Is ads the only way to make money?

[Nimue]

Is adding ads to a site, and probably having some paying features, the only way to make money from online buisness? Also, do blogging sites get a percentage of the money from ads the users put online?
I'm thinking of developing a forums-like site (forums plus a basic forum with other features, it's a kind of social site) but don't know much about the whole "making money" thing...

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by Nimue

Is adding ads to a site, and probably having some paying features, the only way to make money from online buisness? Also, do blogging sites get a percentage of the money from ads the users put online?
I'm thinking of developing a forums-like site (forums plus a basic forum with other features, it's a kind of social site) but don't know much about the whole "making money" thing...

First of all, don't make a forum unless you have a way to get traffic to it. Steve's site gets millions of visitors a month and these forums still only look like they have a few hundred active members. Imagine how few members a brand new forum will get if it doesn't have an already-popular website directing traffic to it: probably zero.

Secondly, you can sell whatever you want on your own website. Putting up ads like Adsense are just some of the easiest ways to monetize, but definitely not the most profitable. You can sell an ebook very easily, or sign up for someone else's affiliate program and sell their product as an affiliate pretty easily as well.

[Nimue]

I do believe I have ways to get traffic (nice graphics, philosophy of the site, space for personal user sections, some Googling/advertising tricks e.t.c.). But I do want to proceed to the design of the site after I have thought of how to make profit from it. It's a quite ambitious project already, so I want to aim for the best and be prepared for everything!
I like the e-books thought... My site-to-be has a literature-istic side so I could combine it! Thanks!

I didn't expect e-books to be that profitable, to say the truth... I thought that selling services or ads was of higher potential. Interesting.

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by Nimue

I do believe I have ways to get traffic (nice graphics, philosophy of the site, space for personal user sections, some Googling/advertising tricks e.t.c.).

None of these is useful in getting traffic, unless you expect your website to go viral from the very few users that find it by accident, which in all likelihood it will not, simply because only 0.0001% of websites or online content that exists will ever go viral.

Nice graphics are nice, but they don't actually get anybody to your site in order to see the graphics in the first place (traffic from Google Images is generally very low). Same thing for personal user sections. It doesn't matter if you have a forum, if nobody knows your website even exists.

I'm not sure what you mean by site philosophy, unless you are referring to a business model or structure model for the content of the website.

To get any traffic to your site, you will have to either pay for advertisements via Google or a similar system, create content that is designed to get free traffic from search engines, or advertise via other methods such as Facebook or Youtube videos.

I'm not trying to bash your ideas, just give you the heads up that you need to have effective tactics in order to get traffic to your site. A forum will be worthless with too few members, so it won't even matter how good it is or how good your content is, if nobody finds it to begin with.


Also as for ebooks being profitable, I currently sell my own ebook for $19.95. I usually get between 3-10 sales per month. Many other people sell ebooks on different topics for higher prices. The highest priced ebook I have ever seen advertised would probably be for $147, and the seller of it was very, very successful (thousands of copies sold).

[Rebecca800]

I admire your ambition. You should definitely push forward with this project!

However, as Curtis rightly says, you need to understand what makes a website or a forum successful before you dive in - as this will save you a lot of painful mistakes along the way.

Steve's blog is a good place to start because he has lots of articles about building traffic and making money online. He also highlights the importance of getting inbound links - and lots of them. We're talking thousands.

You have lots of creative ideas bubbling away and we just want to make sure you get the technical bits right too. You need to work the Search Engines and provide outstanding value if you want to do well.

Good luck!! Post your forum here when it's up.

[Nimue]

Thank you both!!!! That is really useful.
I realize now I've been concentrating too much in keeping people in the site and too little in bringing them in. But if it comes out as I imagine, I'm willing to pay for some ads I could fit e-books into it too in case it actually gathers people.There is much I need to learn, and it'll probably take months, but I'll make sure to post the site here once I make it

Out of curiosity, Curtis, is your e-book sold only via your site?

So, about profit, I was thinking to start via link/banner exchanges to raise my traffic and procceed to actual paying ads after I do raise it. And probably add some paying features if I make it up to there... Do you think it sounds like working?
Curtis, do you know how the whole "affiliate program" works? I'm not too sure what you mean by it, to tell the truth...Are you talking about e-auctioning and e-selling sites?

Thanks again

[Rebecca800]

Here's an article on affiliate programs for beginners - what they are, how to find the best ones, how to increase your conversion rate - How to Make Money with Affiliate Programs

[danthony]

You can also look into CPA offers on your site or even selling your own product. Sky is the limit, but better to concentrate on building traffic for a new site. If i had to do it over again, I would buy a nice aged domain with high PR from the get go. Once you get it back online, it will already be established for traffic. Godaddy auctions is one such place to sell these premium domains.