How we can support this site?

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Don (Maddon)
15 Oct 2016

A Subscription, Freemium or Fee based  model works well for apps and websites where the site owner provides all the content. It doesn't work well for sites who provide a platform for UGC (user generated content) like this one. I have a......

i would have to agree with this consencous / i have seen it before / if you charge a membership , people will walk away - if some folks are happy to donate gear etc or just straight cash there are always people happy to help out but practically speaking advertising with industry partners is the only long term practical solution that works - everybody expects some form of advertising anyway - the merchandise thing would be a supportive effort and will not help enough in the long run

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Matthew
Matthew (discomatt)
16 Oct 2016

I think a voluntary donation is the way to go with different levels of donation which are added to you profile and listed under your avitar, $10  you become a suppoting member, 20 a silver supporter, 40 a gold suppoter 50 a super supporter. with each donation get a sticker with an extra 20 get a T shirt.

 

Some financial support should be given but some recognition of support should also be given and IMO it should be voluntary so it removes any legal "club" issues

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Rod
Rod (The tuff)
16 Oct 2016

I personally think donations is the way to go, there are many smart phone apps developers who develope applications for no money and all they ask is a donation, merchandise is a good idea too as it would be you choice to buy or not, pay per trip Hmmmm, I think this would kill the free joy of it. Keep the trips out of it as it's a passion for the effort and its a voluntary basis. Thanks

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()
16 Oct 2016

Come on everyone - Please give your honest opinion - we need everyone to participate in this discussion . 

One of the great things about Australia is the freedom of speech thing - feel free to speak your mind . 

We can only be better by hearing all the feedback .

However the reality is "not about a profit" here , it's about the continued operation and allowing us to continue our experience .

I know that mainstream 4wdclubs can charge up to $250 for the first year and there is still other costs after that.

Nobody here on this site gets paid from what I know - the concerns are covering the costs of the hosting and yes there is Public Liability Insurance for this site too. At a minimum we should be aiming to cover those costs .

I asked my brother  who is an industry leader as an IT Software Solutions Architect  and he quipped the creators of this site has put in at least $100K of effort . A lot of passion for their hobby? He also said that the reality is - if the money being asked " is competitve compared to other options - ask how much is the difference " ? and "any site must always be viable - the solution is to find the compromise here".

As members we need to discuss these concerns - and be realistic about what this site and its members can achieve together.

 

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Rod
Rod (The tuff)
16 Oct 2016

I'm keen to help and participate,

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Winston
Winston (Winston_FJ)
16 Oct 2016

I think a voluntary donation is the way to go with different levels of donation which are added to you profile and listed under your avitar, $10  you become a suppoting member, 20 a silver supporter, 40 a gold suppoter 50 a super supporter......

^^^this.

Where do I send my fiddy?

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Scotty
Scotty (Potty67)
16 Oct 2016

Hi mate,

I've already made a comment but my wife suggested set up a survey using Survey Monkey. They use this quite often at her work place. Anyone can set up a survey, they have templates for different scenarios, you might find the Non Profit surveys meet your purpose. Yes it will take more time (and maybe $) but you should get the results in one report rather than trying to collate everyone's response. 

You also might get some more responses from those people who would rather be anonymous. 

Just a thought, Scotty

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()
16 Oct 2016

This subject was discussed over a year ago amongst a few members at a tripleader gathering and I was surprised to hear how much it cost to keep the site 'up and running'...surprise

Unsubscribe
Unsubscribe (Hangdog98)
16 Oct 2016

This is the hard reality of the internet. Everyone expects it to be free, and so free it is.

Remember you're competing with Facebook. Anyone can create a facebook group called 4WDTrips and provide almost the same experience with superior social extensions for FREE. That is what you're up against.

I've had lots of experience with this sort of thing and my prediction is this: If you start charging, your membership will dwindle to nothing. All the time and effort you invested thus far will be lost. I've read that you have 2000 members and you only have responses to this question from a couple of dozen. This is the number of people per 2000 from whom you can expect payment. Can you operate with a couple of dozen paying members? I have nearly 50,000 subscribers and the same fate would befall me if I charged money to access my site. The industry standard is to monetise sites such as these with advertising and loyalty programs. Continue marketing it through merchandise, including stickers, and build your numbers up to at least 20,000 before you can prepare a rate card and ask for decent advertising rates.

Honestly, I wouldn't pay, but I would click on your ads.

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()
16 Oct 2016

Well this is Kelvins business so I'm not going to ask him to show us the books, however it does surprise me to hear $700 a month cost.

I run two web sites, they don't have forums attached, but the cost of those is seriously stuff all. Perhaps the main cost is the insurance for trip leaders, my question would be, is it actually needed if all participating members sign the waiver?

 

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Kelvin
Kelvin (TREXGQ)
16 Oct 2016

() wrote:

Well this is Kelvins business so I'm not going to ask him to show us the books, however it does surprise me to hear $700 a month cost.

I run two web sites, they don't have forums attached, but the cost of those is seriously s......

Yes Mark, the insurance along cost us nearly $400/month. The rest are hosting ($200/mth), and $100 for other bit and pieces.... that's not including my time on coding (development) and site maintenance.... other operational cost..... 

For Insurance, it's like any insurance, it's here for "just in case". It's a protection to trip leaders and the management team. 

 

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()
16 Oct 2016

Hi Kelvin, thanks for the reply, I'm surprised at the hosting costs, though, I actually have no idea how much traffic the site needs to accommodate but $2400 a year in hosting seems massive.

Re insurance have you taken any legal advice whether you actually need it, since it's a free service and there is a waiver to join a trip, perhaps a more legally binding waiver could be put in place?

I don't mean to speak out of turn here mate, just looking at potential cost savings for you.

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Winston
Winston (Winston_FJ)
16 Oct 2016

() wrote:

Hi Kelvin, thanks for the reply, I'm surprised at the hosting costs, though, I actually have no idea how much traffic the site needs to accommodate but $2400 a year in hosting seems massive.

Re insurance have you taken any legal ......

I'm going to take a guess at the importance of liability insurance here - for any commercial development of the site via sponsorship or other contracts I am guessing 99% of companies wouldn't invest $$ with anyone unless they proved they were insured. With my sideline busines doing aerial filming and media production no one will touch me without proving minimum $20M liability insurance. Some companies I simply haven't been able to talk with because I can't afford the insurance levels they demand.

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Rod
Rod (The tuff)
16 Oct 2016

I still think a voluntary basis contribution would be the best solution, any one can register, join trips and use the forum as what it is now, also a merchandise would be great as well.

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()
16 Oct 2016

I'm going to take a guess at the importance of liability insurance here - for any commercial development of the site via sponsorship or other contracts I am guessing 99% of companies wouldn't invest $$ with anyone unless they proved they were insured......

Liability for an operator is a given mate, but this site offers liability insurance for trip leaders (you may not have known that). That is the part I was questioning. Since a waiver is signed is it necessary?

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