Managing Online Communities as a Career?

How many people out there are actively working to manage online communities "full time?" When I say "full time" I mean securing a steady income from online communities that will support your lifestyle without the need for an additional job. This may or may not mean you put in a 40 hour week (or more) on forums, blogs, podcasts, etc. in an effort to make a living.

Please let me know where you stand!

Thanks!
RR

 

How is it that somebody can mess up their own poll!?!? My response is suppose to be "actively pursuing, but not there yet." Hoping there are others in the same boat!

 

I voted that im doing it just for the fun of it. I dont ask for donations or payments, and while i can do so, i will.

 

Does my job count?

 

We run our forums almost full time but without wanting much back, we do want people to purchase ad spots to help cover server costs but that is all. If someday our forum is able to make enough to live on then yeah we would love that as long as our members are not bothered so much by the means of gaining such money back.

 

Do teens purchase ads? Or would it be more beneficial to approach companies like Hot Topic, Wet Seal, or Champs Sports for advertising? A couple thousand a month in sponsorships, contest prizes and so forth for the ability to advertise to large group of teens? Pennies in their advertising budgets. They could probably pay it out of petty cash.

 

Thanks for the suggestion Wayne. I didnt mean teens paying for the ads I mean smaller advertisers wanting to get their sites name/softwares out there

I will note their names and contact them, thanks a lot for mentioning them

 

Currently, I'm just doing it for the fun and experience. But if any of my sites start to show signs of creating an income after server/software costs, then I'm all for pursuing full-time. As it stands now, though, it's not on my to-do list.

 

I do it for the fun....

 

F is for friends who do stuff together.
U is for you and me!
N is for anywhere at any time at all, here in the world wide web.

 

I do both, actually.
I work for a couple of individuals to manage their forums, develop custom vB scripts and software for them, manage their servers, the works. Of course, these guys run private forums, so for them it's a business.

On my own side, I'm only getting into the management of stuff, and it's all "fun" for me. I found out long time ago that if it's fun for the person doing the work, it'll usually be a decent success!

 

I manage online communities for fun.

Designing websites started out being just for fun, an outlet for my creativity, and for enjoyment, as did designing for vB. Eventually, designing vB themes worked into designing custom vB themes, and I do this for the extra cash flow.

If I could design f/t I certainly would, but it's not financially feasible at this time.

 

Thanks for all the great responses! It's so helpful to get an idea of the "motivations" that everyone has for being a part of their forums. The great thing about this is everyone really seems to enjoy being part of the online community experience no matter if it is a hobby or a full time career!

Those of you that answered that you are just doing it for fun if you could make a living off your forums, would you - or is there something that turns you off from the idea?

If you aren't managing forums for the "big bucks" what is your motivation? What is the number one thing that makes you log on to your forum in the morning? Guess that's a good question for anybody! [For me, forums are about learning something new from people all over the world.]

Thanks!
RR

 

Well, I love discussions. I like interacting with other people, one way or another. So that's what motivates me to log on each and every day: The community itself.

As for the first part of that post, I would jump at the chance to manage a community full-time in exchange for finances. My reasoning behind that is, I won't manage a community unless I at least have some interest in the niche/subject. So if the opportunity arises, I would get paid to do what I love. Otherwise, it would be just like most traditional jobs, where you're doing it just for the money. And I'm a firm believer in doing what you love if you can.

 

I dedicate time into my web-based entities as if they are full-time careers, but I develop and manage them solely for the fun of it. I don't consider managing a discussion community to be "work" or "strenuous" (although, it can be at times).

I love socializing with people. This is obvious upon meeting me for the first time - I will quite literally burst into discussion and continue on from there. Because of this, I firmly believe that developing social relationships on both a physical and virtual (online) level is crucial. The vast majority of individuals today use the web (in some form) to communicate with their friends and family. As such, I feel that it's important to familiarize yourself with the various social networking capabilities that the web has to offer. Actively participating on a discussion forum happens to be one of these wonderful capabilities.

Developing and managing a discussion forum is, in my eyes, a beautiful thing. Interacting with others who share a passion (and discussing the subject matter at hand intelligently) is an excellent feeling. Doing so gives you the ability to learn something new and/or share your knowledge to assist others in a field that you happen to "know" quite well.

It's a non-static form of "fun communication", and I love it.

 

i would LOVE to someday do this full time... i wish I had the knowledge sumone like Wayne has... to werk for vb? man that'd be sooo great.

Every night b4 i go to bed i study coding a little bit...hopefully sumday i'll get there and be in the top spot with the big dogs!!

 

I do my sport website because I grew up as a sporting person - lived, breathed, ate, slept sport until serious injuries meant I couldn't play any more - I do it for Fun!

However don't get me wrong if I could find the right people to advertise etc where I was earning a healthy income I would jump at the chance! We have worked it out and I only need to earn $500 a week through my site and I can concentrate full time on it - my wife has given me permission haha the boss has spoken!

 

I started my forum for fun and for the passion of the subject; those are still the factors that keep me motivated.

I do indeed monetize my forum, but that's just a perk. It's not the magic behind the motivation. Besides, it's less than chump change, so it's nothing to get excited about.

If I could manage forums full-time knowing that I would have the financial means to live my life the way I currently do, then I certainly would. I'd rather work on forums than go to work every day.

 

I run a number of fora, some for trade associations for which I receive a modest (very modest) annual payment to keep the site up and running + the code updated.

My personal sites are mainly run in areas I or my wife have interests in and are largely run for fun, they are monetized in one way or another but the income does not come close to covering the costs (as yet).

I do run a VPS and do offer hosting on a personal & private basis to people I know so they can be sure their sites are not on some oversold shared hosting, but again that's either FOC or just a small ex-gratia payment towards costs.

 

I fall into the "Actively pursuing but not there yet" camp. My sites bring in income, but not enough. Yet.