Monetizing a Politically Incorrect Site/Community?

charlie.simm

charlie.simm

Gigantic Websites Dot Com
Jul 6, 2007
1,550
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I bought a community that has been active since 2005, a little over 50k monthly impressions and the site pretty much runs itself. 100% user-generated content.

81.4% of its visitors are from English speaking counties (35.5% US + 33.9% UK + 4.9% Australia + 4.8% Canada + 1.7% Ireland + 0.6% New Zealand) but the site has let's call it politically incorrect content, so the major networks don't want to accept it.

Pros:

1) as mentioned previously, 81.4% of its visitors are from English speaking counties

2) the site's visitors are NOT Internet savvy, so it's not a tech-related site or something like that by any means

Cons:

1) it's a politically incorrect site that can't seem to get accepted anywhere

2) it's a "general" site, so not something like a website about insurance where the monetization options are obvious

Do you have any experience monetizing politically incorrect sites?

Or if you can recommend a network that's more "flexible" than the major ones, lemme know.
 


IceToEskimos said:
Did you just buy WaFo?
Click to expand...

WaFo is a community owner's wet dream.

Shitloads of people who desperately want to buy useless info products.

Again and again... and again... and again.

The community I'm referring to is actually similar to our favorite gay webmaster forum but not about making money on the Interwebz, people pretty much say whatever the fuck they want but since most of the stuff they write is politically incorrect, major networks don't want to accept the site.
 
How about selling stickers displaying politically incorrect slogans?

1. Go through the forum to look for hot topics (race, religion, politics, abortion, global warming, gun rights, feminism, etc.).

2. Come up with a polarizing slogan about the hottest topic.

3. Order the stickers in bulk.

4. Sell them in lots of 100 to forum members ("give 'em out to your friends!")

You could crowdsource the slogans with a contest, and send the winner a free 100-piece lot.

Frankly, this idea seems low-rent. But given your description of the site (general focus and shunned by networks), your options are limited. If the idea has any juice, you could expand into flags, banners, iPhone cases, and free apps.

Another hurdle, of course, is to figure out whether any of your members have money to spend. Or, are they 14 years old like most of WF. ;)
 
^^ I love the stickers and misc shit like that idea, look at all the tech / geek / gadget sites
 
JakeStratham said:
Another hurdle, of course, is to figure out whether any of your members have money to spend.
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I thought about an approach similar to the one you recommended and was even close to hiring some people to build an app but ended up deciding against it because it would be way too time-consuming.

The thing is, most of my other projects are waaaaaaaaaay more lucrative, so the best solution (IMO) would be selling traffic directly to advertisers (preferably an arrangement such as "I'll give you a good price in exchange for a long-term commitment") or finding a network that accepts sites like this one.

I can definitely see the site getting close to the 1 million monthly impressions mark in let's say two years or so and if that happens then sure, options such as the ones you described will become considerably more attractive. But for now, I'm just looking for a hassle-free monetization solution, even if that means leaving money on the table.

superplatinum said:
Have you considered AdSense? Or is it so bad that it will get shot down by that as well?
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AdSense won't accept it, there has to be at least one decent network that accepts politically incorrect sites, any recommendations?
 
Depends what you mean by politically incorrect.

If it flagrantly racist or has suspect porn or insigtment of violence, then I wouldn't trust it, but I have a few offers that fit nicely with UGC stuff without issue.
 
charlie.simm said:
I thought about an approach similar to the one you recommended and was even close to hiring some people to build an app but ended up deciding against it because it would be way too time-consuming.

The thing is, most of my other projects are waaaaaaaaaay more lucrative, so the best solution (IMO) would be selling traffic directly to advertisers (preferably an arrangement such as "I'll give you a good price in exchange for a long-term commitment") or finding a network that accepts sites like this one.

I can definitely see the site getting close to the 1 million monthly impressions mark in let's say two years or so and if that happens then sure, options such as the ones you described will become considerably more attractive. But for now, I'm just looking for a hassle-free monetization solution, even if that means leaving money on the table.



AdSense won't accept it, there has to be at least one decent network that accepts politically incorrect sites, any recommendations?
Click to expand...

So setup OpenX or something else and put a big "Advertise with Us" banner up there and start selling spots.
 
What are the sites main demographics? I'm guessing male 30+?

Instead of going the sticker route, you can always sell your own tshirts that have politically incorrect statements.

If you give me the main demo I might be able to help more.
 
No experience. What do you mean by politically incorrect? Could you make it clearer? If Adsense has no conflict with your content, then you could try it, but I am afraid you may not get it.
 
How politically incorrect?

It's basically a site that lets people say whatever the fuck they want. Some of the members constantly write racist comments, some of the members make fun of the racist users and the community is pretty much unmoderated... all in all, not a site you'd want your kids to see.

Strangely enough, the site has nothing do to with politics/race whatsoever concept-wise but since the community is practically unmoderated, things degenerated and yeah... it ain't pretty :)
 
Put up banners on different topics and check CTR. So put up banners of:
Casino, weightloss, forex, pharma, dating, etc. General things. Link to whatever.

Once you find banners with decent CTR, promote that product direct. Direct affiliate deals with 'gray' advertisers in the niches I mentioned don't have very high standards.
 
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