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Justin
28-09-2011, 11:20 PM
I'm currently working on a new membership scheme for the forum.

All members will still be welcome to use the forum completely free of charge but will also now be given the opportunity to pay £10 per year for a membership.

This membership will entitle you to discounts, special offers and many other exciting features with different Suppliers. I have agreements in place with some and others are just finalising their involvement at which point I will start to accept membership applications.

Other companies will be coming on-board with this scheme but even from day 1 as a paid member you will quickly recoup this small investment and benefit form ongoing discounts, offers, samples and so on.

Whilst the forum is growing steadily the number of guests far outweighs registered members so I'm hoping this scheme will attract many of these visitors to become registered members. The future of the scheme is dependant upon the level of uptake but it already promises to be a very worthwhile exercise.

I will post more details soon.

AdamB
29-09-2011, 09:14 AM
Looks interesting Justin - and like I always say, without this forum and the members on it I wouldn't have been able to gain as much knowledge as I have now regarding many subjects and although I never state I am an expert (all should be willing to learn from others at some stage), I can feel 100% confident in introducing new items to stock and explaining to customers of how products are made.

I for one will be taking membership when it becomes available :-)

John G
29-09-2011, 09:55 AM
Echo above comments - just a quick suggestion, could be closed sections for quotes, artwork help and also all contacts, email/web addresses etc only viewable to paid members.

purpledragon
29-09-2011, 10:33 AM
At the risk of starting contraversy (im not honest ) im waiting with interest before i decide if i want to pay membership. Way back when there was much discussion over how the forum should be funded and the 3 main desicions seemed to be
1. Paid membership
2. donations
3. paid advertising
and now it seems theres going to be all 3. Fair enough theres certan benifits to being a member ie discounts from suppliers . but i dont buy from most the suppliers i see advertised on here so ill be interested to see what other benifits a member gets.
Yes theres a lot of information and help n here i like a lot of the other old stalwarts on here give a lot of that help and information and now we will be asked to pay for that privalage, yes you do get a lot of guests that wont change with paid membership why would it unless you make it so that only paid members can post or read posts this is then counter productive as a lot of guests remain guests no matter what and if they cant get info well then they will probably move on so what are you left with ? a vast knowladge base shared between the usual suspects.
I appreciate this forum takes a lot of time and also has a cost implication i thought thats why the advertising was taken on .
It all seems a little like the members will be providing a service that we will all be paying for

quote "just a quick suggestion, could be closed sections for quotes, artwork help and also all contacts, email/web addresses etc only viewable to paid members"

so does that mean john you are happy to pay a membership to be able to help others by providing art work answers after all i dont see you ask many questions but you certainly answer a lot.
What happens if i dont want to pay membership is my advise and experiance not then allowed ? if it is allowed do i want to give it if im being blocked from other sections of the forum .
Please dont misunderstand this as a rant Justin cause it isnt honest im just playing devils advocate but if im honest 10% discount off coralgraph or who ever else i dont use really doesnt interest me as for samples suppliers are not going to refuse me samples if im not a member of the forum its not in their interest,
At the end of the day you will do what you think best, the benifits that we dont yet know about might make it an unmissable offer to be a paid member but in this day and age of the world and his wife wanting a piece of your wallet it would definatly have to be a worthwhile investment .
There thats my twopennuth for what its worth

smitch6
29-09-2011, 10:57 AM
i'm happy to pay membership but as already mentioned it'd be good to have closed sections where only the elite may go lol
and it helps fund the forum as well so bonus :)
and it's only £10

John G
29-09-2011, 11:01 AM
I'm not going to rehash the same old arguments - I'm happy to pay a membership and have said that from day one. Its been so obvious over the last year/s that the forum needs money to survive - not happy about adverts but if it brings in valuable income for the forum, and for Justin, then adverts it is. If the adverts aren't enough then paid memberships would be a boost.

jennywren
29-09-2011, 11:54 AM
I don't have problem with membership, adverts ect, as long as I get my daily fix of reading on this forum but I wonder what about those have already made donations and then have to pay a membership fee. Do you have a time factor

derek
29-09-2011, 04:24 PM
You have my full backing on this Justin, £10 a year is a very fair price and I for one will definitely be signing up.

