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Site revenue ideas
- Thread starter PHOEN$X
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Since we're all brainstorming...
A rather interesting idea I thought of regarding this site is for it to morph into a paid membership site. Let's get real... they're not making any new NSXs. Though, there are a few lurkers on here, i'm sure 99% of the daily traffic comes from owners. We each benefit from this site because of it's repository of information going years back and also from new discussion from current active members/troubleshooters. I can't begin to imagine how much $$ i've saved in mechanics fees and replacement parts because I thought to search here first. That repository of information should be monetized...perhaps with a 1 month free membership but a small annual fee to be a member.
I also see nsxprime.com search results in my google searches for non-NSX related searches. I don't know if google is pulling some trickory here but i'd go out on a limb and presume NSXprime has useful information propagated out there in the interwebz already (i'm thinking the Hottest Girls thread which got a ton of hits and was a huge load on the bandwidth - yes, bad example but you get my point).
I'm curious to see the impact of what the 2015 NSX will have on this site actually... It's a shame advertising isn't enough to keep this place going.
A rather interesting idea I thought of regarding this site is for it to morph into a paid membership site. Let's get real... they're not making any new NSXs. Though, there are a few lurkers on here, i'm sure 99% of the daily traffic comes from owners. We each benefit from this site because of it's repository of information going years back and also from new discussion from current active members/troubleshooters. I can't begin to imagine how much $$ i've saved in mechanics fees and replacement parts because I thought to search here first. That repository of information should be monetized...perhaps with a 1 month free membership but a small annual fee to be a member.
I also see nsxprime.com search results in my google searches for non-NSX related searches. I don't know if google is pulling some trickory here but i'd go out on a limb and presume NSXprime has useful information propagated out there in the interwebz already (i'm thinking the Hottest Girls thread which got a ton of hits and was a huge load on the bandwidth - yes, bad example but you get my point).
I'm curious to see the impact of what the 2015 NSX will have on this site actually... It's a shame advertising isn't enough to keep this place going.
Charge vendors!
i'd be with you normally but our car already struggle from the lack of vendors for any healthy competition. So that's a tough one...
Will that result in warding away more vendors? We've already got Bob! Haha! Jk Bob. Please don't put me on your hit list.
If they want to sell products here, they will pay. It can be structured in various ways. Why should vendors be allowed to advertise and profit from this site for free? I know some people are inherently against paying as a member for various reasons, but I personally feel vendors are in a different category.
My idea:
Make "New & Prospective Owners / Car History / Comparisons" section free but the rest only visible to users with paid membership.
Let's say that we have 500 active users who would be willing to pay at least $25 per year, thats $12 500 - would that be enough?
Make "New & Prospective Owners / Car History / Comparisons" section free but the rest only visible to users with paid membership.
Let's say that we have 500 active users who would be willing to pay at least $25 per year, thats $12 500 - would that be enough?
Paid Membership private area where anything goes and we can Have the hottest girls thread with nudes lol
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Why? Especially if it's only for paid members? I hate having to use my ISP's email account. They have crappy spam filters, and will delete my account if I don't log in every 90 days. I've already lost a ton of historical emails so I shut off the email functionality on here. And if I switch providers, I have to give out my new email address to everyone? F that.
Hi,
i also agree that some kind of membership can/should be implemented... i think Lud is strongly against it and like to maintain things as is moneywise... but the community can always change his mind :wink:
i would contribute whatever new policy is choosen.
EDIT: i think that once a free email account works well, it should be allowed.... i only use my hotmail account... i have for about 15 years or so and don't use nothing else. Never had a problem with it, so for me is a non issue.
Nuno
i also agree that some kind of membership can/should be implemented... i think Lud is strongly against it and like to maintain things as is moneywise... but the community can always change his mind :wink:
i would contribute whatever new policy is choosen.
EDIT: i think that once a free email account works well, it should be allowed.... i only use my hotmail account... i have for about 15 years or so and don't use nothing else. Never had a problem with it, so for me is a non issue.
Nuno
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Definitely agree with you here. Every sale should go with some type of contribution the site. They need to consider as a marketing fee.
