What I do is a county-level local station: Ai Ganyu. Currently it has 4000+ daily IPs and 58,000 PVs. There is no profit, and space fees are paid every year. I published an article on A5 in 2009, "Some of my experiences in building county-level local websites." At that time, I only shared some of my own experiences and insights on how to promote local forums and how to manage local forums. Looking back now, the biggest problem I encounter is: How to make a profit to ensure that my forum can continue? The annual space cost and my own time cost are there. If I can't support myself and make a profit, I can only close the website in the end. . This is a very real problem. A personal website that has always been non-commercial suddenly transforms into a commercial website. How to avoid criticism and controversy? I once read an article on A5. There was such a paragraph in the article that impressed me deeply, and it is why I have been reluctant to do it. A worry about commercial transformation:
The following is the quoted content:
The commercial transformation of communities is a revolution! It is a truly bloody revolution in the field of consciousness!
1. Commercial transformation means rebuilding positioning. A pure consciousness community, the customer group exists because of consciousness. In a commercial community, the customer base exists because of interests. First, the platform determines its positioning and customer groups based on its profit model, and then sellers and buyers choose each other. Those who are chosen live, those who are not chosen die. Life and death depend on interests, on the individual's value to the new ecosystem.
2. Commercial transformation means the redistribution of interests and power. From pure interest to commercialization, this step will directly shake the original rights system, which is reflected in the moderator system in BBS, and will also gradually affect the original value system based on opinion leaders. Those whose rights system of moderators are consistent with the interests of the platform will live, and those who contradict them will die. This step of transformation is bloody and must be experienced. For specific cases, you can participate in the renovation of the Hefei Forum’s Home Furnishing Industry Forum.
3. The evolution of commercial transformation is the only way for a community to go through. After going through this seemingly cruel process, the community will not necessarily die, but will become more stable and prosperous. However, after this revolution, people who were once immersed in non-business communities may miss that atmosphere.
Recently, a netizen on my forum posted a question: "If the AiGanyu Forum operates so well, who are the people behind the scenes?" "How does the AiGanyu Forum make money, and how much is its annual profit?" I was speechless for a moment. Somewhat ashamed. Now let me talk about my team and profit situation. This is also my reply to the member of my website.
About the team behind the Ai Ganyu Forum: 0 people. No one in AiGanyu is behind the scenes. From the first day the forum was created, I have been at the front desk, and our moderators have been at the front desk. At present, AiGanYu is a personal website. Non-corporate, non-business, non-governmental organization.
About Ai Ganyu’s income:
July 6, 2007 ~ December 11, 2008. Use the living expenses saved from college. Bought a space. I forgot how much it cost. It should be 260 yuan. 150M space. Set up. Later, due to reasons such as finding a job after graduation, it has been abandoned.
December 12, 2008 ~ December 31, 2009. My job became a little more stable, and I bought a space in Shanghai for 800 yuan. Later, because the quality of the space was too poor, I had to change the space. I got sponsorship from several early moderators (Da Xu, Fei Fei, Zuo Shiyang, Zuiting Songtao, Dongwu Shanren, Dalu Kuangkuang) and raised 1800 yuan. Yuan. Switch to a space provider in Beijing. Houai Ganyu is developing rapidly and the number of visits is increasing day by day. The Beijing space has traffic restrictions and has to change locations. On June 8, 2009, it was changed to the Shanghai computer room (A5 shared room). As the website developed and expanded, Ai Ganyu's demand for space became more and more demanding. As a last resort, I spent 850 yuan in September 2009 to buy an attachment space, 6G, specifically for pictures. The forum has since then separated images and programs. But since the space for storing pictures is relatively poor, it’s okay to be down frequently. What's more important is that Tietong users (now mobile) cannot access it. At that time, I felt particularly sorry for netizens such as Youyou Little Fox who used Tietong Broadband. 2009 coincides with the motherland's birthday. Starting from the second half of the year, there will be a massacre on the domestic Internet. The forum must be registered as a special BBS, otherwise it will be closed. As a last resort, in November 2009, the Ai Ganyu Forum moved to the American computer room. After struggling a few times, I invested almost 3,000 yuan this year. Among them, I received a 3-month advertisement for Maotai Liquor (Ganyu Store). Received RMB 400. I am very grateful to the netizen "Rural Man" and his friend who sells Maotai liquor.
