Making Money with a Forum

Relo74 · 02-13-2005, 08:42 AM

What are the best ways to make money with a forum?

The Equivocate · 02-13-2005, 09:03 AM

You could possibly sell "Premium Memberships." It all depends on the content of your board, but it could include access to special forums, an arcade, popup-free access, etc.

Ethan · 02-13-2005, 10:01 AM

Well I would give an adveritising network a try, such as AdSense. Most people don't sign up for premium memberships on a forum.

Relo74 · 02-13-2005, 10:45 AM

i like the idea of premium memberhsips because the type of site i have people will pay and i will only charge $2 a month and i am doing adsense. Thanks for the tips and keep them coming if you all can.

dgridley · 02-19-2005, 10:47 PM

I agree. I've yet to purchase a "membership" anywhere.. adsense is where the money is at with forums or blogs IMO

????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/business-development/69865-making-money-with-a-forum.html

Originally Posted by Ethan

Well I would give an adveritising network a try, such as AdSense. Most people don't sign up for premium memberships on a forum.

Mayur · 02-20-2005, 05:35 AM

Also if you use adsense be good. They will only give you one chance and if you blow it, your gone. For example I had adsense and I clicked on my ads 2 times per day, 2 weeks after I signed up, I was banned.

ammo · 02-20-2005, 07:18 AM

That Membership idea is a good, one but you really would need something good to keep people buying memberships.

IAmAllanShore · 02-20-2005, 09:25 AM

Adsense or other similar programs on the top/bottom/wherever.
The only difficulty at the beginning is getting the ads to be about anything but "forums" unless you're a premium pub or using vBulletin.
-Allan

Relo74 · 02-20-2005, 09:33 AM

I have adsense but people barely click it though.

IAmAllanShore · 02-20-2005, 09:38 AM

If you aren't getting a good CTR (for a forum, CTR is always lower, but if yours is low for a forum), then try repositioning or changing the color to grab your users' attentions.
-Allan

CrazyTech · 02-20-2005, 11:55 AM

I had issues with adsense as well. I put it up typically having 3-4 clickthroughs a day in the past (this has been many months ago) and with adsense I had 2 clickthroughs in about a week. The ads were horrible on the forum and didn't work on half the pages so I did away with them and started trying to sell my own ads.

www.AmCy.org · 02-20-2005, 02:10 PM

Originally Posted by CrazyTech

I had issues with adsense as well. I put it up typically having 3-4 clickthroughs a day in the past (this has been many months ago) and with adsense I had 2 clickthroughs in about a week. The ads were horrible on the forum and didn't work on half the pages so I did away with them and started trying to sell my own ads.

I have -Ad_Se-ns_e on a lot of sites. Sometimes, the ads on a particular site will be totally irrelevent and visitors don't click through. When this happens, you just use the Contact link after you login and tell them that ads are no good. They'll tweak their system for your site. I've done a number of times and each times they've corrected the ad content and made it more relevent. Remember: they want relevent ads just as much as you do. It only serves to make their system better.

AmCy

Originally Posted by Mayur

Also if you use adsense be good. They will only give you one chance and if you blow it, your gone. For example I had adsense and I clicked on my ads 2 times per day, 2 weeks after I signed up, I was banned.

Fraudulent clicks are very easily tracked by IP address. I would imagine that they have a very sophisticated system for routing out fraudulent clicks.

You know, I've read in a few webmaster forum of people getting banned for fraudulent clicks and getting back into the program months later after writing a very contrite email to them promosing to fly straight. Apparently, this sometimes works and some users get back in. It's worth a shot. You have nothing to lose and lots of revenue to gain!
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=69865

AmCy

Sabre · 02-20-2005, 02:53 PM

Adsense is a great thing to have

But you need to make it stand out, and almost force people to click it, physcologically....

dc1pop · 02-20-2005, 05:08 PM

i think adsense is great. Ever since AmCy gave me a few tips on changign my colours around to make it stand out more but not look to out of place ive been doing much better then i previously was!

ZuraX · 02-26-2005, 05:23 PM

Place your adsense where NP has it. Also if you run vBulletin 3.0.7 check out this great hack.
http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showt...highlight=Geek

What the hack does is let you link certain words to your affiliate links. Like if I post bob on your forum it will link to to www.bob.com etc...

kw31 · 02-27-2005, 06:02 AM

Originally Posted by Mayur

Also if you use adsense be good. They will only give you one chance and if you blow it, your gone. For example I had adsense and I clicked on my ads 2 times per day, 2 weeks after I signed up, I was banned.

