Have you ever made money off a forum?

raineshoe

Free Member
Mar 16, 2006
264
40
Lancashire, UK
Sorry to sound harsh, but why would anyone want to tell you that kind of information if they are successful at it, just for you to then jump on the bandwaggon having had the information handed to you on a plate without doing any leg work.

I would imagine that was why you were asking so you could set up doing the same thing?
 
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B

B&H Digital

I would imagine that was why you were asking so you could set up doing the same thing?

On a personal level I'm interested in setting up a forum, yes. But I already have my niche etc (tv programme to be precise), I'm mainly interested in seeing what the potential revenues are for the type of niche I'm looking to start - not to steal them :).
 
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tony84

Free Member
Apr 14, 2008
6,593
1
1,406
Manchester
i used to run a Dance/House/Trance music forum, back when i was 17-20.

It was a bit more than a forum though by the time i sold it, it allowed DJs to upload music, promoters to promote their nights/events, a directory for people in the business and also a bit for people to upload photos of their nights out/holidays to ibiza and all that.

I was having a bit built for reviews too when i got a job and sold the site.

I got a fair bit for it but it was before facebook took off - if id have had the forthought i could probably be sitting at the very top of Tony Towers now.

It was earning me about £50 a month because i was never really interested in that side of it until years later.
 
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I am building up a good audience of mums on a facebook group page. I hope to make some money and/or get somegifts for myself and or members but not sure yet how its going to happen.:|

i understand with forums you have to have alot of members to make any money. There are so many forums out there. People seem to like a fb group page. Well mine do anyway.
 
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M

Marco Casario

On an entirely different perspective, I made money selling a web app to members of a forum. It took a lot of investment and techy mumbo that I do not dare have another one done. Did I make money? - Yes and more than what I invested but like I said, I found myself just barely understanding what transpired as I paid someone to code it. Too risky for my blood. You learn from having done it though.
 
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forums are dying ,, facebook is killing them and twitter is also having a bash with a few more nails in the coffin so to speak.

i own 2 forums both deader than a dodo as they all slipped over to facebooking .or only use the forum to spam away for backlinks then dissapear .

forums earn money from adverts , i have google ads on both and they earn enough to just about manage a KFC bargain bucket a month .. so for rewards to time spent building a forum the good days have long long gone ..
Long term ones like this seem to hold there own but i bet even this has noticed the drop !!
I just use mine for backlinks now as it pays for itself ,but if you said start a new one NOT in a million years thanks..
 
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I have a forum and have been offerd well into 5 figures for it. it is a sports niche, and it ain't for sale. I run it for love of the game and there is not a single advert on there, no revenue whatsoever.

The company that want it run organised trips, and they know that the people who frequent my forum are their target market. With trips starting at around £5k a pop you can see why they want in :)
 
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Talay

Free Member
Mar 12, 2012
4,170
944
forums are dying ,, facebook is killing them and twitter is also having a bash with a few more nails in the coffin so to speak.

i own 2 forums both deader than a dodo as they all slipped over to facebooking .or only use the forum to spam away for backlinks then dissapear .

forums earn money from adverts , i have google ads on both and they earn enough to just about manage a KFC bargain bucket a month .. so for rewards to time spent building a forum the good days have long long gone ..
Long term ones like this seem to hold there own but i bet even this has noticed the drop !!
I just use mine for backlinks now as it pays for itself ,but if you said start a new one NOT in a million years thanks..

With few barriers to entry, any subject matter with a successful forum has its membership and traffic eroded through copycat forums targeting the same demographic.

As you mentioned, the immediacy of Facebook and Twitter can take away the initial inertia required for forums to gain momentum meaning that they die a slow death from lack of new content.
 
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The threads arent set out the same way on facebook as they are on a forum but its instant and lots of people are on facebook anyway. I amnot sure how you make money from a facebook group though as its not the same as a forum.
 
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EViS

Free Member
Jun 8, 2010
77
1
Not having ever owned a forum, but a dedicated member on many, in what way has Facebook taken so much of the market share that you guys speak of? I can't see any correlation between the two so would love to be enlightened.
 
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fantanz

Free Member
Jul 11, 2012
14
1
I am building up a good audience of mums on a facebook group page. I hope to make some money and/or get somegifts for myself and or members but not sure yet how its going to happen.:|

i understand with forums you have to have alot of members to make any money. There are so many forums out there. People seem to like a fb group page. Well mine do anyway.

Hi Jane

I will send you a complimentary bottle of our new "Nappy odour air freshener" if you can post a link of our product on your page with a nice review.

How many mums in your group?

clengo dot com

Thank you

Paul
 
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I am afraid that wouldnt be any good to me as I personally dont have a baby.

BZZZZZZZ WRONG ANSWER JaneP

What the RIGHT answer should be is ...

GREAT STUFF. I can offer it as a prize to the mum who posts the best nappy disaster /funny tale.

Jane, if you are looking to make money from internet marketing you need to start seeing the possibilities in every situation, in short move from the memem mentality, and the money will follow.
 
