Profit Does monetization talk scare members away?

[Shawn Gossman]

Forum monetization talk...

Adding ads. Adding premium membership. Adding a pay gate to content.

There are many ways to talk about monetizing a forum. But does this sort of talk do more bad than good for a forum? Does the talk of monetizing a forum potentially scare members away because they're used to having a free and ad-free forum community?

How do we overcome this potential issue? What have you done?

 

[mtumzima]

I don't think so. Monetization done right shouldn't scare away members.

One way of doing it right is to provide immense value and content that help members get things done.

Members won't have qualms paying for a premium membership if they are getting good value. You know, a sweet ROI on their membership fee.

Of course, you'd want to keep the free membership going, making it even more valuable that upgrading feels natural.

With ads and affiliate marketing, you want to stick to offers that are highly relevant to the audience. Something they would naturally find useful.

Also, don't ruin the user experience with some crazy ad circus that slows down the forum and drives members insane.

Throw in e-commerce into the mix and allow members to earn something with an affiliate program. Pay them a commission for every successful sale and they will become forum ambassadors. You can use dropshipping and print on demand to fulfill orders.

There are many creative ways to make monetization work without sacrificing user experience.

Just my two cents.