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I find myself in a bit of a marketing dilemma

by savidge4
22 replies
I know this is probably the wrong section. but the truth Is I value the minds on this board more than just about anywhere else on the internet.

I have a Forum... it is related to answering questions about WordPress coding. I have solid content. There is great connection at the context level. the unique visitor level is just about to 30,000 a month. with another 20,000 in repeat.

My dilemma is monetizing...

Please don't suggest adwords ( doing that and it blows - and yes I have tested the locations etc )

I basically am finding myself on the wrong end of the buying cycle. I cant very well sell what they already have.. as in the principle of the forum is to offer support in modifying the theme they have.

I have thought of subscription based assistance, but I think it would be hard to draw a line between "free" help and help you pay for.

I have done some simple plugins 4 to be exact. they are free and in the 6 months I have been doing this they between them are in use on about 4000 websites.

I am working on developing a theme.. but again I think for this traffic in particular I am on the wrong side of the buy cycle. the forum will probably be used more for the support side of that vs the buying side.. pretty much as it is right now.

Just wondering if there are any ideas of a direction I might want to look at? Just having a hard time stepping back from this and getting a different perspective.
#bit #dilemma #find #marketing
  • Profile picture of the author apocalypsejay
    I am no expert (beginner) so take with a grain of sand. 1) Do you have a way we could see your website, it may help answerers. 2) Have you thought of soliciting for links that are related? I'm not sure how it works, but I assume you could get some people to pay you to put some links to their site that is relevant if you are getting that kind of traffic. What would people buy that is related to your forum? Also, do you have an email list from the forum that you could send out marketing campaigns to? Again, just a beginner so forgive me if I am off target.
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  • Profile picture of the author misterme
    1. Start selling the plugins.
    2. Look at the most popular threads in your forum and see what the common topic is that gets all that interest and see if it doesn't contain a clue as to what you can create to sell that solves that problem.
    3. Offer a paid monthly newsletter pertaining to wordpress coding.
    4. Then when you do this and you're making sales, send me 10%.
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    • Profile picture of the author savidge4
      Misterme,

      My plugins except for 1 are super cheesy as in with variable prices displaying "From $10.00" vs displaying "$10.00 - $20.00" the Except for one I do sell, and it does fairly well, but not from the forum. Its listed at wordpress.org

      The reason I actually started doing the forums... was to get into the mind of my biggest competition in web design, and that is self designing. My theme that I am working on is a result of that "study" per se.

      I LOVE the idea of a premium newsletter... you would have to see the forums to understand I guess. I basically answer questions on ANYTHING WordPress and WooCommerce. so, as much as it is a focused topic.. its not so focused.

      Originally Posted by misterme View Post

      1. Start selling the plugins.
      2. Look at the most popular threads in your forum and see what the common topic is that gets all that interest and see if it doesn't contain a clue as to what you can create to sell that solves that problem.
      3. Offer a paid monthly newsletter pertaining to wordpress coding.
      4. Then when you do this and you're making sales, send me 10%.
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      • Profile picture of the author misterme
        Originally Posted by savidge4 View Post

        Misterme,

        My plugins except for 1 are super cheesy as in with variable prices displaying "From $10.00" vs displaying "$10.00 - $20.00" the Except for one I do sell, and it does fairly well, but not from the forum. Its listed at wordpress.org
        I have something eerily similar.

        Back in the mid '90s I set up my then girlfriend's site with a a free ecommerce site I found, and got involved with their forum. After a while, knowing javascript, I wrote a few scripts that worked off that cart, doing things exactly like the price display and others. Other people wanted the scripts too so I sold the scripts for $15 to $40 with the cart guy's blessing, and still do as that cart got VERY popular over the last couple of decades. I do no advertising for it, word of mouth gets people to come. And I get the payment and they get a file of something I wrote about twenty years ago.

        So I know what you mean.

        Here's a site that may give you some ideas.

