Mini (Niche) Affiliate Site using a Forum - Part 7
Posted on January 4, 2008 by
Adie 
Affiliate Marketing, Minisites 
9 Comments
The latest update on the quest to build a Successful Niche Forum.
I’ve had nothing back from ForumShock or HackerSafe so I will need to chase them up…thanks to Andrew Mason who told me to try Submit2Please I think will try them and a service provided by a DigitalPoint user.
I’m getting some ground work done but the most important issue is Members, this is where I need ForumShock or another to at least help get some content in there or this project will fail if I have traffic and no users. This is the most fundamental part of a forum building process.
I have just purchased Submit2Please 500 directories for $99 which will take them approximately 18 days. I like the fact the tell you the time scales as this is important and will save me chasing them up on this service (Jon Warass take note). Lets see what happens, I’m impressed at the site and testimonials so lets wait and see…
After not hearing from HackerSafe I have decided to add a Single Root SSL to show my concern for safety, something I cannot emphasize enough with this type of Market and consumer. Safety online is their No#1 main concern. Just adding a Secure SEAL will set me apart from most other forums in this niche possibly even regular Insurance Forums.
* Single Root Certificate - Easy to Install
* The Lowest Cost Single Root Certificate
* 24/7/365 SSL Issuance
* Online Validation - No Paperwork
* 99% Browser Recognition
* Free “Secured by RapidSSL” Site Seal
Really worth it for $12.88 Per Year!
Purchasing that now, lets see how easy it is to install, hopefully will be simple and won’t cause issues with Phorum the software I use for the forum.
One thing I have slacked off is promoting the forum in other similar targeted forums. I have tried in the few I could find (it was harder than I thought) I will settle for the long term organic root for finding the forum. Everything else will happen naturally I would presume. Love that word “Presume” to presume is such an ignorant thing to do…
NetBusinessBlog seems to be ranking well for the term (second page) Oap Insure something I don’t need! Lets hope to get those results with the forum in the next few months.
Remember my Competition Starts tomorrow so if you want to Enter you need to get in and email subscribe now.
Popularity: 24% [?]
If you like this Article then please subscribe to my full RSS feed.You can also subscribe by Email.Related Posts
Hey Adie, in a previous post you mentioned that your budget to get this forum off the ground is $500.00, but that got me wondering, what is the minimum amount you would have to net each month once you monetize to continue owning the site over the long term?
Thanks,
Justin
fbappdevelopers.com
Hey Justin,
I would cover that initial spend in one month once I had the traffic because this niche pays big with Affiliate programs!
I’m not thinking about that just yet but will cover it in future posts.
I am not so sure your target market (old age pensioners) would particularly understand the efforts you are going to with the SSL certificate, but this may change in the future as the older generation become more net savvy.
I must say I am surprised you have started to promote the site (for example, by submitting it to directories) before actually populating it with content!
- Martin Reed
They will not understand SSL Martin, but they will understand a Security SEAL that will set them at ease and they will feel safe to hang around and ask questions etc…
With directory and link building you should always do this as quickly as possible as this takes time (a long time) months in fact. If I didn’t start this until, lets say March 2008 that would be a waste of two months.
Remember, my long term goal is organic traffic.
I’m afraid I have to disagree with you on this one - I doubt whether many old age pensioners will recognise a SSL certificate or even understand what one is.
When it comes to human edited directories, how can you expect inclusion if an editor visits your site to find it void of content?
- Martin Reed
Starting a forum is hard. Its like creating a new city and trying to get people to occupy it. But with $500 I am sure you can get some people to it. Offer some contests or incentives, people love this idea and it can really generate some activity for you.
I know when I started my forum (which I’ve taken down to persue other things) I offered .05 cents for every new post with a minimum $50USD payout requirement. This means each person needs to make 1,000 post’s in order to receive payments. 2 things here. 1) The person would become tired and might not finish leaving you with some activity and 2) it will definitely get your site ranked into the search engines with the activity and discussion around the forum.
Might seem wrong to perform number 1, but if they do make 1,000 quality posts then hey, its all good… pay them and keep moving.
Dustin makes a good point with the incentivizing of a forum. I was getting few visitors a day with a link to fbappdevelopers.com in my sig on the official Facebook developer forum. Then I offered to review any app requested as long as the user added the request to thread on my forum. I’ve had nice little spike in traffic since then and the reviews are (for the time being) the biggest percentage of posts.
Justin
fbappdevelopers.com
[...] Mini (Niche) Affiliate Site using a Forum - Part 1 Mini (Niche) Affiliate Site using a Forum - Part 2 Mini (Niche) Affiliate Site using a Forum - Part 3 Mini (Niche) Affiliate Site using a Forum - Part 4 Mini (Niche) Affiliate Site using a Forum - Part 5 Mini (Niche) Affiliate Site using a Forum - Part 6 Mini (Niche) Affiliate Site using a Forum - Part 7 [...]
a good idea to market an affiliate site using a forum. while its challenging to get the forum off the groound at the beginning, but if you can get this going, it will work out great