I don’t think it’s any secret to you that when I discuss online forums and message boards, I inevitably inject the name Patrick O’Keefe. The creator of the iFroggy Network and author of the book Managing Online Forums is my go-to expert on what I lovingly refer to as “old school” social media sites. He’s been running them for longer than most of us have been using social altogether.

Well, Patrick has just published a new book — this one an e-book — on how to monetize online forums. Monetizing Online Forums: A Practical Guide To Generating Revenue From Forums – The Right Way is full of usefulness. It goes through everything from advertising to subscription memberships to affiliate marketing and more.

And if you know Patrick at all, you know you’ll want to read this. He’s beyond reproach when it comes to ethics and standards on the social web, so you know this won’t be a get rich quick, how-to book. He’s gone deep on all the various ways you can make money while managing a forum and respecting personal and professional ethics for you and your community at the same time.

But here’s the kicker! This book — which I would easily pay $20 or $30 bucks for because I know the author, his expertise and that I’m going to learn something from it — is available to you for an incredible price. Are you read for this?

IT’S FREE!

Patrick’s friends at skimlinks have made it so. (And if you don’t know Patrick but want some verification of his moral code, read the two-page disclosure on how the book came to be. Patrick had total editorial control. Skimlinks just wanted someone like him to write it because of who he is and what experience he has.)

I’m not even going to try and convince you anymore. Go download this book. I’ve read it, learned from it and will be incorporating some of these ideas in ExploringSocialMedia.com.

It’s available as a PDF, Mobi file or ePub at MonetizingOnlineForums.com.

And no, I don’t have any affiliation or am I getting anything from Patrick or skim links for telling you to go get this free product. What Patrick does rocks and I thought you should know about this.