        WordPress for the Serious. Plugins, Support & More: WPMU DEV

        And if you wanna talk about monthly newsletter ideas and how to go about that, PM me. You're one of the good guys that have helped me, whether you know it or not.
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  • Profile picture of the author helisell
    Send out a survey to your most prolific conributors/questioners.

    Find out exactly what they do and how they use the site and why.
    Ask them what their biggest challenges are and how do they think you can help.
    Then develop a product along those lines.

    Keep on referring back to those same people as you develop and get their
    input....you'll sell a pile when its ready.

    .
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    Is there any room for improvement? Want to find out?

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    • Profile picture of the author savidge4
      unfortunately I AM the most prolific contributor.... as in I may get 60+ questions a week and I answer each and every one.

      They basically are DIY web builders. cant afford to get it done "WordPress is easy" and they are struggling to get it done themselves. I stepped into this to better understand that mind set. to learn the pain points. To obviously build some authority in the industry.

      In the utmost basic of terms is I am showing how to manipulate CSS.
      How do you change this text color... how do you get rid of this space how do you lay this out in a row etc. It is MY thinking that these folks don't want a guide on how to program CSS they just want an answer to what their block is right now. ( I could be wrong about this )


      Originally Posted by helisell View Post

      Send out a survey to your most prolific conributors/questioners.

      Find out exactly what they do and how they use the site and why.
      Ask them what their biggest challenges are and how do they think you can help.
      Then develop a product along those lines.

      Keep on referring back to those same people as you develop and get their
      input....you'll sell a pile when its ready.

      .
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      • Profile picture of the author mjbmedia
        Originally Posted by savidge4 View Post

        They basically are DIY web builders. cant afford to get it done "WordPress is easy" and they are struggling to get it done themselves. I stepped into this to better understand that mind set. to learn the pain points. To obviously build some authority in the industry.
        the problem appears to be that you ARE an authority but to people that cant afford to pay much for solutions, or aren't motivated to pay for solutions but are motivated to DIY.

        So maybe time isn't valuable to them as it seems they're willing to take 5 hours to do something for 'free' than pay $50 to get it done for nil hours wastage. Of course if it's something they'll need to be doing time and again then that makes more sense but it seems you're an authority to cheap hobbyists , and that's a hard way to make money.

        Do you have the ability to be an authority at a higher skill level? Which can be better monetised as IMO you need to back away from this current level as all its going to do is suck your time for little return , even if you do make the few sales you can make much more profit by setting yourself up at a higher level of authority.
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        Mike

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        • Profile picture of the author RFMarketing
          Savidge- What is the url of your forum?
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        • Profile picture of the author savidge4
          mjb,

          I have thought about maybe approaching a "different" level of consumer... but I am not so sure there is one. as you have mentioned there is time and there is money. the people with the money hire people with time to do this stuff. so by in large I have already cut myself from the money end of the industry.

          That being said... Part of this is the learning side. I am learning what "Clients" specifically want in a design. So if anything the my time spent is paying back because it is basically like an education of my job - web design.

          I do reach out to many of the people as to why they have done it themselves.. and it is ALWAYS price. and once they get like half way through.. they see why Web Designers charge so much. I do actually grab a bit of work when they get to this point. but many see it to the end ( god bless them )


          Originally Posted by mjbmedia View Post

          the problem appears to be that you ARE an authority but to people that cant afford to pay much for solutions, or aren't motivated to pay for solutions but are motivated to DIY.

          So maybe time isn't valuable to them as it seems they're willing to take 5 hours to do something for 'free' than pay $50 to get it done for nil hours wastage. Of course if it's something they'll need to be doing time and again then that makes more sense but it seems you're an authority to cheap hobbyists , and that's a hard way to make money.

          Do you have the ability to be an authority at a higher skill level? Which can be better monetised as IMO you need to back away from this current level as all its going to do is suck your time for little return , even if you do make the few sales you can make much more profit by setting yourself up at a higher level of authority.
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  • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
    Adwords is awful on forums. It makes more sense for you to sell ad space directly to wordpress designers and developers, or push affiliate hosting offers. I had a blog that would make more money from hosting ads than anything else.

