$1000 per month?

How long did it take for you to make $1000 from your forum website. Please answer in number of years, number of members and traffic if possible

 

Less than 2 years for my first big earner.

 

Rectangleman...are you referring to your webmasterforums website?

 

It depends on the market. I am not making anywhere near that much, mainly because I can not put google banners on my site.

Lets say that you have a forum about digital cameras, and then you have a forum about firearms.

The camera forum - its easy to put banners on a forum about cameras because everyone likes cameras. My wifes camera forum is about 6 - 7 months old, and makes her just pennies a day. But traffic is still going up.

The firearms forum - google does not want their banners on websites that promote the sell of weapons. Around 8,500 - 9,500 uniques visit my survival / firearms forum daily. If I could put google banners in front of that many people, I could make some good money.

Even though I have a good sized forum, I have found it difficult to find companies that can provide targeted advertising. So I have started renting out forum sections to resellers and I am using the amazon associate program instead of google banners.

 

You can earn that much in 2-3 months. Dedication is THE KEY.

 

Perhaps you could provide a link to the forum that you built? And from the time it opened, in 2 - 3 months you made $1,000 (US Dollars).

From my 3 years of running a forum, it usually takes around 12 months just for traffic to start to pick up and another year before traffic really takes off. The first 6 months is dedicated to building backlinks, building post count and getting good ranking in google SERPs. After around 6 - 8 months your forum should have a stable ranking in Google SERPS, and hopefully improving.

If your willing to spend some money on advertising, you could really jump start your site. Advertising such as some TV commercials, or ad space on MSN or Yahoo will help to drive traffic to your site quickly.

Keep in mind, how much money you make is directly related to the amount of traffic you get. The more traffic you get, the more money you make.

A good part of your traffic will depend on google ranking, promotion techniques and advertising.

 

Forums are really tough to monetize. Forget making money on forums using AdSense or any other ppc ads. Build a forum that is dedicated to a product for e.g Ladies purse and display your affiliate ads on the forum. Another good idea would be a forum where people share websites giving free coupons or other freebies. Load this forum with your CPA offer links.

The best way to make big money using forums is to master a technique...it can be anything from making money online to tips on saving tax, solving personal issues etc. Charge your members a membership fee and keep the forum private. This can be a difficult but people pay good money for such forums.

I know a person who answers astrology related questions and resolves personal problems online using forums and emails...he makes good money.

 

i think its also possible to cash a forum with.
specific product base + cookie stuff in the forum to its affliate network..so that you can cash your visitors..its a very advance tricks to make money

 

For privacy reasons I can not disclose my site. But if you would like pm me and I will send you the link.

My forum monetizes through sponsored advertisement only. Makes over $17k/month and has been running for approximately 2 years. Expense is under $1k/month. So for all forum owners, monetizing off your website is possible. It is only a matter of how you do it. Unfortunately I have to say 99% of all forums fail.

Here are my pointers on what is necessary:

1. Uniqueness - many forum owners lack vision. Too many generic sites and lack of creativity. It is quite obvious to know what forum has potential and what does not. If you can not see this on your own site then you are probably within that 99% who fail.

2. Investment - Dont try to be cheap and do everything yourself. A professional site can easily be distinguished from an amateur site. Forget the $10 logos or less than $100 web designs, etc.. If you really want to make money off a forum think business. What will investing a $xxxx bring back to you? Unfortunately most forum owners conduct business as a hobby. Hobbies cost money.

3. Industry - who are your target audience. A forum must add value from a user perspective. How do you expect to monetize off a forum targeting broke teenagers or gamers? Your only option is adsense and affiliates. Good luck. What about a forum that targets the wealthy? You obviously have a higher chance of obtaining respectable sponsors who can shed out few thousand dollars a month on advertisement. THINK BUSINESS.

4. Lack of knowledge - if you do not have expert knowledge in the particular niche topic you operate there is an issue. Successful ppl stick with what they know best. If you have minimal knowledge regarding your forum category, how in the world do you expect to create content that could drive members to your site?

5. Commitment - There are no shortcuts in life. You work your butt of and put in those extra hours while your competitors are asleep... it is only a matter of time before you succeed. Do not expect success to be achieved overnight. Life is about taking baby steps and achieving small goals at a time. Do not stop believing, be determined, passionate, and motivated. If you are hungry enough nothing can stop you. However, work smart and manage time efficiently.

6. Add value - Too many forum owners cheat on content with garbage posts. Well guess what? Expect a garbage audience as well. If your business adds value to the community, then it makes sense for ppl to come to your site.

7. DP - If you visit dp to hire freelancers for your site you are probably in the 99% failure group. You get what you pay for bottom line. Find quality ppl to work with.

On a personal note, I think many forum owners fail because they clearly lack sense in running a forum and do not hold a business mind. The moment you treat your site as a business things will change.

Hope this helps but again I realize what i write may shatter the dreams of many. Good luck.

 

marlboromenthols has made its first and very best informative post
thanks marlboromenthols,

 

If that site do 1000$/month i'm stupid.

I quote

 

just to reach your post count limit huh ?

 

No, i'm not interested on incrase my postcount. I have no reasons to do it.

 

No that's a new webmaster forum and should take more time to grow. But it's steady and the efforts I do now will eventually pay off in spades.

Have you ever run a successful forum or are you just guessing? Nothing you say make sense to me.

I have a friend who I helped build up his site as was sysadmin for a few years. His target audience was gamers and he made his money off affiliate links. Now his site is top 10k Alexa and is worth 7-figures...this is just 6 years later. I think around 10-15 months he was over the $1k a month mark. Of course now he makes $xx,xxx a month.

But marlboromenthols is overall very correct about what makes a forum a success.

This is very true. But never lose perspective that it's also a community.