I am toying with ideas to raise the club's funding. I have been considering this for a long time (since the v3 update). I have considering creating a primary member level ("subscriber") in addition to the secondary level we currently have. What will the subscriber have over the standard user? Avatar (All users currently with an avatar will keep theirs, however, if you wish to change your avatar, you will need to subscribe) Custom User Title Garage Page (Same rules as the avatar bit) Higher PM Allowance Upload Permissions to Gallery (When Its Online) You@WRXatl.com Personalized Email Address The subscription will not auto renew at the end of the term. After it expires, you keep your avatar, garage page and email but you cannot change them. You will lose access to other features until you renew again. These funds are used to pay for bandwidth charges every month and server upgrades. Please considering subscribing/donating and show your support for WRXatlanta. I am considering the following pricing 1 mo. $4.95 3 mo. $9.95 6 mo. $19.95 1 yr. $29.95 Alright so, thoughts thus far? Would anyone be willing to subscribe? If so, are these prices fair for the benefits or should they be raised/lowered ?
I think a simple 'WRXatlanta donor' tag for people who donate would suffice. Start adding subscription services, then in-line ads like NASIOC, and the site will probably go to hell at a rapid pace. If the site is hurting for money for hosting or vbulletin license fees, let us know and I am sure some would be happy to donate a few bucks.
Well, as it stands, those who donate are eligable for those services, as stated in the donating section. Donations are sporadic and rather irregular though. This is just an idea, just something to mull over. Nothing is certain at this point.
I assume bandwidth charges are the main thing we are trying to cover right? I'd be up for putting in a few $$ but i agree with moose that a subscription service would dramatically change things on the site, potentially for the worse. Can't we just start a porn site to generate revenue? boxerporn.net. Those seem to be one of the things continually making money on the int3rweb.
maybe a bake sale? im not a fan of different levels of membership. Although it would be nice if you didn't have to support the site out of pocket. Tell us what you need and I am sure that the community will come through and help you.
i'm not necessarily against paid level membership, because it does give people a choice of customization and level of involvement. however if most don't want to go that way then let us know what you need and i'm sure some of us can throw some cash your way. i understand the necessity of it though, it would make the site more sustainable long term. you probably have tried this already, but the stat numbers you posted a while ago are a good selling point to advertisers. have you approached people like tein, sog, worldone, subydude, etc. regarding advertising? you could even put a poll up about how much people spend yearly or monthly on mods to further bolster your proposal to advertisers (we have a demo skew of male 18-24 who spend an ave 3k/yr on mods etc. who land onto such and such a page x% of times so it cost x$ to have a top tier banner there as opposed to somesuch other page realestate ). yes the site will look a bit more cluttered, but that's the price of "free" long term sustainablility.
I don't think I'd use any upgraded or special services that u'd get from an upgraded membership...but I know one thing.... I'm on this site every day and I think its a good thing..From quality info on upgrades, G2G's, being able to buy/sell stuff.... I'd be happy to cough up $30 a year to help support the site...c'mon guys, I'm not exactly rich but I think we can all afford $30.....
im working on getting more vendors/advertisers... hey mere, ur good friends with GranTourismo right? do u think they might be interested in advertising/vendorship?
I could possibly talk to GT, I need to go there on my next day off to get the nail removed from my tire. Milo, if you want I can say something to them then. Don't know when that will be, but it needs to be fairly soon.
yeah... please mention it to them... they seem to be pretty popular on this site... if they're interested, alex and i could set up a meeting with them
alex, i only speak for myself on this, but anytime things are running a little tight, let us know. rather it be in a new thread or pm, i don't mind helping out when i can. I owe a lot to this site. I basically knew no one to speak off when i moved to atlanta 2 yrs ago. Now it almost feels like home up here. Though, it would be a little better if some of you SOBs would move out here a llittle closer:naughty:.
i too am all for giving to the site cause i sure do receive a lot from the site! since a shi# load of ppl from the club will be at the RA meet...perhaps we can ask for donations? (money in a bucket) i'd throw in a twennie twen twen.
You should have told me earlier. I was there on wednesday. Next time I see Jeff I'll ask him. They are a small operation so I don't know how much they could help out but they do appreciate all the good buzz people generate on this site for them.
that would be good... we definitely need more advertisers/vendors/donations... so far alex and i have been paying for this out of our pockets... having the 2 vendors has helped some but expenses on decals, install days, etc. have drained most the funds
i owe a lot to this site also; friends, help with car, good community, and if it wasnt for this site, i'd never of found my plant-o-smoking when i moved here.. so Alex yeah man, i'll help with anything.
I wanted to say thank you to Craig and Chris for donating on account of reading this post. Thanks guys And of course, thank you to everyone who has donated to keep WRXatlanta and our community alive (too many people to thank).
Alex, I don't have a problem with paying to help keep the site running, but one thing to consider is the issues that other "fee" based forums have faced from subaru. By using the WRX letters if we implement a fee based subscription option, and subaru becomes aware of us (I realize this probably wouldn't happen), we could have some issues. I have donated in the past and will drop another donation on you next time I see you. Don't be afraid to put calls out for donations....
Good point Scott. We will be working on restructuring our Vendor program substantially along with input from our current vendors and prospective ones.