Best ways to monotize a forum?

I’d like to know if any, more experienced, forum admins would be willing to share what they have done to monetize their communities. I am currently running adsense (of course) and a few amazon ads. I’m getting good traffic now (several hundred uniques a day) and I want to make sure I have optimized it for profit. Any help is much appreciated.

 

You could try intellitxt... I've seen a couple forums using this, I haven't used it myself, but it seems like a good advertising method for monetizing a forum.

 

I think you need ALOT of traffic for intellitxt. It is a good ideal but myself I find it extremely annoying It is a decision between annoying your visitor's and supporting the cost associated with the site. You may consider adsense after the first post.

 

I would recommend against any PPC program and any affiliate programs. The click through rate (CTR) for forums is just sooo low, that they dont tend to make much money at all on these campaigns. I've found more success in the past through selling my own ad space on a month by month basis. Text links, banners, buttons, etc...

 

Subscribers.

I have nearly 250 paid subscribers at one of my sites.

Subscriptions work best with 2k+ members with active posters. Subscriptions should be cheap and you have to offer something to the members for being a subscriber.

 

Ah, yeah....forgot all about that. Advertising brings in the bulk of my revenue, but I do get a pretty good % from subscriptions - and best of all, these are at very little cost to you, so it is almost like "free" money

 

Can you guys give an example of what you offer subscribers?

How long were your forums up before you had a substantial user base and started with subscriptions?

 

Here's what I offer mine - http://www.adminfusion.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1311

Nothing special...usually the best reward is simply a new username color and a badge of sorts...Something that they can "show off" to say "look at me, I'm a subscriber and you're not!" It's always good to give them increased usage also, signature space, PM storage, attachments, avatars, etc...but most of this is just bells and whistles. If you've got special features on your forums such as an arcade - increased access there is nice.

As far as when to do it...for the most part, you can't do it too early. If they donate, great, if not, no loss. Just dont shove it down their throats...Dont put "Give me money!" messages all over your forums...If you make it too overwhelming, people will quickly start to think that all you want from them is their money.

 

Very well said GTAce.
Selling your ad space is definately more beneficial all around too. For the buyer of your ad space, they are helping to increase their PR and the exposure of their site, even if clickthrough rate remains lower, while PPC programs don't really accomplish much for anyone.

 

Really, it all depends on the topic of forum and kind of members you have, also known as "demographics".

This article might help you: Making Money with your vBulletin Forum

Some forums, you can make money selling banner ads, some via selling links. Some forums do well with google adsense, others dont.

Some forums do well selling subscriptions or asking for donations.

It all depends on you and your forum. How "niche" is it, how internet saavy are your members, etc.

 

In-text advertising works well within forums. Both Kontera Technologies and Vibrant Media offer this functionality. Sign up for both (if you qualify), then test one against the other.

Because the ads are spaced out through the content, there is more of a chance that the ads will actually get clicks, and thus generate revenue. The problem with AdSense-type ads in this scenario is that they are fixed (as a header, footer, to the side, or as a second post). You will need a dynamic system that can spread itself throughout the content.

Feel free to signup here: https://www.kontera.com/moreinfo.asp?type=1&BD=15 . I don't mean for this to be a solicitation; but if you were going to sign up anyways, I will personally manage your Kontera account.

Best of luck with the other alternatives.

PS - As joeychgo points out, some forums do very well on the donation model... I've personally donated to forums that I use often, so you may want to try that, as well.