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Ask HN: Make money w/o banner ads or subscriptions
I've been helping work on a website www.kayak411.com and we just had a major re-release. We're not really doing it to make money or a company, we just like kayaking. It would be nice to make a little money off of it just to cover hosting costs + a little (think craigslist).
So, we're looking for really creative ways to make a little money without sidebar/banner ads or subscriptions. So far we are planning on getting a cutback on camping referrals and maybe a small fee to list things in the marketplace.
Anyone have any other unusual ideas?
www.kayak411.com
- user24 16y agothere's http://flattr.com http://flattr.com, which is gaining popularity, or a paypal donate button. I run ads on my blog http://puremango.co.uk http://puremango.co.uk. I don't think ads have to be ugly or obtrusive. I like to think my ads are subtle and not annoying. So, I wonder why are you against a few simple ads?
- sabat 16y agoI know why I'm not crazy about them: they don't make you much money. At least, in my case, Adsense and Adbrite haven't done much for me.
- Andrew_Quentin 16y agoWhat makes you think anything else would? I mean, is this a site of 100 visitors a month?
- sabat 16y agoThousands.
- user24 16y agothe ads on puremango get me about a cup of coffee per day, for 2000 visits. So, yeah as a business it's nothing, but as a nice supplmental trickle it's ok.
- byoung2 16y agoA big one is affiliate links, which are particularly well-suited to niche sites like this. You can regularly review products and put affiliate links so that readers can buy them online. Look into Commission Junction, Linkshare, Google Affiliate Network, Amazon Associates, etc. You can make a decent amount per sale (usually around 1-15%). If 10 people buy a $400 Kayak and you get 5%, that's $200 in your pocket. You can also put together an instructional ebook or video about kayaking and sell it on the site.