To keep the Forums alive - change coming to Classifieds - Poll added, please vote!

[tha1000]

@benos Have you considered selling the forum?  Licensing your name and whatever..?

[wtturn]

lol

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[nasty618]

https://monetizepros.com/features/how-to-monetize-a-forum-50-tips-guides-and-resources

 

Number 6 in combination with affiliated ads is probably the easiest passive way to monetize forum content. Turn keywords and user posted links into affiliated links - I thought I saw that already on here, but not sure.

 

 

Edited March 21, 2020 by nasty618

[Sdlrodeo]

13 hours ago, benos said:

For those that voted: "Yearly membership fee" - what would you consider a reasonable amount? 

And please quote this post for your reply. 

$5/year is pretty easy for most folks to swallow. $25/year may be a stretch and cause folks to decline. 

[Steve RA]

I'd think $5.00 per year would be OK.  It would really depend on how many active members there are, vs the # that have joined since Brian opened the site and have since died  or otherwise become totally inactive.

[Intheshaw1]

12 minutes ago, Sdlrodeo said:

$5/year is pretty easy for most folks to swallow. $25/year may be a stretch and cause folks to decline. 

I'd agree that $5 a year is fine and most would pay it, but it would start a slow downward spiral if the only way to access the info was to pay for it.

 

Sure, existing members would pay but it would be hard to get anyone new to join. Then the existing members will start falling off as well as life gets in the way. Then more will leave as there will start to be a lack of content. And then the forums will finally be closed down.

 

I'm all for banner ads over member fees with the exception of a yearly ad free membership. Anything other than that will inevitably cause the forums to die.

 

Companies pay big for targeted ads and I feel like these forums are perfect for most of the shooting/reloading companies.

Edited March 21, 2020 by Intheshaw1

[Steve RA]

14 hours ago, benos said:

For those that voted: "Yearly membership fee" - what would you consider a reasonable amount? 

And please quote this post for your reply. 

I'd say $5.00 a year, but could give a much more accurate answer if I knew the # of actual participating members vs the number of people who have joined since inception of the site.

[Mauserlover]

Voted banner ads. 

 

The Hobby-Machinist Forum (just another forum I use, in addition to the aforementioned Rimfire Central) uses banner ads, but certain features (the search function, among other things) are restricted to those who donate $10 per year or more. New users can see how much the forum is worth before donating, but actually do gain something useful when donating. Maybe a good idea? We'd all have to quit chewing people out for not using the search function before starting a thread though... 

 

I am a new member. Lurked for a couple of years. I wouldn't have joined if even $1 was required before seeing the forum. I think you'd lose many possible new members if something was charged right from the get-go. 

[Sdlrodeo]

3 minutes ago, Mauserlover said:

Voted banner ads. 

 

The Hobby-Machinist Forum (just another forum I use, in addition to the aforementioned Rimfire Central) uses banner ads, but certain features (the search function, among other things) are restricted to those who donate $10 per year or more. New users can see how much the forum is worth before donating, but actually do gain something useful when donating. Maybe a good idea? We'd all have to quit chewing people out for not using the search function before starting a thread though... 

 

I am a new member. Lurked for a couple of years. I wouldn't have joined if even $1 was required before seeing the forum. I think you'd lose many possible new members if something was charged right from the get-go. 

I like the idea of being able to browse, but not search or post, for free. That way you can see what you get. If you want to ask a question or join the forum, then charge the yearly membership fee.

[zzt]

15 hours ago, benos said:

For those that voted: "Yearly membership fee" - what would you consider a reasonable amount? 

And please quote this post for your reply. 

 

Given the goals you set for donations and the number of active users, $1 would way more than cover your costs.  I'm fine with $5 so you have some additional income in your semi-retirement.

[Hi-Power Jack]

4 hours ago, Steve RA said:

 have since died  or become totally inactive.

 

Not much difference, Steve.      

[kitestir]

22 hours ago, benos said:

For those that voted: "Yearly membership fee" - what would you consider a reasonable amount? 

And please quote this post for your reply. 

I voted for banner ads, but if that option doesn’t work I would pay a yearly membership. Would think $5 yearly would keep most people that are interested and under $25 would keep most of the hardcore people active....  

[Absocold]

Still waiting on an answer as to what the current yearly hosting costs are. Hard to judge what's needed without that number. If the number is really low then banners are probably fine. If it's not that low then we can continue hashing that out. If it's too high then we look for a new host and then work the income problem with an easier number.

