Changes to UKBF
- Thread starter Ozzy
- Start date
<ok back on topic before this thread goes out the window>
sorry my fault.
I think it would be great for everyone to be able to read and post in most places.
The additional options of PM, email, Avatars and signatures would be good to charge for as I guess they are ways of advertising and communicating.
Rob
sorry my fault.
I think it would be great for everyone to be able to read and post in most places.
The additional options of PM, email, Avatars and signatures would be good to charge for as I guess they are ways of advertising and communicating.
Rob
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I like Handsons ideas, but I couldn't afford £100 in one hit. I'd rather pay monthly.
I found this site on Google too.
I found this site on Google too.
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! How gay's that?! :lol:!
(c) Hands On Group UK Ltd 2006 - Platinum Membership Scheme!
Ozzy, put me down for £100/year as the first Platinum member - others will follow! Just email me when you are ready for the pacing of adverts as we are getting our corporate site designed as I type.
Another idea, charge £0.10 per posting over 100 posts per day - Jayne would soon be skint!
A better idea, put a credit card facility in the legal forum for members to fill in their credit card details, post the problem, I will then post the solution! It will go to my bank of course
Sorry for the banter Duane, it is what makes this forum so good
Very pleased my posting has concluded the good ideas - happy to contribute in any way I can. Just email/Pm if you need further support.
Ozzy, put me down for £100/year as the first Platinum member - others will follow! Just email me when you are ready for the pacing of adverts as we are getting our corporate site designed as I type.
Another idea, charge £0.10 per posting over 100 posts per day - Jayne would soon be skint!
A better idea, put a credit card facility in the legal forum for members to fill in their credit card details, post the problem, I will then post the solution! It will go to my bank of course
Sorry for the banter Duane, it is what makes this forum so good
Very pleased my posting has concluded the good ideas - happy to contribute in any way I can. Just email/Pm if you need further support.
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OK...
Platinum £75 ... (PM, avatar, email, signature, banner ad, hyperlinks/emails enabled) (could be increased to £100-150 to justify the banner ad?)
Gold £50... (PM, avatar, email, signature, button ad, hyperlinks/emails enabled)
Silver £25... (PM, avatar, email, signature, hyperlinks/emails enabled)
Free member £0 (no PM, avatar, email - only post/reply, hyperlinks/emails disabled)
Each would have to have unique benefits as suggested above. I only buy platinum like my wedding ring!
£2.50/month - Typical Yorkshire lass, tight! Anyway, £25/year works out best for you. Start saving. I would be happy to offer credit facilities! at 35% APR
Seriously, it would be better to pay per year to reduce the amount of transactions to balance. This site could be integrated with WorldPay, which has a FuturePay subscription service which I have used - it debits the amount on each anniversary. Still could do monthly but for £2.50 plus transaction fee, extra admin - not good idea.
Platinum £75 ... (PM, avatar, email, signature, banner ad, hyperlinks/emails enabled) (could be increased to £100-150 to justify the banner ad?)
Gold £50... (PM, avatar, email, signature, button ad, hyperlinks/emails enabled)
Silver £25... (PM, avatar, email, signature, hyperlinks/emails enabled)
Free member £0 (no PM, avatar, email - only post/reply, hyperlinks/emails disabled)
Each would have to have unique benefits as suggested above. I only buy platinum like my wedding ring!
£2.50/month - Typical Yorkshire lass, tight!
Anyway, £25/year works out best for you. Start saving. I would be happy to offer credit facilities! at 35% APR Seriously, it would be better to pay per year to reduce the amount of transactions to balance. This site could be integrated with WorldPay, which has a FuturePay subscription service which I have used - it debits the amount on each anniversary. Still could do monthly but for £2.50 plus transaction fee, extra admin - not good idea.
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U
Urban Space
:lol:!
But either way these forums are slowly going to die out. If you charge, people who don't want to pay will just 'bugger off,' as Jayne puts it! Then, those who've for a 'Platinum Membership' will get bored and leave when no 'fresh meat' sign up.
