Do you make money from forums?

[findozor]

Forums are practically 99% dead but often those who manage them say that it is not true and it always makes me laugh...
Now I even read about administrators (or at this point it is better to call them saints and benefactors) who write that they do not care and it is not important to earn money from their forums!!! I find myself in a candid camera and I had not realized it!

I manage all my sites as a hobby but it is very important and gratifying that they also make me earn as much as possible! Managing a site costs (license, hosting) and requires many hours of me so being able to earn something from it is certainly a great thing and it is very important both as a personal gratification but also and above all because if you have a budget available, you can spend it to improve the site!

 

[findozor]

I track hundreds of forum's statistics on FD. If 99% of them were dead as you say, their forum statistics wouldn't be increasing by hundreds to (tens of, for the big boards) thousands of posts each check. This goes for even free forums such as MyBB and phpBB.

Forums are no different from other sites or business in general, about 5% survive on the distance. so the expression X are dead in principle does not make sense to even discuss it.

 

[findozor]

Forums are a great tool for building and engaging an audience, if you have an understanding of who your audience is, their pains and the value you can give them, if you understand unit economics, the cost of engagement, know how to work with churn and reactivate, and most importantly works on exceptional / exclusive content and its discovery, then the chances that you will be among the 5% of survivors are high.

In addition, you will not only survive but most likely be a monopoly in your niche, which gives you opportunities and advantages that other ordinary web sites or online businesses without a community do not have.

The question of making money in this case is simply a matter of testing different options/product hypotheses that will be most acceptable to your audience.

 

[zappaDPJ]

Forums are practically 99% dead but often those who manage them say that it is not true and it always makes me laugh...

You're experience doesn't seem to reflect the majority view here.

There are plenty of active forums around, including some that generate income. There are also many forums that indirectly contribute to a business's income by providing peer support for a product or service. Many organisations use intranet discussion forums to boost communication and collaboration.

Your view is limited. Forums are far from dead and they will prevail in the long term because they provide a unique format compared to other forms of social media and communication in general. But feel free to have a laugh on me

 

[Mike-1706]

Forums are practically 99% dead but often those who manage them say that it is not true and it always makes me laugh...
Now I even read about administrators (or at this point it is better to call them saints and benefactors) who write that they do not care and it is not important to earn money from their forums!!! I find myself in a candid camera and I had not realized it!

Hi Risca

Since I see my forum as just a hobby, I don't mind at all that it costs money! I never have and never had the idea of making money with it, but rather a basic idea of expanding my hobby (bulletin board systems) and collecting information about it and making it available to interested people! And forum software like XenForo seems most suitable to me, because I didn't want to use Facebook, Reddit or Discord for this.

As with bulletin board systems, the main focus here is on the hobby. It's just so much fun to create something and see how it develops!
And when others, in this case the users, are happy that something like this exists, the circle closes for me! Everyone happy. What more could you want?

And I would dare to say that the most of the people here who indulge in the computer hobby have already spent a lot of money on it in the past and will continue to spend it. Then 200,300 or 600 euros are well spent for a good cause !!!

My personal opinion on that.

 

[Forsaken]

You're experience doesn't seem to reflect the majority view here.

There are plenty of active forums around, including some that generate income. There are also many forums that indirectly contribute to a business's income by providing peer support for a product or service. Many organisations use intranet discussion forums to boost communication and collaboration.

Your view is limited. Forums are far from dead and they will prevail in the long term because they provide a unique format compared to other forms of social media and communication in general. But feel free to have a laugh on me

How dare you have the audacity to question our forum savior @Ricsca, who is all knowing and all powerful in all ways of administration.

It's not like you have experience as an administrator on a big board for forum administration or anything .

 

[Ricsca]

@Mike-1706 you are talking about hobbies in a forum of a program that is provided only for a fee and with an annual license for its maintenance! You are talking about hobbies when you have to pay for hosting every year etc. etc.
Those who make a forum do it because they like to manage an online project as a hobby but if their project does not allow them to earn money it is ridiculous that they use the use of the hobby!
If a hobby generates revenue, surely the hobby will be able to grow exponentially and be even more rewarding!
A forum is a public community that works if it has more and more users (otherwise one opens a blog) so if the form allows them to invoice the admin will be able to spend to make their forum more and more known...
So returning to the topic of the thread, it is very important to be able to make money with your forum... How to do it, however, is the most difficult aspect!
Those who say that they are not interested in earning money from their forum while knowing they are lying...

 

[htsumer]

I earn money but the expenses are very high in Turkey. Against the dollar, resellers and license updates are challenging us. Therefore, let alone winning, we are glad that we saved the expenses.

 

[JamesBrown]

Those who say that they are not interested in earning money from their forum while knowing they are lying...

Some of the most successful forums put their community first. They create spaces where trust, authenticity, and shared passion are valued more than revenue. This ethos is often what makes them appealing in the first place. And then consequently, monetisation, if it happens at all, is usually secondary and done in a way that aligns with the forum’s values.

Given that you don't appear to understand something this fundamental in the forum space makes me wonder if you have actually grown a successful community.