However, it's a different discussion when we talk about the implementation of this. It has to be done in such a way where it does not dissuade new vendors from "testing the waters".
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Agreed, make it a subforum within OffTopic and include some ads embedded on the pages.
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Agreed - the vendors should pay, this has been true on most all other forums.
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I completely agree with the membership. It should be something flat, maybe $25/year? Those who already donated would be grandfathered in for the existing year and can renew on Jan 1. Membership would open up the ability to POST A NEW FOR SALE AD as well as other off-topic sections that may be NSFW, as well as other features like custom avatars, larger PM box, etc.
More specifically, charge wheel/rims vendors or universal parts sellers like coilovers etc. I agree there are not enough vendors when it comes to parts for the NSX so that may deter, but there are apparently plenty of wheels and suspension options out there. Take a lesson from Craigslist. They go where the traffic is at, literally.
There are some people who still find ways to abuse or misuse the classified section like making 20 different threads for 20 different NSX parts. Make a per month minimum. If you sell a lot of stuff per month, then pay a fee. Definitely charge for NSX for sale threads. I don't mind paying $5-$15 to potentially sell my $30-$60 grand car! Every little bit helps.
Advertise with autocheck or carfax for peace of mind in the for sale section. Specialized insurance quotes for our cars. Convenience is the key. People are lazy, so profit off of that.
I guess I don't understand what is costing so much for the site. It's just a vbulletin site.
For $200 a month on host gator you get a ton of bandwidth On a dedicated server. What am I missing?
The most powerful solution via hostgator is $400 a month. That's $4800 per year. If each member paid $25 a year to use prime, we should easily cover that.
Plus there is revenue from Adwords.
I would suggest a listing fee of $10 for anything over $100 in the marketplace and leave the current system alone. Say 100 items are listed per month, that's another $1000 per month new revenue.
For $200 a month on host gator you get a ton of bandwidth On a dedicated server. What am I missing?
The most powerful solution via hostgator is $400 a month. That's $4800 per year. If each member paid $25 a year to use prime, we should easily cover that.
Plus there is revenue from Adwords.
I would suggest a listing fee of $10 for anything over $100 in the marketplace and leave the current system alone. Say 100 items are listed per month, that's another $1000 per month new revenue.
Re: Beta testing Enthusify as a new Marketplace platform
I agree with Synth. We contribute to NSXPrime because it's a fabulous resource for us for the business, but also for our customers. We hope our contributions help to sustain the site.
If one of the objectives with implementing this system is alternative income stream (which I fully understand - managing and maintaining a site like this is expensive) I suggest the cost be offset by the vendors who profit from participation on NSXPrime. I know you have mentioned previously how to do this successfully being that we have many "small cottage industry" type businesses. You may want to consider the models of other automotive forum sites - which charge vendors a low "entry level" fee to simply participate, then graduated higher fees for certain benefits - such as banner ads, individual forums being "sponsored" by that vendor, etc. Advertising is a standard cost of doing business, and there is no reason this should be given away for free.
In addition, as Synth mentions, many sites (s2ki.com comes to mind) allows only paid members to post in the classifieds section. The entry level membership fee is minimal, and well worth the benefit of having a target classifieds audience to sell your items in. I believe this would also provide benefit to NSXPrime not only as another alternative revenue stream - but also as a way of eliminating some of the riff-raff/dishonest sellers.
cheers,
-- Chris
I agree with Synth. We contribute to NSXPrime because it's a fabulous resource for us for the business, but also for our customers. We hope our contributions help to sustain the site.
If one of the objectives with implementing this system is alternative income stream (which I fully understand - managing and maintaining a site like this is expensive) I suggest the cost be offset by the vendors who profit from participation on NSXPrime. I know you have mentioned previously how to do this successfully being that we have many "small cottage industry" type businesses. You may want to consider the models of other automotive forum sites - which charge vendors a low "entry level" fee to simply participate, then graduated higher fees for certain benefits - such as banner ads, individual forums being "sponsored" by that vendor, etc. Advertising is a standard cost of doing business, and there is no reason this should be given away for free.