purpledragon
29-09-2011, 05:00 PM
If the adverts aren't enough then paid memberships would be a boost.
thats the point though john isnt it theres no mention of if the adverts are enough or not if there is still a short fall in funds to cover the running costs then obviously justin needs to seek further funds and a membership may be the way to go lets not forgt justin (quite rightly) declared he was running this as part of his buisness now or is my memory failing me, if it is a case of justin now running this forum as a buisness to make profit on ( i did say if ) well then what you need to ask yourself is are you happy to share your valuble experiance to earn a thrid party money and if thats the case then give me your phone number i'll set up a chargeble advice line and redirect the calls to you and you can earn me money too ok that may be a little flippent but you see my point.i would still be very interested to hear the down side to not being a paid member as it seems at the moment you risk not getting 10% discount from sublimation r us or missing out on samples from sublimation world.com well i can live with that. Do we need paid membership to ensure the survival of the forum? if the answers yes well thats a differnt matter is the membership idea simply part of justins buisness plan well thats another matter. Pesonally i think the forums taking a direction away from the family atmosphere it had before, that might be unavoidable again we have to remember that the forum has got to be self supporting.
i dunno its an odd road we're on i think ill grab my coat i get the feeling instead of provoaking debate all im doing is making my self unpoplar so ill say no more

Scotty@BMS
29-09-2011, 05:07 PM
thats the point though john isnt it theres no mention of if the adverts are enough or not if there is still a short fall in funds to cover the running costs then obviously justin needs to seek further funds and a membership may be the way to go lets not forgt justin (quite rightly) declared he was running this as part of his buisness now or is my memory failing me, if it is a case of justin now running this forum as a buisness to make profit on ( i did say if ) well then what you need to ask yourself is are you happy to share your valuble experiance to earn a thrid party money and if thats the case then give me your phone number i'll set up a chargeble advice line and redirect the calls to you and you can earn me money too ok that may be a little flippent but you see my point.i would still be very interested to hear the down side to not being a paid member as it seems at the moment you risk not getting 10% discount from sublimation r us or missing out on samples from sublimation world.com well i can live with that. Do we need paid membership to ensure the survival of the forum? if the answers yes well thats a differnt matter is the membership idea simply part of justins buisness plan well thats another matter. Pesonally i think the forums taking a direction away from the family atmosphere it had before, that might be unavoidable again we have to remember that the forum has got to be self supporting.
i dunno its an odd road we're on i think ill grab my coat i get the feeling instead of provoaking debate all im doing is making my self unpoplar so ill say no more

I don't think you've expressed any opinion that would make you unpopular, Brett. In an open forum debate must always be encouraged and embraced. You have argued your point eloquently, albeit with scant regard for grammar and the Queen's English! ;)

purpledragon
29-09-2011, 05:28 PM
, albeit with scant regard for grammar and the Queen's English! ;)
not all of us have as much free time as you have scotty i think i need a chat with martin he's obviously not working you hard enough lol

Scotty@BMS
29-09-2011, 05:34 PM
not all of us have as much free time as you have scotty i think i need a chat with martin he's obviously not working you hard enough lol

Jog on, unpopular swine!

Justin
29-09-2011, 08:07 PM
OK, I'll try and post a more detailed response later but for now I only have chance to post quickly.

Firstly, thank you for the positive messages of support, much appreciated.

Secondly, please remember that the forum will remain free for any existing or new member, you have this choice. The £10 will basically buy you a virtual voucher book with some great offers, if you don't want it, that's absolutely fine.

I have no intention of making any section of the forum paid members only, this may be an option but at this stage not something I want to look at.

Paul
29-09-2011, 09:46 PM
he £10 will basically buy you a virtual voucher book with some great offers, if you don't want it, that's absolutely fine
this is some kind of donation we made last time when there was mug press to won :)
you make £10 donation and this way you getting access to all freebies/offers/sample etc... this how I see it any way. I may be wrong. :cool:

John G
29-09-2011, 09:59 PM
Secondly, please remember that the forum will remain free for any existing or new member,

I have no intention of making any section of the forum paid members only

Then its not a "paid for" membership at all - its back to being a donation, which, as you have already found out, doesn't work:confused:

Justin
29-09-2011, 10:01 PM
It's a membership scheme entitling paid members to discounts and many other things. I'm simply offering something in return and not just begging for donations or insisting on paid membership.

Andrew
29-09-2011, 11:32 PM
Give Justin a chance to get the details out first. Can't pass judgement until you know what's on offer for the Membership fee.

sarahjayne
29-09-2011, 11:42 PM
It's funny this should come up today - I've been an on off reader but big fan of SDL and checking in there; found this post http://www.danoah.com/2011/09/i-need-your-help.html
The man was both praised and villified for his post - people could not believe that a blog that has over a million views a month was not raking in cash, that he must be money hungry and in trying to make a living that this somehow negated the posts he made or the words he said. Yet he offers so many people inspiration, aspiration, advice, just sheer entertainment and a place to share on a daily basis - that in itself is worth something surely? And similarly, the same applies here.
Right now I am more than broke - I am taking a chance in trying to find a way in this business, it's not for fun or extra income but the way out of the damn social welfare trap I find myself in - this weekend I am doing a craft event and hoping to off load some old paper and craft materials and if I do, then SDL and Dye Sub forum are welcome to my contribution.

gtd91
30-09-2011, 12:02 AM
Hi guys , as a newish member i thought maybe i could put a different angle in on this.... Ive never been a hardcore forum user, i'm signed up to a couple forums on different subjects but never been a senior member or a '1000' poster.

but to get to the point, there will always be guests and people just reading up on a subject they have put into google and the forum has the answer too. Other people (this is where i'm at atm) get a little bit involved , keen to learn and to also put as much back into the forum as they have the knowledge to give. And then you get the big posters, the people that have been on the forum from the start or are clearly known around the forum.

