making money from a forum

**totters_traders** · 05-25-2010 05:57 AM

hi guys - i really want to start my own forum on a particular subject i have been researching however i am not sure if its a great way of making full time money - does anyone have experience from running a forum? and what kind of membership numbers or daily hits/visits do you need for big companies to pay to advertise on the site

any info from someone who has experience would be great

**Mega B** · 05-25-2010 06:33 AM

What platform are you going to use for the site phpBB VB or 2 or 3 other top scripts some are free and some are payed scripts,forums can be hardwork to get going but when they start to grow subject to the niche and the amount of visitors and members to the forum they can earn revenue how much i guess that is upto you and how you promote it.

**totters_traders** · 05-25-2010 07:45 AM

i would like something simular to this forum - with scope to have advertising when it grows

**SCJeff** · 05-25-2010 10:38 PM

What would you consider "Full Time Money?" I guess its possible if the site is big enough and you get enough traffic. I'm also in the process of creating a forum, and am projecting around $1500 a year (which I honestly don't know if that is a lot or not, this is my first venture), if I get a good jump start with getting traffic. You just need a good marketing plan and a way to get your site out there.

**totters_traders** · 05-26-2010 03:01 AM

full time money to be is an amount enough for me to live on and start up new ventures without having to work a 9 to 5 - so i guess the average salary for a 9 to 5 is 40k upwards

**Mega B** · 05-26-2010 04:05 AM

What worries me here is i am not sure if you have the technical knowledge to support a forum and expand it in the SEO department and getting a forum off the ground takes time and money especially if you are looking at getting it into a big revenue earner,people think that if they setup a forum it will grow and make alot of revenue trust me it is a very small percentage that do and i am try to be very realistic with you here.

One option if you want to go down this forum road is to purchase a existing forum that someone has done all the hardwork for you and they have lost interest and then you could purchase it and then turn it around to start making some revenue.

But this all boils down to how much 'wonga' you have to spend if you are on a tight budget it will take a long long time.

**totters_traders** · 05-26-2010 04:55 AM

yes i agree technical knowledge i need to improve on - marketing and promoting i believe id be ok as the target audience for my site i already have contacts and knowledge in. im not looking for something overnight i dont mind putting the time in and growing something

**totters_traders** · 05-27-2010 08:03 AM

ok i have spoke to a friend who is going to do the setting up of forum for me !!! and teach me how to manage it - any one have any good advice to lend beofre i start

**Mega B** · 05-27-2010 08:22 AM

I would asy just go for it,i take it you have a domain for this new project and are you going to be using the VB platform that all the top site use if so a licence is required and the rest will be a learning curve.

**totters_traders** · 05-27-2010 09:24 AM

phpbb3 i believe he said is better then vb ?

**Mega B** · 05-27-2010 09:29 AM

phpBBV3 is a very popular free forum script and can be made to look very nice due to the many free templates that are around,but i think you will find that VB is the defacto standard and all the top forums use this script but i think i am right in saying its about $190 for the latest V4 version.

**Carlos™** · 05-27-2010 09:24 PM

Take it from a marketer of forums - with 8 years under my belt.

I have experienced PHPBB before, and I don't like the product at all. Too easy, and quite frankly, not as secure as say, vbulletin. Which is what this site is powered by.

Vbulletin is pricey, but they say "you get what you pay for." And if you buy vbSEO, that goes double. The Crawlability guys are awesome at support, they offer feedback, and support on how to make your forum successful over time. Ask, and you'll get the answers.

Secondly, in order to run a forum, you need to ADAPT. ADAPT. AND ADAPT. If you can't adjust your thinking by adapting to changes in trends, such as the importance of SEO in today's market, along with a steady trend by Social Media. Then, your forum will fail. And content is king. It is true.

There are many ways to market your forums - but you need to pay attention to the opportunities, rather than being oblivious. Over the years, I have made mistakes, over and over again, until I realized how to do it right. That's just one part; free 'marketing.' And then, there's paid advertising - adwords, myspace ads, youtube ads, youtube affiliates program, twitter sponsored ads, and facebook ads. If you have money, decide WHAT market you want to target before spending that cash.

And even if your forum is popular enough to put money in your pocket, its not really a full-time job. To make money, you HAVE to spend money, even if you put yourself in debt. I have been to websites that made forum owners thousands of dollars over 5 years of management, and they've gone to corporate conglomerates. Ironic? Yes, if you only manage one forum. But if your forum is managed by a corporate company, and has a network of forums - a whole different story there. That's what I am aiming for.

**totters_traders** · 05-28-2010 06:07 AM

ok ill ask him about the vb forums also what other quesios should i cover with my developer ? also can anyone recomend a good forum bseides this to look at for layout and stuff like that

**Mega B** · 05-28-2010 06:17 AM

I think i am right in saying that if you start a forum using the phpBB script you have the ability later if you go for the VB script you can import all the data from one script to the other one so that may help you but i will concure that the VB is the far better and safer option.