Tell me more ×
Answers OnStartups is a question and answer site for entrepreneurs looking to start or run a new business. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 0 down vote favorite

I am currently researching e-Learning, and I'm hoping to launch a service similar to Khan Academy in the next year. It would offer learning tools for students all over the world. How should such a service be monetised (i.e. start to make a profit) over time? How feasible is it?

share|improve this question
2  
Please read the site FAQ. Your question is too open-ended, the intention is for questions to be specific to a problem with reasonably limited scope. Ultimately, the answers to your two questions form a large part of your business plan. You may well find your question closed down. I would suggest researching this yourself first and posting your findings, then you might have a more specific question(s) and people answering see you've made the effort, rather than that looks a little like "Please write my business plan for me". – David Dec 18 '11 at 13:51

1 Answer

up vote 1 down vote accepted

There are 2 main ways to monetize an online product:

  1. Advertising supported.
    Pros: Easy to get started with products like AdSense (Google's platform). If/when your traffic gets a steady/high traffic (over a million impressions a month) you could try to sell ads at higher rate or get sponsorship deals. Cons: It will probably not be enough to cover the cost of operations in the early years (sorry, yes it could take a few years to start making profit) unless traffic grows fast.

  2. Subscription-based. Pros: Users subscribing to service is pretty much proof that your product/service is something needed and users are willing to pay for. This model can help you cover expenses early on. Cons: It's easier to grow a business by offering your product for free and getting feedback on the product first. Processing subscriptions will require at a minimum a PayPal or Google checkout and eventually you want to be able to accept credit cards, so that requires some development time.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.