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How to earn money with Forums?

Discussion in 'General Business' started by Robbie P, May 10, 2011.

  1. #1
    Hello,

    I am considering starting up a forum, and I'm simply not sure how to make any money from it at all.

    So I have come here in search of advice/ideas/tips on how to make money with a Forum?

    Thanks,
    Robbie Plenderleith
     
    Robbie P, May 10, 2011 IP
  2. jhardy2008

    jhardy2008 Peon

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    #2
    participate in a particular forum according to your interest and then try to give solutions of problems. Once your profile establish strongly then you have to opportunity to earn money.
     
    jhardy2008, May 10, 2011 IP
  3. etc

    etc Well-Known Member

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    #3
    Ads of course. its what almost all forums do. they earn thru ads. whether its google adsense or anything.
     
    etc, May 10, 2011 IP
  4. vuxuanhung

    vuxuanhung Member

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    #4
    Try pop-up networks, popads.net seems to be the best for new forums :D
     
    vuxuanhung, May 11, 2011 IP
  5. ken.sweet

    ken.sweet Active Member

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    #5
    Also do a seo and increase the ranking to get better clicks on ads.
     
    ken.sweet, May 11, 2011 IP
  6. WJunction

    WJunction Peon

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    #6
    It's hard to make money without it being popular. Take this place for example, you can buy premium and things like that. On my forums I currently only monetize via ads. It's not the greatest income, but anyway.
     
    WJunction, May 11, 2011 IP
  7. dcristo

    dcristo Illustrious Member

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    #7
    I'd scrap the idea forums are renowned for being tough to monetize (unless you are like the only forum in your niche and its commercial in nature, which is a rarity).
     
    dcristo, May 11, 2011 IP
  8. Robbie P

    Robbie P Member

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    #8
    Thank you all for your feedback, i'm thinking of starting out as a forum and then in future perhaps 'upgrade' my website so it is not just a forum. How much money would ads bring in each month, for say, 500 unique visitors a month?
     
    Robbie P, May 11, 2011 IP
  9. dcristo

    dcristo Illustrious Member

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    #9
    Revenue would be pretty much non existent for 500 unique visitors a month.
     
    dcristo, May 11, 2011 IP
  10. Justin_Dupre

    Justin_Dupre Peon

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    #10
    adword, affiliate link, sponsors, and ad space. Get tons of members :)
     
    Justin_Dupre, May 11, 2011 IP
  11. AlexMaster

    AlexMaster Peon

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    #11
    Absolutely agree!
    Ads is the the choice for the earning money!
     
    AlexMaster, May 11, 2011 IP
  12. w3bmaster

    w3bmaster Notable Member

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    #12
    Traffic = $$$$
    Any site can earn but it needs traffic ...
     
    w3bmaster, May 11, 2011 IP
  13. Matthew Roe

    Matthew Roe Active Member

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    #13
    I would actually suggest going the other way around. Build up your main site and then introduce the forum.

    By building the site first, you can get a subscriber base and pretty much guaranteed members whenever you finally do introduce the forum.

    As per monetizing it:

    Adsense/other ads
    Premium section
    Giving users the ability to buy/rent a board per month.
     
    Matthew Roe, May 11, 2011 IP
  14. Ragu_007

    Ragu_007 Well-Known Member

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    #14
    You can use ads to earn some income. Traffic is must to earn some bucks.
     
    Ragu_007, May 12, 2011 IP
  15. jjs

    jjs Member

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    #15
    If you have a lot of traffic -> ads, if you don't -> affiliate programs related to your forum content.
     
    jjs, May 12, 2011 IP
  16. Gladiator™

    Gladiator™ Peon

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    #16
    A vip subforum area.Make your forum a thing which sets it apart from all the forums out there.Learn how DP and WF did.Regards
     
    Gladiator™, May 12, 2011 IP
  17. mschoolman

    mschoolman Peon

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    #17
    I didn't realize that it was so difficult to earn a profit with that many people. Dang.
     
    mschoolman, May 12, 2011 IP
  18. mschoolman

    mschoolman Peon

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    #18
    I am wondering how to increase that traffic myself.
     
    mschoolman, May 12, 2011 IP
  19. digitalpoint

    digitalpoint Overlord of no one Staff

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    #19
    To be honest, if you are worried about making money when your forum is small (or non-existent), you shouldn't have a forum. That being said, with 500 visitors/month you can probably make somewhere around $0.25/month.
     
    digitalpoint, May 12, 2011 IP
  20. oletsdoit

    oletsdoit Peon

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    #20
    Bout sums it up.
     
    oletsdoit, May 12, 2011 IP