Paysite Discussion - The Whole Package...

[Lee]

So i figured, as i know we have a bunch of people working on getting their own paysites launched, or re-working their existing sites that it would be a good idea to have a 'main' thread full of information, advice, hints and tips for people to reference if they had any questions about setting up their own paysite.

Now, i dont just mean information in respect of design and layout, but also processing, upsells, traffic, join page secrets, content, scripting, anything that someone could possibly need to know about starting and setting up a paysite.

Hopefully we can build this thread up as one packed full of information and not just one or two line posts so lets see where we can take it in terms of actual knowledge that will help people grow their business....

I guess the most logical place to start would be with hosting, whats needed in order to actually host a paysite these days, i know virtual accounts are probably not going to cut it in terms of functionality so dedicated servers i would say is a must but what else, php, mysql... Luke perhaps you could share some insight in to what a good server configuration would be for paysites?

Regards,

Lee

[Becky]

In my experience, your hosting needs are determined a lot by traffic and your preferred DB/software set up.

ARS has four oad balanced tour servers. I use MySQL and PHP for scripting and data management. I use GeoIP software to dynamically build join pages based on where the surfer is located.

For member's areas, I have two servers. One hosts the html and DBs. The other is a three terabyte server on a RAID 10 configuration and its sole purpose is serving content.

[Lee]

Becky,

Have you always used a setup like that or have you grown to that setup over the years?

I beleive our very first paysite was actually hosted on a virtual server for abour 3 months until we realized that the downtime we were getting justified going to a dedicated box, right now Condom Cash is currently running on a dedicated machine and we're not seeing any problems occuring so what is the absolute minimum setup someone would need to have in order to launch 1 paysite, leaving the affiliate program oout of the equation for now?

Regards,

Lee

[Chilihost]

Lee, I totally agree with you, setting up a paysite on a virtual / shared hosting account is not a good idea. Go with a basic server, make sure you have enough disk space to expand throughout the year plus a flexible bandwidth package that allows you to grow as your bandwidth needs grow.

If you are doing multiple paysites and an affiliate program, you can easily start out with your affiliate sites and free hosted promo stuff on the same server, but its a good idea to keep your free hosted links on a different domain so that you can move them easily if you grow. One thing you don't want is to have your FHG traffic impacting your paysite speed!

One other important thing to consider is your scripts. If you are running a CMS then make sure your server is powerful enough to run the scripts without impacting your sites. If you are running an affiliate system like NATS, you will need more power still. Scripts generally need processor and RAM. And if you are running busy forums or loads of blogs....consider using a separate server for these as they are resource heavy.

cheers,
Luke

[Becky]

I agree, you should have a dedicated server to start with. How can you think of operating a paysite if you can't afford your own server? Luke brings up another good point, keeping your affiliate program and your FHGs on different servers.

I have ARS itself on many different servers, and at least four servers handle the FHG bandwidth. Paysites are your money maker, and you don't want them to be brought down by anything, so definitely keep them on their own servers.

[Xstr8guy]

Go with as big a dedicated box as you can afford right at the start. If it proves to be too much server, then migrate to a smaller box. It's better than making your member's suffer.

[Lee]

Okay, so we're pretty much set on the 'hosting' aspect of starting a paysite, what about the scripting side of things, what scripts are needed, if any to run a paysite these days?

Regards,

Lee

[Chilihost]

I think a CMS is not necessary but it certainly makes life a lot easier. Awiz is performing well for us and its pretty cheap.

[mickey]

anyone have any experience using opensource CMS systems ? and if so which are good and which are crap ?

[LavenderLounge]

We launched MuscleBearCub.com a few weeks ago with an open source CMS called Joomla.

I'm pretty bright, but I had to job out the set up and the design because it was just too complicated for me. Keep that in mind if you are a one man operation.
For example, I needed my programmer create an instruction manual for me to add new videos. With screen shots, the manual is 11 pages!

On the plus side, there is a lot of buzz about Joomla right now. There are a lot of cheap or free plugins and frequent updates, so it's well supported.

Techies will love the freedom and multitude of choices, creative types will be frustrated. Which are you?

[Bec]

We launched MuscleBearCub.com a few weeks ago with an open source CMS called Joomla.

I'm pretty bright, but I had to job out the set up and the design because it was just too complicated for me. Keep that in mind if you are a one man operation.
For example, I needed my programmer create an instruction manual for me to add new videos. With screen shots, the manual is 11 pages!

On the plus side, there is a lot of buzz about Joomla right now. There are a lot of cheap or free plugins and frequent updates, so it's well supported.

Techies will love the freedom and multitude of choices, creative types will be frustrated. Which are you?

I've looked at both Joomla and Drupal, and got frustrated for the very same reasons you mentioned, if you're not a programmer, and more design side minded, it's very frustrating to try and set those up.

[Lee]

On the subject of content management scripts, imho you really are much better off having one custom designed for your own needs rather than purchasing one of the off-the-shelf solutions that are out there right now, for starters, its going to be a lot cheaper for you than you would think, ours cost around $2500 right now, thats with a bunch of feature additions that i never thought to include on the first version.

Also, what about scripts such as StrongBox or PennyWize, is it worth having those installed on each paysite?

Regards,

Lee

[Ounique]

When I had my member site, it was all linux based and i did alot of my own scripting.

LINUX!