For months, I’ve been toying with the idea of letting people rent a sub forum to promote/announce their sites/services on WebsiteBabble.com.

Now that the forum has been upgraded to the new platform (vBulletin 4.0), I am almost ready to move to the next step.

But first, I need some feedback from you.

Who Can Rent a Forum?

In the beginning, I will only open this up to people who have sites related to web design, development, programming and other technical web services.

So if you have a logo design company, you could rent a forum to showcase your latest work, offer deals and generate new business from other Website Babble members.

WebsiteBabble.com receives about 75,000 page views per month and has an average Alexa Rank of about 14,000.  The forum also uses the vbSEO plugin, so every post is promptly added to the XML sitemap and submitted regularly.

Many newbies come to my forum and need help with design, development and other programming services.  So this is a great promo opportunity for people who offer such help/services but don’t have enough traffic/exposure.

Benefits of Sponsorship

- You will have your own sub forum to promote your site (latest blog posts, products, services, etc).

- Ad revenue opportunities within your forum (AdSense, banners, etc.)

- Owning a sponsor forum means more dofollow backlinks to your site from another relevant, trafficked site (major SEO benefit)

- Website Babble will also promote and list the WB Sponsor forums in other locations on the forum

The WB Sponsor will be billed monthly (subscription service through PayPal) and can cancel at any time.  I haven’t decided on a price yet, but I do have some numbers in my head.

I was hoping to get some feedback here before I announce the official/final cost.

Sooooo, what do you think?   I welcome feedback from everyone, but I’m especially interested in hearing from those who would qualify.  So based on what I’ve revealed thus far…

- If you are interested, what is the most you’d pay (per month)?
- What other benefits would entice you?
- Any other questions or comments?

A product like this could be a big win/win for myself and the sponsors involved so I’d love to get as much feedback as possible before I launch.

I probably won’t allow sites/programs related to “making money online” (unless they are purely tutorial related).  There are so many scammy/sketchy sites out there and I don’t want to appear as if WB is endorsing such sites.

Your thoughts pleeeeeeeease?    I may provide a free trial to people (with relevant sites) who offer great suggestions and feedback.

[Contest is closed.]

If you’re not a member of my forum, Website Babble then you’ve already missed out on quite a few income opportunities. I’ve given away nearly $1,000 over the past 2 years (trivia contests, most valuable posters, etc.)

On March 26th (next Thursday), two people are going to win either $150 or $75 for their designs in the first Website Babble Design Contest. You can view the entries here.

Obviously it’s too late to join this contest, but you might want to become a member so you can qualify for the next one.  (In order to participate in any Website Babble contest you must meet some undisclosed member requirements).  New members are not eligible but there will be more contests, so join and get to babbling so you can qualify!

Why am I waiting to tell you about this AFTER the entry deadline?  This contest was pretty spur of the moment, so it would have been pointless to announce it since new members are not eligible to participate. So I figured I’d announce it now so you can join and be eligible for future contests.

Benefits of Being an Active Forum Member

If you’re new to building websites and/or making money online, getting started can be intimidating and even downright scary.  There are so many questions, doubts, concerns, fears, etc.   Many people quit because they feel alone and can’t get answers to questions they need.

Belonging to a forum allows you to meet and chat with other people who are in the same boat, and you can get that reassurance you need from a friendly, community environment.   You’ll be surprised at how many people have the same concerns and questions that you have.

One of my members said that even though he doesn’t post/chat on the forum regularly, he has learned more from Website Babble than any other site or web class he’s ever taken. What a compliment!  So you don’t have to chat to reap the benefits of the forum.  A lot of people just subscribe to the forum’s RSS feed and keep up with the latest topics that way.  So yes, lurkers are welcome too!

I’m so proud of what Website Babble has become in nearly 2 years. It’s such a friendly, helpful place to visit if you need advice.  The members have a range of experience from newbies to programmers and even full-timer Affiliate Marketers like myself.

There’s also a lounge where you can stop by and chat about anything not related to web development.   We have some pretty fun and even off-the-wall discussions here.  It’s a nice break from the day-to-day website-building chatter.

Another advantage to joining is after you have a certain number of posts, you can add a signature that promotes your website or blog.  So every time you post something, your signature is added to the bottom of your posts.  It’s a great way to build additional traffic to your site.

Join Us!

I hope you decide to stop by and join us.  Registration is free and you don’t have to give your real name if you don’t want.  Most members use aliases/nicknames.  And even if you are shy and don’t want to post, it’s a great site to keep in your bookmarks because we have some very interesting discussions that you can learn from.

Hope I get to “babble” with ya soon!  I’d love to see you there.

Note: Website Babble is a spam-free forum. All self promotion posts will be removed immediately and in extreme cases, members will be banned. The purpose of the forum is for people to ask questions and help others. When you have enough posts you will be able to add a signature to promote your site or blog, but you are never allowed to create a post with the sole intention of promoting your site.