
How to Monetize a Web Site: A Real World Tutorial - AndrewWarner
http://wschroter.typepad.com/blog/2009/10/how-to-monetize-a-web-site-a-real-world-tutorial.html
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decultured
The problem with many of these ideas is that they can alienate users. For a
content site, there are few options available for monetization beyond ads,
which most of those points are variations of. I personally shy away from
businesses that have advertising as a primary source of revenue.

For new business and services online, the site or service should built with a
business model in mind, even if it does not launch with one. And the best
business model is simple -- find something people value and charge them a fair
rate for it. The hard part is figuring out what that is.

~~~
patio11
_For a content site, there are few options available for monetization beyond
ads_

I run a number of content sites in my niche. They're all monetized through
promoting my software, which means that even if 97% of the people who come to
the site never pay me money I'm still sitting pretty.

In my case, the software antedates the content sites, but one could just have
easily made the transition from publisher to software vendor as the other way
around. (Or hired someone to make you the software, or made an arrangement to
white label previously-existing software, etc.)

This doesn't help if your content sites are pitched at a market which does not
pay money for goods and services, of course.

Incidentally, the economics of advertising your own product versus CPC ads are
quite compelling. I routinely pay Google $2 CPMs for inventory on 3rd party
sites, so let's accept that as typical in my market. Of that $2, Google keeps
a buck or so, so the content publisher sees less than $1.

My own effective CPM (sales / visits * 1,000) bounces up and down depending on
what flavor of search terms I'm doing well on, but for many of my content
sites it is in excess of $20. As much as I'm indebted to AdSense for giving
Webmaster Welfare to the folks who send me a lot of my traffic, I'd have to be
insane to put it on my own sites.

As an added bonus, its easier to get a link to a site that doesn't have
AdSense plastered all over it, because it can be seen as non-commercial even
if is essentially one gigantic ad. (This was somewhat surprising to me, but
there you go.)

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learnalist
Minus the fact his ( Wil Schroter ) article is littered with links to his own
sites he has made which makes it slightly of a big subliminal ad. Im going to
assume a lot of his claims come from these very sites he links to.

Wouldn't it be nice in an ideal world if he and countless others who churn out
these types of articles. Backed it up with stats on the incomes etc. I know im
asking the world there. But it would help give them credibility and won't
leave you or I wondering, is this just copied and pasted or is this something
HE has actually done.

Lead Gen:

Anything which doesn't compliment the site is going to irritate. So with that
in mind, I would imagine this train of thought will actually help you lead to
creating business partnerships with other companies, websites.

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pxlpshr
Does annual-based subscription really have that low of recurring rates? Seems
like it would be a rather moot point => off-set by lower transaction fees for
processing cards once per annum instead of every month.

~~~
decultured
Not only that, but an annual subscription is basically equivalent to 12 months
of guaranteed monthly renewals. I would be interested to see comparative
attrition rates of how 12 months of monthly renewals compare to attrition
rates of yearly subscriptions from a popular site that uses both.

We are struggling with this issue with my current startup, whether to do
yearly or monthly only, or both, and what the comparative rates would be.

~~~
wschroter
You're assuming that people are willing to pay for your product up front for
12 months. If your price point is so small that an annual subscription is
under $20, then it doesn't really make sense to charge monthly. I was speaking
mainly for higher priced items.

~~~
pxlpshr
Both are good points, would definitely like to see more research on the topic.
I definitely agree there is a threshold when it comes to monthly vs yearly. I
know you just tossed out a number but $20/year seems a little lower than I was
thinking.

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Ardit20
'Porn sites work because you get the point.' -this is mentioned in regards to
asking for subscription.

Maybe putting up a paywal on a porn site would have worked well in the late
1990s or even early 2000s, but there are so many you tube like porn sites for
completely free which makes me wonder whether anyone pays for porn anymore.

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jinsuk
These days, no business model but advertising would work since the market is
so competitive.(free service is everywhere) I would focus on building more
effective advertising method than ever rather than creating new business
models...

