I have visitors and fans, how can I monetize the site?

[blackwater]

Hi there,

I run this little site: Coreheim.com - Updated Rulebook for Games Workshop's Mordheim

The main product is a free 65-page rulebook.
The site has fans who ask for updates etc.
And solid traffic for its niche.

Yet I make absolutely NO money off it. Not ever spare change.
People will gladly download, read and play with the book.
But they think nothing of donating.

If every fan sent me, say, $0.5 I'd make enough to keep updating the site etc.etc.etc.

But as it stands, my totalt income is around $4 from years of service to thousands of people. What to do?

[reidchj]

Well other than the donate button I see nothing on your site currently to generate income.

I'm not familiar with the game but I'm sure there are companies and products that go along with it: figurines, books, game sets, fan items like t-shirts, etc

1. Add affiliate marketing links to other sites selling game merchandise.
2. Add a store selling items of your own like that.
3. Sell advertising space to those companies on the website and in the ebook.
4. Have the donate button pop up when they download you ebook. They may still put $0 down, but sure to get some who feel compelled to chip in to support the free stuff.

[blackwater]

i guess basically i am a bit wondrous that thousands of people would take the product to heart and not even donate some change

but great suggestions

[reidchj]

Well maybe it is not a judgment on human nature. Maybe they just don't realize it is just some poor guy shelling out the money for their free content or maybe they meant to but just forgot. Regardless there is no shame in making money off something you love. In the very least you could break even on the maintenance costs of keeping up the site so others can enjoy it.

Just keep this in mind. You understand your customers because you both love the same thing, the game. What would you spend money on?

[gigamasterhammer]

Originally Posted by reidchj

Just keep this in mind. You understand your customers because you both love the same thing, the game. What would you spend money on?

That's a really great question. Do you know what exactly your visitors want the most?

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by blackwater

But they think nothing of donating.

Steve has said before that he has millions of monthly visitors, but barely gets anything from donations.

Relying on donations is almost never a good idea. You need to sell a product or at least have advertising such as Google Adsense on your site.

[SnerpGoodWord]

I remember playing that once I think.

Is there anything preventing you from charging for the rulebook? I know some other games make OK money selling PDF game suplements (HERO comes to mind).