How much money do Forums make ?

[cityforums.com]

I am trying to compile a list of what popular Forums earn.

Can anybody share what you know ?

 

[MicroGuy]

The best way to make money with a forum is to buy vbulletin, utilize the built in subscription feature, charge $4.95 per month, get 10,000 members, then retire. IMO.

 

[Robin]

The best way to make money with a forum is to buy vbulletin, utilize the built in subscription feature, charge $4.95 per month, get 10,000 members, then retire. IMO.

could u explain a bit more? do they offer new users?

 

[tristanperry]

What type of forums? How are they monitising them? What's their traffic? How active are their members? How many posts/threads are made daily? If there are ads, what advertising method is being used?

If you just place PPC ads, income will be low since forum CTR are low.

If a forum has loyal members, a subscription feature can bring in a very good income.

Can you give more information?

 

[Robin]

Well, he is asking about general examples like NP or DP.

i don't think you need that much details, you are not buying or selling them

 

[Billy!]

I am trying to compile a list of what popular Forums earn.

Can anybody share what you know ?

Since my last reply got removed for spamming.

It is common dog balls (common sense in Australian lingo) really, but who is really going to tell you how much popular forum owners earn? And how do you define a "Popular Forum" 5000 members, 10000 members?

A forum with a few thousand members is popular imho.

 

[cityforums.com]

Since my last reply got removed for spamming.

It is common dog balls (common sense in Australian lingo) really, but who is really going to tell you how much popular forum owners earn? And how do you define a "Popular Forum" 5000 members, 10000 members?

A forum with a few thousand members is popular imho.

Billy! ...

I posted the same question elsewhere and I got some GOOD responses ... some

responses showed me profitable areas that I never even thought about.

 

[Jaco]

The best way to make money with a forum is to buy vbulletin, utilize the built in subscription feature, charge $4.95 per month, get 10,000 members, then retire. IMO.

LOL.
(pauses for breath)
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL.
The above is probably the WORST possible way to attempt a profit off a forum and a certain way to establish a site that never evolves past Potemkin Village status. I got my start in forums. I know them (and their dynamics) kinda well.

The best possible way to profit from a forum (which is very, very hard to do anymore, since the lucrative niches are generally extremely saturated and already have the standard-bearers established) is to generate traffic, sell direct banner advertising to relevant advertisers, as well as little forum tchotchkes like membership "levels", etc. Get a big forum and you can generate a living. One of the keys is to SEO your infrastructure and subforum keys, which is very neglected in the forum world.

There's one forum that sticks out in my mind as being the 'perfect' example (I won't mention it, but PM me if curiosity kills).

They started as a mailing list in the late 1990's on a niche-killing domain name (19th century reg), moved to a VB, then onto a custom coded forum (the owners are developers) at the millennium. They went on to become the gold standard for their niche (and arguably, their entire category) and hit that 'critical mass' period sometime in the early 2000's, where traffic beget more traffic which beget more traffic which beget gold- and eliminated the possibility for any meaningful competition. They managed their membership base very, very carefully and generally moderated things in perfect consort with the majority-sensibility of their members (you're always going to piss a few off, but they did/do it right). They scaled their advertising perfectly, charging rates that were always contingent on eyeballs- usually cpm- thus, the more traffic they had, they more they charged and the advertisers were almost FORCED to pay, since they became such a relevant presence in their topic. They went on to have annual gatherings which drew in people from all around the country.

Trying to start a forum today in a niche that already has the standard-bearers carved out is like trying to start a new search engine or a new auction site. You'd better have deep, deep, deep, deep pockets to fund a marketing campaign, then be capable of accepting spectacular failure.

 

[MicroGuy]

LOL.
(pauses for breath)
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL.
The above is probably the WORST possible way to attempt a profit off a forum and a certain way to establish a site that never evolves past Potemkin Village status. I got my start in forums. I know them (and their dynamics) kinda well.