After that, all these lovely little adverts which have gathered up lately will disappear as there's no-one on here to look at them.
If you leave these forums free, Rob's out of pocket; start charging and they'll just die. Lose-Lose situation here...
Liam
But either way these forums are slowly going to die out. If you charge, people who don't want to pay will just 'bugger off,' as Jayne puts it! Then, those who've for a 'Platinum Membership' will get bored and leave when no 'fresh meat' sign up.
After that, all these lovely little adverts which have gathered up lately will disappear as there's no-one on here to look at them.
If you leave these forums free, Rob's out of pocket; start charging and they'll just die. Lose-Lose situation here...
Liam
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I think maybe the rates that are being suggested are too high. Its gone from being less than a packet of fags a month to 2 packets of fags a month.
I value this forum and at the same time completely agree that Ozzy needs to be covering all his costs from now on.
The original idea of say £40 a year is probably better for a lot of people and is not a lot to pay every month either.
Just my 2p for the day !!
Jacqui
I value this forum and at the same time completely agree that Ozzy needs to be covering all his costs from now on.
The original idea of say £40 a year is probably better for a lot of people and is not a lot to pay every month either.
Just my 2p for the day !!
Jacqui
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H
Hayles
I agree with Handson's ideas 
I found the forum via a search on Google.
And I've had a few days of little contact with the forum due to being in the middle of nowhere, and I have missed being able to ask questions and offer feedback, so yep, I would definitely pay to stay.
Hayles
I found the forum via a search on Google.
And I've had a few days of little contact with the forum due to being in the middle of nowhere, and I have missed being able to ask questions and offer feedback, so yep, I would definitely pay to stay.
Hayles
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Well I think it's a mistake.
I don't think this site is big enough keep a paying membership and I suspect that the payment system will cost more to implement and sustain than the revenue derived from it.
But I am more than happy to watch the experiment (from the position of a non-paying hoy poloy in the public gallery of course ;-))
I don't think this site is big enough keep a paying membership and I suspect that the payment system will cost more to implement and sustain than the revenue derived from it.
But I am more than happy to watch the experiment (from the position of a non-paying hoy poloy in the public gallery of course ;-))
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M
multilingual
The site will not die if Richard introduces a Gold Membership scheme because the core element of the site will remain untouched. Non-paying members will still be able to read and post on threads, so the all-essential virtual community would be maintained.
The benefits of becoming a Gold Member should outweigh the costs, and as I mentioned earlier, the chance to network in the real world with other members would create a more professional feel to the business sector.
Therefore, the advantages, in my opinion, need to be outside of the forum, not just having the ability to post PMs and have an avatar. My reasoning for this is simple:
By offering extra benefits Ozzy can say "Pay up and you will GAIN"
By resticting the facilities on the site he will be saying "Pay up or you will LOSE"
This is a very different philosophy from a marketing viewpoint and people will be put off by thinking that they now have to pay for something that they were previously getting for free.
A member has nothing to gain by doing this and for that reason I feel that there are flaws in the current proposals. You need to give people a postive motive rather than a negative.
JB
The benefits of becoming a Gold Member should outweigh the costs, and as I mentioned earlier, the chance to network in the real world with other members would create a more professional feel to the business sector.
Therefore, the advantages, in my opinion, need to be outside of the forum, not just having the ability to post PMs and have an avatar. My reasoning for this is simple:
By offering extra benefits Ozzy can say "Pay up and you will GAIN"
By resticting the facilities on the site he will be saying "Pay up or you will LOSE"
This is a very different philosophy from a marketing viewpoint and people will be put off by thinking that they now have to pay for something that they were previously getting for free.
A member has nothing to gain by doing this and for that reason I feel that there are flaws in the current proposals. You need to give people a postive motive rather than a negative.
