noob question

[J_chem]

Hello,

I'm new to this whole thing and I'm sure glad I came across this site. Excellent articles :)

I have a few ideas for community forums that I'd like to create (with vBulletin). From your guide I understand that it can be difficult to create a community, but I'm going to give it a shot.

My question is:
how big of a community is needed for a site to pay for itself? (just hosting)

I'm not looking to make a quick buck, I'm thinking long term here =)

but I'm just curious what is needed to get a forum to pay for itself. (most likely with google advertising) because if getting that level pretty quickly seems attainable, I will consider trying a few of my ideas in the next few months rather than one at a time.


thanks for any advice

[Cutter]

My suggestion would be to create a 10 to 15 page website first. Basic "noob" stuff for people in whatever ever community your targetting. Add Adsense to every page -- then ad your forum. On the bottom of every page put "Click here to talk about X" or "Have a question? Click here" and direct them to the forum.