Flat Lining The Board

[orb]

I know $60 a year does not seem that much, but I honestly think it is the wrong way. If you asked say $20 one shot year feel it might work, and scale it out to many members.

Simply, $5 a month it will almost flat line the board, and key contributors will go, and eventually in 4 months you will make almost nothing. And at $5 monthly you did not get enough up front to carry you through the tough months, and in the end will rob you of a great platform that will assist your videos.

It is just the wrong people and mix for monthly payments. Not everyone in the world thinks monthly, and ironically for a board which wants people to think outside the box and not fit into a mold, you are doing just that.

But you won't listen anymore than a local bar owner the day he told me he was putting the $2 cover on his door on Friday's and Saturdays. He had the hottest bar Thursday - Friday, packed, liquor sales through the roof. But he wanted to maximize his profits and try to cover the band instead of say increase the liquor at 25 cents. The restaurant never recovered to this day 8 years later. They shut the bar part down and just serve food. He spends money every day in advertising trying to get people in the door. In 8 years he spent more in advertising then he every could have recouped.

And with these things, you do not get do overs. Once you break the traffic flow, people are gone. You are making a major mistake here, and you will reflect someday on this letter. You are killing your traffic engine, and the internet is about traffic. Example embedding google links in your template will earn you more than you will ever make at $5 a month. You are getting bad advice, and do not understand the flow through nature of the Internet.

[skatardude10]

I understand they need to make money... I don't know anything about funding or internet traffic... I rarely come here, I come here only to read, but I do agree that many of the people I do see posting may not be posting as much, or at all. I will not be paying the monthly payments as I am already scraping quarters buying food... lol.

Hmm... And I do agree that a yearly subscription would be much easier than having to pay month by month... A month for me goes by in what seems like 3 days or so.... So keeping track of my subscription to a forum that I am very interested in but is still somewhat obscure to me... is not something I feel like doing.

I will continue to read posts and everything, but I do feel like there is a real possibility of the traffic from this point on is going to go way down... Let's hope it doesn't ...

[Karen]

Just to be clear - the minimum is $12. There will be gift subscriptions. There are barter options. Anyone can PM me to work something out. I hope it will work out that no one that wants to stay will be excluded because of lack of money.

Kerry and Bill have heard all the arguments against their subscription plan and decided to go ahead with it anyway.

I choose to believe the forum will be better once we get past this lull.

If I am wrong, then maybe this is one of the lessons they came here to learn this lifetime - and I say, let them learn it. But until then, they have my support to attempt to sail through this trying time.


Karen

[Karen]

Originally Posted by skatardude10

Hmm... And I do agree that a yearly subscription would be much easier than having to pay month by month... A month for me goes by in what seems like 3 days or so.... So keeping track of my subscription to a forum that I am very interested in but is still somewhat obscure to me... is not something I feel like doing.

You will have monthly and yearly payment options:
http://www.projectavalon.net/forum/payments.php
Avalon & Camelot Subscription
Project Avalon and Project Camelot are dependent on these subscriptions to stay operational.
We would prefer you to select the $5 amount: OPTIONS:
1 month for a discounted rate of $US 1.00 (auto renewal)
1 month for the regular (requested) rate of $US 5.00 (auto renewal)
12 months for a discounted rate of $US 12.00 (auto renewal)
12 months for the regular (requested) rate of $US 60.00 (auto renewal)

[skatardude10]

Thank you Karen for the reply!

It does sound like anyone who has any inclination to remain a posting member on these boards should have no problem doing so. I appreciate your kindness, and everything you have done. I hope to be around to see where everything goes, and to jump in whenever.

[orb]

If it does, then you will be going against the 16 years of past Internet trends, and the psychology I have observed in selling to people for the past 32 years. I would like to see that.

It is your board, however it actually is using the same methodology of other industries that have gone before you. People for example are sharing more music illegally then they every have, and people are consuming more music, and bands are making more money then they ever have, although yes, the middle man has suffered.

However it is your dime, spend it as you will. Kind of a shame that humans just keep reinventing the wheel, but honestly I hardly think your life goals is to learn how to keep a board from flat lining, and even if it was, is this a good time to take the chance.

Originally Posted by Karen

I choose to believe the forum will be better once we get past this lull.

[idunno]

[QUOTE][QUOTE]

[alyscat]

$5 a month is less than 2 lattes. $60 a year is less than I spend each month on Diet Red Bulls. I receive a heck of a lot more from this forum than either of the above, yet I don't complain about paying for them.

