promotion of S_E specific services - time to charge a fee?

[GregR]

promotion of S_E specific services - time to charge a fee?

We're a free site and we've been surviving rather nicely to date. I was wondering if we should start to try to get some cash from those that benefit from our site by chosing to be part of the community, owners/operators of garages and the like. If they want to post up details of what they're doing, they get a direct line to their consumer base, something businesses pay royally for and we could cash in on that.

Just a thought - perhaps an annual fee of £100, with something on their profile (under their username, like 'advertiser') so that new members know who they are when they post. The fee could then be used to make a charitable donation to a nominated cause, or could be used to pay for a part of an S_E event like a BBQ or something.

Thoughts?

[BiggestNizzy]

Money causes problems*.

Having some sort of indicator under someones name wouldn't be a bad idea, sure we all know who does what as we have been hanging around here for years, but for the newer members a bit of transparancy (it seems to be a bot of a buzz word at the moment) wouldn't go a miss.


*although if someone wan't to pay for another camping trip I wouln't object.

[j2 lot]

Noooo!! I don't want to see the forum become a billboard for business ads.- look at how sites like Pistonheads look now and how people have moved away from posting there
If businesses want to publicize their companies let them sponsor the charity events ( as some already do ).

[renmure]

They do something similar on one of the Ferrari forums I use. Think they charge £250ish to be a Forum Sponsor. They also charge a voluntary £10 / year for "full membership" for individuals which doesn't seem to offer any benefit other than a feeling of wellbeing in contributing to the running costs of the Forum. However the "money" side of things does seem to cause no end of gripe about what should be done with the excess cash (it mostly all goes to nominated Good Causes and Charity, in excess of £10k last year I think) but seems to add no end of layers of management and admin once things go from being an informal chitchat web forum to something that takes in money for whatever reason.

Personally I don't think adding a financial aspect adds to the Community Spirit on the Ferrari Forum and infact can be really counter productive particularly if someone has a poor experience with someone whose Company is a sponsor, but by the same token I am conscious that SE must 'cost' something to run and I haven't contributed to that either.

I guess if there was a general rallying call within SE to get some dosh to pay for the running of the Forum then it would be massively in surplus with donations and a good BBQ could be had by all with the excess, but I am not sure about the notion of formalising that in terms of seeking money from others to promote their stuff. All IMHO

[Shug]

No, I don't think so.

Simple answer.

Been discussed several times in the past and it does nothing but create complication and liability. Who are "We" Who gains from the money? The minute money becomes involved, you have to set it up as an official club, with a treasurer and an AGM and a whole host of complications that add nothing and degrade the site. This then opens the can of worms that is liability - SE organises a run and someone is hurt. SE is the organiser.

There is no SE "entity" This is, and should remain IMO, a website forum where people discuss things and can mobilise mates for stuff off their own back. It is not a club or a group or anything more organised than that.

The second it becomes something more official, is the second I for one will walk away (realise that may be reason enough for some to call for it becoming more official ). I've never seen anything benefit from creating a committee.

/2c

[pete]

No.

Simple answer.

Been discussed several times in the past and it does nothing but create complication and liability.

What he said. If this thing costs cash to run then just ask and I'm sure folk'd chuck in a coupleof quid.

[Rich H]

As above, the 924 owners club charge £15 per year for members but have an active elected committeed, registered with companies house and loads of other stuff, it's a pain. That said we do make a fortune but that goes on subsedising the club stands at shows to provide food and drink at every event. Once you become too organised you can be held to account too...

[GregR]

To clarify:-

Shug, what you're referring to as having been debated in the past is (I think - happy to be corrected) the membership being charged a fee. That then gives rise to constitutions - members, definition of the club etc etc that we all agreed was bad.

What I'm suggesting is a voluntary (albeit a strongly urged ) donation by those that benefit from direct market exposure - we're giving it away for free and money could be made for charity or for an event.

If the disagreement persisty notwithstanding the clarification - no probs

[Shug]

Greg,

Both have been discussed (well, advertising in the form of banners, but a similar thing) and the argument against is the same. Just the issue about money complicating everything - if said company is using it as a marketing expense, they have to give it to another entity. SE isn't a legal entity. I don't think anyone wants to be arsed with electing a committee and all that nonsense for it to become one, so this sort of thing could be set up. I know I'd run a mile.

