guidothepimmp
yeh.. i agree with Warren
Sean
Warren wrote
I come to this site because I like the type of member here, in general. I find that the rules and the enforcement of the rules helps retain that type of member that I like, and attract others of a similar bent. I LIKE the fact that this forum is not a general free-for-all like others, and I acknowledge that the rules help keep it that way. So yes, sure, I don't mind the people behind this infrastructure asking for support.
This is exactly how I feel. You have something that I have not found anywhere else. This is the only forum I frequent. I think there is value in this. If you were to charge for it I don't believe it could be found somewhere else for free.
DonovanB
Norio you need to read a book called "
What Would Google Do?"
There is more than enough traffic here to attract good advertisers (800,00 page views a month? more than most newspapers) AND it's a specific market.
That book looks at how successful Social Media sites operate. Much like GFSA which is effectively the best Social platform online for musicians in SA. It Far surpasses others for personable members and constant content. Constant content is what works and brings users. Users that people should want to advertise to.
Ads can make money for a website. They can make money for the owners as well. I don't need to mention Zuckerberg do I?
What I do know is that it's User's first, money second that makes a profitable website. Right now, GFSA is user's first and it is not hard to see appreciative users... I am sure the
users will appreciate relevant ads?
I don't know Ad Dynamo very well, but Google have a method of blocking irrelevant ads. It takes time but you can root out the weeds like dating, gaming, porn and other useless sites that advertise everywhere. It just takes a little more effort and time.
Warren wrote
But what you've suggested above is a bit of a different animal. I think you'd need to have a clearer product offering if you're thinking of moving beyond the forum itself and asking for money for it.
Many Open Source software programmers operate like this. They make the product,and ask for a donation. They don't demand it, the software is still free, yet they ask for some money for their time and knowledge.
GFSA won't work as a paid site.... but a GFSA iPhone or iPad app would sell I'm sure? Even an app for blackberry could work, although I don't pay for BB apps, you can work advertising into those as well.
RobK
I think suddenly charging access to GFSA and the content it currently contains would be the wrong way to go. Specially if you're wanting to make a business from it. Forcing existing members to pay for access which has been free, up to this point, will most likely result in the loss of a big group of members, including those with a lot of knowledge and experience.
Asking for donations will also not get you anywhere. While there might be those who will donate what they can on a monthly basis, the truth is that the majority wont.
To create a profitable business out of this, what you could do is have a commercial side to the site. Leave the forum free and open to anyone and charge for access to premium content. This premium content has to be even better than the stuff we get for free, like high def videos of everything from beginner to advanced guitar lessons, in the most popular genres. Videos could also be extended to such things as amp and cabinet building, guitar modding, in fact anything that currently gets discussed on the open forum, but in greater details and higher quality. There's plenty of things that can be turned into some form of electronic content and sold. Together with that, you could create DVD versions of lessons, etc and sell those as well. Books can also be a source of income - written for and sold exclusively through GFSA. I think Sitepoint works that way, but for web design, etc. related books, and of course, don't forget the GFSA merchandise, such as mugs caps and t-shirts. ?
Personally, if I consider something value for money, I don't have a problem paying for it.
MoJo-JoJoe
Charging the very people who manufacture the content of your product doesn't seem like a positive move forward. I think the "Donate" option is a good one ... or charge to list gear for sale.
Gearhead
+1 MJJJ, I would donate but not subscribe. Also, for example asking for 1% of the sale price of classifieds at a minimum of R25 does not seem such a large amount.
Manfred-Klose
the classfied section might be the best option i think.
You can sell a months credit for selling your stuff, then only buy credits for when you need to sell stuff, cause it wont be every month only a few times a year that someone actually needs to use it.
the amount of credits can be for the amount of days it should remain on page 1, kind of like gumtree.
StephenG
knowing some members' , shall we say, liberal views towards supporting piracy and not paying for Intellectual property, i dont think paying for content would work... you'd probably just find the pay-for-content appearing on another website in short order.
DonovanB
Paid Classifieds is not viable cos there will ALWAYS be a free service somewhere else.
PeteM
I'm sure we've had this discussion once before and Alan wasn't in favour of charging a membership fee then. I wonder how he feels about it now... he's kinda conspicuous by his abscence.
