Welcome to todays post where I’ll be exploring some unusual ways on how to monetize a cycling website.
Cycling’s popularity has surged in recent years, both as a hobby and a sport. More people than ever are riding bikes for leisure, adventure, fitness and competition.
Naturally, the amount of cycling-related content online has grown exponentially. Cycling blogs, YouTube channels, podcasts and websites have cropped up to serve this booming audience.
With more eyes and attention turning to cycling across the internet, many content creators in this niche are looking for ways to monetize their platforms.
However, simply throwing up display ads or peppering posts with affiliate links often won’t cut it. The fierce competition demands an unconventional approach to stand out while still generating revenue.
This guide explores unique and creative strategies to monetize a cycling website. We will move beyond traditional monetization models that have become ineffective and saturated.
Instead, the focus will be on innovative and outside-the-box ideas tailored to the cycling niche. From membership programs to sponsored events, affiliate partnerships and merchandising, there are many untapped possibilities.
Implementing even one or two of these unconventional revenue streams could dramatically transform the earning potential of a cycling website.
Each strategy aims to provide more value to the cycling community while bringing in a steady income. Let’s dive in and unlock new ways you can profit from your passion for cycling.
Membership or Subscription Service
Offering exclusive content, access or perks to members or paid subscribers can be a lucrative monetization strategy for cycling websites.
Whether it’s premium articles and videos or special deals not available to the general public, there is strong potential in subscription revenue.
The Value Proposition
A membership or subscription service provides high-quality cycling content or resources in exchange for an ongoing fee.
This allows you to keep your best work behind a paywall open only to paying members.
Ideas like training programs, gear guides, route maps, workshop recordings and more have tremendous value for passionate cyclists.
Your subscribers also get a sense of community, knowing they have exclusive VIP treatment not offered to non-members.
Perks like member-only discussion forums, merchandise discounts and free downloads add even more appeal.
Successful Examples
Site like TrainerRoad, The Pros Closet and CyclingTips leverage subscriptions extremely well in the cycling space. TrainerRoad charges $19/month for access to its catalogue of structured indoor cycling training plans. The Pros Closet built a $15/month membership around exclusive shop discounts and early access to used gear auctions.
CyclingTips has grown their Insiders club to 5,000+ paying members who unlock special content and shop savings. These are just a few examples of the subscription model executed successfully.
Online Courses or Workshops
Creating online courses and workshops related to cycling is an increasingly lucrative way to monetize your cycling website.
The world of eLearning opens up immense possibilities to package your knowledge into premium educational products.
Potential Topics
When it comes to cyclists, there is no shortage of topics and skills they want to learn more about. From maintenance basics like changing a flat to tactical skills like cornering and descending, the teaching possibilities are endless.
Other in-demand course ideas include bike fitting, training plans, sports nutrition, mental toughness, endurance racing strategy, gravel riding techniques, bikepacking 101, and advanced skills like bunny hopping or wheelies. Find your niche of expertise and translate that onto a digital course format.
Platforms and Logistics
There are several established course marketplaces like Udemy, Thinkific or Teachable ready for you to leverage when selling your own cycling eCourses.
These handle hosting, distribution and even marketing — you just create the content.
You could instead build your own course site from scratch or sell course access directly from your existing cycling website if the traffic can support it.
Integrating video, manuals, quizzes and instructive feedback, you craft a premium learning experience for students. Charging $100+ per course is reasonable given the value.
Selling courses requires effort in crafting the content, administering sign-ups and support, but done well it can fund your other cycling endeavours through the passive income it generates over time.
Sponsored Challenges or Events
Hosting branded cycling events or challenges represents a major opportunity to monetize your audience and reputation.
Partnering with relevant brands and organizations, you can create exciting experiences for your community while also driving revenue.
Potential Partners
There are all kinds of cycling, fitness and outdoor brands interested in raising awareness through sponsored contests or activities aligned with their products.
Local bike shops, nutrition brands, apparel companies, tourism boards and more make great potential partners.
The events themselves can also attract sponsors relevant to mass participation like athletic events. Registration platform sponsors, finisher item sponsors and on-site sponsors all offer additional revenue streams.
Revenue Drivers
The sponsorship fee from the title brand partner foots most of the bill. However, properly executed cycling events and challenges can earn money through:
- Entry fees
- Merchandise sales
- Raffle tickets or competitions
- Travel partnerships and discounts
- Media and exposure if the event is high-profile enough
With good planning and promotion, sponsored cycling events can produce profits while also building your reputation.
Successful Examples
The Zion Half Century challenge sponsored by La Sportiva saw 800 riders take on the epic ride through Zion National Park for gear, entry packs and recognition.
The Gravel Gamble presented by Knight Composites hosts a mass participation gravel race in Wisconsin each year fuelled by sponsorship.
Affiliate Partnerships with Local Businesses
Beyond the big online brands, connecting with businesses operating in your local community represents an underutilized affiliate marketing opportunity for cycling sites.
Developing partnerships with bike shops, cafes, sports stores and more allows you to earn commissions while also providing value to your audience.
Earning Commissions
The affiliate model lets you earn a percentage of sales or leads generated for a business by promoting them to your audience.
Place custom links, banners and recommendations out to your cycling visitors. If they become paying customers, you collect an ongoing commission or one-time bounty.
With enough website traffic and an engaged subscriber base, you wield influence to drive sales, bookings or sign-ups within your geographic radius.
Avoid spammy tactics, but appropriately timed promotions of local partners sees everybody win.
