How do you make lurkers post?

[Sunfrog]

Let's say I have 200 members and only a handful post. How do I make the other ones post?

[boron]

I'm performing an "real time research" on this topic. Details will not be disclosed now, but check:
http://publisherforums.com/showthread.php?t=614

[masm50]

A contest is always a good way to start people posting, although there is no certainty that the people will then continue to post once the competition has ended or the quality of the posts.

-Tim

[MartynJ]

Post somthing controversial, Somthing that people won't be able to read and not reply to :p

[SgtRumble]

Contest are a great incentive but I think most will post if they find the conversation of interest to them. There has to be a fine balance between too much and not enough as far as topics go. I have been to a few forums that had well over a hundred different topic boards to discuss about and a few that only talked about 1 specific thing.

[John Chow]

Create a few fake accounts and talk to yourself. The lurkers will join in on the fun eventually.

[Sunfrog]

Like 60 fake accounts? I can't do that, I only have 3 split personalities.
Yeah, there's only three of us.
Can me have cookie?

[Dark]

Simple, give them a reason to post.

[Mystic]

Give them money. Have contests (dont have a refferal contest though - that never really works).
Another way is to hire paid posters. There are several companies offering paid posting services. They have people who would make interesting and quality posts using multiple usernames. This will make your forum looks active.
However, its not cheap. The good ones would cost 20c or more per post.

[bdude]

One of my tips is to create a lot of threads with open endings, that can prompt opinion/responses.

[Submerge]

I create new posts as well asking questions to the visitors, hopefully they respond.

[missingarrow]

When someone new posts on your forum don't be the first one to jump in and reply. Wait to see if someone else does. It's hard but it helps.

In my latest forum start I used a couple of the paid posting services in order to review them. Overall I was disappointed but they did create some content and made the place look livelier, unfortunately it also made it look like the forum was filled with newbies. (The forum is a fairly specialized business topic.)

Good Luck,
Dan

[profitline]

Some ways to get those lurkers to post.

-create questions
-give freebies by replying
-show them a tutorial or guide link