IceCreamMan
interesting one..i belong to a couple of sites where i pay a small fee per annum ..one is a site dedicated to the XT660 where i get loads of info about my bike (10 pounds a year which entitles me to a few freebies an tech info) and the other is a chess site where i pay 12 doallrs a year to remove ads and get to play tournaments (i am a nerd sorry)
would i be prepared to pay roughly the same amount for being a member here ...i get a lot of info here and i like being a member here ... good bunch of ppl generally and i have learny shedloads here and thats worthy of paying for.
but i have to say the majority would probably not pay ..in the case of the sites where i do pay te owverwhelming majority do not pay.
may i suggest a different model in that get spceific ads ,,while i find Amy hot i generally dont like those ads, and sell stuff around the site ...t shirts , mugs , decals ...and the like and ask for donations and possibly an honesty box in the classifieds ...ie if u sold something here please donate 1% of selling price to gfsa
RobK
Donations, percentage cuts from classified sales and some small merchandise sales are not going to be good enough to get you to a point where you're making a living(or even a small profit) off the site. They may be OK to get your monthly costs covered, but nothing more.
If you want to turn this into a business, I suggest you sit down and formulate a proper business plan and starategy to get it going, then implement it. No use asking us for opinions, IMHO, we're not any help - too many opinions on what you should do.Remeber we're here to utilise a resource, not make money from it. If we were all shareholders, I bet most opinions would be completely different to what you've been getting.
Basically, you need to find something unique that will make us want to give you money for it - see, simple ?
---mario---
well, alot said that makes sense, but I'll ad this 2c to the pile:
How I found GFSA: was looking for some info about luthiers, didn't succeed much and then I googled "guitar" and went to pages from/in SA, bingo, top 3 hits was GFSA....
An option to considder is to start like a blog section for local bands and have them pay a fee for their blog and ample advertising of their band (like gigs and what not), obviously you make a couple of options to accomodate different price groups and so make a blog format for each price tag (for say: your R5 a month blog gets you a title with font point17 and 100 characters in your description and no band pics, silly example but you get what I'm at).
It'll help up n coming bands in SA and advertise their work, you will also draw these bands' fans to the forum, wich COULD result in an exponential effect of increasing traffic to the site...
Just my idea I had, think it could work if it's possible
NorioDS
Ok woah, I'm not at all thinking of replacing the free version with a paid version. I definitely think that would just result in most people leaving. It was purely one of those sort of DeviantArt things where most of the stuff is free but if you want a bit extra, plus no ads, then you pay a bit for it.
Thanks for the ideas, some very good stuff coming out here. (The classifieds idea is good, whether it will work or not, still good thinking.)
I'm going to leave this idea on the backburner for a while, until I can give it some more thought and find a great way to add EXTRA value (over and above what you're used to) and charge a subscription for it.
As for merchandising, that's on its way. I'm busy making deals with people to make that happen and happen properly/regularly.
Thanks chaps.
singemonkey
Norio wrote
Ok woah, I'm not at all thinking of replacing the free version with a paid version. I definitely think that would just result in most people leaving. It was purely one of those sort of DeviantArt things where most of the stuff is free but if you want a bit extra, plus no ads, then you pay a bit for it.
'Cos better the free stuff that's sh#%, than the paid stuff that's great. That's interwebs. Fighting it is Masada.
Gearhead
singemonkey wrote
Fighting it is Masada.
And then they call
me an intellectual. I don't go and refer to ancient Jewish history...
costafonix
Also what about the idea of an online shop in collaboration with the big music stores? I would definitely support GFSA merchandise as well. Lastly, why are none of the big music stores advertising here?? or are they and I've missed something?? ???
+1 something that I'm currently looking for are Recording engineering courses, GFSA could (in conjunction with the many studio owners that are members) secure a good training fee and take a cut?
+1 GFSA Radio/MTV,,,,,,, - GFSA'ers pay a small contribution to have their tracks played/shown on this site? probably wont work as you can post it for free elsewhere and add the link to this site.... :-\
PeteM
Once the site owners charge a membership fee of any kind, they, in effect, lose exclusive ownership. In other words members will think it is their right rather than a privilege to enter into discourse... with potential chaotic time-consuming results for the owners.
I reckon the solution is to lay down the law regarding what type of advertising gets posted on the site (this is more manageable). As Donovan says, the site, with its current size and quality of membership, has bargaining power with the advertisers and their media agents.
If the owners don't have the time nor the expertise to find pertinent advertisers, give the task to someone like Don to expand the advertising base and pay him a fee/commission for it.
I know this is presumptuous of me to suggest this, but Norio, you did ask for comments on the open forum.
MIKA-the-better-one
believe it or not I would not pay for a enhanced version, especially when this one is available.
I think only a handful of the more benifited would actually opt for a paid enhanced version especially in a time when there is little spare money. Sure you may get a few guys, but also it would be isolating away from the rest. That could be a good thing to some..
When.... The Geat Page, Offsett Forum, Tele forum, Strat forum, pretty much most forums are free, it would not be the best plan , I belive (thats just what I think)
I am all for people making a bit of money from the forum, I think there are a few other avenues that should be explored....
guitarboy2828
I think Bob should auction his Morgan off and give the proceeds to the forum to help run it..
I'm in R5k to start the bids.. ?
