How to Monetize your Online Community

As your community grows you may realize that you need more resources to sustain it. More than likely you will need to employ at least one full-time community manager. You will need specialized community management software. You may also need professional help for designing your content. The list goes on and in most cases these necessary resources don’t come for free. 

This is where monetization comes in.

Monetizing your community can help take care of these costs. It can even make your community a revenue source!

Monetization Done the Right Way

There is nothing wrong with monetization if it is done in the right way. But (and this is a big but), before you consider monetization, you need to be sure that your community is providing value! 

So let’s assume you already ticked the value box and that your community is providing a second to none experience for members. You now need to think very carefully about how you can monetize your community without negatively impacting your member’s experience.

Let’s be honest, we are all sick of pop-ups and ads! If given the choice, all members would choose to remove them! So avoid going down the advertising/ affiliate marketing road if you can. 

The best way to monetize your community is by adding value to it. Create initiatives that your members will want to pay for! 

Here are six ideas to inspire you!

Create Paid Membership Options

Free membership is a win-win at the beginning for your community. You get more people to sign up, while your members get access to your community for free. However, at some point, you should consider introducing paid membership plans with extra benefits.

Start by creating a new paid membership tier that will give members even more value from the community. Think carefully about what “extras” you can offer that will entice people to pay for this membership.

Here are some ideas to consider:

• Access to extra platform features such as the Directory, Media Center, Private Groups...
• Access to premium content such as ebooks and exclusive webinars
• Discounted event prices, access to exclusive job offers...
• Profile customization options: badges, avatars, distinct username color, no daily post limit...

Ask yourself what can you offer that your community would pay for! Harley Owners is a great example of a paid membership community.

Bear in mind that you will need a super content strategy if you are going to make members pay for content! Check out this article for tips on creating a content strategy that will wow your audience!