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Hi all.

I'm running a forum on Philippine education. Currently, if you search for "how to pass the Licensure Examination for Teachers" on Google, you'll see that EduPhil.org's thread on the issue is at the top. (The LET is the national licensure exam for those who want to teach in the Philippines.)

I am planning to offer some kind of a "premium" membership, which will allow the user to have access to a forum containing questions and answers from past LETs.

Do you think it's worth it? I.e., can I get my ROI?

 

Honestly, I don't think it's a great idea.
I'm a non-believe in restricting certain areas of your site to paid members. If the content benefits your entire niche, it should be something for you to show off to attract members. Maybe only show part of it to guests and require them to register to see the rest... but not pay.

If you try too hard to make money with a forum, it most likely will not work. And if you're in the forum business with the goal of making money, you better reconsider. Forums should be created as a hobby and a passion; not as a revenue stream.

My forum pays completely for itself (and started doing so after the first 6 months) because my members make donations to show their appreciation for the site. It's great to know that I don't require my members to pay for anything in order to stay afloat.

What kind of investments have you made in the site other than the domain and hosting? You can't be that far into the hole.
I would suggest simply accepting donations (too bad MyBB doesn't have the built-in functionality to do that). If your members enjoy the site, they will donate.

That's just my two cents.

 

The problem is, I have to shell out money to get those questions. I have to get back my investment

How about requiring members to have x number of posts before they can access the functionality?

EDIT: I just realized that getting questions from the past LETs and offering them to the public may constitute a felony in the Philippines. Dang.

 

Well if it is a crime, then obviously don't do it. But I don't understand why it would be. I know of many types of examinations that use questions from previous test versions as practice questions.

Perhaps you should make sure it is a felony crime. If not, then it may be a very good resource for you to provide.

So back to your original question: If you do end up discovering that you are able to provide such materials, I would recommend requiring a certain post count rather than a monetary contribution. Better yet, you could include both. Something along the lines of, "to receive access to these exam questions, you must make at least 50 posts on the forum. If you so desire, you can bypass this restriction by making a monetary contribution of at least $5 to support upkeep of the PhEd Forum." I have this exact restriction in place on one of my forums for a Classifieds area.

 

You're simply great Nick! Thanks for this advice.

 

Wow I've learned more today in 30 minutes than the last 6 months on another site I frequent. Thanks Nick for great advice. Very good ideas you give out.

Juan

 

I'm glad it is proving to be helpful for others; that's what this site is for and is what I try to do

Thank you for the kind words.