And in my opinion, the people that will pay for the discounts/extras will only be the big posters..... And i assume this forum is growing as it is a great source of information and a friendly bunch of people, so more big posters will slowly arise. However i do think this will be very limited in revenue.

I might not have much experience in sublimation, but i am experienced in web design, website promotion and marketing. All in all the costs of this website if already running a commercial website to sell Sub gear/products are next to nothing. For example if i paid for a hosting plan at hostgator i can get unlimited domains, unlimited bandwidth and a SSL certificate all for around 6.5 - 8 dollars a month so thats 4 - 5 pound a month! so that will be put on the company costs anyway as its a neccessity for an online e-commerce business. so then theres the domain..... maybe 10 pound a year max! The Forum software is free opensource software (BBcode , Vbulletin etc) Once the software is set up its ready to go.

The only costly thing about this forum is time, time is the most valuable thing spent here, and with a good bunch of moderators this time can be spread out between the team :) so as far as i can see , the only cost is time, which you guys do spare alot of for this forum. Hopefully the adverts will cover the costs of the few quid hosting though.....

Oh and i hope this post isnt too negative, i think the £10 a year thing is a good idea and could bring in some good revenue for the forum as it definately deserves it, i would be happy to pay the £10 if the discounts benefit me enough. i just felt some 'costs' may have been exaggerated in certain posts.....

cant beat an old internet debate eh :P

sarahjayne
30-09-2011, 12:12 AM
Oh and i hope this post isnt too negative, i think the £10 a year thing is a good idea and could bring in some good revenue for the forum as it definately deserves it, i would be happy to pay the £10 if the discounts benefit me enough. i just felt some 'costs' may have been exaggerated in certain posts.....

cant beat an old internet debate eh :P

Not for one moment am I comparing SDL's server charge as being comparitive (but no hostgator unlimited account would handle that bandwith)
- I just meant it to compare that when you do ask for money, people's reaction can be quite negative, however they justify it - it comes down to a pint of lager in a Dublin city centre pub costs over €5 - less than 2 1/2 pints a year for the advice I have already gained. Happy out scan.

Justin
30-09-2011, 12:16 AM
I'm always open to constructive criticism and open and fair debate. Yes, you're absolutely right, the current overheads for this forum aren't really that high. I have future plans for the forum that will necessitate a great deal of investment and have to look towards this. The forum has indeed taken a more commercialised stand for this reason and others. That said, the main objectives of the forum remain the same. If members feel that they are contributing to my 'wage' and aren't happy with that then please don't pay your membership fee, you'll still be welcome.

I'd like nothing more than to be able to get a wage to enable me to run this forum full-time, giving it all my attention and pushing it onwards and upwards but that may never happen. In terms of the time spent working on the forum, yes you are correct, it does take a lot of commitment. I currently work full-time, 60+ hours a week. I then spend a fair chunk of my spare time on the forum at the expense of my own business which currently takes a back seat. I do have a family but they forget what I look like. Any other time is spent sleeping...very little. It's 2 years now since I started the forum and it gets busier all the time, yes, it is a big commitment.

I really don't want to have to keep coming on here and justifying why I'm raising revenue when members will always believe what they want to believe. The membership scheme will bring in revenue, of course it will but paid members will get a lot in return, random donations don't offer you any privilege so surely it's a step forward from that?

Please show me where I've exaggerated the running costs of the forum.

gtd91
30-09-2011, 12:29 AM
i think youve summed it up perfectly right there :) and you have never over emphasized running costs, ive just seen other posts about it costing money to run the forum etc i just thought id let the others know an estimate of running costs.

I think the £10 idea is definately a good step forward, as it rewards you for your time and the loyal members for their contribution, i didnt mean to make my post so negative, sorry about that. Also business is business , and if it helps your wage at all, its definately been very well worked for! at the end of the day alot of people on the forum are here to help themselves aswell as others.

Thanks for the time put into this forum so far, without it i would never have started my own business, so i feel i owe it alot. i'll be in line to pay the £10 membership, plus change is always good right :P

sarahjayne
30-09-2011, 12:39 AM
@gtd91 "All in all the costs of this website if already running a commercial website to sell Sub gear/products are next to nothing."
As far as I am aware Justin is a printer and sublimator and end user not a wholesaler of sub products. Therefore, the existence of this site doesn't actually benefit him personally in his daily business life.

