Steve Arentzoff, VP Marketing at VigLink, shares best practices for forum monetization in this presentation given at ForumCon Chicago on September 27, 2011.

1. Forum Monetization Best Practices Managing Content to Maximize Revenue Steve Arentzoff VP Marketing support@viglink.com +1 (415) 287-9942 ForumCon Chicago September 27, 2011

2. 2 Forum Monetization Today subscriptions content

3. Everyday, your content guides consumers to decision points: moments in time where readers choose to take an action.

4. Every Day, your Content Guides Readers to Decision Points 4

5. Every Day, your Content Guides Readers to Decision Points 5

6. potential value ≠ money in your pocket That’s the one I want! oh look, the Dow went up 200 points ... *click* www.google.com Today Without a mechanism to help your readers take immediate action, the potential to earn revenue is lost. ...or...

7. ... and you get PAID when a visitor acts... That’s the one I want! Monetizing Decision Points advertiser Blu-Ray *click*

8. Not convinced? of shoppers that find online social sources to be an influential driver when making decisions 95% Increase

9. Monetization Best Practices

10. 2 3 1 4 Best Practices Specific Actions You Can Take to Increase Monetization Share special deals with members Content Integration - Provide Compelling Call-to-Action Introduce topic threads centered around products Understand Monetization Sources

11. Share Special Deals with Readers share special deals

12. Content Integration 12 Example: The NFL season kicks off this week. Get a great deal on a great new HDTV. Get up to 20% HDTVs at Best Buy. Click Best Buy to save now: Note: Make it easy for reader to access relevant section of website by embedding link to TV sale section

13. Introduce Product Topics

14. Introduce Product Topics introduce product topics keep content fresh

15. Encourage Participation introduce product topics share special deals keep content fresh

16. Understand Outbound Traffic patterns Examples via VigLink dashbaord: Which pages generate the most revenue? What are people buying? Which merchants perform best?

17. 2 New VigLink Capabilitiesto Increase Monetization

18. Link Insertion Activation Push Link Insertion button to On! Up to 38% Revenue Gain

19. Merchant Sale Alerts

20. 3 Immediate Steps to Increase Revenue Implement a content monetization solution (if you haven’t already) Manage your content to increase decision point moments Utilize merchant sale alerts Activate Link Insertion In VigLink Dashboard

21. Forums are an advertiser’s dream

22. Forums are an advertiser’s dream (you have an incredible asset on your hands)

23. VigLink (blog) Blog.VigLink.com (twitter) @VigLink (fb) Facebook.com/VigLink