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Best Ways To Monetize A Forum?

by shanec
16 replies
Hi All,

What do you think are the best ways to monetize a forum? It's a golf related forum and the ideas I've come up with so far are:

  • Promote related affiliate products,
  • Create and promote own products
  • Google AdSense

I was wondering what other effective methods could be used?


Thanks,
Shane.
#forum #monetize #ways
  • Profile picture of the author Scott Murdaugh
    Ebay for golf equipment.

    Maybe a golf supply store from CJ.

    Own products, or re-written PLR products could be good.

    Adsense can pay pretty well in the golf niche too, I used to run a golf blog.

    Good luck.

    -Scott
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    Over $30 Million In Marketing Data And A Decade Of Consistently Generating Breakthrough Results - Ask How My Unique Approach To Copy Typically Outsells Traditional Ads By Up To 29x Or More...

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    • Profile picture of the author shanec
      Thanks Scott, those are a few more ideas I can add to my list
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      • Profile picture of the author Harvey Segal
        Shane,

        There's a section on monetizing a forum in my free book: Forum Owner SuperTips


        Harvey
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        • Profile picture of the author Khemal
          Originally Posted by Harvey.Segal View Post

          Shane,

          There's a section on monetizing a forum in my free book: Forum Owner SuperTips


          Harvey
          Darn it Harvey! Stop giving away your secrets like that!! groan!!! Now I simply HAVE to go get it!

          Seriously though - pay CLOSE attention to this Harvey character! He has a tendency to teach you things that will blow you mind!

          That's my free super tip of the day.
          Khemal
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        • Profile picture of the author mdunn123
          Why not copy some things from this forum?? I don't actually mean "copy" anything from the forum just take some examples from the sections here on this site. Why not have something like the WSO section in site where people pay a small one time fee to make posts that promote their service...like personal golf training etc. Or have a classified section in the forum also for a small one time or monthly fee? Then there's the idea of having a special and exclusive forum like the "war room" where all the best golfers gather and talk.

          Just some thoughts....

          Best of luck!
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        • Profile picture of the author sachibhat
          You could create a sticky thread in your forum promoting your own product or affiliate products. Sticky thread gets a lot of views
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          • Profile picture of the author shanec
            Thanks Guys, I knew I was asking this question in the right place.

            Harvey, excellent report, it's given me even more ideas, and
            Khemal, thanks for your tip of the day (it's a good one).

            mdunn123, I've been trying to think of ways to have a similar section to the WSO and you've given me the answer I was looking for. I'm a member of the war room, and something like that would be ideal for a different niche like golf.

            sachibhat, another simple but effective method. Using a sticky sounds like a great way to sell or advertise products without being too pushy, and loads of people will read it.



            Regards,

            Shane
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  • Profile picture of the author IMcruiser
    I wouldn't go down the adsense route unless your keywords are super-lucrative (which they are not in the golf niche) because you are effectively getting paid cents to send your traffic direct to a competitor (why is it that nobody seems to understand this basic concept? )

    Instead of Adsense use some well placed links on your site that advertisers can click and charge them per impression. That way you can choose banners that compliment rather than compete.
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  • Profile picture of the author Adrian Cooper
    Originally Posted by shanec View Post

    Hi All,

    What do you think are the best ways to monetize a forum? It's a golf related forum and the ideas I've come up with so far are:

    • Promote related affiliate products,
    • Create and promote own products
    • Google AdSense

    I was wondering what other effective methods could be used?


    Thanks,
    Shane.
    Depending on the forum, you can get plugins that automatically inject AdSense posts between regular posts at specified intervals.

    I have several large forums - one bigger than this - not in IM - and monetisation is always a question.

    One approach is to add to the TOS the right to send the subscriber email, so they are opting in when they join the forum.

    You can send email directly from the forum admin generally, but I dump the user list and email addresses from the Linux command line and add them to AWeber. AWeber does require these to be verified though.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ben Clemons
    Create and promote own products!

    I have done this and it works like a charm. Adsense is okay if you only wanna make a few bucks a day bleh....
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    • Profile picture of the author Adrian Cooper
      Originally Posted by Ben Clemons View Post

      Create and promote own products!

      I have done this and it works like a charm. Adsense is okay if you only wanna make a few bucks a day bleh....
      Totally agree.

      In IM creating your own products is the only way to go.

      The question though is about monetising a forum - which is a different question.
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      • Profile picture of the author Ben Clemons
        Originally Posted by apc01 View Post

        Totally agree.

        In IM creating your own products is the only way to go.

        The question though is about monetising a forum - which is a different question.
        Its not different at all. I am talking about creating products that are relevant to your forum and then promoting them on your forum. I own a couple different forums, and each have products that I created selling on each page of the site. It works much better than adsense. On another note, if you are getting a TON of traffic, you could sell ad space for a good chunk of money.
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        • Profile picture of the author affilcrazy
          I quite like the idea above about monetizing by having a "WSO type" section. As it's golf related, i'm sure there are many of your members who would like to buy and sell goods.

          Also, the new adsense/affiliate marketing seems to be CPA. Again i am sure there are millions of golf related "Cost Per Action" offers. You can probably find questionnaires, special prize offers, free gifts, etc within this niche. Most of these offers will probably pay within the $5 - $25 range per sign up.

          Cheers
          Partha
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          "There is no fixed teaching. All I can provide is an appropriate medicine for a particular ailment" - Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do (on Zen)
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  • Profile picture of the author IMcruiser
    Try offervault to see what CPA offers are related to golf

    http://www.offervault.com/members/in...ype=ASC&n=&ex=
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