Paul
30-09-2011, 12:45 AM
Just to let some people know that last offer i took advantage off was from transfer paper and vinyl comany - yolo. I bougt some vinyl and please belive me i menaged to save MUCH more then £10. So justin idea is very good in my opinion. Only one thing that will change is that those offers will be visible to members. Not to wachers tha dont put anything to the forum. This is how i see it.

mrs maggot
30-09-2011, 09:18 AM
we are back to that old debate again surely, where those that choose to join and become full members can see everything, like forsale and wanted, member to member etc, and those that dont join cant, that would make it better for all, and you are likely to get more comitment from members, its what some of the sign forums do, basic info is there for all, but in order to gain everything then you pay to join. a yearly membership fee of £10 is the way to go - BUT only if you are going to limit some of the sections of the site, as well as giving membership discounts.

gtd91
30-09-2011, 09:55 AM
@sarahjane i guess i worded that badly, what i meant was, if someone has a website hosting plan already in action for their own website, then add-on domains are usually free :) i just meant there wouldn't really be a hosting cost

John G
30-09-2011, 10:26 AM
a yearly membership fee of £10 is the way to go - BUT only if you are going to limit some of the sections of the site,

I thought that's what was suggested on Justin's original post but after re-reading, and looking at subsequent posts, I don't think this is what's planned - shame. I Look forward to hearing about the discounts available, and the way this scheme will work, but if its of little benefit to me then its pointless and back to being a donation.

purpledragon
30-09-2011, 10:29 AM
Only one thing that will change is that those offers will be visible to members. Not to wachers tha dont put anything to the forum. This is how i see it.
Problem there paul is how will "watchers" know what the benifits of paying a membership are if they are not visable .
i think all this is getting blurred i seem to have opened a can of worms with my initial post so im claifying my position .
I have never disputed that the forum costs money to run or have i disputed the amount of hard work that goes into running the forum
Clarity is what i called for is justin running this as a buisness yes or no
i have tried to be devils advocate when i first posted on this subject a lot of replys had the tone of whats your problem i'll be buying membership then justin let a bit more info out and those very same peoople started to question if the membership idea was as they first thought.
My initial thoughts were do i want to pay £10 a year for the privallage of giving others the benifit of my experiance just so i can be rewarded with 10% discounts from suppliers i dont buy from but then justin let more info out, theres huge benifits in the pipeline. what are these benifits? its a bit unfair for a debate to be started on "trust me it'll be worth it" its only ever worth it if you are interested in whats offered.
do i want paying for my advice ? no not really its swings and round abouts there is the odd occasion i need some advice do i want to pay to give advice ? definatly not do i want to further someone elses buisness by being and online advice centre for free well to be honest if it costs me nothing i see no problem in it i then have free will to give or not give advice.
I think its worth remembering that its the members who make the forum what it is to alienate certain members will only spread discontent.
Justin says theres no plans to block non paying members at the moment... its the at the moment bit that worries me and i hope that was an unfortunate term of phrase i seem to remember in the past debates there were no plans for paid advertising "at the moment" and then further forward there were no plans for paid membership "at the moment".

Andrew
30-09-2011, 11:14 AM
People need to read Justin's initial post again.

"New Membership Scheme.....Coming Soon!
I'm currently working on a new membership scheme for the forum."

No one yet knows the details but now he is being forced to respond without having worked it all out. Give him a break and the time needed to atleast give you the information required to pass judgement. It's already been stated no one is going to be forced to part with their money and if you do it's expected you will get far more back.

mrs maggot
30-09-2011, 11:19 AM
purpledragon, i agree with what you are saying, if the forum is to survive into a profitable rescourse for all and an active forum, them surely some of the members who have put as much into it with time, posts etc as the admin & mod should also have their views taken on board. look at the uksign board http://www.uksignboards.com/index.php?nav_0=1 you will see they have resticted access sections - including forsale and wanted, and other useful tutorial sections which have been added by members at a cost in time to them, these are not open to any tom dick or harry - just other people who see the benefit of subscribing to a forum and becoming part of that forum

John G
30-09-2011, 11:23 AM
People need to read Justin's initial post again.

"New Membership Scheme.....Coming Soon!
I'm currently working on a new membership scheme for the forum."

No one yet knows the details but now he is being forced to respond

If Justin hadn't posted this thread we wouldn't be having this debate - it may have been best not mentioning the scheme until everything was finalised, unless forum members feedback was needed!

purpledragon
30-09-2011, 11:25 AM
People need to read Justin's initial post again.

"New Membership Scheme.....Coming Soon!
I'm currently working on a new membership scheme for the forum."