JB
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That's just the % who are interested in the argument. It seems likely to me that the rest probably don't care and are highly unlikly to shell out.Urban Space said:
As far as I can see without having access to real stats, there have been 3000 members registered, about 2000 them have made less than 5 posts and less than 300 have ever made more than 30 posts. (I don't know how many of the total are dead accounts, I would estimate 60-70%; but I'll put that to one side for a moment.)
Assuming that there is therefore an actice and fully participating membership of about 20% of those 300 we have an exsiting target market of about 60. Also assuming that a 50:50 split pay/no pay - as our survey shows is accurate (before we have final details and pricing of course) - that gives a paying membership of 30. Which isn't worth the bother of charging for in my opinion.
I haven't been here long but I have a feeling of this place as being comfortably small with roughly that number of active participants - am I close?
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M
multilingual
May be a few more than that, but I would hazard a guess that active members total less than 100.
Even if all those members paid £200 / annum then it would only cover the costs of the forum upkeep based on figures provided.
This is one of the reasons why I feel that the forum should be a front door for an extra value added service outside this virtual world. I would work this forum as a loss-leader to promote interest in a Gold Membership Club that provides real benefits that people are ready and willing to shell out money for.
I think this is more on the lines of what Richard was envisaging when he took over the site: ie some sort of add-on product to sell on the strength of a solid and reputable forum.
Currently, the only value to this site is the people who are on it, so we need to move the serious players up to a new level, rather than tie down the new or casual reader as this may stifle the future growth.
There needs to be a positive spin on paying out money.
If 100 of us all paid out £1000 to be part of a professional body that was promoted as a business resource centre with trade stands all over the country and national TV coverage, then the benefits and advantages would be self perpetuating. I am sure that a combined advertising pot could generate enough income for all of us to feel that the benefit would outwigh the initial outlay.
We can pay out more than that for a Yellow Pages ad! :shock:
I am not saying it would work though :wink: , just kicking the ball around and seeing where it lands.
JB
Even if all those members paid £200 / annum then it would only cover the costs of the forum upkeep based on figures provided.
This is one of the reasons why I feel that the forum should be a front door for an extra value added service outside this virtual world. I would work this forum as a loss-leader to promote interest in a Gold Membership Club that provides real benefits that people are ready and willing to shell out money for.
I think this is more on the lines of what Richard was envisaging when he took over the site: ie some sort of add-on product to sell on the strength of a solid and reputable forum.
Currently, the only value to this site is the people who are on it, so we need to move the serious players up to a new level, rather than tie down the new or casual reader as this may stifle the future growth.
There needs to be a positive spin on paying out money.
If 100 of us all paid out £1000 to be part of a professional body that was promoted as a business resource centre with trade stands all over the country and national TV coverage, then the benefits and advantages would be self perpetuating. I am sure that a combined advertising pot could generate enough income for all of us to feel that the benefit would outwigh the initial outlay.
We can pay out more than that for a Yellow Pages ad! :shock:
I am not saying it would work though :wink: , just kicking the ball around and seeing where it lands.
JB
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- Original Poster
- #102
Just to clarify Liam, are you saying you would leave because you would lose the PM and signature facility (which are the only items you are using that would become chargable) ? Remembering that you would still be able to use the forums in the general manner as you currently do.
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I agree with JB.
Some of you have misunderstood the concept behind the tier system. In fact, once implemented you will probably not notice significant change because as JB or someone said that the core remains unchanged, other than PM/email/Signature/Avatar being removed thus only allowed to post/reply, which will be free.
Those who wish to gain greater exposure on this forum have the choice whether to pay for the extra privileges. I can see where Jayne is coming from but she doesnt have to spend £100/year, but can either remain a free member or upgrade to the next tier i.e. £25.
As a larger business I would be happy to pay Platinum because I can afford that and I would enjoy greater exposure. Wherever you go there will always be an elite few who are Platinum members and are rewarded accordingly through privileges.
