Getting $40k to REALLY grow my business. How to spend it?

SEO is best option for your business.SEO will build more traffic.

 

110k UV a month? You sure about that? you aren't even breaking top 300k alexa. one of my best sites get 30k a month and is top 250k alexa. I know alexa isn't everything, but a site that gets 5k UV a day is top 100k alexa on average...

If I were you I would give back that loan and get out of the entertainment blogging asap. too flooded and ad pay is crap...just my 2cents...

 

also was checking out some pages and site loads pretty slow for me and I have 60mb internet. so if you do stick with it, get it on a VPS or Dedicated server ASAP and hire some good ass writers...Google is all about returning visitors and bounce rate now. I would leave your site instantly and never come back if it doesnt load in under 3 seconds...

 

I would say spend some money & get some original content (the writing is good, but it's the same stuff I can find on Chive, etc), get celebrity endorsements (Zach Galifianakis), etc.. only problem is that your $40k would dry up pretty darn quick.

Is the loan really worth it? Hope you got a good % rate

 

Just came across Just Uno. Take a look into that as well. Not that expensive but would be great for what you're doing

 

promoting something that is free to download (or premium content) and using something where they need to become a fan to access premium content is a better alternative. There are pay social scripts (not sure if they can be integrated into your site or not) but if need be, it shouldnt break the bank to get some custom coding done. Pay social sometimes might include where they have to send a tweet before premium content is unlocked. So you can end up with people advertising, promoting and or tweeting your website, in order to gain access to premium content.

One thing I saw being done successfully, was a site that already had a large userbase, managed to get alot of facebook fans by offering prizes to anyone that signed up (so entry to the competition was simply becoming a facebook fan)

So $1000 in prizes + a bit of coding to put in a pay social system in order for members to enter a competition, or gain access to premium content, could see your site gain alot of interest.

My other suggestions would be to focus on mobile phones, and even look into an app for it.
I imagine an app where if someone wants to comment on an article (via their phone), that it may or may not necessarily show on the website, but instead, posts on the persons facebook wall, with a link to the article. This may be another way to help promote the site and gain more traction.

(I should point out I have never done any of this, this is only my 2 cents worth).