How to make money online from forums

Many people participate in forums because they want to get something out of it through the shared knowledge of a forum community. They also want to help others by contributing themselves. However, many popular forums are now participating in ad revenue sharing schemes.

These are forums that display Google Adsense ads and make money on clicks those ads generate and some also make money based on impressions. This can be a genuine and free way of making money online from home.

Many forums are sharing their revenues, usually split 50-50 between the forum owner and members posting on the forum. This is done to encourage more posts and new threads in order to increase further the popularity of the forum.

How you get paid

The forum would enable you to enter your Google Adsense publisher ID, which you can find in the html of a web page on your site if you have Adsense on it, or you can find it in your Adsense account. This would enable you to be eligible to make money from the forum.

• Member publisher ID is chosen at random, so any member that has also joined the revenue sharing scheme could have their ID chosen anytime a page is loaded. If one or more of the ads displayed and clicked by anyone when the page is loaded, the value of the click will be credited to the forum owner or the member whose ID was randomly chosen. Of course, the ID itself is not viewable as it is all in the HTML.

• Members can also be paid based on page impressions because Google also runs ads that pay money based on a thousand impression, but this is only likely to result in a few cents here and there. The value of the program lies with the money generated from clicks.

Tip: You should post regularly to increase your chances of getting clicks. Also, try and participate on threads that you feel will be viewed heavily. This of course will increase the likelihood of clicks.

What to know before your submit your Google Adsense ID

• Check carefully if the forum is fully and properly regulated. The forum should be professionally run.
• Try and find out how much a forum earns from Adsense. Some popular forums earn in the thousands every month. The bigger earning forums are likely to result in some pay off for you.

Tips on increasing your share of revenue from forums

Participating in online forums can be a significant online money making opportunity. To be able to generate any meaningful income however, a few tips should be put to use:

• Participate in forums that you are really likely to be involved. Do not just post in any forum that has a revenue sharing scheme simply to increase the probability of clicks on your ID, it is best if your are an active member and post regularly.
• Also, look for forums that are relatively small but you feel has potential. Every site or forum has to start somewhere. Participating in its development can mean you will be part of its growing revenues.
• Start interesting threads around topics that you are interested in. Plan the title of thread carefully. A catchy title is likely to result in more views.
• Write the content of a thread that you start carefully. It should be detailed and sometimes more controversial threads can become more popular.

Below are some forums that participate in the ad revenue sharing scheme.

Digital Point

This is a very popular forum that caters to the needs of webmasters across the world. It has many segments (sub-forums) to discuss website marketing, development, link building, advertising, search engine optimisation, etc. This forum earns over $10,000 a month. Many forummers make a significant income on a monthly basis from it.