 

As to putting the forums behind a paywall/subscription, it's a bad idea all the way around. Do a Google search for 9 major loads or uspsa open or or something similarly competition related and the top result and most first page results will point here. That's how you get new members and keep the forums (and the sport) growing. But if you click that Google link and you hit a paywall, the vast majority of people will hit the back button and look for the answer elsewhere. That route leads to an eventual death. Paywall the classifieds if you must but not the whole board.

[Absocold]

Wait a dang second. I was just wondering why I didn't just stroke a check to you for a year's worth of hosting. So I go look at the donation bar and you need $990 per quarter for hosting? THAT'S $330 PER MONTH!

 

W. T. F.

 

Seriously?

 

Most business or even enterprise-level IPB hosting is less than $20 per month. Who the hell is robbing you?

[Sarge]

6 minutes ago, Absocold said:

Wait a dang second. I was just wondering why I didn't just stroke a check to you for a year's worth of hosting. So I go look at the donation bar and you need $990 per quarter for hosting? THAT'S $330 PER MONTH!

 

W. T. F.

 

Seriously?

 

Most business or even enterprise-level IPB hosting is less than $20 per month. Who the hell is robbing you?

I know absolutely nothing about running a forum, hosting IPB’s, banners etc but your astonishment at the cost seems to be a common thread. 

[Absocold]

Aye. I'm wondering if he had a big bill for combination sales website, forums and e-commerce solution and no one ever questioned the bill after the sales site and e-commerce were turned off.

 

Website hosting is dirt cheap but e-commerce for secure credit card processing is not.

Edited March 22, 2020 by Absocold

[benos]

On 3/20/2020 at 5:23 PM, TrackCage said:

Sure I'll send it to you in shortly.

Let me know if you sent it, because if you did, I didn't get it. (Or I missed it in my spam folder.)

[benos]

On 3/21/2020 at 5:32 AM, tha1000 said:

@benos Have you considered selling the forum?  Licensing your name and whatever..?

I considered selling them, but have no idea what they might be worth, or who might buy them.

[warpspeed]

10 minutes ago, benos said:

I considered selling them, but have no idea what they might be worth, or who might buy them.

 

To sell something, it would need to be profitable. Profits times some multiple are usually how you value a company except some companies are sold based on the "good will" value they have. That is something you and the buyer would have to agree upon because it is  very subjective. 

 

If you went back to the days when you were a Dillon dealer you could have probably sold it then to someone who was also a Dillon dealer as a means to push buyers to them.

 

[benos]

And thanks to all that contributed to the flurry of PayPal donations over the weekend.

[Hi-Power Jack]

Brian, you might want to talk to Absocold - see his ideas above.

[benos]

Monthly cost to host the forums in IP's cloud is $330. I have zero interest in hosting them anywhere else, due solely to the excellence of their support. Back in the day when I hosted them myself on a dedicated server... whenever there was a tech issue, it was an absolute fucking nightmare - every time. Nowadays, if there is ever an support issue, they resolve it immediately. 

[Absocold]

http://dfghosting.com/ipb-hosting/

 

https://www.a2hosting.com/ipb-hosting

 

A quick search for hosts with good service and reviews turned up these two examples. Both will install the board at the new host and migrate the database (all the posts and member stuff) from old site to new site - turnkey solution with no effort on your part. Both offer automatic daily backups, automatic board upgrades, automatic bug fixes, and free support if there's a problem. Both are under $20 a month. Yearly domain and hosting cost is less than one month of hosting with your current provider. For what you're paying them, it's no wonder they bend over backwards, but they should also be coming over and mowing your lawn, washing your car and doing your taxes.

 

It's better to try a new place and see if it works out than just give up and turn the lights off.

[Hi-Power Jack]

9 hours ago, Absocold said:

 

It's better to try a new place and see if it works out than just give up and turn the lights off.

 

^^^^^   Worth a try, as a last resort     ^^^^^^

 

If you're going to pull the plug, I would certainly at least

try this first.

[cnote]

17 hours ago, benos said:

Monthly cost to host the forums in IP's cloud is $330. I have zero interest in hosting them anywhere else, due solely to the excellence of their support. Back in the day when I hosted them myself on a dedicated server... whenever there was a tech issue, it was an absolute f*#king nightmare - every time. Nowadays, if there is ever an support issue, they resolve it immediately. 

charge $1 for every sale post in classified, keep it simple