Forums Question

[AmyTK9]

Not sure this is the correct place to put this, but I am interested in building a forum of my own relating to my niche. I've made several forums before so am not new to this and have gotten many members, so am also not new to managing and being an admin. However I would like this forum to have a membership fee. Not sure if it will be a one time fee or a monthly fee but a fee none the less. I am new to fees. Does anybody know of a good place to create forums and be able to do monthly fees? So far I've only used free forums and none of them seem to offer a fee choice. Can anybody point me in the right direction?

Help is greatly appreciated!

 

[ArizonaJay]

You might want to shoot an email to Lynn Terry at clicknewz.com. She has a membership forum that has a fee for full access - partial access is free. Or post the question on the free section of her forum - she's active and helpful, as are many of her members.

Also, try a google search using the word "membership" instead of fee. Like "membership forum" and "membership site.".

I'm not trying to be negative - but I can't help but point out how many dog forums are out there, all with lots of information about dog training for free.

 

[Linda Buquet]

vBulletin is the software we use and by far the most popular (and best IMO) forum software. It does have the ability to charge a membership fee. I've never used that feature, but I think that's what most people use.

 

[AmyTK9]

Thank you both for your replies. I realize there are a lot of forums out there, mine will be unique and offer online classes and such like that so it will be worth a fee to join. Not sure if a monthly fee would do good or not. Thanks again, I will look into all that.

 

[MrPolarZero]

your forum services sound great. But I don't think requiring your members to pay for monthly fees is a good idea. There are a lot of free forum sites out there, and for sure almost all users will choose them instead of you. How can you be able to compete with websites like that?

 

[djbaxter]

There are a lot of free forum sites out there, and for sure almost all users will choose them instead of you. How can you be able to compete with websites like that?

By offering something noe of the free services offer.

 

[AmyTK9]

Exactly. I have a lot of good ideas going about, but will be thinking on it longer. I want my forum to be unique. I want to do first month free or section off part of the forum you need to pay for so people can get their feet wet and see what I have to offer before deciding to pay.

 

[VictorEdson]

People will definitely pay to be part of a forum. It's a pretty good idea for a membership site, because a lot of your best content will come free from the users.

Plus you'll always be able to upsell to your monthly membership.