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Need Ideas on How to monetize my site

by Dmarcotte
10 replies
Hello fellow warriors,
I am hoping some of you experts can help me out. I have a website, www.thingstodowithkidsmn.com that isn't making me any money.

When I had adsense I was making less than $1 per day, even though I get between 100 - 150 unique visitors a day and growing. I finally got frustrated and took the ads off - hoping I would get more traffic if I didn't have ads.

It is a membership site, but membership is free - that is how I build my list. I do a weekly newsletter with details on upcoming family friendly events and a short article for interest.

I want to make this business profitable, but I can't figure out a way to monetize it. Any thoughts or ideas you have would be appreciated. The site is very seasonal and I want to have a revenue stream in place before spring when traffic starts to pick up again.
#ideas #monetize #site
  • Profile picture of the author Alex Blades
    Keep building that list, and learn how to build your sales funnel. Here is a good thread I found on how to build a sales funnel

    Instead of posting adsense, sign up for warrior pro and jv zoo, and try to get affiliate offers and post it on your site. Your best monetization will come from your list, so keep building it, and learn how to market to them. nothing wrong with 2 or 3 emails per week...
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    • Profile picture of the author Dmarcotte
      Thanks Alex - I already send weekly emails and I am not sure sending more than one email a week adds value - though during the summer when there are a lot more events I may do that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Ten
    I think that your domain name is too long, IMO.
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  • Profile picture of the author cello
    If you want to keep it ad-free (the site, and your emails), I'd work on finding specifically targeted "deals." Find affiliate offers that really cater well to your audience, and make a "resources" page, and in your emails have a sidebar with "resources" links.

    Figuring out your target audience is, of course, important. If you find out what your target audience likes to spend money on, offer that to them!

    Best of Luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author gabibeowulf
    You can try selling..

    Fun boardgames you can play with your family?
    Family oriented dvds?

    -Gabriel
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    • Profile picture of the author Dmarcotte
      Cello - thanks for the idea - I am actually working on contacting local family attractions to see if I can work out some kind of discount deal for memberships - but it is slow going.

      Gabriel - that is an excellent idea I had not even thought of - which is why I asked - thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author sarlat
    You have an amazing list - parents with kids!! You can sell kids products or adult products which will help their kids. You could create sub lists of your lists by asking all those who would be interested in teaching their kids yoga to sign up and then sell yoga courses for kids. And all of this can be done automatically from your funnnel.
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    • Profile picture of the author Dmarcotte
      Originally Posted by sarlat View Post

      You have an amazing list - parents with kids!! You can sell kids products or adult products which will help their kids. You could create sub lists of your lists by asking all those who would be interested in teaching their kids yoga to sign up and then sell yoga courses for kids. And all of this can be done automatically from your funnnel.
      What a great idea - I had not even considered segmenting my list into smaller sections to sell them specific things - thank you so much!
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  • Profile picture of the author shipwrecked
    Hi,

    I'd change, develop, add the following:

    1.shorter domain name, easy to keep in mind
    2.title written as domain name, so that it helps keeping in mind
    3.attractive content with images, details, stimulating multiple page views...
    4.make the newsletter sign up section (field) stand out
    5.make your message clear: people must instantly understand what they're getting from your site
    6.periodically create blog posts, news posts... people and Google love fresh content
    7.consider YouTube video marketing

    I think your signature link site has more potential than the one you just typed in
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    • Profile picture of the author Dmarcotte
      Thanks for the ideas shipwrecked - I have had this site for almost 2 years now and during the school year I only add 1 new post a week as there isn't that much interest or traffic. I have other sites (like the one in my signature) that I focus on during the school year.

      As for my domain name at the time I created the domain the current thinking was to choose a name that people would search for ie "things to do with kids" this had pretty good results before google made their most recent change. I have often thought of changing the name, but I am not sure what I would change it too - any suggestions would be appreciated.

      I will get right to work on making the newsletter sign up section stand out more - great suggestions. Thanks again.
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