It's not really worth risking the account for just getting a few more pennies

Relo74 · 02-28-2005, 06:27 AM

Originally Posted by ZuraX

Place your adsense where NP has it. Also if you run vBulletin 3.0.7 check out this great hack.
http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showt...highlight=Geek

What the hack does is let you link certain words to your affiliate links. Like if I post bob on your forum it will link to to www.bob.com etc...

havent upgraded since i renewed vb but i will and that will be the first hack i installed.

IAmAllanShore · 02-28-2005, 12:57 PM

Aight, I took my own advice, got rid of phpBB and switched over to SMF for my Invade Canada board. Now I'm trying Google out on there (As the CTR on phpBB was horrible, partly because the ads were never that great, my own fault for not placing correctly I'm sure) and have had some good results "targeted-ad-wise", although I have yet to be able to port the phpBB forum over to the SMF board yet. Wish me luck ;-)
-Allan

Relo74 · 03-08-2005, 01:11 PM

If you need any help pm me. I am willing to help.

redhippo · 03-24-2005, 07:25 PM

Originally Posted by Mayur

Also if you use adsense be good. They will only give you one chance and if you blow it, your gone. For example I had adsense and I clicked on my ads 2 times per day, 2 weeks after I signed up, I was banned.

;eek: what are you doing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!you give the good webmasters a bad name...you shouldnt even mentioned this

Gene · 05-16-2005, 07:36 PM

I can't believe people are STILL falling for this illegal chain letter 40 or 50 years after it first started. It's the original virus. Aarrgh.

www.AmCy.org · 05-16-2005, 07:42 PM

Originally Posted by lir

And I really hope that you would join me so that way we could all help each other. GOODLUCK!!!

O! M! G!
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=69865

I only see this kind of spam in Usenet these days. I guess there are still a few holdouts trying to recapture...well...something....

AmCy

IAmAllanShore · 05-16-2005, 08:01 PM

Problem cleaned up

-Allan

Wolfman · 05-27-2005, 02:04 AM

I've put adsense in 3 forums, all running phpbb, the ads all became relevant within 45minute - 2 hours, all corresponding to the actual topics not "Host a phpbb forum free @ ****", oh well, I guess i was just lucky

johnny6 · 06-03-2005, 11:02 PM

Try an adsense revenue sharing hack if you have any forum relating to the web! Certainly an implicit impetus to clicking.... and thus earning.

Let me know if you want thsi hack, I'll point you in the right direction. cheers,
j

02-13-2005, 08:42 AM	THREAD STARTER #1 (permalink)
Relo74 NamePros Regular Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 504	Making Money with a Forum What are the best ways to make money with a forum?

02-13-2005, 09:03 AM	#2 (permalink)
The Equivocate Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Chicago Posts: 1,578	You could possibly sell "Premium Memberships." It all depends on the content of your board, but it could include access to special forums, an arcade, popup-free access, etc. __________________ Fueled By Ramen

02-13-2005, 10:01 AM	#3 (permalink)
Ethan Sheriff Of Nothing Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Florida Posts: 220	Well I would give an adveritising network a try, such as AdSense. Most people don't sign up for premium memberships on a forum. __________________ Lowter.com - Webmaster eZine and Community Interactive eZine, Articles, Blogs, and More Norics.com \| Cascading Design \| Blue Programming

02-20-2005, 05:35 AM	#6 (permalink)
Mayur Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 1,079	Also if you use adsense be good. They will only give you one chance and if you blow it, your gone. For example I had adsense and I clicked on my ads 2 times per day, 2 weeks after I signed up, I was banned. __________________ NewsReel.mobi \| Free News From Your Mobile Device

02-20-2005, 09:25 AM	#8 (permalink)
IAmAllanShore NamePros Expert Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Esse quam videri Posts: 8,316	Adsense or other similar programs on the top/bottom/wherever. The only difficulty at the beginning is getting the ads to be about anything but "forums" unless you're a premium pub or using vBulletin. -Allan __________________ Something Witty This Way Comes...

Making Money with a Forum

aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!

Lame!

02-13-2005, 10:45 AM	THREAD STARTER #4 (permalink)
Relo74 NamePros Regular Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 504	i like the idea of premium memberhsips because the type of site i have people will pay and i will only charge $2 a month and i am doing adsense. Thanks for the tips and keep them coming if you all can.

