Monetize Your Message Boards
I just got something really neat put on my message boards …
It’s a great way to monetize your message boards.
Forum Ad Manager
It’s very simple to install. Another cool thing is that they install it for you for free (for a limited time - then it goes up to $25 - still not bad at all). After they install it, you go into the admin section and set your pricing, ad packages etc. (Again, very simple.)The reason it is free is because Forum Ad Manager gets a commission also. Which for me is perfectly fine because it’s just like I would hire an ad manager.
Once you have it all set up … you’re done. Everything is automated and you don’t have to do a thing. But, you do have the ability to delete any ads that you don’t approve. I’ve set mine that I don’t refund any money. If someone doesn’t read the rules and tries to place an ad that isn’t family friendly, then it’s their own fault.
Hmm … what else? Oh! Customer service is top notch! They installed it so quickly and have answered all my questions in a very timely manner.
And they have an affiliate program (as you can tell by my link). With this, you’re able to refer other phpBB owners to it and earn 15% of their income - great residual income possiblity!
I think that about covers it … let me know if you have any questions and I’ll do my best to answer.
Click here to monetize your message boards.
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Comments
Hi Anita
Would you recommend this on a brand new message board (2 days old) that only has 8 members so far? Also, how long is the free until they start charging you $25 …is this a monthly fee? I read through it and maybe I missed it.
Laurie
Posted by: Laurie | June 14th, 2007 21:33
Hi Laurie,
You could, however you’d certainly want to keep your prices VERY low. Well, to be honest with you (and I don’t mean this to be rude in any way) you’d probably end up paying more in paypal fees than actually making anything. Because your prices would have to be so low and no one would buy if they weren’t. Know what I mean?
What I would suggest to you is to go ahead and put them up but don’t give the option to buy yet. There is a setting for “default ads” where you can place your own ads in there. That way if you an affiliate link to something, you can put those in. So, every time there isn’t an advertiser, the default ads automatically go in place.
By doing this, you’ll kill a couple of birds with one stone. For example, your members will always be used to the advertising boxes there (like I surprised my members with, lol) and you can make a little money with affiliate links.
As far as how long they were offering the service for free, I couldn’t say for sure. I believe it says “limited time only” and that’s it. I haven’t heard when they’ll be charging.
And one more note …
Customer service there is the BEST! I have to get my testimonial done and send it over but I couldn’t ask for a better CS team! There was one guy who initially set it up and has been keeping in touch back and forth (Hi Adrian!) and then didn’t Harvey stop by my service ticket a couple of times himself!
They also made some changes for me that I requested to customize it. There was a “gold ad” in the upper-right hand corner that I just didn’t care for at all. Adrian changed it for me to match the others
They’ve really outdone themselves on this one!
Posted by: Anita | June 18th, 2007 06:40