Increased Traffic

[Thom2]

quote:Originally posted by Raffi


For that matter you could have a small store that could sell some of these items to help defray costs. I would were a bt3central t :-).

T-SHIRTS, GET YER T-SHIRTS!!!!


Thom
popcorn & peanuts available upon request

[gordons]

Sam,

The bottom line is that if it wasn't for this forum:

1. I wouldn't have saved the money that I have by virtue of all the deals, discounts, specials, sales, etc. that have been brought up by the members.
2. I would have wasted money on all kinds of crapola if I hadn't had the opportunity to read about other's experiences, suggestions and advice.
3. I would have wasted money trying to figure out how to build a better mousetrap if I had not been able to bounce around ideas with fellow members.
4. BUT, MOST OF ALL, I'VE BEEN HAVING FUN!

I have sent you a separate email asking for your address so that I can mail you a check. As someone said, I've been meaning to do it, but just haven't gotten around to it yet.

My challenge to fellow members is this: "Stop procrastinating and send Sam some money now!"

Personally, I thank you for all the time and effort that you have put into this site. And a special thanks to Adele too for her contributions and support.

[lrogers]

Hate to sound like a dummy, but how does the paypal stuff work? I looked at the page and it said something about creating an account.

[Lefty]

quote:Originally posted by lrogers

Hate to sound like a dummy, but how does the paypal stuff work? I looked at the page and it said something about creating an account.

Click on the link, go through and enter the info they want from you... Electronically sign in blood then come back to the site and put in your PayPal name and password. Click submit and it'll ask how much you want to pay. Enter an amount and hit go. You'll get receipts via email almost immediately. Sam'll get money and spend the rest of the winter in Bermuda.

Just made my payment.

[Sam Conder]

quote:Originally posted by gordons

I have sent you a separate email asking for your address so that I can mail you a check.

My mailing address is listed on the support page that is accessible from the navigation menu. Here's a screenshot:

[img]/images/sc-support.gif[/img]

Thanks!

[Rslaugh]

For those you "afraid" of paypal it seems to be as safe as most financial transaction tools on the net. I think you're more susceptible to the waitstaff at a restaurant "borrowing" your card number, expiration date, and security code off the back. There were some issues with paypal a year or so afterits introduction. Seems they would borrow money out of your account, realize their "mistake" when you brought it to their attnetion and put the money back in. The nitial financial model for paypal was for them to make money purely on the float between when you gave them the $$ and when it was available for the seller. Since it had gained a lot of critical mass and was facilitating a lot of ebay sales ebay bought them out and made it into a real business. I haven't heard any horror stories about paypal for over 4 years now (which is an eternity in cybertime).

As sellers one thing my wife and I have received is notices that purport to be from ebay or paypal telling us we need to update information or be shut down. These are scams and need to be taken seriously.

[Rslaugh]

quote:Originally posted by APSuess

Friends,

.... <large portion snipped>

Premium content is an excellent idea but must be well-thoughtout before implementation. A "free-side" with little information of value would psychologically provide little motivation for users to upgrade their memberships. .....

I do not believe we should be overly concerned with gross membership numbers; they are of little value. What is of value is the number of active participants. 1400+ member sounds nice for marketing purposes. But if only 10% are actively participating in the site's growth the number is meaningless except for our own ego's.

......<a lot more snipped>

From what Sam has said both publicly and privately the "free side" of the site would have everything that the current site provides. The benefits provided to subscribers have been discussed and include potentially things like a BT3Central email address, a picture hosting service, some recognition, maybe a members only chat room and depending on the marketing thrust some coupns that could potentially repay their investment in the site.

I think the gross membership number does have meaning. It can indicate growth, stagnation or decline. Obviously the site is currently in a growth mode with the membership number being the first indicator which is borne out by other indicators like traffic numbers. Virtually everyone is a lurker before becoming a member.

[don_hart]

Well sam I would definitely be willing to pay a monthly subscription fee to support this site. I also agree that you should be looking to decentralize the site by placing parts on different servers. I have done this and still do stuff like this on an almost daily basis and if you want to discuss it let me know. Also don't overlook some of the inexspensive web hosting sites just because they are are on linux and support PHP and perl. They also support standard HTML and would be perfect sites for hosting the more static parts of the site such as the memeber's galleries and the jigs, fixtures and info sections. I also sent you an email about what I can do to help with database hosting.

[Kling]

I'll Pitch in Sam,,,,I have gained so much knowledge from my time here and also I think I've made a couple of friends too. A check is in the mail

[dedaddy]

After reading all the responses so far, I think I will withdraw my earlier suggestion that Ryobi support this site. I don't think there is any way you could get support from them without some editorial control by them. I believe this site should be for the users and supported by the users. That way we can say or do anything for or against Ryobi that we wish (but keep it civil) and not be scared of any retribution by an irate sponser.

I just sent in my contribution for the year. How about you!

Lee Sumner

[Sam Conder]

Please read the following thread:

http://www.bt3central.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7446

[Carlos]

I run several sites/boards, one of which has about the same traffic as this one. After some bad ones, I found a shared host I'm very happy with, and is very economical. I'm getting 50GB/mo and 4.5GB space for $20/month. Uptime has been near-perfect. Speed is very good.

You can check out the site/board at http://www.cbr1100xx.org .

Also, as far as board traffic, does this board software have the ability to compress outbound traffic? I dropped by utilization by 70% when I turned that on, with no side-effects at all.

[JLyon]

All good points above. Here's a minor variation: what if all the content on the site were free to search and read, but in order to log in and post your own question, you have to be a dues paying-member? If 1,000 people agreed to pay only $1 per mo. ($12/yr), that's $12,000 which should be more than enough to fund the "dedicated server" plan, provide some kind of membership benefit (t-shirt,logo mechandise, discounts, etc.) to members, and create a cash reserve for the next financial hurdle. Sam could exercise his own judgement as to who should be granted honoray memberships based on the contributions made since the site was founded.

This plan is good because the funds collected increase in direct proportion to the growth of the user base, and this creates little additional burden on Sam (no fund raising), nor any corporate entanglements. The one task it would create is identifying members vs. visitors, and keeping track of payments. Would want to automate that as much as possible.
Jeff

[meika123]

My feelings are as follows. I, personally do not care what we have to do to keep this forum up and running. Let's just keep it running.

The only thing I feel adamantly about is to keep Ryobi, and any of their interests out of this forum. It is not Ryobi's forum, it is Sam Conders. We have all seen how Ryobi handles its web sites and forums, and I don't think any of us want that here.

This way, Sam has all the control with input from us. Just the way he envisioned it. Sam did all the work, took the initial plunge, and look at what happened. Why let Ryobi, or anyone else claim any credit for it. They get revenue from the greatly increased sales of the BT's. That is really all they are interested in. I wonder what percentage the sales of BT's have increased as a result of this forum.

Frankly, the "friends" I have made here-and I include each of you in this category-are worth so much to me, I would hate to lose it.
So, whatever is decided, I am in favor of it. I don't need personal accolades, rewards, or pats on the head to keep my interest up. But, if that's what is decided on, then I'm all for it. I just want the forum to continue. That's not too conceited, is it?
My opinion.

Dave in NC

[Rslaugh]

Sam,

How about a sicky poll - what prompted you to buy your BT3?

Home Depot Display/Advertising, Ryobi Advertising, magazine article, BT3Central.com, other.