They just won't donate!

[Jason76]

Donations can be a problem - but one way around it is to get targeted traffic. For instance, you can tweak Adwords, BingAds, Facebook etc. to get visitors who are strongly interested in your website. OK, I'm trying this for TheDrumLesson.com and I think it will pay off. Basically, getting a large list of highly targeted drummers will probably lead to a large list of monthly Patreon donations!

OK, the same logic also exists with just selling things. In other words, the money is in the list.

 

[Page]

Only problem that I always had was getting Facebook, Twitter to get promoted to the page so that once that's big then the traffic gets moved slowly to the site. There are allot of people/traffic are on those networks that might follow you or like you but doesn't get to go to the forum.

Most won'y Donate unless they really want to and you got to offer something back

 

[Jason76]

Only problem that I always had was getting Facebook, Twitter to get promoted to the page so that once that's big then the traffic gets moved slowly to the site. There are allot of people/traffic are on those networks that might follow you or like you but doesn't get to go to the forum.

Most won'y Donate unless they really want to and you got to offer something back

Might be the wrong people. However, reaching the right people takes money. That's why people without capital have nothing.

 

[Deleted member 44219]

If people don't donate. Make sure you have a job to sustain your income while your forum grows. If you have a degree in CS or Teaching, get a job around those while the forum grows and then once it's big enough (around 2500 - 4000) then that's when you can start asking for donations.

 

[Jason76]

If people don't donate. Make sure you have a job to sustain your income while your forum grows. If you have a degree in CS or Teaching, get a job around those while the forum grows and then once it's big enough (around 2500 - 4000) then that's when you can start asking for donations.

If I was building up a forum, then yeah, getting a big number is important - but also quality - and that would cost! For instance, @Empire would need people specifically interested in gaming - as in hardcore. Well, he might not get a big list - but even a small list with more qualified people is better.

 

[Deleted member 44219]

If people don't donate. Make sure you have a job to sustain your income while your forum grows. If you have a degree in CS or Teaching, get a job around those while the forum grows and then once it's big enough (around 2500 - 4000) then that's when you can start asking for donations.

If I was building up a forum, then yeah, getting a big number is important - but also quality - and that would cost! For instance, @Empire would need people specifically interested in gaming - as in hardcore. Well, he might not get a big list - but even a small list with more qualified people is better.

Yeah, quality is important too. No matter the size, quality makes your users stay longer. It will cost too. Lower quality of course won't bring in a lot of users but it could bring in a couple of pennies if you have a donation page as soon as the forum is setup.

 

[Jason76]

If people don't donate. Make sure you have a job to sustain your income while your forum grows. If you have a degree in CS or Teaching, get a job around those while the forum grows and then once it's big enough (around 2500 - 4000) then that's when you can start asking for donations.

If I was building up a forum, then yeah, getting a big number is important - but also quality - and that would cost! For instance, @Empire would need people specifically interested in gaming - as in hardcore. Well, he might not get a big list - but even a small list with more qualified people is better.

Yeah, quality is important too. No matter the size, quality makes your users stay longer. It will cost too. Lower quality of course won't bring in a lot of users but it could bring in a couple of pennies if you have a donation page as soon as the forum is setup.

Definitely, those with a small budget are wise to spend - what little they have - to build a qualified list.

 

[Deleted member 44219]

If people don't donate. Make sure you have a job to sustain your income while your forum grows. If you have a degree in CS or Teaching, get a job around those while the forum grows and then once it's big enough (around 2500 - 4000) then that's when you can start asking for donations.

If I was building up a forum, then yeah, getting a big number is important - but also quality - and that would cost! For instance, @Empire would need people specifically interested in gaming - as in hardcore. Well, he might not get a big list - but even a small list with more qualified people is better.

Yeah, quality is important too. No matter the size, quality makes your users stay longer. It will cost too. Lower quality of course won't bring in a lot of users but it could bring in a couple of pennies if you have a donation page as soon as the forum is setup.

Definitely, those with a small budget are wise to spend - what little they have - to build a qualified list.

