Monetising a community website

Discussion in 'General Marketing' started by davejug1, Nov 26, 2008.

  1. #1
    Hey guys, for the last few months (and the next 6) I have been setting up a community site aimed at a large demographic. The competition is not tight and I am mastered in quality link-building and driving the traffic there.

    My problem is that the niche does not lend itself particularly well (for quite a few reasons) to a paid continuity program. I am setting up a forum, classifieds section and a job section and doing it in a proper and whitehat way.

    Now I suppose I could charge a fee to list in the classified section, but apart from Adsense and paid advertising I really can't think of any other way to monetise this site.

    Anyone having any bright ideas lately?
     
    davejug1, Nov 26, 2008 IP
  2. events

    events Active Member

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    #2
    You can try adbrite
     
    events, Nov 26, 2008 IP
  3. Dreamerr

    Dreamerr Peon

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    #3
    Try to find some products you could affiliate that would appeal to your users.
     
    Dreamerr, Nov 27, 2008 IP
  4. davejug1

    davejug1 Banned

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    #4
    Yeah I have given this one a lot of thought, and have been looking into PLR and licensing as I reckon I could get a better take-up-rate if the products are "mine" than sending them to another site to complete the purchase.

    No luck as of yet though.
     
    davejug1, Nov 27, 2008 IP
  5. xpsave

    xpsave Peon

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    #5
    You could take relevant PLR products (articles and ebooks) and bundle/modify them to create your own unique product(s). You can offer them as a gift when people signup or when they complete a number of useful posts on your forum. You could even "exchange" classified credits with articles from your community e.g. add an article directory to your site and request people to submit unique articles to it. In exchange give them some classified credit for their own advertising. There are lots of things you could do.

    I think the secret is to pull in a critical mass of users which will help your site to grow organically.

    I have a huge collection of PLR products which you could modify to your liking. PM me with your niche/topic and I'll check if I have something relevant or give you some links
     
    xpsave, Nov 27, 2008 IP
  6. austk

    austk Peon

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    #6
    depending on your niche I would try ebay affiliate...some CJ affiliate stuff and some adbrite. Don't use popups or popunders. they tend to scare people away. I know I click back all the time when that crap comes up. Give your users reason for staying and returning to the site. Add a forum if you don't have one and also maybe an entertainment part like arcade or something.
     
    austk, Nov 27, 2008 IP
    davejug1 likes this.
  7. yousellstuff1

    yousellstuff1 Active Member

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    #7
    ya i would say the best to ways other then ads is ebay/amazon affiliate and some kind of relevant product
     
    yousellstuff1, Nov 27, 2008 IP
  8. mattowen23

    mattowen23 Peon

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    #8
    is there any way you could create any content? without information on the demographic i cant be specific. but maybe if you are knowledgeable in an area that would appeal to your demographic then you could create a nice little ebook or info product to sell. add that with a few affiliate products or something of the sort and it might perform nicely.
     
    mattowen23, Nov 27, 2008 IP