Do you ever feel like you've invested too much money into your site?

Most of us own forums here...

Do any of us ever feel like we've done more for our forums than we do ourselves? Personally, I always feel like I invest too much money into forums in general, not just mine. I mean, this feeling isn't always great, especially if you're a single man with mortgage, car payment and all other bills that arise.

Am I alone? Or, am I just too enthusiastic about forums?

 

Well, I am getting some return on my investment, and I figure if I ever truly need to I could sell them off. (If I ever needed money that badly I would probably not be in a position to maintain them any longer anyway.) Besides, many hobbies are more expensive.

 

Actually, I rarely feel this way. I am at a point (surprisingly) where Adsense and member donations cover virtually all the expenses of running the forums. The only potential issue I can see is if activity boosted through the roof and I'd need to upgrade server-side. That would put a dent in the wallet. I think if you can get past the initial start-up costs, paid mods, and the worst of the hosting/domain purchases, you can weather through most anything else. When other people ask me about my forums, I don't kid with them. I tell them that starting a forum requires an investment but pays off in the long run, especially if its something you enjoy doing.

 

No, I feel that I have not spent enough money.

 

I have a problem with investing too much money into a new project that I don't wind up keeping.

 

Well I really haven't invested much money into my forums, so no. But even if I was able to buy everything I wanted for my forums, I still wouldn't think it's too much... otherwise I don't think I would have done it in the first place.

 

Actually, now that I think about it, I kind of like buying new toys for my forum.

 

Yes that is something I have thought about before. I started an new board a few years ago and spend alot of money for custom coding and commercial plugins and I was a little sad about that some times but most of the time it was happy.

 

I bought some SW I no longer use (1 is not transferable) and made a few other mistakes when starting up (like paying for installation) so, yes I've spent too much but like Soliloquy & Imperial said it does cost more but is fun and worth it.

 

I apologize for this not being exactly on topic, but where is a good place to find forums that are for sale?

I feel like I may have an "edge" since I work from home full time, have a steady income, am very technical, etc etc blah blah. So I was wondering if I could take this edge and turn it into something by purchasing forums that have decent content and decent traffic and turning them into something better.

It goes with what the OP was saying, somewhat, that maybe some people have not invested enough time and money into their creation, and it could benefit from more TLC, which I am able to provide.

Mike

 

I like your post Kevin!

I sometimes feel that way too - I did when I first started the Official Blog of Donte Taylor.

Then, I got requests through the mail and started to invest money and yada yada ya.

Mike, I'd say SitePoint is pretty good. Did you do a Google search?

 

This,

 

Thx, I did not see that one. It is now called flippa apparently.

Mike

 

It doesn't cost nearly as much as hobbies like cars or horses, so in that sense it isn't that expensive.

 

I've tried to make that point to my wife a few times and she just doesn't get it. I tell her I probably spend less money (since the initial set up) on my forum than she does on scrapbooking. Plus I don't have to go to little parties and feel obligated to buy junk.

 

Plus it doesn't take up room in the house, it isn't dangerous, you're not out of the house all the time... what's not to like?

 

Haha - Oh So True!
This is the point I make to my wife, she collects twilight merchandise (man I am so sick of hearing about that movie and its stars) but any magazine, poster, book, special edition, etc etc she has to buy it.

I pointed out that after the initial start buying the vbulletin license etc etc she spends more a month on her CRAP than I do on my forums, through my sponsors, and small amount of member donations I pay nothing a month for my site and most of the addons I get are through donations.