No one yet knows the details but now he is being forced to respond without having worked it all out. Give him a break and the time needed to atleast give you the information required to pass judgement. It's already been stated no one is going to be forced to part with their money and if you do it's expected you will get far more back.
I take your point Andrew perhaps Justin wouldve been wiser to not say anything until he had all the full details. This is a public forum and the nature of the beast is to respond to posts left if a response is not welcome well nothing should be said until all the details were ready to be released.

Paul
30-09-2011, 11:29 AM
Problem there paul is how will "watchers" know what the benifits of paying a membership are if they are not visable.
when "wacher" will entry suppliersection/offers etc they wont see the link or any text. only information about this section and this can be made visible by subscribibng :)
very simple to doon thi forum engine :)


do i want paying for my advice ? no not really its swings and round abouts there is the odd occasion i need some advice do i want to pay to give advice ?
I dont think I need so much advice too, but I still learn fro un asked by me questions. I still learn from other people answers. so there some problems i never asked about as I never had such problems. but i still read the post in case one day it will be me. so I still benefit :)


This is a public forum...
dont want to stir any poo :) but I was sure this this is not public forum. its private and is owned by Justin. Is for public use and this is bit diferent as in this case Justin got full right to do with the forum whatever he want to do. I think is still VERY kind of him that he still asking us about feedbacks and our thoughts. It means he care.

purpledragon
30-09-2011, 12:08 PM
dont want to stir any poo :) but I was sure this this is not public forum. its private and is owned by Justin. Is for public use and this is bit diferent as in this case Justin got full right to do with the forum whatever he want to do. I think is still VERY kind of him that he still asking us about feedbacks and our thoughts. It means he care.
Dont really want to turn this into an argument paul again , im guessing you are misunderstanding what im saying ....im a member of the public , you are a member of the public and as already pointed out theres plenty of guests who come to the forum they are also members of the public we dont pay to enter the forum there are no restrictions on the forum it is a PUBLIC forum im not disputing who owns the forum Justin has got every right to do as he see's fit with the forum ive never disputed this either, ive never disputed either that i benifit in the advise from the forum just as others benefit from my advise why is it paul you seem to pick on any any point i ever make and try and make me look like some sort of trouble maker. You are a moderator of this forum i know this because it has super moderator under your name yet you seem to relish in picking on what ever i say to be honest ive had quite enough of it, as a mod you are supposed to be totally unbiased this will be my last post on this forum unless something can be done about your extremely unfair attitude towards me paul now you could sit back and say good riddance and then move on to alienating the next member and pretty soon there will be no one left to give this forum the support it needs

Paul
30-09-2011, 12:16 PM
why is it paul you seem to pick on any any point i ever make and try and make me look like some sort of trouble maker
LOL! it was not my intention. I know what you meant by "public forum" now.

regards to all points that I quoted is not cos is you mate :) I just thought they moreinteresting. thats all. shame people see my posts as "picking" :(
I take my cout now and you can carry on with your "debate."
I will accept any thing that come.

JackB
30-09-2011, 01:17 PM
Personaly I totally agree with Justin's decision to make a paid for members area, whilst still leaving a free to public talk and advice area.
It could work easily in that everyone would get to know about what offers are being offered from whom, but you would need to be a member to get access to the offer codes.
Justin cannot be expected to give his time and own money to fund the forum for everyone, but he maybe is in talks with suppliers that they could possibly advertise for free or discounted if they offer free samples and/or discounts to the paying membership. If this is the price we have to pay to stop the forum from closing and a certain percentages of members are willing to take up the offer of membership for freebee codes then so be it.

Jack.

Andrew
30-09-2011, 02:28 PM
If Justin hadn't posted this thread we wouldn't be having this debate - it may have been best not mentioning the scheme until everything was finalised, unless forum members feedback was needed!

Replying to the post is not the problem, it's more the case of replying to hypothetical situations and not facts originally stated. Half the stuff being discussed was not mentioned so needn't have been dragged up. (That's not aimed at you directly by the way John)

purpledragon
30-09-2011, 02:36 PM
(That's not aimed at you directly by the way John)
glad i got my tin hat on

Andrew
30-09-2011, 02:52 PM
glad i got my tin hat on

I made the comment to John to make sure he new it was a "Generalisation" rather than singled out a specific member. You seem to have jumped to the conclusion it's all about you. Don't get so sensitive Brett as it was just a generalisation and more so than that.... it was just my opinion.

purpledragon
30-09-2011, 02:55 PM
Whoa there Andrew was just a joke think ill find a corner n hide

John G
30-09-2011, 04:42 PM
Nothing wrong with a good bit banter! :biggrin:

We've all got different ideas on how this forum should go but the decision lies with Justin and whichever way he decides to take the forum i'll still participate.

Paul
30-09-2011, 05:05 PM
Me too :-)

Justin
30-09-2011, 07:26 PM
Thanks for your comments guys, especially the ones telling me what I can and can't do with the forum, much appreciated :-) I certainly didn't start the thread in the hope of such a lively debate, it was an announcement, maybe I should have closed it but as always I welcome opinions....and it would appear criticism!