To enjoy what you are enjoying now (possibly more i.e. Blog), in my proposal, would only cost £25/year. This works out at £2.08/month. If you were prepared to pay £2.50 a month it works out at £30/year!
I presume any payments will go through Quick Formations Ltd. I believe that 'subscriptions' are VAT exempt?... so will not have any impact on the fee. Alternatively, set it up as a not-for-profit.
Some of you have misunderstood the concept behind the tier system. In fact, once implemented you will probably not notice significant change because as JB or someone said that the core remains unchanged, other than PM/email/Signature/Avatar being removed thus only allowed to post/reply, which will be free.
Those who wish to gain greater exposure on this forum have the choice whether to pay for the extra privileges. I can see where Jayne is coming from but she doesnt have to spend £100/year, but can either remain a free member or upgrade to the next tier i.e. £25.
As a larger business I would be happy to pay Platinum because I can afford that and I would enjoy greater exposure. Wherever you go there will always be an elite few who are Platinum members and are rewarded accordingly through privileges.
To enjoy what you are enjoying now (possibly more i.e. Blog), in my proposal, would only cost £25/year. This works out at £2.08/month. If you were prepared to pay £2.50 a month it works out at £30/year!
I presume any payments will go through Quick Formations Ltd. I believe that 'subscriptions' are VAT exempt?... so will not have any impact on the fee. Alternatively, set it up as a not-for-profit.
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J
JustOneUK
wow, what an interesting thread, I feel like I have been on holiday.
I am afraid I am 100% behind cjd in his views on this subject.
I believe the internet should be free, and enough money can me made from advertising, which is exactly why I do what I do.
The posters here, no matter what they post, are the ones creating your content, theoretically you should pay them :shock:. If you start to charge you may have a few who stay and talk amongst themselves for a while, but it would be pretty boring.
Also members areas need to be hidden from search engine spiders if you are going to keep these 'private conversations' actually private, goodbye google rankings.
Where is your adsense? I don't see you making any adsense revenue here, you pay adwords yet don't make anything back? That's weird, some of these topics are to die for in the adsense click market.
There are 101 other things you can try before charging your members or 'taking away their priveledges' the losers will be your existing members.
If you look at the majority of posts they are sociable posts, perhaps some are brainstorming, others just testing the water. To charge for that is just financial suicide IMHO.
How come no-one who is here has an advert here? apart from matrixxxxxx ?
This is also something you need to address.
hope this helps, all just my 2cents of course
James
I am afraid I am 100% behind cjd in his views on this subject.
I believe the internet should be free, and enough money can me made from advertising, which is exactly why I do what I do.
The posters here, no matter what they post, are the ones creating your content, theoretically you should pay them :shock:. If you start to charge you may have a few who stay and talk amongst themselves for a while, but it would be pretty boring.
Also members areas need to be hidden from search engine spiders if you are going to keep these 'private conversations' actually private, goodbye google rankings.
Where is your adsense? I don't see you making any adsense revenue here, you pay adwords yet don't make anything back? That's weird, some of these topics are to die for in the adsense click market.
There are 101 other things you can try before charging your members or 'taking away their priveledges' the losers will be your existing members.
If you look at the majority of posts they are sociable posts, perhaps some are brainstorming, others just testing the water. To charge for that is just financial suicide IMHO.
How come no-one who is here has an advert here? apart from matrixxxxxx ?
This is also something you need to address.
hope this helps, all just my 2cents of course
James
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U
uksbc
hi all,
i have no problem in some of the suggestions which have been thrown around but i think with how many posts there have been in such a short space of time there is definately a lot to think about.
i wish i had seen this thread earlier in all honesty.
i think that finding ways for ozzy to make a bit of extra revenue from the forums is totally justified and if there is a fee of £30 or £40 quid per year then non of the regular users are going to complain. i am sure we have all earned more than that by simply being an active member in the first place.
