Have you noticed a trend toward paid forums to help business owners or managers keep abreast of the latest and greatest information available to them? I believe I'm seeing a trend toward this...at least I hope so!

Of course, online communities/membership forums have been around for years. From what I can see, most of them started out as free forums. Those that have tried to change from free to paid don't seem to have done well. But what about the ones that start out primarily as paid forums (perhaps with a smaller free section)?

I recently surveyed my ezine readers [I produce a weekly marketing e-newsletter, "MarketingIdeaShop Brainy Tidbits" that is distributed to a variety of small business owners and managers] and found that one of the things they would like me to provide on my website, MarketingIdeaShop.com, is a forum. However, since this site is not niched very small, this does not seem like a worthwhile effort to me.

However, many of my readers are women business owners. I have researched the websites focused on helping women business owners succeed, and most of them tend to be government-related sites like the Women's Business Centers or association websites, like NAWBO.

Therefore, I am in the process of creating a new website focusing on helping women business owners succeed and thrive both professionally and personally, and it will include a paid membership forum. WomenBusinessSuccess.com will launch at the end of September.

There are currently a few really good forums available for small business owners. A couple are Turning Ideas Into Dollars, Marketing Profs, and the Idea Cafe.

There are also several paid Internet marketing sites -- Corey Rudl's "The Secrets to Their Success" comes to mind. And I just received an email from Tom Antion telling me he's launching a paid membership site, as well.

I'd love to see a list of the forums (paid and unpaid) that y'all think are really good. Please post them here or send me an email and tell me what you think.

Also, what do you think these forums should/must include to be successful? What makes them useful?