I really don't know where to start with responding to these comments, I think purpledragon has probably asked the most so I'll respond to that shortly.

Justin
30-09-2011, 07:39 PM
Problem there paul is how will "watchers" know what the benifits of paying a membership are if they are not visable .

I will ensure the beneifts are made clearly visible so members can decide whether to join the scheme or not


I have never disputed that the forum costs money to run or have i disputed the amount of hard work that goes into running the forum
Clarity is what i called for is justin running this as a buisness yes or no
I will be running the forum as part of my business yes, several reasons for this that don't need discussing here. It will make no difference to my plans/ideas for the forum.



My initial thoughts were do i want to pay £10 a year for the privallage of giving others the benifit of my experiance just so i can be rewarded with 10% discounts from suppliers i dont buy from but then justin let more info out, theres huge benifits in the pipeline. what are these benifits? its a bit unfair for a debate to be started on "trust me it'll be worth it" its only ever worth it if you are interested in whats offered.

I don't recall saying 'huge' benefits, I did mention great offers, I may be wrong. I haven't mentioned any particular suppliers or % discounts at this stage. You really dont' have to "trust me it'll be worth it". I'll detail the discounts, offers etc. and if you feel it isn't worth it for you, don't join...simple.


I think its worth remembering that its the members who make the forum what it is to alienate certain members will only spread discontent.
Who are we alienating?


Justin says theres no plans to block non paying members at the moment... its the at the moment bit that worries me and i hope that was an unfortunate term of phrase i seem to remember in the past debates there were no plans for paid advertising "at the moment" and then further forward there were no plans for paid membership "at the moment".

I think you've misread what I've said there. I have no intention of blocking non paying members. What was mentioned by other members was the possibility of allowing only paid members access to certain sections of the forum. This works well on other forums but I haven't actually agreed to this. I have no intention of doing so at this stage, this is correct but sometimes things do change, other sections may become necessary for members only, i won't rule anything out.

I do hope this clarifies things a little further. It's already been a long day so if I've made any mistakes please don't attack me! :-)

purpledragon
30-09-2011, 08:24 PM
Bit unfair Justin not only have you singled me out and thereby villifying me on a public forum you have also taken points ive raised in answer to other posters but you have made them look like ive fired a barage of questions at you. I merely pointed out a few of my thoughts in my initial post what followed was essentially a debate between various forum members there were many comments made by many others yet only my comments are highlighted and are totally out of context.Im totally suprised to be honest Ive obviously upset you in some way though i cant see how , throughout all my posts i have always recognised the extremely hard work you must put into this forum and i still do if i dont end up banned from the forum i think i shall keep any comments and opinions to myself infuture

Justin
30-09-2011, 08:31 PM
As I said in my previous post, I don't know where to start with all of this so I chose your post as it seemed to contain the most questions and incorrect information. I certainly didn't intend to vilify you and thought I was simply answering the points you had made.

I really don't have the time or to be perfectly honest, the energy, right now to answer every single comment that's been made to this thread, whether justified or not.

You haven't upset me in any shape or form and I appreciate your input and comments a great deal. This was certainly not mean't as any type of attack on you, I'm merely trying to answer your concerns.

This whole thing has been taken out of context, members seem to be worrying over matters that may never arise. Let's just slow down people and wait to see what happens. I've said it before, if you don't want to pay then don't, that decision is always going to be yours.

Ian M
30-09-2011, 08:58 PM
At the end of the day most of us would pay the £10 membership wouldn't we. You are always going to have the situation where some will join & some will not that's a fact of life.

Remember......'You can please some of the people some of the time but, you can't please all the people all the time'.

JSR
02-10-2011, 01:06 AM
Blimey, I can't access the forum for three days and I miss a big announcement followed by a heated debate. What timing! :)

Ian M
02-10-2011, 02:49 AM
Blimey, I can't access the forum for three days and I miss a big announcement followed by a heated debate. What timing! :)

I was wondering where you were Jonathan.

gstk
02-10-2011, 01:02 PM
I think personally.the cleverest way forward is the way friends reunited did it. Totally free to look and accessible but you paid a fiver to actually do anything. That way people can ask a hundred questions or choose to take advantage of deals after membership.

Might cut some drivel too (Tin hat. Firmly on)

JSR
02-10-2011, 01:24 PM
I was wondering where you were Jonathan.
It was possible to access the forum on my mobile phone but it wasn't a pleasant experience - a small screen mostly taken up by the ads and the top graphic just meant I'd rather wait until the site was back up and running.

Fortunately, I think I've said everything I needed to say on this subject before and I don't think I need to bore everyone to death with repeating myself. Whatever will happen will happen.

