Is it realistic to set-up a new forum and work full time?

[Borgia]

Hi

As my title gives away. I want to set-up a new forum while I work full-time. And I would be grateful for views on how possible that is. People say that they are on their forums all the time, and that they mostly do not pay - for me that is not a workable combination.

Thank you,

David

 

[HannahP]

Millions of users needed? Simply not true. That largely depends on the niche you are targeting.

Which wealthy click-and-buy niche do you imagine the OP is targeting?

Pay-per-click, like the generic Google ads most people think of, is a penny-catching ploy. To replace the wage from a real job you would need more traffic than 99.999% of all forums get. And our friend here is talking about starting one forum from scratch. You do him a disservice to fill his head with impossible nonsense.

 

[Walter]

Nonense? I wonder where the money I get each month from Google comes from.
Get your facts straight. I simply stated that your "millions of users" is wrong, a few thousands per month are enough - that is quite a difference. I did not say that each beginner will succeed. And in the end it's hard earned money.

 

[Carlos]

You could always start up a forum specifically to get your feet wet. Something with low(ish) expectations but you find personally interesting. Learn how to set up a forum, software, hosting, basic member management skills.

Save your good idea for forum #2.

YAY! I did the right thing, then!

Get your facts straight. I simply stated that your "millions of users" is wrong, a few thousands per month are enough - that is quite a difference. I did not say that each beginner will succeed. And in the end it's hard earned money.

I agree with you here. I got a few clicks from having my blog - mostly from the Modern Warfare 2 keywords. But beyond that, I see a LOT of keywords coming from MW2. So, if I just launched MW2Forums.com now, my targets would take a two fold turn. I'm already purchasing a new call of duty website to accelerate that keywords cloud to expansion.

I do not care about making immediate cash right away, I see potential. And I mean a lot of potential.

 

[HannahP]

I wonder where the money I get each month from Google comes from.

Exactly how much money is pouring in from Google every month on those 25+ forums of yours? Roughly. Feel free to round it off to the nearest $100. If it's more than I make at my day job, I'll concede that I'm wrong.

Anyway, my point is not that you can't make some money from Google ads. I know people who spend a quarter of a million dollars a year on Google ads, so I know someone is getting paid. The point is those dollars are not going to replace the dollars from a regular job for 99.999% of the people who set up a web site or forum as a potential source of income. I've been working in the web hosting industry for more than 15 years now, and I've seen thousands - no, tens of thousands - of "Woo! I'm gonna be an internet millionaire!" sites started and then abandoned a year later when they don't even bring in enough revenue to pay for hosting.

So to tell the average person that they can run a forum or a web site as a job - a reasonably paying job - is certainly and unquestionably nonsense. I think telling them that sad fact up front is doing them a great service. You should go into things with your eyes open, knowing what the odds are against you.

If you personally beat those odds, good for you. You're the 00.001% For the rest of the people out there, "I'll start a forum," is not a good business plan.

 

[Carlos]

I have a friend who bought websites up and earned close to 20k just by having ads on his network of sites - but he still has to pay taxes based on that number.

His MAIN product? A forum. A massive, 2 million posts forum, that gets posters on a DAILY basis.

 

[HannahP]

Close to $20k means less than $20k, right? So after taxes, how much are we talking about? $7 or $7.50 an hour?

What you're saying is someone could make more working at McDonalds than running a "network of sites" featuring a "massive 2 million posts forum."

 

[Borgia]

Hi
I am at a bit of a slow period at work due to the recession. Not at risk but not much in the way of progression. And I have an idea for a forum which I would have some time to put in place.
Clearly in an ideal world I would like to make a bit of money in say three years time but it will not destroy my life if it does not happen. I will still have my job which pays my bills.
And I kinda like the idea of trying something a bit new, taking a small risk, and seeing what happens.

 

[Carlos]

Close to $20k means less than $20k, right? So after taxes, how much are we talking about? $7 or $7.50 an hour?

Do you even know how much 20k is? Let me spell it out for you. TWENTY. THOUSAND. DOLLARS.

UNITED STATES DOLLARS. Capische?

Close, as in 'around' - as in I don't know the absolute number.

You're just itching to make this right because you hate being wrong. I sense that you're scared of being wrong.

What you're saying is someone could make more working at McDonalds than running a "network of sites" featuring a "massive 2 million posts forum."

Don't put words into my mouth, you will only frustrate me that way.

 

[Borgia]

You could always start up a forum specifically to get your feet wet. Something with low(ish) expectations but you find personally interesting. Learn how to set up a forum, software, hosting, basic member management skills.

Save your good idea for forum #2.

