Supporting Members

[vanbibber]

Re: Supporting Members

DING DING! gold star blldogg! that right there is a plan that makes sense. screw all this avatar,sig crap just send 20 bucks and we get all the good stuff reguardless.

[Skapimp]

Re: Supporting Members

Personally, this site has saved me from well over $300 in repairs, through write-ups that I could do myself, through information, or saving myself from going to dealerships for diagnostics. I wouldn't mind paying $20 a year or whatever it is, hell, I'd pay $40 if it came with a shirt, and some extra privs... even w/o anything tangible, this board is well worth $40 a year.

I think the information should be free, but the perks at a small cost.

THINK OF IT THIS WAY... YOU'RE NOT PAYING FOR THE SITE/INFORMATION, YOU'RE HELPING SUPPORT IT.

No one is making you pay, it's just your way of saying "Thank you". Tell me where to send the money, and it will be done. If you need help setting up a merchant account, I've done about 20 of them.. I can point you in the right direction.

[Loochy88]

Re: Supporting Members

id suggest different levels, youll get a lot more people paying if you have different steps.

-say 10 bucks for just generic sponsorship (nothing but "supporting member" appearing under your name)

-maybe 20 bucks for a picture in the sig

-30 bucks for a picture in the sig and a t-shirt or a decal?

Change up those prices as appropriate, but you get the idea. People who would never pay 30 bucks may still pay the 10 bucks just to show their support, and the more affluent among us would pay the higher prices.

btw, i dont see the problem with having sponsors. especially since its beneficial to everyone. they often have specials, so we get a bit better deals on some stuff. the banners dont bother me. ls1tech for example has a whole filmstrip of banners down the right side of the forums, and i personally barely notice it.

Whats wrong with a combination of sponsorship/supporting members?

i know there may be a problem finding AS MANY sponsors as a V8 site may have, since the v6 market is much more slim, but if we can find them, why not have them?

[BLLDOGG]

Re: Supporting Members

I agree with your thoughts on combining them and i really like your idea of a level system. good idea man :rock:

Lets say, supplied avatars and signs for everyone.
Level 1: custom avatars, and Supporting Member thing
Level 2: Pics in sign, PM, some type od supporting member thing that shows you are a higher level supporter and some type of shirt or vinyl
and so on

have you Steve ever thought of if we stick with the 1000post custom avatar thing, that we could limit that count to posting in technical sections. I think there is a board that does that for recieve special options and it would be pretty easy for the mods of those sections to weed out worthless posts than lest says a bunch of posts in the lounge

[Oi Bird V8]

Re: Supporting Members

Personally, I hate banners and I redirect all requests to advertisements to /dev/null (it's a neat trick. Haven't seen a banner in years). Given the choice, most people would prefer to have ads than to pay money. I am a rare exception. I hate ads.

hey bro how the piss do u do that? i hate banners

[camaro_speedemon]

Re: Supporting Members

I agree with your thoughts on combining them and i really like your idea of a level system. good idea man :rock:

Lets say, supplied avatars and signs for everyone.
Level 1: custom avatars, and Supporting Member thing
Level 2: Pics in sign, PM, some type od supporting member thing that shows you are a higher level supporter and some type of shirt or vinyl
and so on

have you Steve ever thought of if we stick with the 1000post custom avatar thing, that we could limit that count to posting in technical sections. I think there is a board that does that for recieve special options and it would be pretty easy for the mods of those sections to weed out worthless posts than lest says a bunch of posts in the lounge

But that would encourage more post whoring in the tech sections.

[BLLDOGG]

Re: Supporting Members

well, If it was in my section, i would delete their posts causing there post count to go back down. i dont think it would be such an issue these days cause we have a lot of moderators who are putting in the time unlike in the past. cant blaim them though, people have lives.