the first main question has to be "are you going to discourage new sign ups" - as has been mentioned i think the only way to do this is increase privelages with a fee whilst keeping the forums free to use and post to
the second thing is a little self centered i have to admit. the idea early in thread from ozzy about building a help type site utilising the brand recognition UKBF has already got. this would put the site in direct competition with me.
since the launch of our help centre site in december the response has been a lot more overwhelming than i anticipated as it fills a gap that sites like startups and similar dont touch and although the help site has taken off it was never the intended aim. it sort of took on a life of its own and has grown organically which is an element i am quite proud of. and in all honesty has rapidly become my main business focus rather than some of the other services i offer and is being developed and added to daily now
now i have no objection to healthy competition and i dont intend this post to sound like a "boo-hoo" poor me type thing but i am a little worried that to compete with a site that already has 3 years brand recognition (hence why any mention of forums on the site link you to this one) will kill the direction our site is heading in.
i dont know whether my point would maybe constitute a new thread as i dont want to hi-jack the post with comments about how ozzys changes will affect me
but i would be interested to hear some other member comments about this particular point either through the forum or via pm
Del
i have no problem in some of the suggestions which have been thrown around but i think with how many posts there have been in such a short space of time there is definately a lot to think about.
i wish i had seen this thread earlier in all honesty.
i think that finding ways for ozzy to make a bit of extra revenue from the forums is totally justified and if there is a fee of £30 or £40 quid per year then non of the regular users are going to complain. i am sure we have all earned more than that by simply being an active member in the first place.
the first main question has to be "are you going to discourage new sign ups" - as has been mentioned i think the only way to do this is increase privelages with a fee whilst keeping the forums free to use and post to
the second thing is a little self centered i have to admit. the idea early in thread from ozzy about building a help type site utilising the brand recognition UKBF has already got. this would put the site in direct competition with me.
since the launch of our help centre site in december the response has been a lot more overwhelming than i anticipated as it fills a gap that sites like startups and similar dont touch and although the help site has taken off it was never the intended aim. it sort of took on a life of its own and has grown organically which is an element i am quite proud of. and in all honesty has rapidly become my main business focus rather than some of the other services i offer and is being developed and added to daily now
now i have no objection to healthy competition and i dont intend this post to sound like a "boo-hoo" poor me type thing but i am a little worried that to compete with a site that already has 3 years brand recognition (hence why any mention of forums on the site link you to this one) will kill the direction our site is heading in.
i dont know whether my point would maybe constitute a new thread as i dont want to hi-jack the post with comments about how ozzys changes will affect me
but i would be interested to hear some other member comments about this particular point either through the forum or via pm
Del
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Why? Paid-up and free members will be able to interact just as good as now via the post facility. No-one appears to be excluded on the proposals suggested.
Why?, again no-one will be excluded and there would not be any private members areas, just a difference in functionality/privileges.
I am going to assume that Matrixx has one in return for his invaluable support in moderating. I will consider advertising but we are still working on our brands and our signatures already advertise many businesses on here.
Agree. This is what I suggested in my proposal, it is workable because other forums that are free don't get as much traffic and I do not think traffic/membership will dwindle because only the privileges will be according to the tier system. People will see the benefits of this forum once spammers are locked out and all the free forums will become spammed.
It will always be the case of competition in the commercial world. There is of course nothing to stop you putting forward a proposal (and be a Platinum member!) to share your resources with the forum if Ozzy decides to have a blog. You will enjoy returns too.
I think many people here need to see the true value of this forum compared with other forums that are just like business graveyards. Many of us have enjoyed networking, new business and advertising in some way, which you will not have enjoyed in other forums. I think £25/year for the silver membership is not asking for much if you want to PM/email/signature and avatar!
If you just want to chat then just be a free member. If you want to promote your business, cough up! I think Ozzy needs to bang the gavel and make his decision
- don't forget Ozzy, you have one Platinum member already and I want a good deal!