I don't know if this has already been discussed in this thread (haven't read it all yet), but all I would suggest is a way for paid-up members to be able to browse the forum with the ads turned off. If you don't pay, you see the ads. If you do pay, you get a "cleaner" experience without the ads. Let non-payers have a face full of adverts, while the rest of us can concentrate on the forum.

Justin
02-10-2011, 03:32 PM
I would suggest is a way for paid-up members to be able to browse the forum with the ads turned off. If you don't pay, you see the ads. If you do pay, you get a "cleaner" experience without the ads. Let non-payers have a face full of adverts, while the rest of us can concentrate on the forum.

No point in advertisers advertising if no-one, or a fair percentage of members aren't going to see them. Unless of course the members are paying the same as the advertisers?

JSR
02-10-2011, 03:55 PM
No point in advertisers advertising if no-one, or a fair percentage of members aren't going to see them. Unless of course the members are paying the same as the advertisers?
Only you know the finances. Many websites have adverts if you're not a member which are hidden when you are - by way of encouraging membership. I just figure that having no adverts for paying members might encourage more people to pay.

Or, to put it another way, if members who pay have access to whatever "special offers" there are, then there's no need to clog up the screen with adverts anyway. After all, we're paying, we'll presumably have access to some "special offers" sub-forum or threads or whatever that non-payers won't have access to.

There will doubtless continue to be far more non-payers than payers, so I don't see that hiding adverts from the few who pay will affect revenue one way or the other but, as I say, only you know the finances.

MattP
13-10-2011, 12:08 PM
I do not mind paying £10 per year and think the forum is great :biggrin:

P4UL
13-10-2011, 05:09 PM
The one small banner on the top of this page is nothing. Some forums have adverts between posts on a thread..lol.

Martinx
13-10-2011, 05:24 PM
Membership fee is nothing. Subscribers will get that back on supplier offers alone.

Also the information and advice gained from this forum can prevent members from making costly mistakes.

JSR
13-10-2011, 05:58 PM
The one small banner on the top of this page is nothing. Some forums have adverts between posts on a thread..lol.
Some places clearly think very little of their members, then...

P4UL
13-10-2011, 07:05 PM
Make you right. Within these heavily advert displaying forums 'subscribed members see less adverts'...

But having an association, in way of advertising, with branded industry suppliers should give a professional appearance to the forum and its potential content for new visitors.

JackB
13-10-2011, 07:26 PM
Membership fee is nothing. Subscribers will get that back on supplier offers alone.

Also the information and advice gained from this forum can prevent members from making costly mistakes.

Been there, done that, and I've even got the T-shirt.:biggrin:

Jack.

Paul
13-10-2011, 08:26 PM
Some forums have adverts between posts on a thread..lol.
yep !
and those adverts not even industry related! is more like "do you need cheaper mortgage???" :) who want to look on that??

Renniwano
13-10-2011, 08:49 PM
Membership fee is nothing. Subscribers will get that back on supplier offers alone.

Also the information and advice gained from this forum can prevent members from making costly mistakes.

Saved me making some too..

Justin
13-10-2011, 10:19 PM
I was on a forum the other day. Adverts in-between each section and each section was also sponsored by an individual company! I couldn't find where the information was!

There are over a dozen areas I could enable banners ad on here, I could have large ads down the side, much larger ads in place of the 3 small ads as well.

I've tried to keep the ad space restrained so that it doesn't interfere with viewing the forum. General feedback has been excellent however I appreciate that not everyone is happy, this is the a good compromise all round.

As mentioned, I'm only allowing industry specific companies to advertise here and all of these Suppliers are being invited into the membership scheme to give paid members discounts etc. As soon as I get a chance I'll start the scheme running.

Paul
13-10-2011, 10:46 PM
I dont want to steer to much but is any clothing companys a "industry" related??? I think it would be good to know about some offers on tees and other garments...

JSR
13-10-2011, 11:34 PM
I was on a forum the other day. Adverts in-between each section and each section was also sponsored by an individual company! I couldn't find where the information was!

There are over a dozen areas I could enable banners ad on here, I could have large ads down the side, much larger ads in place of the 3 small ads as well.

I've tried to keep the ad space restrained so that it doesn't interfere with viewing the forum. General feedback has been excellent however I appreciate that not everyone is happy, this is the a good compromise all round.

As mentioned, I'm only allowing industry specific companies to advertise here and all of these Suppliers are being invited into the membership scheme to give paid members discounts etc. As soon as I get a chance I'll start the scheme running.
For non-paying members, you perhaps should have adverts all over the place - including non-specific ones. If non-payers knew that the annoyance of ads all over the place could be entirely abolished for merely £10 a year, then that'd surely be enough incentive to get them to pay up. And wasn't that the point in the first place?

