Subscription Website

[AceFantasyFootball]

Hi. This is my first time at this forum, and from what I have read so far, everyone seems very helpful. My knowledge of website creation is ZERO. However, after recently losing my job of 26 years, I have decided to start a Fantasy Football analysis website. They say to do what you love, so that is what I am doing. I would like the site to be a subscription site. Does anyone have a similar type of site? It seems that most of the sites discussed on here primarily rely on ads and affiliate programs. I'm not opposed to also having ads on my site, but the primary source of monetization would be subscription revenue.

My main question is: what host would be best for my application? I have been doing a LOT of research and am more confused than ever. I am very intrigued by SBI, but in contacting them I was told I would need 3rd party software for the subscription part. Anyone using SBI as a subscription site have any feedback? I have also seen many people trumpeting WordPress with plug-ins. I have also looked at SubHub and MemberGate. Any thoughts, advice, insight, complaints, or recommendations would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you

[alexplatups]

Simple: Set up WordPress on your own hosting like Hostgator or Bluehost,
and then use Simple Machines free software to run your private forum,
and collect subscriptions through paypal.

I just started a thread in the business&financial sub-forum:

Want feedback, ideas, and advice for new weight loss site

I am going to be doing something similar only in a different niche, so if you
have the time join that thread and we can help each other out. I used SBI
in the past, and after selling my site, I have started the second one using
WordPress. For a subscription site this makes a lot more sense.

[Dimitri]

Before we launch into paid subscriptions and forums, let's take a look at the basics:

Registar -- a registar allows you to purchase a domain name, such as fantasyfootball.com. You can register your domain name for $5 at NetFirms.com (use the promotion code "LOVE"). I've used their service countless times and it doesn't fail to impress. You receive free WhoIs privacy as well, so your name, address, and email are safe from prying eyes. It's important to understand that buying a domain name is like buying a computer monitor. You can't do anything with it. It allows you to do things, but only when you have a computer tower alongside it.

Hosting -- this is your computer tower. This is where you can have files, documents, pictures, and anything else. This is where you install Wordpress and create forums and anything else. Your domain name is simply the window, the monitor that allows others to access your hosting. Web hosting costs around $100 a year. Many registars offer web hosting alongside the domain name -- they'll tell you that you can buy a domain name for one buck... if you buy it with web hosting as well. There's no reason to use the same company for your registar and for your hosting. It's not any easier or less complicated. I have heard many recommend Hostgator as a viable option. One of the cool things about web hosting is that you can host more than one website at no additional costs. Someone like me, who already has web hosting and is paying for it, can easily hook up your domain name to my hosting and you'll be able to use it. (Let me know if anyone around here needs free hosting.)

CMS -- a content management system is a system that allows you to create forums, write blog posts, and make websites without getting into all the finnicky posts. Wordpress is by far the most popular (and free) option when it comes to websites or blogs. For forums, you have the phpbb system and the vbulletin system, and others I haven't heard of.

So as you see, the host itself does nothing. It's an empty storage place for all your files and you can choose which files to store there. Wordpress is a collection of files. vBulletin is a collection of files. They could all be called third party extensions, since they are not related to the host or registar in any way.

I'm going to have to take a leaf out of Steve Pavlina's book and tell you that far more important than finding a way to make money online (subscriptions, affiliate programs, advertisements) is to find a way to provide value. You will have to give people a very good reason to come to your website, let alone pay to access it. And the best way to build traffic is by sharing free value. Shields go down when people encounter free value, so getting them to pay for it later on will be far easier. Do you see how -- if 5% of all your readers choose to subscribe and pay for your service -- getting traffic is your main priority? Depending on how many people visit your website, that 5% could be 5 people or 500 people, which makes a tremendous difference. The only way to go from 5 people to 500 people is to give them a very good reason to come to you and selling something to them is definitely not the fastest way to do it.

That being said, if you'd like me to provide you with free hosting, set you up with Wordpress and a forum system, create a good design and get you started on creating value, give me a shout. That goes to anyone else too!

[AceFantasyFootball]

Alex and Dimitri - Thank you both for your insight.
Alex - were you happy with SBI overall? Does SBI automatically do things to drive traffic to your site or is it more that they provide the knowledge?
I contacted SBI again this morning and the response I received seemed to indicate that an SBI site would not be ideal for my application. They seemed to indicate that I should use a different host for the site itself, and then use an SBI site to drive traffic to my site. A quote from the email response: "I just don’t know how best to explain it other than this. I own 11
websites and a blog. My 2 SBI sites bring me more traffic than
my other 9 combined and I use my SBI sites to drive traffic to my
other sites." What are your thoughts?

[alexplatups]

Originally Posted by AceFantasyFootball

Alex and Dimitri - Thank you both for your insight.
Alex - were you happy with SBI overall? Does SBI automatically do things to drive traffic to your site or is it more that they provide the knowledge?
I contacted SBI again this morning and the response I received seemed to indicate that an SBI site would not be ideal for my application. They seemed to indicate that I should use a different host for the site itself, and then use an SBI site to drive traffic to my site. A quote from the email response: "I just don’t know how best to explain it other than this. I own 11
websites and a blog. My 2 SBI sites bring me more traffic than
my other 9 combined and I use my SBI sites to drive traffic to my
other sites." What are your thoughts?

My thoughts are that WordPress and Simple Machines Forum Software
are all you need. SBI does not drive traffic to your site. A good way to
describe SBI is hosting that teaches you how to drive traffic to your site
using SEO. I would recommend for you to set up a WordPress blog, and
then the Simple Machines Software, and then learn how to drive free and
paid traffic to your site.