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U
uksbc
a valid point - we are benefitting just by being here - when i think how many crappy lunches i have eaten at networking events that have not produced anywhere near the value of work, advice and friendships i have gained here and each event has cost over £25.00
a small price to pay me thinks
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Wow. I travel to Miami for a day and miss all the action! This is a very interesting thread, and I'd certainly like to contribute my two penn'th.
1) I agree with CJD's arguments. If there was a charge to use the forums, the numbers would decline. Pretty soon, monthly fees would not cover the costs.
2) Revenue can be generated in other ways. For example, be more aggressive in promoting advertising banners (membership fees would reduce the value of banners; you could charge more if the forums are free and attract more visitors).
3) Add a formal member directory, listing members who offer services in various industries. We could pay £2.50/month for the listing, which would include company name, summary paragraph, website, and contact info. To maintain the value of the directory, remove signatures in the general forum.
4) Make the offers area more formal, and maybe link it to the directory. Since we get value from posting offers here, could we agree to pay you 5% for every sale made through this forum? It requires trust, but that's the oil on which business runs.
5) I like the idea of a member-only forum other than Offers. I would certainly like to sound out ideas without the whole world seeing. I don't see this as a chargeable benefit, though.
6) What about giving us a UKBF logo and link that we can each add to our website? This would provide you with some free advertising.
7) Formalise UKBF get-togethers. Invite guest speakers and charge something for the events.
You seem to be building a lot of momentum right now. To my mind, charging a fee would not only stop the train but send it into reverse. You have a captive audience; start offering us benefits that we can pay for.
I hope these thoughts are useful.
1) I agree with CJD's arguments. If there was a charge to use the forums, the numbers would decline. Pretty soon, monthly fees would not cover the costs.
2) Revenue can be generated in other ways. For example, be more aggressive in promoting advertising banners (membership fees would reduce the value of banners; you could charge more if the forums are free and attract more visitors).
3) Add a formal member directory, listing members who offer services in various industries. We could pay £2.50/month for the listing, which would include company name, summary paragraph, website, and contact info. To maintain the value of the directory, remove signatures in the general forum.
4) Make the offers area more formal, and maybe link it to the directory. Since we get value from posting offers here, could we agree to pay you 5% for every sale made through this forum? It requires trust, but that's the oil on which business runs.
5) I like the idea of a member-only forum other than Offers. I would certainly like to sound out ideas without the whole world seeing. I don't see this as a chargeable benefit, though.
6) What about giving us a UKBF logo and link that we can each add to our website? This would provide you with some free advertising.
7) Formalise UKBF get-togethers. Invite guest speakers and charge something for the events.
You seem to be building a lot of momentum right now. To my mind, charging a fee would not only stop the train but send it into reverse. You have a captive audience; start offering us benefits that we can pay for.
I hope these thoughts are useful.
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- Original Poster
- #109
Again, these are all very valid and valuable thoughts which I value and appreciate.
I am currently geared towards Jonathan's idea still, and some people still seem to be misisng the point that the forums in general are still going to remain free and people will still be able to sign up for free and use them. They just will not be able to use the tools that spammers abuse (PM, URL and signature). When you look at some other free forums (even the FSB one) you cannot use a signature. Others restrict signatures to just 10 characters and the likes so you do not have enough room to post a link in your signature.
UKSBC ... as Jonathan mentions, is there not an opportunity for us to partner here?
To look at Jonathan's proposal in another light...
Social banter, discussion and testing the water of the forums, asking advice = free membership would give you all that. The free forums will effectively be what you see now, and will still be moderated to ensure they do not become devalued and filled with spam.
The silver would be an entry level business package lets say. You gain access to some additional resources, plus have facilities activated on your account to promote your business.
The larger companies who have more money can pay a little bit extra and get bigger adverts and a gold star so to speak
Just to let you all know how I am taking your comments on board, I am talking to a few different organisations to see if it is possible to secure addition benefits to membership outside of the forums (ie. Platinum members get X discount from company Y).
Yes Jonathan, I know I should get off the fence soon, but I want to make sure as many people as possible have given their feedback and views. In general most seem to be agreeing with your proposal. You can never please everyone.
