How to Monetize an Online Forum: 7 Tips That Aren’t Just for the Bartender

Forums have been around forever, Since before there was internet, it would seem. But making money from a forum has become increasingly difficult. New monetization challenges have introduced innovations to forum monetization strategies that are changing the way we think of forums in 2015.

It’s August and it’s patio weather. So, yes, we’ll still talk about monetizing forums and blogs, but it will be between cold beers. That’s nonnegotiable. If you see more typos than usual, now you know why.

This isn’t just the brewskies talking. Believe me when I slurrr: Forums are here to stay. Social Media may have massive jaws like a white shark (or Donald Trump), but it won’t be able to swallow up the forumsphere. And despite what Mark Zuckerberg might tell you, it is a complementary ecosystem – definitely not a replacement.

Now that isn’t to say Social Media isn’t huge. Of course Facebook is the largest player with a valuation of $100 Billion… or just slightly more than what’s left of my personal holdings on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Too soon?

On a serious note, you get the idea. Just imagine the billions of users, massive revenues, and valuations breaking into the $100 Billion+ range for the big social media players: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Heck, even sending pictures of funny faces OR pictures that are not-faces and not-funny via Snapchat has created a multibillion dollar startup unicorn. (Editor’s note: Why does Silicon Valley insist on calling them that? So embarrassing on a glittery, mythological scale)

A good local bar doesn’t make you feel like you walked into just another clone of a national franchise with no personality. Instead they start to actually become like communities. They host competitions, events, and support charities. Competitions as simple as dart tournaments can make things more fun, loosen people up and drive more foot traffic – and even create sponsorship opportunities. With your online forum, you can forget the foot traffic. You’ll be hunting digital eyeballs.

So don’t go out and hire a game development firm to build a darts app. You would be taking our analogy just a little too far. But what is the equivalent? You can still launch competitions and special giveaways. Over time the kind of goodwill and engagement you create will build a real sense of community. In fact, digital forum relationships can be as strong or stronger than the ones in the “real world”.Smogon is a Pokemon forum, of all things, and is also a good example of a forum that does giveaways well. GenMay, a general discussion forum but mostly populated with gamers, has a certain style that is their own and their users have come to recognize it and identify with it.

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