[99BlackMaro]

Re: Supporting Members

I'd be more than willing to pay. I love this site. This site has helped me out with my car a lot. No one in my family likes cars at all, and now I've found people to bs with and get ideas for my cars, and as I learn share it. Paying 50 bux a year, will not break me, and people could always do monthly payments. The internet isn't free and I'm AMAZED that this site doesn't have banners and popups and annoying flashing windows that you can't get rid of. Let's keep it that way, even if we have to pay.:tup:

[Question]

Re: Supporting Members

Damnit, just tell me how to give you some money. I don't care what is given in return, the board itself is enough.

[KBeezy]

Re: Supporting Members

Teal, I *think* you are on the Motown forums, so run it like they do.

1 banner ad at the top of each page that comes up at random.

And $25 for a year long "membership" which allows you to have more access to the sites features.

[KBeezy]

Re: Supporting Members

Forgot to mention, the $25 also includes the option to turn off the banner ad at the top :)

[Skapimp]

Re: Supporting Members

If you want to use ads on the site, i recommend you use phpadsnew.. it's built into cpanel, or you can get it standalone. It's absolutely amazing and easy to use, not to mention you don't ever have to deal with advertisers once you setup their account unless you want to. Check it out. It's free too.

http://www.phpadsnew.com/

[TealV6]

Re: Supporting Members

If you want to use ads on the site, i recommend you use phpadsnew.. it's built into cpanel, or you can get it standalone. It's absolutely amazing and easy to use, not to mention you don't ever have to deal with advertisers once you setup their account unless you want to. Check it out. It's free too.

http://www.phpadsnew.com/

We were using that before. Well aware of it's potential.

[shenanigans]

Re: Supporting Members

Reasons why subscriptions suck...

Say you are a new member, you see a board. Only way you can post is if you pay $25. No way in hell would I join it.

We have v6s, member move on to bigger and better cars, and a lack of new recruits would eventually be a downfall of the site.


I know I have saved money because of this site, but you know what... I have also helped and saved other people hundreds of dollars. I got 4 e-mails this week alone on tech stuff of people asking me questions. So its not just like I am taking from the board I feel I put back into the board.


I understand the board needs money and I woudl donate money. I'd donate $20(actually did to stefan back in the day) before I would pay a $5 a year subscription. I know its not "financially smart"

Also hate to say this isn't the only v6 site around. There is another one and I check certain aspects of it out more often because seems a few peopel have experience in certain aspects of our cars. If I had to pay a subscription I'd probably not pay and be forced to leave.


Now for added on options like avatars, sigs pics etc... I'd pay some money and help support the site as well Just like I did at Camaroz28.com. I'd be all over soem camarov6/fv6 apparrell not so much the decals there was a fiasco with that for the oldtimers that remember.



PS just want to state PMs should be availible to all even if it was a limited amount.

[Mogobs30th]

Re: Supporting Members

Eric, those are the best points. Subscriptions are a decent idea, given that everyone here STAYS here, because it is hard to recruit new members to a board when they have to pay a subscription to have the full amenities, not to mention we would have to recruit members to a board that supports for a dead car. The moiney might and would roll in from the start, but what about a year later? The number of paying members would dwindle, guaranteed. But I have a point of my own....

How do we pay for such subscriptions? Paypal, credit card, e-check? Paypal is an awesome idea, considering that probably more than half of the active members we have here either dont have an account or cant get one. Credit card is another wonderful idea, good luck with the underage members. Then there is e-check, which you better have a sufficient credit to support a checking account to get one anyway. Now that I have choked the air out of the room with sarcasm, I can tell you this. With the average age of the members here being under 23, sending funds electronically is out of the question. Too much is required to send funds my Paypal, e-check, or credit card. Hell, Im 25, and I can't even do any of the three. Anyone that knows me knows that I pay everything with either cash, or money orders. CASH IS KING.

BTW, I can't get any of those, and I CHOOSE not to get any of those. I WILL NOT get a credit card, I WILL NOT get a paypal account, and I WILL NOT get a checking account. I am old school, I keep my money an old sock in the drawer, cash. If anyone thinks they can rob me, love to see ya get thru the front door without a hole in ya. My point being, electronic funding can't and won't work.