02-20-2005, 07:18 AM	#7 (permalink)
ammo Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Cornwall! Posts: 2,251	That Membership idea is a good, one but you really would need something good to keep people buying memberships.

02-20-2005, 09:33 AM	THREAD STARTER #9 (permalink)
Relo74 NamePros Regular Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 504	I have adsense but people barely click it though.

02-20-2005, 09:38 AM	#10 (permalink)
IAmAllanShore NamePros Expert Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Esse quam videri Posts: 8,316	If you aren't getting a good CTR (for a forum, CTR is always lower, but if yours is low for a forum), then try repositioning or changing the color to grab your users' attentions. -Allan __________________ Something Witty This Way Comes...

02-20-2005, 11:55 AM	#11 (permalink)
CrazyTech NamePros Expert Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: South Carolina Posts: 5,043	I had issues with adsense as well. I put it up typically having 3-4 clickthroughs a day in the past (this has been many months ago) and with adsense I had 2 clickthroughs in about a week. The ads were horrible on the forum and didn't work on half the pages so I did away with them and started trying to sell my own ads.

02-20-2005, 02:53 PM	#13 (permalink)
Sabre First Time Poster! Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Chelmsford, UK Posts: 11,408	Adsense is a great thing to have But you need to make it stand out, and almost force people to click it, physcologically.... __________________ NamePros Google Panda / Penguin Thread SEO Services \| UK PPC Company \| UK Website Analysis Service Cheap Backpacker Travel Insurance \| Cheap Family Travel Insurance \| Cheap Travel Insurance \| Cheap Holiday Insurance\| UK Dedicated Servers

02-20-2005, 05:08 PM	#14 (permalink)
dc1pop Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: UK Posts: 1,893	i think adsense is great. Ever since AmCy gave me a few tips on changign my colours around to make it stand out more but not look to out of place ive been doing much better then i previously was!

02-26-2005, 05:23 PM	#15 (permalink)
ZuraX Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Pennsylvania USA Posts: 2,684	Place your adsense where NP has it. Also if you run vBulletin 3.0.7 check out this great hack. http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showt...highlight=Geek What the hack does is let you link certain words to your affiliate links. Like if I post bob on your forum it will link to to www.bob.com etc... __________________ Been a NP member for 5 or more years? PM me to join the Social Group!

02-28-2005, 12:57 PM	#18 (permalink)
IAmAllanShore NamePros Expert Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Esse quam videri Posts: 8,316	Aight, I took my own advice, got rid of phpBB and switched over to SMF for my Invade Canada board. Now I'm trying Google out on there (As the CTR on phpBB was horrible, partly because the ads were never that great, my own fault for not placing correctly I'm sure) and have had some good results "targeted-ad-wise", although I have yet to be able to port the phpBB forum over to the SMF board yet. Wish me luck ;-) -Allan __________________ Something Witty This Way Comes...

03-08-2005, 01:11 PM	THREAD STARTER #19 (permalink)
Relo74 NamePros Regular Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 504	If you need any help pm me. I am willing to help.

05-16-2005, 07:36 PM	#21 (permalink)
Gene DomainersUniversity.com Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Oswego, NY Posts: 4,702 Follow @GenePimentel	I can't believe people are STILL falling for this illegal chain letter 40 or 50 years after it first started. It's the original virus. Aarrgh. __________________ . . Expired Domain Search -- ExpiredDomainBoss.com \| Sell Domain Names -- DomainProfitsClub.com -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

05-16-2005, 08:01 PM	#23 (permalink)
IAmAllanShore NamePros Expert Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Esse quam videri Posts: 8,316	Problem cleaned up -Allan __________________ Something Witty This Way Comes...

05-27-2005, 02:04 AM	#24 (permalink)
Wolfman NamePros Regular Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 443	I've put adsense in 3 forums, all running phpbb, the ads all became relevant within 45minute - 2 hours, all corresponding to the actual topics not "Host a phpbb forum free @ ****", oh well, I guess i was just lucky __________________ Best Regards, Alex McKenzie(email) alexmckenzie.com

06-03-2005, 11:02 PM	#25 (permalink)
johnny6 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: North Carolina Posts: 2,134	Try an adsense revenue sharing hack if you have any forum relating to the web! Certainly an implicit impetus to clicking.... and thus earning. Let me know if you want thsi hack, I'll point you in the right direction. cheers, j __________________ Find the best property managers

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