The best possible way to profit from a forum (which is very, very hard to do anymore, since the lucrative niches are generally extremely saturated and already have the standard-bearers established) is to generate traffic, sell direct banner advertising to relevant advertisers, as well as little forum tchotchkes like membership "levels", etc. Get a big forum and you can generate a living. One of the keys is to SEO your infrastructure and subforum keys, which is very neglected in the forum world.

There's one forum that sticks out in my mind as being the 'perfect' example (I won't mention it, but PM me if curiosity kills).

They started as a mailing list in the late 1990's on a niche-killing domain name (19th century reg), moved to a VB, then onto a custom coded forum (the owners are developers) at the millennium. They went on to become the gold standard for their niche (and arguably, their entire category) and hit that 'critical mass' period sometime in the early 2000's, where traffic beget more traffic which beget more traffic which beget gold- and eliminated the possibility for any meaningful competition. They managed their membership base very, very carefully and generally moderated things in perfect consort with the majority-sensibility of their members (you're always going to piss a few off, but they did/do it right). They scaled their advertising perfectly, charging rates that were always contingent on eyeballs- usually cpm- thus, the more traffic they had, they more they charged and the advertisers were almost FORCED to pay, since they became such a relevant presence in their topic. They went on to have annual gatherings which drew in people from all around the country.

Trying to start a forum today in a niche that already has the standard-bearers carved out is like trying to start a new search engine or a new auction site. You'd better have deep, deep, deep, deep pockets to fund a marketing campaign, then be capable of accepting spectacular failure.

It might not be for everyone, but it has worked very well for me. IMO.

 

[dotker]

here ya go..

The largest Message Boards and Forums on the web!

 

[ComKid]

here ya go..

The largest Message Boards and Forums on the web!

:hi: Great resource! thanks. Rep added.

 

[frankiethepet]

here ya go..

The largest Message Boards and Forums on the web!

Thanks!

I think its kinda cool that the largest forum on the web is a phpbb!

 

[MeanerDomainer]

Not sure how much this will help, but I know of a forum that by the nature of the forum attracts people with above averge incomes and some members have incomes way above that. They took in over $50k a year in donations alone (to buy different forum supporter levels, but some were also just donations without buying anything, if I understood correctly). I don't know about membership numbers, but it is not a very large forum.

 

[Freshfroot]

I wouldn't recommend it these days.. there are just WAY to many forums out there on the same topic.

 

[The_Desertfox]

LOL.
(pauses for breath)
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL.
The above is probably the WORST possible way to attempt a profit off a forum and a certain way to establish a site that never evolves past Potemkin Village status. I got my start in forums. I know them (and their dynamics) kinda well.

The best possible way to profit from a forum (which is very, very hard to do anymore, since the lucrative niches are generally extremely saturated and already have the standard-bearers established) is to generate traffic, sell direct banner advertising to relevant advertisers, as well as little forum tchotchkes like membership "levels", etc. Get a big forum and you can generate a living. One of the keys is to SEO your infrastructure and subforum keys, which is very neglected in the forum world.

There's one forum that sticks out in my mind as being the 'perfect' example (I won't mention it, but PM me if curiosity kills).

They started as a mailing list in the late 1990's on a niche-killing domain name (19th century reg), moved to a VB, then onto a custom coded forum (the owners are developers) at the millennium. They went on to become the gold standard for their niche (and arguably, their entire category) and hit that 'critical mass' period sometime in the early 2000's, where traffic beget more traffic which beget more traffic which beget gold- and eliminated the possibility for any meaningful competition. They managed their membership base very, very carefully and generally moderated things in perfect consort with the majority-sensibility of their members (you're always going to piss a few off, but they did/do it right). They scaled their advertising perfectly, charging rates that were always contingent on eyeballs- usually cpm- thus, the more traffic they had, they more they charged and the advertisers were almost FORCED to pay, since they became such a relevant presence in their topic. They went on to have annual gatherings which drew in people from all around the country.