Justin
13-10-2011, 11:35 PM
I dont want to steer to much but is any clothing companys a "industry" related??? I think it would be good to know about some offers on tees and other garments...

I am looking at other companies that whilst not directly Sublimation related do offer services/products that are useful or of interest.

John G
14-10-2011, 10:04 AM
At the moment, how do these supplier offers work. They are supposed to be for members only but surely all guests that come on the site can see the offers and codes too!

AdamB
14-10-2011, 10:21 AM
At the moment, how do these supplier offers work. They are supposed to be for members only but surely all guests that come on the site can see the offers and codes too!

I'm not sure John, and Justin will be best placed to answer this, but - I think that once the membership is sorted then members will have access to special codes where non-members will just see the forum and perhaps a generic teaser code. But as I say this is just what I've gathered from all the talk on the forum with the new membership club.

John G
14-10-2011, 10:40 AM
Its a mine field really!

purpledragon
14-10-2011, 10:45 AM
At the moment, how do these supplier offers work. They are supposed to be for members only but surely all guests that come on the site can see the offers and codes too!
I dont envy the work justins going to have to do on this, firstly you are going to need in place some special offers obviously these are supplied by the relevant companies but they are going to have to be SPECIAL offers which you wouldnt get else where unless of course its another membership forum.
So ok you have a super duper offer from a sublimation firm how will this be displayed lets face it just saying theres super offers to be had isnt going to entice many into a membership we've all heard that before in day to day life,they are going to want to know what they are missing out on so will the offers be displayed to all eg 50% off for all DSF members (can but hope ay) so now you need a system where you can claim that offer
ie hello sublimation supplier im a DSF member please give me my 50% off heres my membership proof.
and so whats then to stop a non member from seeing the offer and contacting the supplier and saying hey ill shop with you if you give me the same discounts, in this climate i would think a salesman would probably agree to this thereby negating the need for membership .
Im only guessing but surly the special offers would have to be substantial so will the sublimation firms want to or can afford to give these offers or will part of the membership fee go towards subsidising this (no answer required im just summising) this is now not a membership but a shopping club.
Good luck Justin mate its gotta be a nightmare organising all that !
wow my brains hurting now just trying to work it all out

ptholt
14-10-2011, 11:30 AM
Just thinking aloud, but a members section where offers/discounts etc and relevant members info is posted is probably the way forward.upon purchasing membership Justin amends the user account to allow access to the member areas. Banners can be added to the rotation to promote membership and recommend membership to get involved in the group purchase scheme, as the more than join, the greater the buying power and the higher the discount available for all.The discount on ordering can be done by quoting membership number which Justin can inform the supplying companies with a current membership list.From previous experience i find there are greater discounts to be had if the suppliers have some exclusivity (in other words one company may be willing to give a better discount if they are the sole recommended supplier for the members for a particular product) rather than having two or three companies to choose from which dillutes the potential purchasers and may reduce the discount being offered.

purpledragon
14-10-2011, 01:30 PM
[QUOTE=ptholt;32135] (in other words one company may be willing to give a better discount if they are the sole recommended supplier for the members for a particular product) QUOTE]
you wernt a member of the original conception of this forum under a differnt name so you can probably be forgiven for that suggestion. A forum sponsored by 1 supplier is not good at all the older members of the forum will know to what im referring. The beauty of this forum is there are no preffered suppliers the members give their opnions based on service given as such the reputation of DSF is that when you search on a particular subject and want info you will get that info from those who have had the experiance from whatever supplier. If the service was bad you soon hear about it likewise if the service is good it gets talked about if you limit to one supplier theres nothing to compare with

ptholt
15-10-2011, 07:35 PM
I didn't say a single supplier, or if that's how it sounded that's not what I meant.
I meant if there was say one vinyl supplier, one shirt supplier, one mug supplier and each one was a different company. That way it's not a single supplier but a preferred larger discount for each item as the collective weight to a single supplier carries a bugger discout than 3 competing suppliers for one item.

purpledragon
17-10-2011, 09:47 AM
to a single supplier carries a bugger .
LMAO classic typo

purpledragon
17-10-2011, 09:57 AM
Sorry if i didnt quite understand what you were saying re single supplier, i kind of see your point though i cant see it working what you will be doing is starting a bidding war between suppliers for advertising space most supplier on here supply everything in your list ie BMS sell vinyl and mugs and shirts etc as do magic touch so how do you decide who's mugs get advertised and discounted. I for instance dont use Orca (magictouch) coated mugs but i do use the RN (bms)coated mugs if magic touch had the sole mug advertising on the forum i would then be missing out on the discounts unless i were to change what mugs i use. As you can probably tell from a lot of posts on here when you find an item you are comfortable why would you change just for the discounts, you might just as well go on ebay and see who the cheapest is there.I dont think its a workable system but then im often wrong