Any ideas on monetizing my side project?
Hey,
So for the past 5 months I've been working on a website which allows users to share school resources (essays/notes etc.)
I launched 3 months ago, and currently I have around 10k users/month.
Currently the website is completely free, but I'd like to start monetizing it.
I've been thinking about a monthly subscription with some additional features, but I can't rly think of any features I could add that would make the users want to pay.
Do u maybe have any suggestions?
I'd add surveys to your site where users can tell you what they're having trouble with and what would help!
Great idea! Do u maybe know of any tools to achieve that? I don't won't to code it from scratch cause I'm pretty sure something already exists. Thanks again!
here's something that might help -- Kampsite acts as a "leaderboard" for feature requests that users can anonymously leave with tags that may be used to label things they're willing to pay for, acts as a more direct line of feedback from users without the hassle of submitting forms or emails.
Survey monkey or google forms would help you track responses, righto?! You could maybe create a simple contact form with your questions and get emails of responses if you'd prefer.
This idea has been done before so there are plenty of references. There's a player in the EU/Netherlands called StuDocu and their VC published a cool article about their growth. You might get some monetization tips from this: https://peak.capital/blog/how-marketplace-founders-solved-their-chicken-and-egg-problem-studocu
Thanks so much! This is exactly what I've been looking for :):)
Just a heads up that you need to abide by student data laws if you're operating in the US. The fines for non compliance are quite large.
Thanks for letting me know! Do you know where I could read more about it?
I used to work in edtech, it's taken quite seriously.
https://educationframework.com/resources/student-privacy-laws/federal-laws#:~:text=The federal student privacy laws,privacy of student education records.
Start monetizing for access to the essays.
Offer an essay service (writing/editing/etc)
Been working in the essay space for over a year and these 2 models seem to work consistently across competitors.
Thanks! I'm just afraid that if I start charging ppl for access to the essays they won't pay since it's possible to find ones for free online (but it takes some time since they're not super easy to find)
You have a pretty large user base so you could consider starting a marketplace. Keep the current system you have now, but also allow some folks to offer their own tutoring, or videos, or notes with extra explanations for a small fee. You would then take a cut.
I second this idea, seems like a very user-driven way of monetizing the platform and, since you're consumer-focused, you wouldn't need to worry about moderation too much. Users that offer something the community doesn't want won't make any money, which will maintain value on your platform. revenue would be equal to user satisfaction and more growth! highly recommend you check out this article on how substack does it.
I think that you have a very good chance to monetize it with brands.
I mean, you have 10K users/month and most of them are school people so you have a clear idea about which brands can be interested (book shops, PC vendors, sports brands, etc.)
If I were you, I would send cold e-mails (10 per day) during one month and see how many of these brands responds you.
Write a second e-mail after one week if you do not have response.
It is important that if you are not used to write this kind of e-mails get advice from someone else because you have to write an effective message (do not discard to pay someone with experience with this).
I hope it helps.
Br.
Ricardo
This sounds like a great idea! Never thought about it. Do you maybe know where I could find any resources to learn how to write such emails (I'm pretty short on money so before paying anyone I would like to see if I can do it on my own)? Thank you again :)
Please, contact me by e-mail (see my profile), I need to get users for my app and you can send traffic so perhaps we can validate your business model and with this proof you can have more solid arguments when reaching prospects.
There's a Cold Email group. Small, but it could be a start. Or maybe @mrbenny who started it can point you to some resources.
I do not know nobody. Perhaps in your case it is good to try it yourself and see what happens. If you like I could help you reviewing your e-mail when you have one. I will not charge you anything. Is good to help each other.
Ads and affiliate marketing are easy to integrate, but don't pay well. If you're serious about making money from the site, you really need to identify what your audience would pay for, and build that.
Let's chat! We have recently launched an app in the Education space, maybe we could talk partnerships 😃. DM me on Twitter.
Sure! It says u can't be messaged tho