http://jrockkankaku.vforums.co.uk/

I loved the default so much that I wanted to keep it. I will be adding a new skin, but I love the colors so much.

I am going to be teaching Japanese on my board, but don't worry. There are English translations. Since I am teaching it everyone can understand what will be said.

I am a little worried and nervous. A lot of guests have viewed it, but I don't know if they're viewing it from here or a couple other message boards with the same theme and passing it? I'm trying to stirr up some discussion. I have 11 members and only two of them are posting. ;_;

I am trying to add something different to the JRock community with the Japanese lessons and some translations. Any advice?

Nice choice of skin.
To see where those guests are coming from maybe add a Stat Counter it will tell you what page they came from to find your site.

Your issue with finding members is you are advertising on a mostly English board. Not many people here can read and speak Japanese and to be quite honest with no disrespect to the language, I don't think many people are interested in Japanese rock. What I would do:

A) Advertise on Japanese music forums/sites Scroll to the bottom of this site to find some good forums.
Emphasize the fact that you will be teaching Japanese lessons to maybe catch the attention of a few English speaking people So, I would put "Learn Japanese" or something similar in your sig.

As far as boards go, I'd make Rules and Information a sub-board under announcements. Then, I'd bring Meet and Greet up into a board of its own. Makes your forum seem more welcoming.

Last, the boards like A-F, G-L, ect. don't look professional and aren't too incentive when the titles are like that meaning people won't post in them. Instead of doing it like that, I'd make only a few boards and do it by different aspects of Japanese Rock. If that makes the category have only 3 boards then so be it. There is no such thing as not enough boards.

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Your issue with finding members is you are advertising on a mostly English board.

I am confused by this statement. My board is open to anyone that can speak English. It's an English board. I am advertising in other places that you can't see that has to do with JRock.

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Not many people here can read and speak Japanese

I am not sure what the purpose of "not many here can speak Japanese." What do you mean by here? Here on the board? That just seems random to me. This is for the JRock fan-base (I'm not just refering to Japanese people, but a wide variety)I've also mentioned that there are going to be translations in English, so why would it matter if you don't speak Japanese?

If you're referring to the music you can find several tranlsations in English online. Also, I do plan on having lyrics translated on my board so people understand the music more.

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and to be quite honest with no disrespect to the language, I don't think many people are interested in Japanese rock.

I have a hard time believing someone would create a certain type of message board without doing their research about the theme. I have done my research considering I have been into the fan-base for about a year now. I know how big it is. :/ I know that JRock isn't mainstream (although, that depends on the country). In fact, the very purpose of my board is to help promote JRock. Therefore, I'll soon be affiliating with a wide-variety of sites to attract fans and make fans that way.

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As far as boards go, I'd make Rules and Information a sub-board under announcements. Then, I'd bring Meet and Greet up into a board of its own. Makes your forum seem more welcoming.

I might do that for the meet and greet, but not the Rules and Information. I put that under announcements because I thought it fit. Someone actually told me they couldn't see the meet and greet, but I've also seen it as a sub-board in other places and most people found it just fine. -shrugs- I want the rules and information the way it is for people to clearly see it.

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Last, the boards like A-F, G-L, ect. don't look professional and aren't too incentive when the titles are like that meaning people won't post in them.

There's a good reason I have this way. I'll be thankful for it in the future when threads start up. I have seen this done on websites and it looks professional. It just doesn't right now cause the boards are empty, but they will get filled.

I know where to advertise my site, but I am not familiar with that website. Thanks for the link.

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If that makes the category have only 3 boards then so be it. There is no such thing as not enough boards.

Actually, there is. I've seen it. x_x For example, I don't think it'd be wise to add other discussion boards because the ones I have aren't filled yet.

You are misinterpreting what I said. Basically all I was trying to do was to give you ideas on how to advertise since you said only 2 of your members were posting. I was saying that not many people "here" on English language based forums listen to JRock because they can't understand it or don't like the sound. Of course that doesn't go for everyone but most. Therefore, I said you need to broaden your target to Japanese sites such as some provided in the link if you want to give this forum a chance at succeeding. It's very well done btw.

I understand your board is not open to just Japanese people but the point I am making is that if you target your forum to the Japanese crowd rather than the English folk, your forum will gain much more attention. How do I know? The majority of English speaking people like to listen to music in English. The majority of Japanese people prefer to listen to music in Japanese.

Now since you said that this is open to English people as well which would be assumed anyways, I said:

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Emphasize the fact that you will be teaching Japanese lessons to maybe catch the attention of a few English speaking people So, I would put "Learn Japanese" or something similar in your sig.

Now you have two target groups which should make it easier to promote.

From your response it seemed like you thought I was belittling you and your JRock knowledge. I was merely giving you an idea on how to get more members posting.

I don't think I really misunderstood since I did ask you about this, but I was confused about your motive a bit.

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I was saying that not many people "here" on English language based forums listen to JRock because they can't understand it or don't like the sound.

I know, but I'm not advertising here.

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I understand your board is not open to just Japanese people but the point I am making is that if you target your forum to the Japanese crowd rather than the English folk, your forum will gain much more attention.

I don't think you realize that JRock has fans world-wide, not just in Japan or people that are Japanese, but that are from different cultures. JRock is moderately sucessful in America. I went to a Japanese rock concert at the end of May and over 2,000 fans from America came. JRock isn't mainstream in America, that I know. My board isn't just for one JRock band, but many others. Some are very popular in America, such as Dir en Grey. Miyavi came to America and his band was sold out. Quite a few bands came to America where there shows have sold out. in several places There were three JRock bands over this last year that has actually toured America. In a nutshell I know my board won't have 10,000 members, but it can get a decent amount of members.

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The majority of English speaking people like to listen to music in English.

While I know that I also know that there are people like me that enjoy listening to a variety of languages.

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The majority of Japanese people prefer to listen to music in Japanese.

It's like in Japan. A lot of the JRock bands I listen to love listening to American bands. Some artists from America has toured Japan to play their music for their fans.

You're giving me advice on how to advertise. I appreciate your helpful heart. Thank-you, but that isn't the problem for me. I shouldn't address that I have any problems really because the board is new.

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Emphasize the fact that you will be teaching Japanese lessons to maybe catch the attention of a few English speaking people So, I would put "Learn Japanese" or something similar in your sig.

I've done that on another JRock forum I visit frequently before you mentioned it. ^^;