In addition, as Synth mentions, many sites (s2ki.com comes to mind) allows only paid members to post in the classifieds section. The entry level membership fee is minimal, and well worth the benefit of having a target classifieds audience to sell your items in. I believe this would also provide benefit to NSXPrime not only as another alternative revenue stream - but also as a way of eliminating some of the riff-raff/dishonest sellers.
cheers,
-- Chris
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Thanks for all the ideas. I'll work through and try to respond to most of them. A lot are good ideas but are just not technically feasible to implement.
User name changes... I hate to nickle and dime people to death. It doesn't take that much effort if I do them in batches.
Ability to use free email accounts.. As far as I know it is not technically feasible to change the way vBulletin behaves in that regard based on a subscription and managing it manually is not really an acceptable amount of time and effort. I have debated the merits of this policy on and off over the years. I feel it does some good yet I also know it is a frustration for lots of people. I don't know how to quantify either side to compare.
User name changes... I hate to nickle and dime people to death. It doesn't take that much effort if I do them in batches.
Ability to use free email accounts.. As far as I know it is not technically feasible to change the way vBulletin behaves in that regard based on a subscription and managing it manually is not really an acceptable amount of time and effort. I have debated the merits of this policy on and off over the years. I feel it does some good yet I also know it is a frustration for lots of people. I don't know how to quantify either side to compare.
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Regarding the various suggestions to require membership fees:
I have always been of the philosophy that, in general, information should be free, and services which have a negligible marginal cost to provide (like a new member on a message forum) should also be free. If you search back through previous discussions around some of these issues you'll see me saying that over the years. So just as a basic personal philosophy, I don't ever want to require payment for someone to learn about the car or participate in the site in a meaningful way.
(Incidentally this is one of the reasons it was so hard to come to the decision to evaluate a fee-based marketplace system, but I can't figure out how to keep that free in a way that I'm OK with the outcome.)
Me too!
I have always been of the philosophy that, in general, information should be free, and services which have a negligible marginal cost to provide (like a new member on a message forum) should also be free. If you search back through previous discussions around some of these issues you'll see me saying that over the years. So just as a basic personal philosophy, I don't ever want to require payment for someone to learn about the car or participate in the site in a meaningful way.
(Incidentally this is one of the reasons it was so hard to come to the decision to evaluate a fee-based marketplace system, but I can't figure out how to keep that free in a way that I'm OK with the outcome.)
Me too!
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I'm not really interested in having an "anything goes" part of the site.
I would not rule out the possibility of charging for Off Topic access, since it has nothing to do with the core mission of the site which is to provide a place for the exchange of NSX information, but also don't really feel compelled to charge so I probably won't change that in the near future. But as I said I also wouldn't rule it out.
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Very interesting idea, and one which I had not previously considered.
I'm not sure how to implement that technically for parts sales. I could implement a fee to post in the NSXs For Sale forum though. But is that in the best overall interest of the site? Will it substantially reduce the number of enthusiast-owned cars listed on the site?
Another good idea. I may look into that. I don't know much about how those programs work, though I know some other forums do that so there must be an established system.
Thanks!
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I don't know how to easily implement a solution to achieve that. I agree the current system leaves a lot to be desired.
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Re: Beta testing Enthusify as a new Marketplace platform
Hi Chris - I will say that I always value your input on this issue and I know you have encouraged me to move in that direction for years. I will say that I am probably more willing to do something in that space now than I was several years ago because the number of random people popping up and announcing themselves as vendors seems to have increased a lot. It hasn't caused too many major catastrophes yet but I'm wondering if we've just been relatively lucky. I may contact you directly to get some more thoughts on this. N Spec also had an interesting angle on this that I'm going to chew on for a bit.
Hi Chris - I will say that I always value your input on this issue and I know you have encouraged me to move in that direction for years. I will say that I am probably more willing to do something in that space now than I was several years ago because the number of random people popping up and announcing themselves as vendors seems to have increased a lot. It hasn't caused too many major catastrophes yet but I'm wondering if we've just been relatively lucky. I may contact you directly to get some more thoughts on this. N Spec also had an interesting angle on this that I'm going to chew on for a bit.
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