Making Money Running a Forum

[Nomad]

A lot of people run blogs for money and I think it is one of the most popular ways to make money online. I have also seen some people trying to run forums for money. These people are mostly running paid to post sites where they run ads on their sites and pay the posters to create content. What are your thoughts on running a forum for making money? Do you think this is doable? Do you think people should avoid using forums as commercial project and keep it purely a hobby project?

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I don't think most people avoid forums that are trying to be commercial.

Those who don't block ads are usually used to ads and just live with it. Those who know there are option to block them will block them. Those who avoid it because it seems commercial shouldn't be the type of user that a forum is targeting IMO.

I think one of the best ways to make money with a forum is through premium membership but not the, you get a custom title and banner type of premium membership. You need to give them a higher value and in return set your costs higher. Don't target people who just want to pay $15 a year, target the ones willing to pay $15 a month for value.