Premium Membership

[Sam1]

Do you offer premium membership on your forum? How much do you charge if you do and what are the benefits of it? If you don't offer this- Why not?

 

[Phantomer]

I offer VIP members for 5$ a month. VIP members get to access the VIP forum, where they can do anything they want to

 

[Sam1]

I offer VIP members for 5$ a month. VIP members get to access the VIP forum, where they can do anything they want to

Has anyone taken it up yet?

 

[Jason1]

Till now i haven't thought about it. Like to charge 5$ for 6 months.

 

[flame]

i intend bringing it in in future once the forum is ticking over well. havent given consideration to exact charges or anything, have several ideas for it but need to plan it properly, right now my concern is getting the forum going

 

[Sam1]

i intend bringing it in in future once the forum is ticking over well. havent given consideration to exact charges or anything, have several ideas for it but need to plan it properly, right now my concern is getting the forum going

Well for charges I would have a maximum percentage of premium members I wanted and then charge accordingly.... For a newer forum, I'd say the best idea is to charge say $2 for a month of premium but making sure you kept the 6 month and 1 year fees a lot higher...

 

[hissae2]

It`s not really premium member but I have a donator group. The minimum required is $5 but so far everyone has donated more (all 2 donators xD). All donations go back into the site. It is permanent membership and gets you into the VIP room.

 

[ford1001]

I have some on Respawn Gamers. $5 for 6 months, $9 for a year or $19.99 for life

 

[Sam1]

I have some on Respawn Gamers. $5 for 6 months, $9 for a year or $19.99 for life

Anyone taken that up yet Ford? And what sort of things do you offer in return? Premium boards, custom titles etc.

 

[ford1001]

Premium Boards, Larger PM, Custom Title, Username color, access to exclusive competitions etc. Nobody has taken it up yet though

 

[Sam1]

Premium Boards, Larger PM, Custom Title, Username color, access to exclusive competitions etc. Nobody has taken it up yet though

Ah well- at least you still get link sales

 

[ford1001]

Ah well- at least you still get link sales

Some sort of revenue

 

[razelia]

I have something similar to hissae2's donator group, only mine isn't a group, but more of a custom title badge the user earns if he/she makes any amount of donation for the site. Think of it as aesthetics.

 

[dojo]

Right now the forum is too small to warrant something like this and to be honest I don't think I'd use this.I can make money without premium memberships, there's other ways to earn a decent buck. we'll see. Anyway, it's not something I should do now anyway

 

[Brentnauer]

I may offer premium memberships when and if I can come up with something that I as a member would enjoy paying for. For now, I'm happy with my poorly performing Adsense placements.

 

[Sam1]

I may offer premium memberships when and if I can come up with something that I as a member would enjoy paying for. For now, I'm happy with my poorly performing Adsense placements.

Adsense is horrible for forums... I would suggest private advertisers, if you can get them... But it's up to you!

 

[Brentnauer]

Adsense is horrible for forums... I would suggest private advertisers, if you can get them... But it's up to you!

I agree, but I have yet to launch and I don't think I can get private advertisers until I have something of value to offer. Adsense is mostly just a way to scrape the bucket for SOMETHING, as well as set a precedent for their existence later on.

 

[Sam1]

I agree, but I have yet to launch and I don't think I can get private advertisers until I have something of value to offer. Adsense is mostly just a way to scrape the bucket for SOMETHING, as well as set a precedent for their existence later on.

It depends. If you're a really new forum, then I wouldn't suggest having adverts on there at all. People, for some reason, hate and will not join new forums with ads on them. When you get to around 5000 posts or so, see if you can reach out to private advertisers. WebGurubb, when I was still a co-owner, had a private advertiser at 1000 posts- but in the end, it wasn't very beneficial to the forum at that stage.

 

[Brentnauer]

It depends. If you're a really new forum, then I wouldn't suggest having adverts on there at all. People, for some reason, hate and will not join new forums with ads on them. When you get to around 5000 posts or so, see if you can reach out to private advertisers. WebGurubb, when I was still a co-owner, had a private advertiser at 1000 posts- but in the end, it wasn't very beneficial to the forum at that stage.

I think there's a difference between a half-banner somewhere that isn't in the way, and plastering GIANT banners and 300x300 square ads in obnoxious places.