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Could I get away with this?

by Jon Tees
21 replies
I've been running a free advertising forum for years and its fairly successful. So do you feel it would be a wise move for me to start charging people for advertising? I'm not sure about charging for general advertising, but maybe for featured advertising like sticky ads, banners and so forth. I sort of feel sleazy for thinking this. It just doesn't feel right to suddenly start charging for what was once free. But I'd like to build multiple streams of income or at least get some extra money for my own advertising efforts.
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
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    • Profile picture of the author JAIDEEP2959
      You can charge for advertising on time basis.

      e.g. $10 for 1 day, $50 for 1 week.

      It depends upon how many unique visitors your forum gets daily.

      Good Luck
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    • Profile picture of the author The Brian
      Try keeping the general advertising free, but charging for "premium" advertising (like you said... stickies, banners, etc).

      No need to feel sleazy, the general advertising will still be free, you're just introducing something new... that you charge for.
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  • Profile picture of the author JeffersonB
    I would..

    Featured Adverts are paid for.. Popups are Paid For etc.

    Normal advertising is free.

    You could even run a script so that if people pay for there advert to appear more it will and the free ones come up less.
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  • Profile picture of the author MarkH45
    I don't see anything wrong with charging people for premium or featured placement of an ad.

    If some people are seeing results from the free ads they place. They should have no problem bucking up for paid placement.
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    I think it's okay but like you say, keep the free advertising and add TONS of value and extras to the paid ad service. Make it a no-brainer to 'upgrade' to a paid ad. You might even introduce the new service by offering a few "free" paid ads. For a limited time only, of course...

    Maybe you could promote it as a graduated pricing system starting at a very low price. People who take out say, three ads at the low price would be guaranteed that price for a year, or forever maybe. There are lots of ways to make it palatable and have it work out. Good Luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author CliveG
    Originally Posted by Jon Tees View Post

    I've been running a free advertising forum for years and its fairly successful. So do you feel it would be a wise move for me to start charging people for advertising? I'm not sure about charging for general advertising, but maybe for featured advertising like sticky ads, banners and so forth. I sort of feel sleazy for thinking this. It just doesn't feel right to suddenly start charging for what was once free. But I'd like to build multiple streams of income or at least get some extra money for my own advertising efforts.
    One of the worst problems with the internet is that people have come to expect too much for free. I'm sure that you will lose some business if you start to make a charge but overall your income should increase. There is no need to feel sleazy for making the change.

    As others have posted, put a positive spin on the change. Keep some ads free and provide something that has value to "premium" customers.

    Good luck.
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    • Profile picture of the author ForeignProfessor
      Originally Posted by CliveG View Post

      One of the worst problems with the internet is that people have come to expect too much for free.
      This has been a big problem for a long time. About 12 years ago I used to play a MUD online and it started charging money. Oh my god, you'd have thought the owner was pimping out children in an orphanage the way a few people reacted. There was an OUTRAGE from a certain crowd that the owner would want to charge money for this game he spent 18 hours a day on. The fact that it was on the internet meant that the owner should work for free apparently.

      I think there is still very much an expectation that things should be free on the internet, but thanks to Paypal, Amazon, Ebay and the like it's also become a lot more acceptable to buy stuff.
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  • Profile picture of the author Franck Silvestre
    Do it. Go and charge for it man. It's good to have some money coming in.

    Franck
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    Hey, John...
    Why don't you post a link to the site... I know I'd like to see it and bet some of the others on this thread would too.
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  • Profile picture of the author Croque
    Originally Posted by davidofderbyshire View Post

    First, I would ask the users if they would pay, do they feel they are getting the benefits otherwise you would lose alot of customers

    The current ads are free, so there are no customers... yet! so he's nothing to lose.

    Go ahead charge for it, just keep both options free and paid, Im sure many will like to pay to have their ad in the "Feature" section.
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    Jon Tees,

    What you described is a COMMON business model on the internet. Is it SLEAZY? I think so. Is it UNIQUE, etc.... NOPE! If you do it, it is just "JOIN THE CLUB".

    It has been done with software, websites, etc....

    HECK, look at THIS site! It was once a FREE PREMIUM!

    THEN, he ALSO made it a paid site.

    Many found this site, invited others, etc... so it became defacto free, it never really was free to the best of my knowledge, but ended up being treated as such.

    That became accepted.

    NOW, services are cut back unless you PAY MORE!

    Again, to the best of my knowledge, this site was never TRULY free. The original agreement was as a PREMIUM for purchasing one of Allens items/services, or a fee for gaining access. Still though, TO THIS DAY, many thought this was FREE!

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author Jobe4212
    It's simple; offer a creative premium option.
    That way you are not pulling the rug out,
    and I bet you'll be stunned at the interest level.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jon Tees
      Originally Posted by Jobe4212 View Post

      It's simple; offer a creative premium option.
      That way you are not pulling the rug out,
      and I bet you'll be stunned at the interest level.

