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Thread: I hate rules, but...

  1. #31
    Full Member Ann Williams's Avatar
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    Wink Sidetracked...

    Hi Dave, sorry about that... got sidetracked.

    I thought it might be better on a new thread, but I may as well keep going.

    The scenario: this is a free forum; you pay out of your own/business's pocket to host, build and maintain the forum; then the admin team and moderator's give a huge amount of their time, resources and expertise....

    What about having a mechanism for users to make voluntary contributions towards the running of the forum? Once-off or regular if wanted. (It would certainly come in cheaper than us hiring a consultant to give us the info we can gain from regular use of this forum!)

    I'm not sure how much of a mission this would be to organise as it would rather defeat the purpose if say the fees for a new bank account are more than any contributions made.

  2. #32
    Full Member Ann Williams's Avatar
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    Thumbs up Ad space

    Another way of 'paying' yourselves for a job well done is to give the administrators advertising space on the site to promote your businesses.

    Obviously you don't want to fill the pages with advertising (or else you'll look like one of the news sites that have so much advertising that almost everyone skims right over everything), but you certainly could tell us a lot more about your businesses than is currently being said.

    This is a topic that I handle in my electronic marketing workshop and I am always fascinated to see where a webmaster has managed to maintain the delicate balance between giving useful information and including a punt for their products. (As I have just done in this paragraph.)

    One of the best SA examples I have seen is how the Ideate blog team manage to make their blog sell the products from their various businesses. They have found a really good balance... great postings and frequent references to their goodies!
    Last edited by Ann Williams; 11-Jun-07 at 10:40 PM. Reason: grammar

  3. #33
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Thanks Ann. And now here comes that big monkey wrench.

    What if I'm not that interested in making money off of this site! This site was founded for a purpose and generating me an income was not it.

    That been said, there are probably going to be expenses down the line over and above hosting costs, so developing an income stream is a good idea. Should there ever be a substantial surplus - well I view this as a co-operative and the main contributors could expect a slice.

    Not that I don't expect my efforts, and those of everyone else who contribute to the site, to go unrewarded. There are a few life lessons I've gathered along the way that give me great faith that the rewards will come.

    As example. There is a saying that "You don't have to make your money the same way you lost it." That might be an aha moment for someone who comes to that point, but it's true for life in general too. Often, the payback for our efforts comes in unexpected ways. You make a big contribution, the reward comes - just not always in the way you expected it.

    All that been said, I have learnt in my wanderings around the internet since starting this site that free-to-join forums can be financially viable with a number of income streams. But I'm in no rush to get "the money pouring in." And as the need for funds increases, I'll still be trying to achieve that in a manner that is not overwhelming of the main content and purpose, and is not taking out of the pocket of those who are making the content contributions.

    There is still a fair amount of space for advert type revenue without being intrusive. My priority is to use those spaces for something that might be interesting and useful, rather than just financially rewarding.

  4. #34
    Full Member Ann Williams's Avatar
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    The Forum SA - a legacy

    Hi Dave.

    That's great. It is such a pleasure to see a spirit of mentoring by someone like yourself who has a lot of knowledge about running a business (the downs as well as the ups).

    I often wonder what has happened to mentoring, rather than training only, as a means of building business and growing peoples' skills. I think of some South African greats such as Raymond Ackerman with the Ackerman Foundation. You seem to be building a living legacy with the forum, and thank you very much for doing what you are doing here.

    I've been here less than a week and it has already been really useful for me. I'm also very aware that even though I haven't paid for it, that some of this information is of great value to me. All too often I've seen business people think that info can only be good, or trusted, if it comes out the mouth of a R1 000 an hour lawyer or consultant, or from an agency. For me, the experience of people who have been in entreprenurial trenches for a while, is worth its weight in gold. (Even if its just light-hearted encouragement at a time when you feel the rollercoaster is heading down the Big Dip...)

    So, come on any other fans out there, it's time to tell everyone else you know out there to come and participate. (Wow. Whew! Never been a member (?convert? ?fanatic?) recruiter for a business cause before.)

    Thanks again...

    Ann

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