I assume you have read through this already?
Starting a Web Community [webmasterworld.com]

Sometimes, whatever you try, a forum doesn't work. Some subjects simply don't lend themselves to the format. I commend you for your perseverance, but if you've tried the usual methods and got nowhere, at some point you've got to decide to stop digging. ;)

You may have a better chance of success with the more controlled "community" aspect offered by a blog, where you can lead the discussion and can solicit comments.

Yes, I have read that ;).

I think I will run it till end of year, and if goals are not met, then put it up on the block.

Here is an idea. It should *only* be used in desperate times though.

Create about 12 different users. Start talking to yourself though them, role-play. :) lol

Sounds crazy but it helps to jump start stubborn boards.

OR you can do what I did to jump start my latest board, buy adwords for it.

At 60.00 a day budget, after a month of running it the board has so many new (genuine) members that it stands alone.

The board *needs* to be SEOed for optimal results. The posts are like *pages* and those pages need to stick to the SERPS like any other website pages. You optimize your sites right? Don't neglect your forum! It's part of the site too, and your users are writing pages.

Make some *article posts* these are lengthy, well researched, well formated informative pages. Make them stickies. If you SEO them they should not only get ranked well, but will also organically pick up links.

Good luck.

thank you for the feedback and ideas.

Create about 12 different users. Start talking to yourself though them, role-play. happy! lol
Sounds crazy but it helps to jump start stubborn boards.

I prefer just to hire a couple of individuals to participate as paid "moderators" with posting requirements.

OR you can do what I did to jump start my latest board, buy adwords for it.

At 60.00 a day budget, after a month of running it the board has so many new (genuine) members that it stands alone.

$60.00/day is a huge budget for a month. I have tried with much lower ($5) and the CTR was less than stellar, and had zero stickiness.

The board *needs* to be SEOed for optimal results. The posts are like *pages* and those pages need to stick to the SERPS like any other website pages. You optimize your sites right? Don't neglect your forum! It's part of the site too, and your users are writing pages.

I have a concerns dealing with upgrades, and software patches. As I use "pre-packaged" software, SEO activites are limited within the confines of the software itself.

I do have almost all of my pages included in the top three SE, and they come back often. :D

Make some *article posts* these are lengthy, well researched, well formated informative pages. Make them stickies. If you SEO them they should not only get ranked well, but will also organically pick up links.

I do exactly just that. I check what is "hot", and then research it more extensively than competitors. I have even conducted some of my own experiements.

Still... traffic is limited.

why don't you go with that blog idea. you are obviously committed to the site, even if your members aren't, and that is exactly what you need with a blog.
use a piece of free software like wordpress, or something similar. with wordpress you can host it on your own site, or theirs, if you prefer.

then you can spend all your time writing actual posts rather than chasing members. (and you don't have to pretend to be someone else either!)
wordpress spits out valid code as well, and you can set it to ping all of the blog search engines when you make a post. so you shouldn't have a problem getting the material out there and noticed. it also produces things like ready-made RSS feeds for people to read, with no effort from you. if you stick at it then you will pick up some users soon enough.

(and it's a lot easier to moderate a blog as well)

Londrum's suggestion is a good one - if the blog develops a lot of traffic, you can always re-launch the forum then.

A blog can be a good blog even with low traffic - a forum can't.

thank you for the feedback and ideas.
Create about 12 different users. Start talking to yourself though them, role-play. happy! lol
Sounds crazy but it helps to jump start stubborn boards.

I prefer just to hire a couple of individuals to participate as paid "moderators" with posting requirements.

OR you can do what I did to jump start my latest board, buy adwords for it.
At 60.00 a day budget, after a month of running it the board has so many new (genuine) members that it stands alone.

If instead of paying moderators, you did it yourself as my first suggestion *suggests* and put that money into adwords you will likely see a difference.

If none of those suggestions work, go with the blog idea mentioned above this post. Sounds like a good alternative for your case.