      I have decided to go ahead with this option and went live with it earlier today. The original forums will remain free but a new premium forum will cost between $5 and $15 an ad. The prices are like this and I feel they are reasonable.
      Regular ad $5
      Sticky ad $10.
      Sticky forum ad plus an ad on my high traffic blog $15.
      Don't really have a time limit for how long ads will run for the price or whether or not I'll leave ads up and allow them to fall off the page naturally or remove them after a set period of time.
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      • Profile picture of the author SantiSantana
        you should post somewhere in your forum as fast as you can that those are introductory prices while you test things out and they should expect the prices to go up in the future.

        People need to understand you are trying to run a business and while you strive to provide value for money it is unreasonable to get dollars for cents. If your forum explodes and the new features perform very well you need to be able to be flexible with your price points.

        It need to be clear to your customers that more effort+more investment= better results and better results usually cost more. Just make sure you are sensible about it.

        And then go all out and make your customers money be worth the investment (value, value, value).
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  • Profile picture of the author patselby
    If you change from free to charging people for what they are already using, that will leave a bad taste in everyone's mouth. Bring it back to you personally. What would happen if FB started charging for using it, people would stop using FB. However, if there was an add on that people could choose to buy if they wanted, it would be viewed as another feature to FB and people would think more of FB for it. It would add to FB being "Feature Rich". That is what I would try to accomplish.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Powers
    Have a try.If it's worthy,they will be willing to advertise.That's so-called cooperation and mutual benefit,I think.
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      Steve,
      Is it SLEAZY? I think so.
      What's sleazy about it?

      As far as this forum, it was originally a paid membership. $37 and then $47, IIRC. Then it became a bonus that was offered with some products that Allen sold resale rights to, and with Host4Profit membership. (Not necessarily in that order.)

      The software he used at the time didn't allow for locking people out who hadn't paid, and it was impossible to keep track of who had bought which product from what reseller. So, it became "free" by default.
      NOW, services are cut back unless you PAY MORE!
      The original forum had one section, no PM function, no automatic sig files, no marketplace of any kind, and a whole lot fewer people. The stuff outside of the War Room right now is worth probably 50 times what existed back when we paid just to get access.

      Some folks look at it as getting less for free. I look at it as a major upgrade to what I paid for, with additional upgrades available at a very small extra fee.


      Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author seasoned
        Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

        Steve,What's sleazy about it?
        He said he felt sleazy, I was agreeing. 8-) Did I say it was illegal, unethical, etc? NOPE! I even said a LOT of companies do that.

        The same could be said for the arbitrage mentality that happens everywhere. I WISH I knew a better way, but I don't. 8-(

        Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

        As far as this forum, it was originally a paid membership. $37 and then $47, IIRC. Then it became a bonus that was offered with some products that Allen sold resale rights to, and with Host4Profit membership. (Not necessarily in that order.)
        He could probably have had SOME sort of lockout if it was THAT bad, but you DID bring up another point. He sold things others were allowed to sell and THEY came with permission to join. Still, what I said was right. Originally, it wasn't meant to be free. He even sold warriorpro. For it's day it may have looked nice, but the one part that blew everything else away was THIS forum.

        Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

        The software he used at the time didn't allow for locking people out who hadn't paid, and it was impossible to keep track of who had bought which product from what reseller. So, it became "free" by default.The original forum had one section, no PM function, no automatic sig files, no marketplace of any kind, and a whole lot fewer people. The stuff outside of the War Room right now is worth probably 50 times what existed back when we paid just to get access.
        YEAH, I admit that this has some nice features that weren't available then, STILL, he charged after many got use to them.

        Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

        Some folks look at it as getting less for free. I look at it as a major upgrade to what I paid for, with additional upgrades available at a very small extra fee.


        Paul
        Actually, I look at it the same way as you do. I DID get a number of allens products. For a time, I was even a host4profit member.

        Hopefully, you realize that is just the way I write. I never met allen, but he seems like a nice guy, and I certainly have NOTHING against him.
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        • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
          Steve,
          YEAH, I admit that this has some nice features that weren't available then, STILL, he charged after many got use to them.
          The changes are pretty limited. You don't get as many PMs, you don't get the free blog, and you have to be a War Room member to run a WSO.

          The 50 post requirement created more noise than any of that, and that's just to keep the spammers to a dull roar.
          Hopefully, you realize that is just the way I write. I never met allen, but he seems like a nice guy, and I certainly have NOTHING against him.
          Yep. That was just history for the new folks. If I had a problem with what you said, you know I wouldn't be shy about how I responded.


          Paul
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          • Profile picture of the author seasoned
            Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

            Steve,The changes are pretty limited. You don't get as many PMs, you don't get the free blog, and you have to be a War Room member to run a WSO.

            The 50 post requirement created more noise than any of that, and that's just to keep the spammers to a dull roar.Yep. That was just history for the new folks. If I had a problem with what you said, you know I wouldn't be shy about how I responded.


            Paul
            BTW, I am in FULL agreement with the rules like the 50 post requirement, and would be even if they applied to me now. However, as I am sure you know, I haven't spammed, and certainly haven't done that here.

            And yeah, if anyone called you shy about that, I would say they should be fitted for a straight jacket!

            Steve
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