It is alyways possible that by implementing these changes we reduce spam and add more value to the forums, which in turn could actually increase numbers! Its important to define what numbers I mean... I am happy to have less quantity of signups, but higher quality of members.
*kick* .. there goes Steve's ball kicked back into the midst again
I am currently geared towards Jonathan's idea still, and some people still seem to be misisng the point that the forums in general are still going to remain free and people will still be able to sign up for free and use them. They just will not be able to use the tools that spammers abuse (PM, URL and signature). When you look at some other free forums (even the FSB one) you cannot use a signature. Others restrict signatures to just 10 characters and the likes so you do not have enough room to post a link in your signature.
UKSBC ... as Jonathan mentions, is there not an opportunity for us to partner here?
To look at Jonathan's proposal in another light...
Social banter, discussion and testing the water of the forums, asking advice = free membership would give you all that. The free forums will effectively be what you see now, and will still be moderated to ensure they do not become devalued and filled with spam.
The silver would be an entry level business package lets say. You gain access to some additional resources, plus have facilities activated on your account to promote your business.
The larger companies who have more money can pay a little bit extra and get bigger adverts and a gold star so to speak
Just to let you all know how I am taking your comments on board, I am talking to a few different organisations to see if it is possible to secure addition benefits to membership outside of the forums (ie. Platinum members get X discount from company Y).
Yes Jonathan, I know I should get off the fence soon, but I want to make sure as many people as possible have given their feedback and views
. In general most seem to be agreeing with your proposal. You can never please everyone.It is alyways possible that by implementing these changes we reduce spam and add more value to the forums, which in turn could actually increase numbers! Its important to define what numbers I mean... I am happy to have less quantity of signups, but higher quality of members.
*kick* .. there goes Steve's ball kicked back into the midst again
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I go along with what Ozzy says. I would take out the platinum package for the benefits suggested above.
Glad we seem to be making some progress !!! ''
Jacqui
Glad we seem to be making some progress !!! '
'Jacqui
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J
Jayne
HI,
If free will be the same, but no pm's, no web addresses posted etc. How are you going to ask for techy help on your site, if you cannot tell people what site it is?
You cannot tell them via PM, so the only way is to put your email address on the forum, so you can send them you web address that way. Then you would be spammed anyway.
Also, people put on there news letters and ads for others to help with, now would that be advertising?
I think you should leave the PM's free, new people often PM me to ask about things and for help and I don't really want my email on the forum. As I would pay i'd have a PM, but the new people wouldn't. I'd rather get the odd spam PM, than feel bad for not helping someone.
Jayne
If free will be the same, but no pm's, no web addresses posted etc. How are you going to ask for techy help on your site, if you cannot tell people what site it is?
You cannot tell them via PM, so the only way is to put your email address on the forum, so you can send them you web address that way. Then you would be spammed anyway.
Also, people put on there news letters and ads for others to help with, now would that be advertising?
I think you should leave the PM's free, new people often PM me to ask about things and for help and I don't really want my email on the forum. As I would pay i'd have a PM, but the new people wouldn't. I'd rather get the odd spam PM, than feel bad for not helping someone.
Jayne
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S
SuffolkDesigns
Jayne said:
A good reason to be a paid member then!
If paying a few £'s for membership enables people to get free tecnical advice (as happens now) then it would be an added value that should encourage members to pay for a package.it will always be possible to post URL's in such a way that an automated system won't block them as well, like "mysite dot com" or "mysite . com"
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- Original Poster
- #114
Hi Jayne,
You will be able to post the url as www.address.com but the forum will not automatically convert it to a clickable link as it does at the moment.
Spammers use the url posting to build up inbound links to their website, removing that facility removes that benefit from them.
You will be able to post the url as www.address.com but the forum will not automatically convert it to a clickable link as it does at the moment.
Spammers use the url posting to build up inbound links to their website, removing that facility removes that benefit from them.