January 1, 2010 ~ December 31, 2010. Since the server is in the United States, access by domestic users is very difficult. I am very anxious. These few months have been very difficult. Just when we were in doubt and had no way out, on July 9, 2010, the State Council issued a formal notice to cancel the BBS special registration. The news is very exciting, Ai Ganyu can finally return to China. I immediately contacted a domestic space provider and everything went smoothly. In mid-July 2010, Ai Ganyu moved back to the Shanghai computer room. In addition, the accessory space purchased in 2009 is no longer enough. I had to upgrade the original 6G picture space costing 850 yuan/year to 10G space costing 1,200 yuan/year. .
January 1, 2011 ~ June 3, 2011. Previously, the advertising fee for the Google Advertising Alliance for a long period of time was US$180. I just bought another DirectAdmin license. $299. During this period, I also received disguised sponsorship from a friend: I made a few simple websites for him, and he sponsored me thousands of dollars. The website space will expire on June 8, and I am still making a budget today. This year's, next year's. The year after tomorrow.
All the above investments and expenses do not include: Investment time: At least 4 hours of investment every day: 6:30 to 8:00 in the morning (review of posts). Half an hour at noon (just take a look). 2 hours in the evening (comprehensive). Total 4 hours. The actual situation is that it usually takes more than 4 hours at night. In case of website failure, data backup, upgrade, etc., I basically need to stay up all night; I put myself into my body: my physical condition is getting worse and worse. The time for exercise has been compressed to almost 0; investing in emotions: I used to have no time to find a wife, but now I have no time to accompany my wife. It was not easy to find a wife, but I found her when I went home during the Chinese New Year and had no access to the Internet. Thank you for those days without internet.
What I got:
1. Gain members. Ai Ganyu has nearly 30,000 registered members, including many enthusiastic, loyal and die-hard members. On average, more than 4,000 netizens visit Aiganyu every day. Generate PV/views of 60,000+.
2. Gain trust. More and more Ganyu netizens regard AiGanyu as their online home and visit it every day.
3. Gain joy. At least 46 pairs of netizens have come together through the platform of Love Ganyu; more netizens have gone from online to offline and have become good friends in real life.
4. Harvest information. There is more life reference information for netizens to check. For example, search on Baidu which is the best wedding photography company in Ganyu, the best decoration company in Ganyu, Ganyu furniture, Ganyu Car Club and many other lifestyle keywords. Love Ganyu Yudu was at the front.
5. Harvest intimidation and slander. There are black ones and white ones. There are also public relations companies. No explanation. Some people, you know.
6. Gain affirmation and recognition. These affirmations and recognitions mainly come from private netizens and some friends in the media industry.
7. Gained moderators. Mainstay. Hardworking and silent tillers.
8. Gain something meaningful. As Xu Sanduo said: Live well and do meaningful things. From the beginning to now, I always feel that I am doing something meaningful and I have my own persistence. Once upon a time, around the fall of 2009, I had contact with Section Chief Chen Miao of the Network Supervision Section of the Ganyu County Public Security Bureau. I mainly dealt with some posts about Ganyu under her guidance. How should we deal with some issues related to people's livelihood or There were great differences and misunderstandings regarding the posts from relevant departments. This troubles me greatly. Including the establishment of the "Ganyu Online Police Room" section, which was short-lived and announced its closure in less than 2 weeks. Ganyu's intricate network of relationships and connections makes it impossible for some people who want to do things to do their jobs. I'm off topic, let's stop here.
9. Harvest hope: I believe that our hometown will be prosperous and the people of Ganyu will be happy and healthy.
The above is part of my experience in running the local forum www.aiganyu.com in the past few years. Now share it with A5 netizens. Love Ganyu Forum Dafei debut A5. Reproduction retains the source. Friends who are local stations are welcome to communicate with me QQ 89997662
The author’s personal space in the Cretaceous