There are thousands of ways to make money online, and millions of people doing it, however one way that most people seem to think is a sure bet at striking internet gold is by creating a website with lots of traffic.
This clearly is the right path, however what most beginners do not realize is that traffic does not always equal riches.
You can have a site generating 100,000 unique visits per day, but if those visitors are not clicking ads or buying anything from your site than you are just left with a hefty server bill to pay for all that bandwidth these people are using up.
Having said this, Internet forums are usually the most difficult to monetize despite what people think.
Here are 4 things you need to know if you wish to run a successful Internet forum and make some cash while at it: #1 Know your Topic.
If you are a 5th grade teacher, it's probably not best to create a forum about aerospace engineering, and vice versa.
The more you know your topic, the easier it will be to set up folders at your forum directed to the people interested in this topic.
It is also much easier for you to understand your potential advertisers and affiliates you may try and sell for.
#2 Know your Audience.
You will want ads which are clearly directed towards the people browsing your forum.
If you are running a Harley Davidson Forum, your members are not going to be interested in the newest Barbie Doll to hit the market.
If you know your memberbase it will be simple to understand what kinds of products or ads will catch their attention.
#3 Place ads in eye range, but don't overdo it.
Too many ads will turn your members off from your site all together.
Do not use popups, popunders, slide-ins, or any ad that will directly distract your members.
Place small but eye catching ads along the side of your forum, under the first post of a thread and possibly in the header of your forum.
#4 Rotate ads What a forum has that most other sites don't is a high percentage of returning visitors.
This means that if you have banners to the same affiliate products on your site for months on end your users will generate a blindness to them.
What you want to do is; every week try changing it up.
Present the ads in different spots, change the banners or change the products.
In conclusion, one should know that a forum can be a very lucrative site to run, however one should also understand that the amount of potential earnings are directly related to the size as well as topic of your internet forum.