Avg monthly cost of paysite...
 

serious answers only here:)


heres the variables...

hardcore paysite

60% non-exclusive content

40% exclusive

an average amount pics and vids

updated every two days

cascading billing

average design, tour, banners

small amount of affiliates 50 - 100

- - - - - - - - -

with these basic vague details, what would the start up cost be, the average monthly overhead, and possible profit be?


if you don't wish to post in here hit me up on icq 329 623 811 because i am curious:glugglug

You pretty much answered your own question, just do the math.

i'm a very curious person:Graucho


i need to see what other people's opinions on this are since i came up with some numbers myself, but there are variables that i can't think of because i don't own a paysite. so, it helps me if i get a range of opinions on the matter.

where are you getting the cascading billing?

:Graucho

there may or maynot be cascading billing:Graucho

By the way, 50-100 total affiliates you're not going to see much traffic. Active affiliates is a different story. Getting those 50-100 affiliates to stay active is a job in itself.

Funnily enough, this has nothing to do with the costs and unfortunately very little to do with your income.

As getting 100 affiliates is relatively easy, getting them to actually send traffic is another matter alltogether. :)

You're reading my mind and typing faster than I am, evil man.

so i've heard.

people i've talked to always tell me that about 10% of their affiliates make up for 90 % of the sales:(

i'm looking for a way around this:)

plus, i'm not looking at making tons of money from this kind of paysite, as you can see the basic details i provided.

also, since this isn't gonna be all exclusive, i'm not sure how many big named affiliates would actually promote without some sort of incentive

I think 10% is being generous, probably something like 5%.

With one site that is just another run of the mill site (and recurring), you're not going to have much affiliate luck. If you want to start a paysite, make sure you have plenty of your own traffic available. Use affiliates as supplemental traffic/sales.

:)

very good point, something i have to look into is the traffic, but thats a secret no one will give out.

What secret are you looking for? Traffic is traffic.

actually.....traffic sources besides just TGPs

I learn of new sources each and every week. It's really pretty amazing.

Start surfing and you'll find other methods. Free sites, AVS, Yahoo Groups, link lists, etc.

yep that's the way I see it.. unless your site is something special or you can offer more than the other programs can. You will be hard pressed to get the good affiliates that can send a lot of traffic.

the old 80/20 rule. 80% of sales come from 20%

its just the way shit works. need to entice the whales to send traffic

ok, so far i really appreciate the info from everyone, but my main question remains unanswered.


what would be the typical estimated overhead of this kind of paysite?

If you were doing an all exclusive site, I wouldn't start with less than 8 videos and I would plan on updating weekly for 4-6 months depending on how well I wanted to take care of the site. Buying 8 exclusive hardcore videos will probably run you $12-16k upfront, an additional $6-8k monthly for updates.

Non-exclusive is totally up to you. How much content do you want to start with? Do you want it fresh or bargain bin? Are you going to load up with feeds?

the non-exclusive would be a mix 50/50 of bargain and fresh.

don't know about feeds just yet.

as the site grew, i would then move to more fresher non-exlusive and i would also put more money into the exclusive. eventually aiming at turning the site into all exclusive after enough revenue was built

Then why even start one? Seriously, build up the money first, then build the site.

i hear ya. i'm actually saving money either way. i'm not really trying to rush in to building a site just yet. i have some time before i make the decision.

i'm really just trying to gather as much info as possible so that i can be prepared when i eventually go live if i do, and how i end up doing it i will only be able to decide then

don't open a paysite until you can sustain it with your own traffic.

only exception would be a site with exclusive content that made people's jaws drop - in whatever niche you choose. not even sure that's guaranteed either.

15 updates/month, 40% exclusive, thats 6 movies x $1500 (bulk deal) = $9000
9 non-exclusive movies, good quality = $500
cascading billing, lets say NATS = $650
hosting = $1000/month for a good server
$11150/month
+ minimum startup costs (design $500, banners $500, 15 movies - 6 exclusive - 9 non - $9500)
$10500


so, $10 500 for start
and $11 150 each month
and with this you are making $0/month. You need traffic or affiliates, mostly both, so count few thousands (good is $5000+) for advertising each month.

All of that and only 76 posts? Damn, you have got a future here!

what has a postcount to do with knowledge? nothing! :winkwink:

thank you for the detail in your reply:thumbsup

that gives me very good insight into estimated costs.

as for traffic and affiliates, thats another area i'm working on at the moment, but first i needed to get a better idea of the average costs of just starting and maintaining.

Highly informative post. Good to see! :thumbsup

Don't forget about processing fees. $750 for 3rd party or somewhere around $2000 for your own merchant account. $2750 for both with cascading