbase interested in the specific topic I wanted to create about. Didn't know the best advertising for it back then since it was 2006ish. My first two forums had a decent memberbase though still and we had fun, but then it just slowed down suddenly. I decided to let them both go as I became member and staff at other forums and just grew my friends list. It helped me succeed more further on when I had made more friends in the forum world to be able to get on my newer communities.