Newbie questions on costs and cash flow

[914turboford]

I am interested in starting a bulletin board. It seems to me that vbulletin is about the best there is. What I want to know is, what type of revenue can be earned by selling advertising on a successful bulletin board? Mine would be an automotive bb. Obviously I would not ask anyone to predict how much I might earn. Rather, I would like to know what is possible from a successful, well established board. Also, what costs are involved in running a bb? I have seen the license costs but would like to know about other costs such as server fees.
Brian

[raiderlax]

Its up to you on how much you want to sell advertising space on your forum for. To run a bb you have to pay for server fees and it depends on how much space and bandwith you want to pay for. There are dedicated servers, shared, etc.. so find a company that sells that. I am currently on godaddy and pay around 10 bucks a month for hosting fees.

[1996 328ti]

I have seen the license costs but would like to know about other costs such as server fees.
BrianHosting really varies. I'm paying $30/month for 50Gb of bandwidth.
Auto websites are a dime a dozen these days.
You need to make yours better than the next. Good luck.
Don't expect to make any money for a while.
If you are doing this to make money, it might not be for you.

[914turboford]

Yes, I would be doing it to make money. I have found ways to make my love for cars pay in the past. I know there is a glut of automotive web sites out there. And, probably like many others, I think mine will be different enough to stand out. I am a member of probably 20 bb's that run the automotive spectrum from rice rockets to diesel trucks. Thanks for the info on server fees. That sounds pretty cheap. What about income? Again, please don't think I want you to predict my income. I want to know what some of the more successful bb's make. A few hundred dollars a month? A few hundred thousand dollars a month?
Brian

[1996 328ti]

Yes, I would be doing it to make money. I have found ways to make my love for cars pay in the past. I know there is a glut of automotive web sites out there. And, probably like many others, I think mine will be different enough to stand out. I am a member of probably 20 bb's that run the automotive spectrum from rice rockets to diesel trucks. Thanks for the info on server fees. That sounds pretty cheap. What about income? Again, please don't think I want you to predict my income. I want to know what some of the more successful bb's make. A few hundred dollars a month? A few hundred thousand dollars a month?
Brian
Server cost or income?
A busy board is going to cost money to run.
I have no experience in running a busy board.
I have +300 active users (log on at least once every 10 days).
Shared hosting is $30/month. My income is maybe $5/day.
Income goes to licensing fees for vB and Photopost. Decals for members, tools.
Pretty much everything I make goes back into the site.
For a busy board you are going to need a dedicated server, or two.
That won't be $30/month.

Edit: I will not accept paid sponsored banners other than adsense.
I don't want to be at the mercy of a paid advertiser who doesn't like what a member posts.

[914turboford]

Thanks for sharing some of your experience. Where does one go to find out the information I want? I heard a spot on a talk show where the host was talking about his own website and saying that the number of hits translates into the amount you can charge for banner ads (which I will want to sell). I have googled but have not yet found the information.
Brian

[feldon23]

If you are starting a forum to make money, I think you're going to set yourself up for disappointment. I would start a forum because you have something interesting to talk about and after a year maybe you can get it to pay for itself?

I dunno, I'm sure people make lots of money with forums but if I see lots of ads that I can't block with Hosts/Firefox/etc., I bolt.

[914turboford]

I think I chose the wrong place to ask my question. I found earnersforum.com which caters to people who are in this to make money. BTW, they speak highly of vbulletin. If I proceed, I will very likely choose vbulletin.
Thanks for the input.
Brian

[manny0131]

Hey turboford, check out this page here in Puerto Rico, this page is so popular here in PR that the owner charges $1,300 a month to post a banner on his site. And there are pleeenty banner here!! good luck bro! I plan to make something similar like this site but has nothing to do with cars!!

BTW: Im "fOCUSpeed ZTS" on the site :D

http://www.carrito.net/board/index.php

[Dilly]

$1300 a month isn't really that much for advertising.

[feldon23]

If I were getting $1300 a month from my website, I'd be happier than a pig in you-know-what.