 

[Ricsca]

ok benefactor

 

[javakhir]

In the 16th century, the term "hobby" had the meaning of "small horse and pony". The term "hobby horse" was documented in a 1557 payment confirmation for a "Hobbyhorse" from Reading, England.[2] The item, originally called a "Tourney Horse", was made of a wooden or basketwork frame with an artificial tail and head. It was designed for a child to mimic riding a real horse. By 1816 the derivative, "hobby", was introduced into the vocabulary of a number of English people.[3] Over the course of subsequent centuries, the term came to be associated with recreation and leisure. In the 17th century, the term was used in a pejorative sense by suggesting that a hobby was a childish pursuit, however, in the 18th century with more industrial society and more leisure time, hobbies took on greater respectability.[4] A hobby is also called a pastime, derived from the use of hobbies to pass the time. A hobby became an activity that is practiced regularly and usually with some worthwhile purpose.[4] Hobbies are usually, but not always, practiced primarily for interest and enjoyment, rather than financial reward.

 

[javakhir]

Hobbyists may be identified under three sub-categories: casual leisure which is intrinsically rewarding, short-lived, pleasurable activity requiring little or no preparation, serious leisure which is the systematic pursuit of an amateur, hobbyist, or volunteer that is substantial, rewarding and results in a sense of accomplishment, and finally project-based leisure which is a short-term, often one-off, project that is rewarding.

 

[Opus X]

sadly some that may want to have issues that come up the prevent them from being able to.
and i am one of them.
medical issues are preventing me from pursuing what my desires were.
reality has crashed upon me.
it does not help from the alleged so called friendly support i expected here is not.

 

[Mike-1706]

Hobbyists may be identified under three sub-categories: casual leisure which is intrinsically rewarding, short-lived, pleasurable activity requiring little or no preparation, serious leisure which is the systematic pursuit of an amateur, hobbyist, or volunteer that is substantial, rewarding and results in a sense of accomplishment, and finally project-based leisure which is a short-term, often one-off, project that is rewarding.

Then I hope I belong to the middle category.

 

[Mike-1706]

you are talking about hobbies in a forum of a program that is provided only for a fee and with an annual license for its maintenance! You are talking about hobbies when you have to pay for hosting every year etc. etc.

Hi Risca.

Not a program! All existing programs for this topic!! It's the topic himself, not a single program! That's in my eyes the difference!
And yes... there exist on the BBS market some packages, which were commercial distributed. But not by me or a personal acquaintance of mine.
For the explanation/discussion/sharing expierences/ giving help if needed, it is completely normal to mention program names and sources for those programs. And if you use, or try to use the same way with every BBS program, this happens 100% neutrally!

But of course I respect other people's business ideas here in the forum! Why not?

However, my forum is 100% not part of a business idea. Pure joy in the hobby which I would like to share for free!

 

[zappaDPJ]

Those who make a forum do it because they like to manage an online project as a hobby but if their project does not allow them to earn money it is ridiculous that they use the use of the hobby!

That makes no sense. Surely all hobbies cost money to pursue, usually with no financial gain whatsoever.

 

[Arantor]

There are people who believe that hobbies which do not also make money are worthless. Personally I think they’re wrong and that this is a deeply sad and unfulfilling way to go about things, but they are entitled to their opinion, just as I am mine.

 

[cwe]

My forums would be income positive if I weren't splurging for a managed, dedicated server. It's overkill for my small sites, but I like the security and performance, so it's worth it to me.

 

[Arnox]

Can forums make money?

I don't actually think this is the right question. Technically, ANY kind of site can make money if you got enough potential buyers of whatever you decide to sell. It doesn't matter if something is a forum or a Twitter clone or what have you. Now it is true that certain social media formats like Twitter and YouTube may be more conducive to profits than others, but in the end, what your selling is what you're selling.

Beyond that, I think it's very important to consider that unless a site is built at least somewhat to support a business, it is unlikely that you'll get ANY profits from it, regardless of whether it's a forum or something else. On the internet, attention is power. The more attention from more users you have, the greater your profit potential. Again, rather more simple than people are making this out to be.

What about your forum personally?

Sanctuary is a site and general all-purpose forum dedicated to freedom of speech and housing all kinds of knowledge, discussion, and philosophy of both a mundane and exotic nature. and traces its lineage back to a formerly very long-running site called the Temple of the Screaming Electron.

It is a particular point of pride of mine that I operate and run the site entirely at my expense and time (though of course, this is not altogether super unique in the forum world). In the future, we may have to accept donations if traffic gets to be too much, but until that time comes to us, I'll continue to support and run it all at my expense.

I'm not sure I'm really the best person though to ask this question at the same time. In my mind, Sanctuary is not really a hobby site. I do not run it for fun. In fact, it's often weighed on my mind for numerous reasons, and in many ways, it's a liability to me. But I also believe extremely strongly that a site like Sanctuary NEEDS to exist on the modern internet. Now more than ever.

 

[javakhir]

It depends on personal qualities as well. the main factor is: some man can not make money, no matter how hard they try, while other man can easily manage & get income in the same field & niche. Some guys only know marketing, they know analytics, they earn money!

For example: Arabs does not know programming, they are rich because they sell oil, when kid has born, they give $3k deposit into his account, when he gets 18 years old, he will have big money, it's another geo factor!

Many struggling to make money, life is changing & it won't get better, population grows & salary decreases, 'cause every year more students are ready to work for lower salary.

inho: you must like what you do, especially your job, otherwise it won't last long. hobby must bring money! everyone is for money now, no matter what kind of tales they say.

Even Musk & Gates continue to sell high price their products to make more money!