Thank you, it is a very sensible suggestion. I am just not sure whether my circumstances at work will last longer then a year (and I hope not to be honest) so in a year I will hopefully have progressed my career and will have that to focus on.

Now if I have a succesful forum then I will keep working on it.

If I do not, either because I have tried out a less good idea, or becuase my current idea does not work. Well, I tried but I doubt that I will have the time to set-up another.

B

 

[Borgia]

Do you even know how much 20k is? Let me spell it out for you. TWENTY. THOUSAND. DOLLARS.

UNITED STATES DOLLARS. Capische?

Close, as in 'around' - as in I don't know the absolute number.

You're just itching to make this right because you hate being wrong.

Don't put words into my mouth, you will only frustrate me that way.

I think the broader point is that it is not enough for someone to give up a day job

A nice supplementary income stream perhaps

 

[David Thomas]

I have a friend who bought websites up and earned close to 20k just by having ads on his network of sites - but he still has to pay taxes based on that number.

His MAIN product? A forum. A massive, 2 million posts forum, that gets posters on a DAILY basis.

How long did it take to make that $20,000? Anything longer than a year, and I would have made more in a year working as a cashier at a grocery store than he did.

 

[Carlos]

I'm betting a year.

If Xenforo was out right now, that number and rate would increase by double.

 

[HannahP]

Do you even know how much 20k is? Let me spell it out for you. TWENTY. THOUSAND. DOLLARS.

I see you are impressed by that figure, and that's fine. But if I had to live on TWENTY. THOUSAND. DOLLARS. a year, I'd be LIVING. IN. MY. CAR.

If Xenforo was out right now, that number and rate would increase by double.

Huh?

 

[Walter]

Exactly how much money is pouring in from Google every month on those 25+ forums of yours? Roughly. Feel free to round it off to the nearest $100. If it's more than I make at my day job, I'll concede that I'm wrong.

 
I could live from it. And I'm not young so living isn't cheap for me and I'm in pretty expensive Europe.
 

So to tell the average person that they can run a forum or a web site as a job - a reasonably paying job - is certainly and unquestionably nonsense.

 
I didnt. But you made some questionable statements like
 

Pay per click isn't going to make you enough money to buy a sandwich every 6 months unless your forum has millions of users.

impossible nonsense.

 
Bold statements. But not true

 

[Walter]

David, try to build your forum part-time and see how it works out for you. Never let someone else destroy your dreams.

But don't expect to pay for your living for a rather long time! And do some research.

 

[jonsidneyb]

What can be dangerous on a forum is if it grows it can quickly become something where you are spending 6 hours a day doing nothing more than answering messages.

When I started my forum I did everything in the world wrong (different than what people said you are supposed to do) and the people came, no seo no nice pretty site, they just came and came and I don't know how. I changed software and it shrank as fast as it grew but still takes up just as much time. It is a full time job for sure at this point.

 

[Carlos]

Huh?

See. Clueless. Absolutely clueless.

Having a business sense with forums means you need to time when to launch a site, much less a forum. This is true for EVERY SINGLE industry out there. If you time a launch right - BOOM. Business is booming. For example, right now, ANY call of duty website is successful. Any.

In about 2 months from now, black Ops is out, BOOM. Any website that has a forum - the sky is the freakin' limit. A black ops community is rising so fast, its not even funny. And the game isn't even out.

More participation = more activity on your site = move visitors then this equals to more:

PPC
PPImpressions

Now, if you really want to sell space on your forum - that's relevant to your niche - its possible. THIS is called.

Sponsorships.
Advertising.

These people don't care about making money from users clicking on the link - nono. Its called...

Brand AWARENESS.

This mindset is the exact reason why - PPImpressions exists.

 

[cedivad]

Exactly how much money is pouring in from Google every month on those 25+ forums of yours? Roughly. Feel free to round it off to the nearest $100. If it's more than I make at my day job, I'll concede that I'm wrong.

Have to agree, however I'm happy to be 18 and to make around 2000$/ month in google adsense =)

 

[Elizabeth]

I see you are impressed by that figure, and that's fine. But if I had to live on TWENTY. THOUSAND. DOLLARS. a year, I'd be LIVING. IN. MY. CAR.
 

Depends on WHERE you are living and how old you are. At one point I managed to live on 12,000 a year ON MY OWN (I was in my 40's) and not in my car. So it can be done. In CA/NY and other high cost of living areas, no way, cheap areas, you just might make it.
 
Liz

 

[HannahP]

I guess I just didn't realize the type of crowd I was addressing here. I do now.

Don't mind me. Carry on.