Budget is another thing. Small forums shouldn't go beyond I would say around £1000($1285.2). Domains, hosting and server costs will add up quickly if not monitored. For a start-up forum, I would say that bring in around 50+ users then maybe start investing some money into it. If the start-up does have a lot of money laying around then just spend it as time goes on.

 

[Jason76]

Only problem that I always had was getting Facebook, Twitter to get promoted to the page so that once that's big then the traffic gets moved slowly to the site. There are allot of people/traffic are on those networks that might follow you or like you but doesn't get to go to the forum.

Most won'y Donate unless they really want to and you got to offer something back

Regarding Facebook:

Oh, there's a solution for that! Just build a group to go along with your page. Next, build a squeeze page which directs people to the group. On the group, advertise the forum. Also, as another option (not using a squeeze page), you can pay to reach more of your page list. If the number is bigger, then more chance they will go to the forum (which would be advertised on the page).

I'm doing that now with my drumming site (the squeeze page thing).

Note that - if not paying - posts on a page reach few people - but posts on a group reach a lot of them (there is no paid boosting mechanism on groups).

Note, though - you need at least a small budget, as with what I'm doing, to get people to your group using Facebook Ads.

 

[Azareal]

The whole idea of donating is that people aren't... obligated to donate... Otherwise, it wouldn't really be a donation, it would be a payment to use a specific service.

I generally wouldn't expect to get much money from a forum, unless it really blows up or you have a pretty solid service to provide and the forum is just secondary to it. I've seen too many forums where the owners just seem too desperate for cash and are practically begging it like Wikipedia does on some of it's donation drives.

It's just too... desperate looking and off-putting.

 

[Jason76]

The whole idea of donating is that people aren't... obligated to donate... Otherwise, it wouldn't really be a donation, it would be a payment to use a specific service.

I generally wouldn't expect to get much money from a forum, unless it really blows up or you have a pretty solid service to provide and the forum is just secondary to it. I've seen too many forums where the owners just seem too desperate for cash and are practically begging it like Wikipedia does on some of it's donation drives.

It's just too... desperate looking and off-putting.

I would get around the "desperate" look by just occasionally putting out the ad - but making sure it reaches a big list.

I mean, like on this page: https://www.patreon.com/aaronrutten - it seems desperate, but it's understandable - and he does do a lot of work for the money. OK, well, he always puts out the desperation message, but I'm not doing that on mine.

've seen too many forums where the owners just seem too desperate for cash and are practically begging it like Wikipedia does on some of it's donation drives.

They don't offer anything spectacular to justify the donations - not even a few dollars a year!

But I do understand people have put their heart and soul into projects - but they simply haven't made them interesting enough for donations and/or they don't get enough traffic.

 

[overcast]

You have to understand that donation model is desperate. And if you want people to do PWYW (pay you what you want) then you have to constantly ask for donation. If you don't ask for it, then you don't get it, and even asking for it may not let you get it. It's extremely difficult to get donations. Very few youtubers, instagram users manage to get donation. I'd say that you should monetize in other ways if donations are not working for you.

 

[Jason76]

You have to understand that donation model is desperate. And if you want people to do PWYW (pay you what you want) then you have to constantly ask for donation. If you don't ask for it, then you don't get it, and even asking for it may not let you get it. It's extremely difficult to get donations. Very few youtubers, instagram users manage to get donation. I'd say that you should monetize in other ways if donations are not working for you.

https://www.patreon.com/theuketeacher - He makes around $4,000 a month

https://www.patreson.com/aaronrutten - Not sure what he makes - but it must be enough to support himself.

 

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https://www.patreon.com/theuketeacher - He makes around $4,000 a month

that's not bad but gotta to get allot of members and traffic

 

[Jason76]

https://www.patreon.com/theuketeacher - He makes around $4,000 a month

that's not bad but gotta to get allot of members and traffic

He started around 2015 on YouTube and gradually got 1 million fans. Anyway, I think it's do-able with less fans - but it would take a lot of very skilled marketing. I think the key is reaching those social media influencers.