How people make money running forums ?

I was just wondering from where people earn money running forums , Is it only the google ads that forum owners are getting revenue from ?

 

build a strong community and later on affiliate ads and referral ads can become very handy in generating more income than adsense or other cpc. Also forums works well with cpm

 

ugh.

Um, it's the ads in their forum.

Hello???

 

Yeah, I'm wondering what is the best way to make money off forums?

 

google isn't the only way . There are tons of ways including selling links.

 

Look at other forums, and blogs, keep track how long the ads stay up, which reveal that in most cases they are doing good, and then contact them.

 

Making money through forums is done through ads, affiliates and referrals.
Also along with discussion, if the forum provides some insightful information then it may also be a good contender for buyout some years down the line.

 

you can start out with adsense then after a while start selling ad space directly to advertisers

 

I believe Adsense is the worst performer for forums.. Most reputable forums generate most of its revenue through subscription

 

They make money by selling ads and banners, adsense, affiliate products and by having people sign up for various products and services.

 

The problem is,...


Its difficult to start a good forum.

 

They make money by banner ads (affiliates-referrals), comissions per sales, and adsense.
But right, it is nearly not possible to start as huge forum to gain a solid revenue or income.

Niches work better nowadays.

 

Very true. You need to research all the top forums in the niche you are looking to enter. Then see if you can find out what features are missing, or what would make those forums better. Perhaps it is a combination of features that are available on all the forums individually, but you could combine into one new forum, or maybe it is some new stuff that folks would love to have but no one is offering.

Any way you slice it, you need to differentiate your new forum from the others, then market the crap out of it to get folks aware.

THEN... after 15 years of hard work... you can run ads and make money... ;-)

Piece of cake!

 

Speaking of banners, is it possible to get a good CPM rate with a forum? By good I mean 50+ cents

 

no, its not only from google ads. depending on the niche, you can run affiliate ads which make you more money than adsense. also, email newletters (for the members who opted in to get it) can be profitable as well.

 

there are other ways to make money off forums.

you can use the weight you gain from the digital point co-op network to get another website to #1 in google in your forum is popular enough

 

CPA and selling your mailing list can also work if you have a large enough community