Trying to start a forum today in a niche that already has the standard-bearers carved out is like trying to start a new search engine or a new auction site. You'd better have deep, deep, deep, deep pockets to fund a marketing campaign, then be capable of accepting spectacular failure.

ok, just spill the beans ... I am 99% certain you are talking about AVSforum.com ,right?

 

[domainerd1]

For the site that I run (don't own, though), the message boards are hugely popular (it is ranked in the top 60 at Big-Boards). The site and message boards were purchased two years ago, so I'm not sure what they are pulling in these days as that info is confidential. But prior to the sale when I was privvy to this info, the boards alone were pulling in more than $100K/year. This was done with a mix of AdSense, CPM, and membership "donations". So, you can make good money with a board, but you would have to have a "big" subject in order to do so. I would imagine most of the larger spaces are spoken for by now, though, but I suppose new ones will always come along.

 

[DnEbook]

maybe hope for my musicforum/com/au ????? (just parked)

 

[tdave]

could u explain a bit more? do they offer new users?

It doesn't matter new user ,old user .Setting up a site and collect monthly fee,the money flow in every month.it's residual income .Search for "earn money membership site",there are bunch of experts willing to teach you how you can build one.And yeah,you most likely going to join those membership discussion board and pay them monthly fee in order to how to build a membership discussion board.

 

[labrocca]

Trying to start a forum today in a niche that already has the standard-bearers carved out is like trying to start a new search engine or a new auction site. You'd better have deep, deep, deep, deep pockets to fund a marketing campaign, then be capable of accepting spectacular failure.

I consider myself a forum pro. I have had numerous successes for nearly a decade. My latest is an Alexa 10k with 80k members and 1.6 million posts and it started just 30 months ago in an already well established niched. I have surpased all sites in the genre.

I have a good friend who I sysadmin for with an Alexa 6k forum in the Video Game sector making him low $xxx,xxx annually. His site is about 5 years old now. It was mostly a forum and blog combo and has evolved but is still mainly a forum.

My biggest site earns me low $x,xxx per month. It's a reasonable income for my work.

I fully believe in paid memberships as a means for income. However with every site it has to be done correctly and done specifically for that community. Communities imho are not cookie cutter type sites. There are so many factors involved when it comes to growth and monetizing that a one-size fits all doesn't apply.

I wouldn't recommend it these days.. there are just WAY to many forums out there on the same topic.

I don't agree that the genre of forums is tapped out. As a matter of fact I think it has a lot more growth potential than most realize. Have you viewed the new Google Wave? It's basically stolen concepts from message boards and mingled it with IM and email service. Whenever I speak to friends I ask about "forums" and if they use them or are even familiar with them. It's clear to me that the majority of internet users and the general public are unaware of the value of niche forums. Forums are the first and still imho the best method of a social networking. Places like Facebook, Myspace, or Orkut are just masses of everything. While NP is a great example of a niche forum where everyone has something in common.

I would imagine most of the larger spaces are spoken for by now, though, but I suppose new ones will always come along.

The same could have been said about Myspace when Facebook started. What's important is doing it differently and doing it better. I don't care what forums exist or how big it is if I can do a better job. NP is an example here as well. Places like Domainstate or DNF are older and were established but NP is certainly a strong player with it's own place for domainers and is now larger then both combined.

Forums are not easy to monetize and not for everyone. I believe it takes a real webmaster to have a successful forum. A full spectrum of webmaster skills are required to be a success.

 

[pcp]

Forums are not easy to monetize and not for everyone. I believe it takes a real webmaster to have a successful forum. A full spectrum of webmaster skills are required to be a success.

Thanks for the post - very interesting.
Would you be able to expand on that last paragraph, or even point me somewhere to learn a bit about starting a forum. I have a niche site currently getting 2-3 thousand visitors a month and I think a forum would improve it.