Forum Moderators: skibum
Due to a change of circumstances he's now keen to see what options are out there for making cold hard cash from it (without upsetting the regulars).
Often the site has 500+ people on it at one time and can go into meltdown when things happen at the club.
I'm aware that AdSense revenues may be low on such a site, so I'm asking for any inspiring thoughts on this.
So far I've thought of quite a few things, many are non-starters but I'll list them anyway. I really don't know that much most of the things below as we specialise in local search and have relationships with players in that market.
He could:
Display AdSense - Low earnings seem to be the norm on forum sites though
Seek Sponsors - It's only for one club and seeking suitable sponsors may be difficult
Affiliate Links - This is where you can help
Rely on donations - already has that on the site and not realy effective
Have a special members area - Coding required and tried unsuccessfully in the past
Web Search facility (with sposored links) - I'd say most people will just go to Google rather than use even a google search on another site
Link selling - A good PR on the homepage but loads of links on pages due to being forum, not a good idea I think
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Page views are in the 200,000 a day range from 10,000 visits.
If the site is expected to have a long life, rather than an affiliated, become the seller of related products. Buy DVDs, books, jerseys, posters, etc, related to the club and sell them to surfers; buy in whole to have better margins.
Also, research for rare products (foreign DVDs, antiquities, personal stuff) on ebay and similars, buy them and resell for an even higher profit (given the rareness).
Last, produce their own stuff. With knowledge, passion and dedication, one can produce a DVD or e-book which stands from the rest.
It would have been great if you came back and told us what you guys did, and if you had any success or not!
Perhaps as far as the donation thing goes, it may or may not help but perhaps you can have different grades of membership, say those that donate a certain amount are "premium members", those who donate a larger amount are "founders", etc. etc.
Give those who make donations, eligible for something special that non-donating members do not receive.
Look at WW here. They let those who donate or pay for full membership, have their own exclusive forum. This is a great example of a forum able to monetize itself.
Also, check into direct advertising. Companies who sell products related to your niche or to those interested in your niche will probably pay to be on a forum with that many fans/visitors per day. Perhaps you can set up something where the manufacturer or company who makes these items, will offer a discount to those forum visitors at a certain discount for mentioning a coupon code advertised on your site.
There are many ways to go about monetizing a site, it just may take trying a few different things to see what works best or you may be able to use several different ideas at once that works.
Good luck to your friend! Hey, you should tell your friend to join WW as I know I myself have learned much by reading posts from those who have been webmasters longer than I have.