    You have emails right? You could be sending affiliate links to different themes and promote it as "Wordpress Theme of The Week".

    I would also get on Clickbank or another affiliate network to push SEO products, but design your own banners with your own call to action.

    I would take a different approach than MisterMe... I wouldn't sell the plugins, I would use them as a way to generate more opt ins.
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    • Profile picture of the author savidge4
      iAmNameLess,

      Yes I do collect e-mails every chance I get. I have tried the themes thing, and that went no where. I have written theme reviews with custom CSS breakdowns for the themes.. and that didn't work. I just think I am on the wrong end of the sales cycle.. I think?!

      I am going to look into the clickbank thing I guess... not a big fan of promoting product that generally sucks. I do SEO for a living basically so this does not enthuse me. I have tried in the past to write a SEO product, but how do you really write about it.. I am sure you know what I mean.

      Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

      Adwords is awful on forums. It makes more sense for you to sell ad space directly to wordpress designers and developers, or push affiliate hosting offers. I had a blog that would make more money from hosting ads than anything else.

      You have emails right? You could be sending affiliate links to different themes and promote it as "Wordpress Theme of The Week".

      I would also get on Clickbank or another affiliate network to push SEO products, but design your own banners with your own call to action.

      I would take a different approach than MisterMe... I wouldn't sell the plugins, I would use them as a way to generate more opt ins.
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      • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
        Originally Posted by savidge4 View Post

        iAmNameLess,

        Yes I do collect e-mails every chance I get. I have tried the themes thing, and that went no where. I have written theme reviews with custom CSS breakdowns for the themes.. and that didn't work. I just think I am on the wrong end of the sales cycle.. I think?!

        I am going to look into the clickbank thing I guess... not a big fan of promoting product that generally sucks. I do SEO for a living basically so this does not enthuse me. I have tried in the past to write a SEO product, but how do you really write about it.. I am sure you know what I mean.
        How did you try the theme thing? I have a hard time believing that the amount of traffic you have, you aren't able to make a decent income off of themes. Of course, I guess traffic doesn't relate to members does it? So how many emails do you have in your list?

        I feel you on the clickbank SEO... I would recommend you putting out a step by step info product though. It is easy to write about, and just because it is a complex topic, don't assume that the majority of people already know the basics... even people offering SEO outsourcing don't know the basics.

        It sounds to me though, that the forum serves as a 3rd party platform for your own services right? I think you're shooting yourself in the foot by using adwords instead of your own ads.
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        • Profile picture of the author savidge4
          The themes I did theme written theme reviews I then go through and post a bunch of theme specific CSS to change colors and the like. I have banner ads. In MOST cases I negotiated a discount. Posted the discount. ( btw google is really good to me with this forum. ) its SUPER easy to get a top 5 listing in most cases. and then the traffic... right to the CSS pages. ( Yes I have tried banners on the posts themselves as well. ) but if they are looking to change the CSS they already have it.

          I do actually have 2 forums. one does serve more so as a 3rd party platform. for my own services. my existing clients will ask questions that I answer etc. these people I do not want to sell "stuff" to, its more about customer support and retaining that relationship.

          The one I am asking about is way more public. I do have some of my own ads, but not to much. I prefer "right now" to work specifically with my local market. However I am in the process of streamlining even more, and getting "Bigger" so thatwill be an option for sure.

          Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

          How did you try the theme thing? I have a hard time believing that the amount of traffic you have, you aren't able to make a decent income off of themes. Of course, I guess traffic doesn't relate to members does it? So how many emails do you have in your list?

          I feel you on the clickbank SEO... I would recommend you putting out a step by step info product though. It is easy to write about, and just because it is a complex topic, don't assume that the majority of people already know the basics... even people offering SEO outsourcing don't know the basics.

