Trying to get started. some questions I need help with

[StartingOut]

Hello all.

I am interested in starting a blog site with a forum attached. I am looking to transition out of the 9-5 work world in maybe 4 to 8 years. {Yeah, I have goals :-) }
I have ideas for the blog site. My subject matter is pretty hot and I want to be able to build up a following and use that to drive sales and other types of revenue.

I have some questions that I hope I can get some advice on:

1) I have been looking around and I see that Wordpress/bbpress/buddypress are supposed to have some good integration.
a) Does anyone have any ideas about a better free forum for wordpress OR a better blog/forum combo?
b) Is there a free forum that also has a feature/plugin that will allow it to serve as a blog as well?

2) The forums that I have seen that do well seem to minimize the ads they show. What are the best ways to make money with an online community?
a) I am looking at click-thru and other types of revenue, but they require a certain amount of traffic. Any other ideas?

3) I do not mind reading. I am on this site, and trying to get some education. Is there any other USEFUL stuff on forums/monetizing websites out there that I can read for free?

Thanks very much for any help you may provide.

[ogletree]

I think that combo is the best since there is a lot of support and it will not be hard to find somebody to help you with it. I use them on a low traffic site so I can't speak on how robust it is.

I think you might just start out with a blog to build up readership and once that gets going you can have a big announcement for the forum. Starting with an empty forum makes people thinks your site is empty and nobody wants to make a post on an almost empty forum.

With the blog you can find out your core audience that will move with you over to the forum. Another option would be to not have a blog like WebmasterWorld and use forum posts as your blog.

Don't do any ads for a while. Wait until you have a lot of traffic. Your not going to make anything early on anyhow so why bother people with ads. It is very hard to build up a solid community do everything you can to not hinder the process. The real money is in getting sponsors.

The biggest thing is to constantly wright good content and engage your visitors. A forum will never go anywhere unless you have a core group of posters. You will want to find good people that are passionate about your subject to get involved. Contact them and make friends with them. You can even send them small gift cards or something.