Gaming Forum

[ddmp2005]

I am currently focusing most of my online efforts on a gaming forum that I started about 8 months ago. I have almost 1,000 members, and on average there are 100 online at a time, all very active (5000 threads, 100,000 posts), but I barely make any money. I have adbrite ad in header (no full page ads though since people started complaining and I respect all the members so I wouldn't want them to be unhappy). That being said, what would the best way to profit off this be?

And keep in mind:
-Selling ad space is ineffective
-full page ads not an option
-affiliate offers not an option

I've really narrowed it down by holding a high level of respect for all my members, some of which I know very personally, so any advice would be most appreciated.

 

[secretboy08]

sell links at the bottom on the forum on TNX.net
they page on link per page basis(atleast it was so when i used them around 3 months back) and as you have a lot of pages you will earn some good money.

 

[kevin198x]

I've owned a few popular gaming forums in the past and I have to say that they're one of the hardest things to monetize in my experience. You could try AdSense with a plugin for VB or whatever you're running to put ads in posts. That works but it's not great. You could also try having a subscription/donor membership that lets them into a part of the forum for them only. Maybe have unique content like interviews, etc.

Other than that, maybe try getting them to complete incentive offers in exchange for a custom title or something.

 

[Entrepreneur]

Create a section called "Freebie Offers" or "Support The Forum", then in this section bosh up a load of CPA offers to freebies and what not. Also, try running banners, to guests only, and allow the games to be played by guests, but no scores recorded. Run the banners as your own CPA offers or anything else that could be tasty. Oh, install openX for tracking the banners as well.