          It sounds to me though, that the forum serves as a 3rd party platform for your own services right? I think you're shooting yourself in the foot by using adwords instead of your own ads.
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          • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
            Originally Posted by savidge4 View Post

            The themes I did theme written theme reviews I then go through and post a bunch of theme specific CSS to change colors and the like. I have banner ads. In MOST cases I negotiated a discount. Posted the discount. ( btw google is really good to me with this forum. ) its SUPER easy to get a top 5 listing in most cases. and then the traffic... right to the CSS pages. ( Yes I have tried banners on the posts themselves as well. ) but if they are looking to change the CSS they already have it.
            Isn't it possible that the problem is the way you presented the themes? Does it matter about theme specific CSS and reviews? I would go through saying how and why a certain theme will help them convert more traffic into customers.

            I would also say the medium you use to reach those people will matter just as much. Reaching them via email would probably be better than reaching them via banner ad.
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            • Profile picture of the author savidge4
              iAm,

              Let me turn this a bit. You Build websites. a client asks for some specific little thing to be done.. you don't know how to do it.. so you go do a search. you search and see my page. you get the information you want and you leave correct? At this point would you buy another theme? would you buy a plugin? I would say probably not.

              So the visitor numbers for this site 30000 unique and 20000 repeats is really more like 30000 uniques and less than 1000 a month that repeat continually. My target then really becomes those 1000.

              The average life span of those 1000 is 1.5 months ish. in that time frame they are coming to my site initially for a specific reason. They want to customize their site. so a new theme is pretty much out.

              The plugin market is still an option at this point. but as you know working with wordpress the "Good" ones generally do not have affiliate programs. Woo Themes as an example does not have an affiliate program and these would be the plugins I suggest the most. Places like code canyon DO have affiliate programs but their overall support ( IE upgrading after a core change ) is short of pathetic.

              So yes I could deliver to those market places, but do you want to send people to crap? I know I don't.

              seriously correct me if I am wrong here somewhere.... I have been struggling with this for like 5 months now! ha ha






              Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

              Isn't it possible that the problem is the way you presented the themes? Does it matter about theme specific CSS and reviews? I would go through saying how and why a certain theme will help them convert more traffic into customers.

              I would also say the medium you use to reach those people will matter just as much. Reaching them via email would probably be better than reaching them via banner ad.
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              • Profile picture of the author savidge4
                Just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone that has responded. It really is helping me get a better sense of direction. I know I sound a bit like I have an answer for everything, but I have been looking over this for like 6 months now.

                The intentions in getting into this (forum format ) really had nothing to do with monetization per se and more about developing relationships / authority in the Wordpress market. but once the traffic built.. well we all know that changes things. so I am trying to capitalize on this opportunity.

                Again I really do appreciate the time you all have put in my issue! thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Originally Posted by savidge4 View Post

    I know this is probably the wrong section. but the truth Is I value the minds on this board more than just about anywhere else on the internet.

    I have a Forum... it is related to answering questions about WordPress coding. I have solid content. There is great connection at the context level. the unique visitor level is just about to 30,000 a month. with another 20,000 in repeat.

    My dilemma is monetizing...

    Please don't suggest adwords ( doing that and it blows - and yes I have tested the locations etc )

    I basically am finding myself on the wrong end of the buying cycle. I cant very well sell what they already have.. as in the principle of the forum is to offer support in modifying the theme they have.

    I have thought of subscription based assistance, but I think it would be hard to draw a line between "free" help and help you pay for.

    I have done some simple plugins 4 to be exact. they are free and in the 6 months I have been doing this they between them are in use on about 4000 websites.

    I am working on developing a theme.. but again I think for this traffic in particular I am on the wrong side of the buy cycle. the forum will probably be used more for the support side of that vs the buying side.. pretty much as it is right now.

    Just wondering if there are any ideas of a direction I might want to look at? Just having a hard time stepping back from this and getting a different perspective.
    You need to be selling your own $50 Wordpress themes.