Tips for Establishing Partnerships
Approach potential local affiliate partners clarifying the size of your audience reach, website traffic and newsletter list size.
Highlight any reader testimonials speaking to the trust you’ve built. Provide examples of past promotions and suggest initial ideas for collaborating together on appropriate campaigns or cross-promotions.
Be flexible on negotiated commission rates depending on the type of business. Offer reasonable marketing exclusivity within similar segments to prevent oversaturation.
Draft simple terms for use of logos, trademarks and tracking while letting the partner retain messaging control.
Handled respectfully, local affiliate partnerships done right can provide cyclists with genuine value while you monetize through the trust built with your community.
E-commerce Store for Cycling Merchandise
Selling branded apparel, components, nutrition and other gear through an online store allows creators to fully monetize their audience value.
Moving beyond affiliate commissions, operating your own ecommerce outlet means keeping the majority of sales revenue.
Custom vs Existing Products
Many online retailers opt to customize and white label products working with manufacturers, taking care of branding and design in house then outsourcing production.
This provides more control and flexibility. Negotiating bulk order discounts also improves profit margins.
Alternatively, several companies like Printful and GearBubble integrate with existing product listings allowing easy personalization.
They handle printing and order logistics with no upfront costs. The convenience here allows testing merchandise demand before investing in large custom orders.
Operational Considerations
Running an ecommerce cycling merch operation requires attention to aspects like shipping, taxes and returns. Store platform tools like Shopify, WooCommerce or Squarespace provide guidance.
Initial capital expenditure on design work, marketing and inventory risks also require planning for sustainable growth.
Properly executed however, branded stores can out earn other monetization methods over the longer term. Repeat customers and word of mouth referrals make merchandise outlets powerful assets if the logistics are managed well.
Crowdfunding or Donations
Asking for direct support from your loyal audience through donations or crowdfunding campaigns represents a straightforward value exchange. In an era of ad blockers, this method leverages true fan willingness to give back.
Platforms and Tools
Patreon and Buy Me A Coffee allow creators to offer exclusive content or experiences in exchange for ongoing monthly contributions.
One-time campaigns on Kickstarter or GoFundMe present flashy concepts to get infrequent large donations. Even a simple PayPal donation link or Bitcoin option helps fund passion projects.
Providing Member Value
The key in soliciting direct payments is to offer clear benefits and appreciation. Creative rewards for different contribution levels encourage engagement.
Show donors transparent reporting on how funds get allocated. Move beyond basic shout-outs with rich experiences like monthly video calls, personalized postcards, members-only kit designs and other desirable member perks requiring effort on your part.
Sustainable Reader Revenue
While not completely passive, creator donation platforms, when presented genuinely, can responsible fund special projects or bridge dry periods.
Begging should never happen, but offering your cycling audience valued incentives to contribute provides a fair exchange. Facilitating this revenue stream just requires creativity and follow-through.
Sponsored Content or Product Reviews
Collaborating with relevant brands in your niche to create sponsored blog posts, videos and other content represents a time-tested online monetization strategy. Savvy cycling publishers can earn substantial revenue. However, quality and transparency remain vital.
Common Campaign Types
Sponsorships generally focus on structured product reviews, usage field tests, personalized recommendations or simply highlighting an interesting innovation.
Tutorial articles and comparison posts also perform well in serving user needs while meeting sponsor KPIs.
Displaying sponsor banners, product placement or overlay affiliate links keeps messaging natural. Pay per post or based on traffic or conversions, most arrangements can benefit both brand and creator.
Remaining Authentic
Ensuring transparency around sponsored cycling content maintains reader trust while still getting paid. Clear sponsor acknowledgement, tags and descriptions must appear in each piece.
If aspects of a product didn’t live up to claims or failed to impress you, responsible publishers mention that politely while focusing on benefits. Brands understand this dynamic.
Revenue Potential
Sponsored content, when well-executed attracts repeat business from advertisers who value such access to engaged audiences.
CyclingTips earns over $800k annually from creative brand sponsorships. Singlespeed.com and Bermstyle also leverage commercial partnerships in the MTB space to fund their efforts. With niche relevance and a professional approach, the avenue promises lucrative returns.
Conclusion
As this guide has explored, plenty of unique and outside-the-box opportunities exist to monetize cycling websites beyond traditional advertisements.
From memberships and online courses to branded events, ecommerce stores and creative sponsorships, profit potential lies in providing value.
Each unconventional revenue stream discussed requires effort and savvy execution. But implemented thoroughly, any one of these strategies can responsibly transform a passion site into a thriving business. Mix and match approaches to create multiple income streams based on your niche and resources.
We encourage you to try these monetization methods for your own cycling platform. Feel free to share which ideas gained the most traction along with any novel strategies not covered. Let us keep collectively pushing two-wheeled content creation into the future.
Call to Action
We hope this guide has sparked promising ideas for how to monetize your cycling platform in creative ways. Please explore the many online resources providing deeper detail around the strategies covered here today. Plenty of cycling-specific case studies exist to learn from as well.
As you experiment with unconventional revenue streams, feel free to reach out with any questions or for one-on-one advice.
Whether through memberships, events, ecommerce or beyond, the potential exists to build thriving profit centres around your cycling content while preserving integrity.
But unlocking this potential requires focus, consistency and investment. By working together, we can push your platform and the wider cycling community forward.
Let us know which monetization model resonates most with your goals so we can dig in deeper! Now is the time to leverage your cycling passions into prosperity.