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PM's for the Under 16, not workable because how can you prove in this day and age when someone is 16? There could be a way to communicate with the moderators direct but it won't go to other members unless you have the entry-level membership.
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Ok
Here are our thoughts.
First of all we feel that need to agree what we are trying to achieve before working out how we charge (if at all) and who can do what.
So
Areas for clear improvement that we think will add value to the site
More categories that have a specialist as the moderator on areas that affect small businesses i.e.
HR
Banking
Grants
Investment (note it is separate from Grants) etc
Quality of answers
This is key to any forum with UKBF having the most variable for the ones we participate in.
We would like to see
A rating for the post and a rating for the replys so that people can see who gives consistently good answers and hence adding more value to the forum.
Yes this like every system can be abused but it is in all our interests to promote good answers rather than bad or badly thought out responses.
It would also be nice to see a list of services that are split as follows for each member
Primary 1 key service
Secondary Other related services
This again will help a person see if the answer is coming from a specialist or someone who is commenting on the post for other reasons.
Here are our thoughts.
First of all we feel that need to agree what we are trying to achieve before working out how we charge (if at all) and who can do what.
So
Areas for clear improvement that we think will add value to the site
More categories that have a specialist as the moderator on areas that affect small businesses i.e.
HR
Banking
Grants
Investment (note it is separate from Grants) etc
Quality of answers
This is key to any forum with UKBF having the most variable for the ones we participate in.
We would like to see
A rating for the post and a rating for the replys so that people can see who gives consistently good answers and hence adding more value to the forum.
Yes this like every system can be abused but it is in all our interests to promote good answers rather than bad or badly thought out responses.
It would also be nice to see a list of services that are split as follows for each member
Primary 1 key service
Secondary Other related services
This again will help a person see if the answer is coming from a specialist or someone who is commenting on the post for other reasons.
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0
I still think the idea is bonkers.......what you you are suggesting is removing standard bulletin board functionality that everybody has and uses and then charging to give it back!
Add more real value, then I'll think about paying for it ;-)
Add more real value, then I'll think about paying for it ;-)
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Thats what needs to come first as per my last post. Value
Then we can look at what it is worth not before!
Then we can look at what it is worth not before!
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Hi Ozzy
I joined the forum specifically to provide advice to others who'd find it helpful and not so much to seek advice although I have (I think) on one occasion. My posts in the main have been quite detailed and timeconsuming to write (I struggle with the 'one liners' as I waffle too much) and together with the PM's and phone calls I've had with forum members I'm not sure I'd stick around if I had to pay.
The forum is excellent, has all the hallmarks of being a leader, plenty of friendly helpful souls but I'd want more from it if it went paid and I also concur with the views that membership would likely drop if subscriptions were brought in.
I can't help feeling that as a large chunk of the members here run their own website why a way can't be found for the forum to be more instrumental in helping to promote members sites?
On a more positive note, I'd be happy to provide plenty of 'free' seo advice if you wanted to go down the road of marketing the forum more on engines? Might bring you a few more "shillings" in.
All the best with it, whatever!
Ray
I joined the forum specifically to provide advice to others who'd find it helpful and not so much to seek advice although I have (I think) on one occasion. My posts in the main have been quite detailed and timeconsuming to write (I struggle with the 'one liners' as I waffle too much) and together with the PM's and phone calls I've had with forum members I'm not sure I'd stick around if I had to pay.
The forum is excellent, has all the hallmarks of being a leader, plenty of friendly helpful souls but I'd want more from it if it went paid and I also concur with the views that membership would likely drop if subscriptions were brought in.
I can't help feeling that as a large chunk of the members here run their own website why a way can't be found for the forum to be more instrumental in helping to promote members sites?
On a more positive note, I'd be happy to provide plenty of 'free' seo advice if you wanted to go down the road of marketing the forum more on engines? Might bring you a few more "shillings" in.
All the best with it, whatever!
Ray
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0
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