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BZZZZZZZ WRONG ANSWER JaneP

What the RIGHT answer should be is ...

GREAT STUFF. I can offer it as a prize to the mum who posts the best nappy disaster /funny tale.

Jane, if you are looking to make money from internet marketing you need to start seeing the possibilities in every situation, in short move from the memem mentality, and the money will follow.


Whats being offered with respect is not something that will excite people. Its a good idea if the prze being offered is of more value. I would have though a babys toy,or item of clthing,or a book, pair of shoes, would interest mums more than something thats going to make their nappy bag smell good for a while. Its not an item they are going to keep buying either. Would generate more interest if the the prize was abit more exciting.
 
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Whats being offered with respect is not something that will excite people. Its a good idea if the prze being offered is of more value. I would have though a babys toy,or item of clthing,or a book, pair of shoes, would interest mums more than something thats going to make their nappy bag smell good for a while. Its not an item they are going to keep buying either. Would generate more interest if the the prize was abit more exciting.


Ok sorry for trying to help, I mean why would I think that the chance to get some internet success (however small) together with a prize (however small) that they can talk about and share with friends when they go to Post natal etc would help you.

there is a saying and it goes'never look a gift horse in the mouth'.

Jane please don't take this the wrong way, but this is probably your third or fourth attemp at online stuff. On every single occasion you have come here and asked for help and advice, and then gon on, in almost all cases, to have rubbished it or dismissed it out of hand, claiming to know better.

Here is the thing, in my experience, people will take part in a competition with NO PRIZE, if it gives them a sense of achiement, and this is especially true in the case of new mums who in many cases will have stopped work. on my sport forum, we run a fantasy tournament for most of the big competitions within the niche. there is no prize, yet well into 3 sometimes 4 figures can take part. PURELY so they can feel the sense of achievement that winning and being named as winner brings.

As I said though, i am sorry that my advice was not of a high enough standard, I will rty not to spoil your threads again with sub-standard posts ;)
 
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No need to get the hump OWG. I did say with respect I didnt think the prize was good enough but I thought the idea of a competition to see who had the best nappy story was a good one.

The problem is on the board is there are certain people who think its there way or no way. Just because advice is given dosent mean the poster cant interact and give their opinions back.Two sides to everything and all that?;)

Anyone this is keeping the thread on the board and people are viewing so that is good.Anyone reading who wants to offer something a prize to an audience of mums please get in touch.
 
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I didn't get the hump it is just that you are very negative about anything that doesn't fit into your plan, and always have been, regardless of the project you are involved with. I think you need to step back and look at why the other attempts failed, you may find it was because of the closed attitude.

You THINK the prize is not good enough, yet as i pointed out, people compete in competitions with no prize.
 
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Jane I should add that it may appear like I am being tough on you, but sometimes that is what is needed in business. many believe that the right thing to do is to pat each other on the back and say how good things are etc. Business is tough and building a social group (as you are) is one of THE toughest things to do. What I was trying to get across was NEVER discount anything as not being worth it.

Throw it in there and see what people think.

Personally i would go with a basic post telling your group that xyz have been kind enough to provide a sample of their product for free, but that as you only have 1 you thought you would give it to the witiest post in a period of time (set by you) and voted for by the membership. Invite the members to get involved. you may get backlinks and traffic to your group as a result.

Give it a try, you never know what will happen. Please understand that I am only forceful as I see you throwing away an opportunity, then asking for a better one.
 
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J-Wholesale

Free Member
Jul 13, 2008
764
213
I closed down a forum only two weeks ago that I'd built and helped run for 3 years. We shut it down because the moderation got to be too time consuming, and fights were breaking out too often. It got to be a pain in the ass to run.

At the time, the forum was getting 600K page loads a month. It had 30K posts, with 160K comments and 2,500 members. It was the most active forum in its niche in Ireland, so much so that other forums in that niche couldn't get any traction - same for Facebook pages. Good, active communities don't lose out to Facebook - people migrate to where the community is, and if that's a forum, then that's where they go.

We ran Google ads on the site - 3 spots on each page, and it only brought in €150 a month. Peanut money, despite the high page loads. Hosting costs (shared hosting) ran to about €200 a year.

In its best year, when we had some industry specific advertisers, we took in about €3K in ad revenue. But this fizzled out last year, as most of the advertisers had such crappy websites and landing pages that they couldn't convert clicks into sales - despite the very focused nature of the traffic.

I don't mind giving these figures out, because the forum is now closed. But I wouldn't ever start a forum with the intent of making money, as it's incredibly time consuming.
 
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Have to agree with JW, My forum is 100% advert free. the only adverts allowed are members selling some stuff, or like this week a production company contacted me as they are looking for guest live commentators for games this season and they wanted to make a post. I allowed it, but no money changed hands, I did it as it benefits the members.

As the saying goes, if you want to make a small fortune on forums, start off with a big fortune :p
 
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