Could a forum harm my sales?

I sell travel guides.

[julinho]

I run the most popular site in English about my city.
Few people speak English around here.
I give some free info about the city on my site, but I also sell a travel guide, where I provide much more detailed info, more photos, movies, etc.; letīs say that I am happy with the sales level.

Now, I am considering starting a board, where visitors would be able to ask and answer questions, share opinions, etc.
I am thinking about this board because I already dominate most of the relevant keywords about my city, in practically all major SEs. I donīt think itīs worthy to add more content (better to spend time with other sites).

I have zero experience with running boards.

Questions:
1) is is a good idea to start a board? Is the additional traffic worthy the extra work? I already run Adsense on my site, but I heard that forum posters donīt click much.
2) is it possible that the board would harm the sales of my guide? I mean, people would tend to post for free info that otherwise I would be selling.

Thanks.

[rogerd]

Julinho, the benefits of a forum (if it becomes popular) are the generation of a lot of content related to your topics and the possibility of search engine traffic from many unanticipated keyword combinations.

In addition, if you play an active role in the community, it will bolster your credibility as an expert.

On the downside, forums are a lot of work and your repeat visitors may not be great customers.

I'd suggest giving the forum a try. Be sure to link to your popular pages on the current website in a way that new visitors will find. Run some ads for your guides, too.

While it might be annoying if you frequently drop plugs for your guides, you might consider doing a slightly more subtle signature approach, listing yourself as author (or publisher, etc.) of Guide to ____ (with an appropriate link). People who are impressed by your knowledge may be inclined to click.

If you don't mind really annoying some people, you could deliver a popunder to search-engine visitors highlighting your products. A special banner ad might work, too.

[julinho]

Thank you, rogerd.

So, the idea is to give out small pieces of knowledge at each post, and then point to "all knowledge in one place" (my guide); even these "small pieces" can be given by linking to specific pages in the free section of the site.
Yes, I think I will give it a try.

[rogerd]

That's definitely one way to strike a balance. It's a bit tricky - you don't want to seem like you are failing to answer questions completely, or that you are constantly promoting.

Not answering every question yourself is probably a good idea, too, if you get a high volume of questions. Choose the questions that will let you display your expertise without having to include a whole book chapter in your post. :)

[EliteWeb]

Have people submit information to the guides ;) Favorite places, etc.

[woollyhat2]

Depends I suspect how proactive you are in managing the forum.

A lot of forums get taken down because annoyed customers use it as a stick to beat the site owner with.

I appreaciate this is not the answer you had in mind but worth thinking about...

[rogerd]

I think the best possible outcome would be if you developed a strong community built around the topic of your guide. Over the long run, you'll generate a lot of new traffic and visitors sent to you either by search engines (the largest source), links from other sites, and individual referrals. Your dual roles the "host" of the forum and the author/publisher of the guide(s) will create a credibility feedback loop that should serve you well.

I suppose if the forum is so successful that visitors get quick answers to their questions you might lose a few sales, but I think you'll gain a lot more sales from the increased traffic and publicity. Besides, people still prefer a printed item to carry around with them.

[julinho]

Thanks to all posters. Very helpful.

Rogerd, my guide is a kind of ebook, but I think your ideas still apply.
Now that you mentioned, I think that a printed guide may be a better idea.