Group-based lead gen: 4,000 member niche group, what it is actually worth

Grew a niche group to 4,000 members over two years, mostly by answering questions nobody else would answer at length.

Monetisation attempts, in order of how badly they went:

• Affiliate links in posts — killed engagement, made $90, never again
• Paid sponsor posts — $200/mo, members hated it, stopped after two months
• Soft referrals to my own service — $6,400 in six months, nobody complained once

A group is not an audience you advertise to, it is a reputation you can spend. Spend it on your own thing.

The ordering here is the lesson. Every group owner tries exactly those three in exactly that order.

Soft referral to your own offer always beats renting the audience out. You keep the margin and the trust.

Two years to 4,000 members. The timelines in this forum are so much longer than the timelines on YouTube.