    With 30K unique targeted WP traffic you should make some decent sales. Most people change WP themes multiple times over a sites lifetime, so just because they already have a theme doesn't mean they're not going to buy another theme.

    There's also a lot of people that have multiple sites, they'll need another theme. Browse the comments on Themeforest, some of those buyers buy dozens of themes at around $40-50 per theme.

    Do the math, If only 0.5% of your 30K traffic per month bought a single $50 theme that's $7,500 per month. I guess your already doing support since you have a WP code forum.
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  • Profile picture of the author tonyscott
    What you're doing is noble and there are endless ways of monetising it.

    What both misterme and helisell said is the answer and if you do it, you should easily make 6 figures.

    Learn about marketing funnels.

    You're in an enviable position really, you just need to stick your head above the parapet and become comfortable doing so.

    Tony
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    • Profile picture of the author savidge4
      Thanks for the compliment! I do funnels all day long.. I build online marketing "systems" aka websites for clients for a part of my living. I have more than a few "Personal" projects that are rather successful. its just this one... I keep throwing spaghetti at the frig and it just aint sticking. ( If your Italian you should understand this ) Like I have said earlier I do have a plugin I sell out on wordpress.org and it sells. on my site.. I got goose eggs for sales.

      The theme I am developing, I will obviously try and sell on my forum, but the reality is my sales will come from wordpress.org and the forum will be there as my support mechanism. ( or that's the way I am seeing it going )

      I know somewhere somehow I am missing something.. and that is why I asked here... its just frustrating... I just keep telling myself you are your own worst client. and boy aint that the truth.


      Originally Posted by tonyscott View Post

      What you're doing is noble and there are endless ways of monetising it.

      What both misterme and helisell said is the answer and if you do it, you should easily make 6 figures.

      Learn about marketing funnels.

      You're in an enviable position really, you just need to stick your head above the parapet and become comfortable doing so.

      Tony
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  • Profile picture of the author cherbeat
    I definitely agree with the banners monetizing other products. A survey would definitely be a way to squeeze out monetization. Also, I would suggest doing a couple over the shoulder videos on the setup of the plugins and themes. Maybe create the initial steps showing the process then upsell the "PRO" or "Advanced" setup that redirects to your videos. You can then monetize the descriptions or use annotations to redirect to some kind of paid service.

    Just a thought!!
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    • Profile picture of the author savidge4
      Originally Posted by cherbeat View Post

      I definitely agree with the banners monetizing other products. A survey would definitely be a way to squeeze out monetization. Also, I would suggest doing a couple over the shoulder videos on the setup of the plugins and themes. Maybe create the initial steps showing the process then upsell the "PRO" or "Advanced" setup that redirects to your videos. You can then monetize the descriptions or use annotations to redirect to some kind of paid service.

      Just a thought!!
      we have over 200 of these videos... I might take a look at the "Pro" and "Advanced" idea
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Gylseth
    "Secret" to success = Look at what players in a similar industry are doing, and implement their best practices. In this case, take a look at some of the methods other forums use to monetize their service. For example, in some of the same style as the Warrior Forum WSO section, you could allow for these DIY guys to sell some of their own products for a fee and/or percentage of the sales, if that makes sense for your user group.

    While I appreciate the support you give, would there be a way that you could position yourself so that they get free support to a certain level, and beyond that they pay? It could be structured in several different ways. For example, someone asks a question in the Forum, and you provide 1-3 replies for free, if they want assistance beyond that they will have to may a small fee for each instance. Another way would be to say that "I help for free with a, b, c, but if you need help with x, y, z, it's going to cost $$$". I'm sure there are other ways to structure it as well, but with all of these it could be tied into a monthly subscription for 'unlimited' support.

    Third, think about what tools you use for your work (software, plugins, etc.), or, as was mentioned in an earlier post, what people are talking about. Contact those services and ask if they want to advertise or plug in to their affiliate programs.

    Lots of opportunities, so I'm sure you'll find what works best for you.
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