[r055]

To clarify:-

Shug, what you're referring to as having been debated in the past is (I think - happy to be corrected) the membership being charged a fee. That then gives rise to constitutions - members, definition of the club etc etc that we all agreed was bad.

What I'm suggesting is a voluntary (albeit a strongly urged ) donation by those that benefit from direct market exposure - we're giving it away for free and money could be made for charity or for an event.

If the disagreement persisty notwithstanding the clarification - no probs

HAs something happened to p*ss you off Greg? I dont think we have any issues the way it currently is and especially dont want to put off any potential 'advertisers' whom i could benefit from
Where would we draw the line?

Dan, for example, has and does benefit from SE... however he also puts alot back into the forum by answering technical topics etc

Andy & Shug may benefit from some of our members going to them, but they also post special offers and arrange annual charity trackdays.

I like the fact that I can post a thread asking about landscaping, plumbing etc and get an answer from someone in that line of business.

[j2 lot]

HAs something happened to p*ss you off Greg? I dont think we have any issues the way it currently is and especially dont want to put off any potential 'advertisers' whom i could benefit from
Where would we draw the line?

Dan, for example, has and does benefit from SE... however he also puts alot back into the forum by answering technical topics etc

Andy & Shug may benefit from some of our members going to them, but they also post special offers and arrange annual charity trackdays.

I like the fact that I can post a thread asking about landscaping, plumbing etc and get an answer from someone in that line of business.

[Titanium S1 111S (gla)]

I'm with Shug etc.

If the site as it stands is costing somebody a chunk of money to run then lets have a whip round and sort it out. From memory Sanjoy is responsible for the hosting, what do we owe you Sir? I wouldn't want anybody to be out of pocket.

As regards businesses I don't think they owe the community anything. They generally promote their businesses in a low key manner by giving free advice which is very helpful. If they think they owe the community something then I am sure that I speak for the majority in saying that they should make a donation to a good cause in the community’s name.

As far as membership subs, committees etc are concerned, they are best avoided. I have dealt with too many petty disputes arising out of the governance of these. I don't think there is anything to be gained. If you want to be in a committee join the Woman’s Guild or similar.

Finally, it is very kind of D&W to make a donation, through Greg, shall we call it £10k even.

2p

[graeme]

I think we could generate revenue from 'outsiders' by putting Google ads and banners all over the place (for guests only, not logged in members) and generate some cash from passing traffic or search results hits. It costs not much to do (a bit of somebody's time to set up), nothing to maintain, and all (if any) cash raised can go straight to the charity box so no need to form a business or a club.

As for the donation idea, no. Worth remembering that some of the business owners on SE do contribute in return - prizes for charity events, or free trackday photography of a pro standard that would cost £££ if you commissioned it, or advice, or just banter.

Also, it's not just business owners who benefit from SE. What price can you put on technical advice from Robin, or trackday photos from any one of the pros who turn up at KH? So, should we all be donating?

Of course, that AMP3 crowd need to cough up bigtime. Fecking spammers!

/2p

[RDH]

I'd leave it as is.


Being on a committe of a local rugby club, I can attest to the petty squabbles and issues caused by money and adveritising etc.

Finally, it is very kind of D&W to make a donation, through Greg, shall we call it £10k even.

2p

Would another firm of Glasgow solicitors also like to make a donation?

[fd]

Just so it's crystal clear :-

I provide the tangible things that are required to run SE at the moment, a dedicated server in a secure datacenter and bandwidth to that server, FOC, previously Simon Ironside provided a similar arrangement, also FOC, it's the SE way.

This will remain FOC so long as

a) I am in a position to provide it
b) SE has no income whatsoever

SE is backed up to two independent offsite locations (one in the UK, one in California) every 24 hours, so the site can rapidly be restored to full function in the case of a catastrophic failure causing the site to go offline.

If (b) is no longer the case, it would be reasonable to expect the hosting charges are paid.

So long as you don't do anything illegal and don't make any money, this service will continue.

Simon Ironside and myself administer the server, Simon can migrate SE to another server at any time, where you can become a business if you like, 6 and 2x3 to me.

Fd