i think paying for posts is ridiculous, its what kept netpond's threaded board from being taken seriously.. i actualy take a bit of offense when i get those 12 cent paypals that i really didnt ask for :-/
paying for referrals? that seems smart but only for a while.
prizes? i dont know that they are a good incentive unless you're trying to recruite the beer money crowd (or unless the prize giveaways are fixed *hint hint.. im available to receive oprano prizes*
i think there is some formula to determine the perfect board.... (colin? help?)
in that formula i believe # of posts, # of postERS, quality of posts, and # of lurkers are the four factors.
maybe the perfect board has 3 lurkers for every poster, ever poster posts three times a day, and 2/3 of all posts are meaningless "show me your tits" posts and 1/3 are intersting biz related serious posts?
so if you take gfy as an example, these multiple personalities actually DO help the board because 500 posts by one guy is not as valueable as 400 by one nick and 100 by another... but eventually the same people can only come up with so many interesting threads, so the quality begins falling and either you bring in new people who post a lot of interesting stuff, or people become the laughing stock of the industry.
if i had the motivation to start a board? i'd pay idiots to keep 60-70% of all posts meaningless, just for volume... after all.. nobody wants to go to a party until it's already in full swing
maybe it's the wine talking.