Hello, I recently started building a forum, and obviously I want to see a way to earn money to be able to pay for my server. I was reading this and other forums to seek ways of advertising, but I have not found any, in my view, good enough to use: The forum, among other things, will serve to file sharing what we like (games, movies, books, etc., etc., etc.). This leaves Adsense discarded for me. My original idea was that before each download there will appear a pop-up or a page with banners, or forcing them clicking on ads, but I think that most companies prohibited this. So, please, if anyone knows any kind of publicity who thinks that can adjust to my needs, I would be most grateful!
You may not like either or both of them, but you should study ShoeMoney.com and JohnChow.com. Start from there.
I wrote an article recently all about forum promotion and monetization. You can check it out at abstractpromotion.com/category/forum-promotion
Sorry for not being more clear. Look at their ads, their links, and other sources of income from ads. Ask yourself how could you work it for your site. JohnChow.com has a free e-book on how he made money, also. The link is down on the bottom left. I'm good at spotting bullshit, so I can safely say that for the most part he has been pretty honest in his e-book. You could also contact advertisers yourself. But, of course, that is down the road when you have enough traffic that appeals to them. But remember to choose the ones that convert, that aren't so boring. Smileys, ringtones, music downloads, free screensavers, ecards are such examples. DavesDaily.com carries such ads all the time. For example. One of their most popular ads, that is up all the time is in the first category, titled, "Can't Get A Girlfriend! This will help..." It goes to this site: http://www.pheromonereviewsite.com/ It's pure shit, of course, but it's a good ad to have on certain sites.
if your forum is about sharing movies, games, etc you will be very limited at finding advertising programs
First work on getting lots of members and activity, then worry about monetizing - otherwise you won't ever get it off the ground.
Concentrate on building your loyal member base, which make a lot of page views and use CPM advertisement on your pages. You could achieve that with hiring posters to kick-start your new forum and add interesting features such as arcade game gallery.
I agree with the previous posters. Get a solid/loyal user base and then slowly integrate some ideas. Maybe gaming or movie affiliate programs. Put up a small button and have people sign up for free trials of netflix or blockbuster (get some free game rentals) Look around at other similar forums and see what they're doing.
Thanks for the replies. I think I can manage a small group to start and then start expanding it. "Maybe gaming or movie affiliate programs..." What do you referrer with this...
I've found that forums are the hardest types of sites to monetize. You need HUGE traffic to make any sort of real income. I like to use forums more to add depth to my sites than as a vehicle for making money. Forum users are very ad blind.
You need GOOD traffic, not just huge traffic. You need a good strong member base that stays consistent!