[tapiwa]

This is true. So very true.

Another rookie mistake to avoid, is fragmentation. Say you want to start a forum on topic X. Just have a forum for X till you gain traction.

A mistake many people make, is to have subforums X1, X2, X3, etc, from the get go. It makes what little traffic you have seem even less. Start with one forum, and then fragment according to the dictates of the main forum. In any case, the sub forums you will end up with will rarely be the same ones you envisaged before launch.