a good idea for the club....... come on everyone join in

[extreme-4x4]

pensioners discount would be good... full or part access it up to the owner.

like i said im not in the race to buy the club... im just throwing ideas around getting opinions. call it market reasearch trying to help the club

someone must have figures on who's visited the sign up page and who actually signs up

i had hoped people would have added to this with there own ideas to make the subject grow and hopefully help in the clubs future

thanks to everyone who has posted here possitive and negitive

but please lets not get nasty ay... this is not a playground its a club for nissan 4x4 and mavs

 

[barny]

Extreme,You need posts like yours(this) to keep the club vibrant and not stagnant......
Think well before raising the £10 membership(yeh it's worth it)but any more might frighten people off and some just cant afford it.
Perhaps you can pay a litle more for 'extras' seperately?
I'd say NO to allowing FREE access to ALL the site as,to be honest i stumbled on the site while frantically searching for HELP with my terrano 'starting problem' and if i could have taken all the knowledge from years of experience from members on this site for free that one time,i probably wouldn't have paid later on !!!!but acces to some of the site before signing up ya money is worth a try.
Dont be to hung up on chatting JUST 4x4,then again be carefull it dont turn into a general chittychat forum open to all. :smile:

 

[jims-terrano]

We used to have a Non Memebers section where they could post. Trouble is once they got the info they didn't come back.

I also think that more than £10 would put people off joining, exisitng members realise how valuable the info is and indeed get enjoyment from using it. So it is worth a little more to us that understand the club. Even at £10 we must get new members that find out the info they want and still don't come back but that's their problem and at least we have got £10 towards running costs.

My worry about the club is that a new owner of the club will want it to run like a business and may be spoil the atmosphere. It is difficult I guess because unless you are a good samaritan any new owner will want it to more than likley not just pay it's way but make a little income.

At the moment I'm more than happy to keep supporting the club, it's one of the first things I do when I get in from work and especially winter time I check in several times a night.

Jim T

 

[extreme-4x4]

We used to have a Non Memebers section where they could post. Trouble is once they got the info they didn't come back.

I also think that more than £10 would put people off joining, exisitng members realise how valuable the info is and indeed get enjoyment from using it. So it is worth a little more to us that understand the club. Even at £10 we must get new members that find out the info they want and still don't come back but that's their problem and at least we have got £10 towards running costs.

My worry about the club is that a new owner of the club will want it to run like a business and may be spoil the atmosphere. It is difficult I guess because unless you are a good samaritan any new owner will want it to more than likley not just pay it's way but make a little income.

At the moment I'm more than happy to keep supporting the club, it's one of the first things I do when I get in from work and especially winter time I check in several times a night.

Jim T

well unless the interested party stands up and says its me... we wont know till it happens. but a price increase is inevitable i believe and maybe changes too

so now is the time to ask the questions and raise your thoughts, because it is changing hands that is inevitable

 

[Bat21]

Just my 2p's worth here.

As well as my Patrol, my other passion is motorcycles. I run a hugely successful motorcycle site that is well known around the globe, it has become more than just a web site. Over the last 6 years it has evolved into a 9,000 member community that has cemented many friendships. We have regional monthly meets in all areas of the UK as well as 6 National events every year and raise £10's of £1,000s for worthy charities.

It is free to join and post there but there is also a voluntary subscription (currently £12). Those that subscribe do gain access to a few areas, the for sale/wanted section to name but one. Subscribing members are also allowed to send PM's (private messages).

Approximately 30% of the membership does choose to become subscribing members within a few weeks of joining.

I feel that this club needs to maybe relax a little and possibly adopt a similar stance to that mentioned above, allowing people to suck it and see before parting with their hard earned cash.

I have almost 0 spam posts due to a very good Bot filter that stops automated registrations.

As far as increasing the membership fee goes well, what we have to remember is places like this don't run themselves. People all too often log on and take for granted the site being here. What they don't appreciate sometimes is there is someone behind the scenes spending many hours a day answering emails, answering phone calls, making sure the backup process completes successfully each day, lying awake at night thinking "was I unfair to say that" etc etc.... the list quite unimaginable to those who have never run a successful community. I would say £20 a year is too much, £15 maybe, £12 a year would be a more realistic membership fee. Don't forget that PayPal fees are taken off what ever is paid + 22% tax and £8% national insurance.

.... again, these are just my thoughts.

 

[elty001]

a good idea for the club

as with all business takeovers i'm sure we will be told what the deal is and any changes that will come into force when the time is right.
i come on here to have a chat and help people out if i can.its a nissan 4x4 owners club so lets talk about them for a change :wink:

 

[Bat21]

Re: a good idea for the club

.....its a nissan 4x4 owners club so lets talk about them for a change :wink:

It's the Nissan/Ford 4x4 that is the common interest between us all.... but talking about them is only a small % of what makes for a successful club/community :wink:

 

[NNMan]

To people who dont know £10 is a lot, I/we know its worth it because we are in.