So, I paid my yearly fee, and am glad to do so. If it will help Bill and Kerry continue their work, so be it. I take advantage of their work, it benefits me, and I'm willing to pay for what benefits me.

alys

[Humble Janitor]

Originally Posted by orb

I know $60 a year does not seem that much, but I honestly think it is the wrong way. If you asked say $20 one shot year feel it might work, and scale it out to many members.

Simply, $5 a month it will almost flat line the board, and key contributors will go, and eventually in 4 months you will make almost nothing. And at $5 monthly you did not get enough up front to carry you through the tough months, and in the end will rob you of a great platform that will assist your videos.

It is just the wrong people and mix for monthly payments. Not everyone in the world thinks monthly, and ironically for a board which wants people to think outside the box and not fit into a mold, you are doing just that.

But you won't listen anymore than a local bar owner the day he told me he was putting the $2 cover on his door on Friday's and Saturdays. He had the hottest bar Thursday - Friday, packed, liquor sales through the roof. But he wanted to maximize his profits and try to cover the band instead of say increase the liquor at 25 cents. The restaurant never recovered to this day 8 years later. They shut the bar part down and just serve food. He spends money every day in advertising trying to get people in the door. In 8 years he spent more in advertising then he every could have recouped.

And with these things, you do not get do overs. Once you break the traffic flow, people are gone. You are making a major mistake here, and you will reflect someday on this letter. You are killing your traffic engine, and the internet is about traffic. Example embedding google links in your template will earn you more than you will ever make at $5 a month. You are getting bad advice, and do not understand the flow through nature of the Internet.

I respectively disagree. Bill and Kerry deserve some form of compensation for the work they do to bring interviews to Project Camelot and all of the traveling they do. They did not get into this to make money and unfortunately, traveling all over costs money and it's gotta come from somewhere.

If anything, the subscription plan will hopefully weed out people who weren't contributing much to begin with. I admit that I have spent a lot of posts arguing with people but I am getting better everyday at getting along with others.

In conclusion, those who choose to pay a bit for a subscription are likely those who feel that they have too much to lose and that it would just be wrong for them to up and leave on people who have taken the time to befriend them and offer advice, etc.

[cantaloupe]

I don't mind paying but I think Orb might have something. If this does kill the traffic, then a certain amount of the vitality of the board goes with it. Why is it unreasonable to ask whether it was a good move from a business perspective?
Certainly the first indications are inauspicious just in terms of the traffic. It would be sad to lose it.

[asteram]

Orb:
The internet is all about traffic in what way? Ratings? One cannot eat ratings. The amount google will pay to have their ads on your site? Well what if you don't wan't google ads on your site no matter how much they pay?

Your bar/cover charge/drink price analogy is interesting but it applies to a place that already had a product to sell. Camelot and Avalon have not had a product for sale that I am aware of, so charging a subscription to post will be the first. The amount taken in from that will not be less than zero, which is what they had before.

Traffic really only matters if you have a product for sale; no one is going to send you a check just because your site gets a lot of hits.

[orb]

Well, it have been about 18 months now, and how many people have moved on, and who was closer to the mark, the original predictions or myself.

It is not hard if you understand a little human psychology, people are just too stressed these days and nickel and dimed to death.

It is like I said, that dating site plentyoffish.com was making 275,000 dollars a week, and I imagine that when this board had 9000 people online at once, you would be surprised how that ads up.

The reason why is this, these boards are perfect for things like water conditioners and insurance and home mortages. Some of those clicks are $2.50 cents a click, 50% of which goes to the website.

I wish I was wrong more, but I just do my homework and I investigate things, which by the way how I met the Angelic beings inside the ships.

Empower people, you will always win. Restrict people, you will always lose. Give them the preception of empowering them, but take a little off the top for yourself, you will be around longer.

However, now that I am back, I will help build it again.

[orb]

Originally Posted by cantaloupe

I don't mind paying but I think Orb might have something. If this does kill the traffic, then a certain amount of the vitality of the board goes with it. Why is it unreasonable to ask whether it was a good move from a business perspective?
Certainly the first indications are inauspicious just in terms of the traffic. It would be sad to lose it.

So, what is the verdict? I would have asked earlier, but I could not reply :-)

[orb]

Originally Posted by Humble Janitor

In conclusion, those who choose to pay a bit for a subscription are likely those who feel that they have too much to lose and that it would just be wrong for them to up and leave on people who have taken the time to befriend them and offer advice, etc.

How close do you feel your original predictions were Humble Janitor? I only bring this up, because in past few years I operate more from divine inspiration, and when I took the stance against the member fees it was sort of inspired, I could see out ahead, no thought required.

I say this, because if you were off in this, is there something else like for example the upcoming shift that you might not be plugging into.