Funding

Just Plain Old · Aug 31, 2006

To address the issue of funding that is raised on the home page...... Why not make a modest charge for membership?

It would obviously be optional to become a member, but you could have a post limit per month for those who are not, and/or restrict access to certain forums to 'members only'. It works on other sites.

Olly_K · Aug 31, 2006

yep I've been thinking about this.
being a member gives you such access to classifieds, group buys, 2 free ASN stickers etc etc.

Just Plain Old · Aug 31, 2006

There we go.................. problem solved!!!!

I assume I'll get FOC life membership for coming up with the idea?

Olly_K · Aug 31, 2006

LOOOL !
you may get a "slight" discount or an extra ASN sticker

)

Michalis · Aug 31, 2006

Another way to get some money is to register with google adsense and put some banners with this. If each of us click daily to these ads i dont think you will have problem to get the money for the hosting.

rickparmar · Aug 31, 2006

also with membership, have a few compainies out there, who will always give us discount on products and parts, i no few compainies allready doing this but make it more open, and have a big list

if ya know what i mean

madvw · Aug 31, 2006

I agree. There would have to be some substantial offers and benefits (like tyres/insurance/parts) to warrant a membership fee - as well as regular sweetners to warrant the renewal of memberships. Just relying upon peoples friendship who regularly post on here to pay isn't sufficient - you'll need to be able to offer something a little more to gain new members.

As soon as you start charging membership it'll become a whole new ballgame as well - and you'll be competing against the likes of clubgti.

Then it'll take a whole load more responsibility, effort and almost all your personal time to make it work.

concoursneil · Aug 31, 2006

Olly_K said:
yep I've been thinking about this.
being a member gives you such access to classifieds, group buys, 2 free ASN stickers etc etc.

Ive just bought 4 stickers so does that mean i can be a member now :yes:

silver75 · Aug 31, 2006

Hmmmm....i think its a good idea but the problem with paid membership is that the other audi forums are free as far as i know....

Olly_K · Aug 31, 2006

madvw said:
I agree. There would have to be some substantial offers and benefits (like tyres/insurance/parts) to warrant a membership fee - as well as regular sweetners to warrant the renewal of memberships. Just relying upon peoples friendship who regularly post on here to pay isn't sufficient - you'll need to be able to offer something a little more to gain new members.

As soon as you start charging membership it'll become a whole new ballgame as well - and you'll be competing against the likes of clubgti.

Then it'll take a whole load more responsibility, effort and almost all your personal time to make it work.

silver75 said:
Hmmmm....i think its a good idea but the problem with paid membership is that the other audi forums are free as far as i know....

I agree totally with both of you, I would like to stay away from the "membership" option too, as you say there are other forums out there, but none that are as good as audi-sport.net (imo, anyway)

I can't see any other way around it at the mo, but the hosting is £60 per month. I only takes 60 people to donate £1, 120 people to donate 50p, 30 people to donate £2 etc which I don't think is a lot to ask if they use the site reqularly and find it useful.

Let me know your thoughts. . ..

auroan · Aug 31, 2006

Have a word with tabs and co over at uk-mkivs.net. They have a dedicated server solution and pay for it via advertising etc (I think). They've balance the advertising quite well, so you don't notice it most of the time.

silver75 · Sep 1, 2006

I know there are a lot of seperate sections/forums on here, but I was thinking, how about a forum sponsers section? Ive seen this on other sites where basically Rochford Tyres for example would have there own section where they could inform us of any new products, discounts or special offers available for our cars

marriedblonde · Sep 1, 2006

auroan said:
They've balance the advertising quite well, so you don't notice it most of the time.

Doesn't that defeat the object of having advertising....

Olly_K · Sep 1, 2006

yep, i want to stay away from having ads plastered all over the site and inbetween posts, etc.

I've received some very generous donations which will keep the site alive for at least 2 months. Once I get the site back on track we'll re-visit this.

There needs to be more content that will be usefull to more users, if users find the site helpful, hopefully they'll donate. I dont want to force it on them though . .

Just Plain Old · Sep 1, 2006

If it has some perceived value people will cough up a few quid........ Most people are so paranoid they'd pay for access to a members only section,,, just to make sure people weren't talking about them!! :biggrin:

Olly_K · Sep 1, 2006

LOL !

jdp1962 · Sep 1, 2006

How many members have we now got? If we need £720 a year to run the server, how much would that be oer head?

Olly_K · Sep 1, 2006

well there are over 13.5k users registered, not sure how many are active, but even if 200 users donate £3.60 each that would do it for the year

james0808 · Sep 1, 2006

Olly_K said:
well there are over 13.5k users registered, not sure how many are active, but even if 200 users donate £3.60 each that would do it for the year

Why not start a thread so people who want to donate can put their name on it.Hopefully you will get the 200 wanted.£3.60 for a year is cheap.

Olly_K · Sep 1, 2006

i'm working on a paypal module which will show a bar graph off our total monthly goal and how far we are up against it, with all donators shown at the bottom

rich1068 · Sep 1, 2006

Olly,

Have a look over on Briskoda and see how they do it. They call it 'Freedom' and it seems to work.

madvw · Sep 2, 2006

james0808 said:
Why not start a thread so people who want to donate can put their name on it.Hopefully you will get the 200 wanted.£3.60 for a year is cheap.

absolutely, £3.50 is sod all, i have no problem donating that...

cocain · Sep 2, 2006

I would donate £3.60 as the amount of info I have learnt on here has probably saved ,e over £360.

silver75 · Sep 2, 2006

cocain said:
I would donate £3.60 as the amount of info I have learnt on here has probably saved ,e over £360.

good point

rich1068 · Sep 2, 2006

I've read these discussions before on other forums and TBH it will probably suprise the more reasonably minded members how many tight ***** there are out there. Relying on voluntary contributions will not do the job. Unfortunately it tends to have to be a a mix of advertising, partnerships with businesses and paid membership with benefits. It's the only way to get a forum growing properly and stop people like Olly from stumping up his own cash.

Olly_K · Sep 2, 2006

like people have said, if they find the site useful they feel compelled to donate a litte.
I am not going to enforce people to pay and split users with a membership option.
If people dont feel compelled to donate than the site needs to be more useful to them so they do donate !
It's your site, so keep the feedback coming !

TDI-line · Sep 2, 2006

My god, i just got blood out of stone! :yahoo:

Keep up the good work Mr Admin.

Olly_K · Sep 2, 2006

thank you

and I will

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