I find it intresting that someone who has only been a member for a couple of months is trying to whip the time served members in to shape.

 

[elty001]

what makes a good club

It's the Nissan/Ford 4x4 that is the common interest between us all.... but talking about them is only a small % of what makes for a successful club/community

i understand that there is a social side to the club as well as the motors.not trying to offend anyone but we all log onto the club for different reasons.some the tech stuff and others just to have a chat.
when funds let me i do enjoy modding my motors so i do search through old posts to get ideas.i enjoy greenlaning and have made some good friends through the club meets.i just must be in an argumentitive mood tonight. :|

 

[Deleted Member S]

Sorry to say this extreme but you seem fixed on that the membership fee has to increase WHY :?: TBH that will be down to the new owner :roll: I know £10 is not alot but when you have a very small income (i'm out of work due to health probs) £10 is alot as I could easily spend that on my kids :roll: My T2 has got where it is via birthday & xmas pressies from my family & things i've took out of my old motors & have fitted to the T2 :roll:

 

[rag1873]

Sorry to say this extreme but you seem fixed on that the membership fee has to increase WHY :?: TBH that will be down to the new owner :roll: I know £10 is not alot but when you have a very small income (i'm out of work due to health probs) £10 is alot as I could easily spend that on my kids :roll: My T2 has got where it is via birthday & xmas pressies from my family & things i've took out of my old motors & have fitted to the T2 :roll:

I agree Sweety, Extreme seems intent of pushing up the membership!

Could Mav maybe give us an answer to whether this would help things.

I think that by pushing it up to £20 it would just put more folk off joining. I too am off work due to ill health and am having to sell my terrano, if i sell it and if the membership stayed at £10 i would probably renew my membership just for the chat but if it went up to £20 i doubt i would renew my membership if i no longer had the terrano.
Surely the cheaper the membership (£10) the more likely folk are to pay it especially if they dont know what they are getting for their money.

 

[extreme-4x4]

Sorry to say this extreme but you seem fixed on that the membership fee has to increase WHY :?: TBH that will be down to the new owner :roll: I know £10 is not alot but when you have a very small income (i'm out of work due to health probs) £10 is alot as I could easily spend that on my kids :roll: My T2 has got where it is via birthday & xmas pressies from my family & things i've took out of my old motors & have fitted to the T2 :roll:

well im no dragon, so here goes.
if the club is run on profit from subscriptions that means you need lots of members to pay its running costs. without the owner profiting from it.

now assume you was buying the club , you would want a return on your money spent. the club has 1300 members so thats 13,000 turn over less any expenses.
tax insurance hosting support and what ever else it costs to run the club.
that's without taking all the free time mav spends running it and sorting out all our problems ei pics, avatars and editing the site

now as you know mav dont seem to have won the lottery recently and he still has to go to work . so he aint making much from the site if anything

so what percentage would you expect to get back on your investment

how huch would you want for your time doing mav's job here

cos if you bought it you'd want something.

so now you need more members or more money or changes to the site like advertising... do you know many companies splashing out on advertising in this climate

so how do you attract more members ?

how do you raise more revenue ?

i dont want to pay more . im broke the same as you . i have mouths to feed.
id rather attract more members for the club to grow and make the club a better place

so that just leaves more new members ????? how you going to do it ?????

 

[Deleted Member S]

I understand what your saying BUT pushing up the membership fee I think it may drive away the members who hardly post & would turn away new members

 

[extreme-4x4]

we are averaging 1 new member a day if that. how many current members are up to date with membership ie renewing membership

if its less than 1 a day we are shrinking and so is turnover

running costs wont shrink !

members / money is the key

its all well and good saying i want a price increase ( i dont )
but the new owner will want something in return for his / her investment

id like to pay my 10 pounds and talk about trucks all year

so good ideas is what the club needs right now

 

[Deleted Member S]

As far as i'm aware this club was set up for like minded people to chat & help each other out with their probs & ideas & not as a money maker & TBH I think thats why the club has done so well. Over the next few years I would think the new owner would start to get their money back which the had to fork out to buy the site. Like all investments it takes time to recoop your outlays

 

[makeitfit]

Hi again, overall I'm afraid I agree with extreme.
Not that I want to pay more at all.
BUT as we're all in the dark as to what the h... is going on what do you expect. 8O
I've run my own web business and it's really time consuming, so I have loads of admiration for what Mav does. he must be mad for it!
Anyway up what you need is some numbers, how many renew membership, how many visit and go again without signing up etc. All easy numbers on the data reader pages. You can even see how many read the chat and how many read the tech.
I've only been on here a few months and joined cause I needed info as there was nothin of use free for the maverick.
It's the only forum I use regularly the others I go on are simple question post and answer then I'm off.
Here is diff. but I cant see what the harm is of a few opinions.
Without the sales pitch to look at it's bound to be a bunch of nissan/ford types havin a three peneth :?