Michael, If you are missing out on profitable work just to read the forum, well........ perhaps you MIGHT take another look at your priorities.

I wouldn't expect anyone to come to the forum instead of doing orders UNLESS they ran into a problem and needed help right then and there.

As for specifics on my numbers, I will let you confirm the costs of what you would be giving up in your market.

As for increased income, there are more than enough posts saying "OH! That is how you do it" or "I just saved X steps by trying it your way." Let's not forget the posts "I had a customer ask for...... and I have never done it. Can anybody help?"

BTW, how much ARE the "5% or less" worth?

I am NOT saying anyone should spend a penny on membership unless they feel they are getting their money's worth... but I also don't believe anyone should try to disuade someone from continuing in a "Pay to play" forum just so THEY won't lose their free ride.

Ken,

Your point about the newbies is an important one. A few of the ideas that have been tossed around to entice the newbies are:

1) On the home page of the EE website, list the ten most current threads being discussed.

2) Provide a link to a web page that gives examples of some of our more interesting threads.

3) To allow them to read, but not post questions, for a free 30 day trial period.

I would go with option 3, 'allow them to read but not post'.
But from what's being hinted at, the forum will only be a part of the offering. Would that 30 days reading extend to the articles and other areas?

The ten most current list might not include "which laser should I buy" or the other topics that are popular with newbies. A chosen sampling would be more valuable. Though someone paying to learn which laser is 'the best' might not be too happy...

Ken,

I like option 3 as well, because it gives a the prospect a more complete view of what they will be getting.

The way I understand it, there will be a public side to the website and a private secured side. I assume there is the potential to offer advertising opportunities on the public side of the site.

One of the many things I have recommended is establishing a sister website to the EE site that will be used to promote the services of subscribing members to the general public. Sort of a here's-where-you-can-buy website with a search by zip code and service option.

I believe this thing will really grow from the ideas that are shared by the members. It will evolve into something of great value, but it will take time and $.

David,
Personally I think a 15 day FREE trial of EVERYTHING would be more viable. At the end of that 15 days, ones password and sign in is revoked. Period. No if's ands or buts.
When I signed up with SAGE, I got a 30 day free trial. When it was over, I could not log back on.
I think a free trial will be critical to enticing "newbies" ( we were all newbies at one time, in fact, "I" still am a newbie ). Once here if they feel it is of value they will stay. If not, they won't.

Again I think it would be helpful in discussion of this whole idea to let the membership know of what the "offereings" will be, so those that are on the fence will know what it is they will be getting. For reasons un-beknownst to me, ( and I am sure they are valid reasons) that information seems to be being held close to the belt. I think it should be divulged.

Just my two cents. Want change?

A commercial, money making venture? It may appear to some that is what is intended, but they are wrong.

At this moment David is paying for the server and the software development, as well as for our tech, out of his own pocket. This is a work of love for him, not for profit.

As far as time, there have been things that a lot of time was spent on, but were decided as not viable. The Ethics Committee thing was only one of them, people told us what they thought and it died a terrible death. So be it, this forum is for the users.

We have been very reticent to mention most things in the plans, because if one does not work out it is vaporware. That is something we want to avoid if at all possible.

David has a lot of ambitious plans. That equals lots, LOTS, of time and some finances also. They need to be done right or will not work right, again time and money.

Quick example. More things like EE Live, with reduced costs due to possible income from the forum. Form a moderator/director viewpoint, think about the time involved in just one event like that. I got lucky and did not have the faintest idea how to set that up. David and Dave did it all, with some help of members.

Profit would be nice, but with the plans I doubt there will ever be any, it will all be plowed back into the membership in one way or another.

Free is great, but a good return for a small investment is good also.

Oops, need to get off the soapbox now.

Philadelphia, PA (Really Bensalem)

Harvey's Tips Page When you finally understand it completely... it changes.

I drive the Pa & then the NJ turnpikes every day that I go to work. I pay big time tolls. The turpike trip is 77 miles one way and takes me 1hr and 10 min. I could take free roads. Same mileage (approx) but travel time is 2 hours. I'll pay and take the turnpikes.

When I have an engraving question I can do a lot of research and experimentation (and certainly make some wrong turns) or I can log on here and possibly "speak" to someone who has been there and done that. I'll pay the toll.

Dee

Philadelphia, PA (Really Bensalem)

The free trial is for new member growth, not existing membership. I am not criticizing your choice to go pay....just expressing curiocity in how it will shake out. I tend to see both sides. I guess much of it depends on your goals. If your goals are to make a living off of this forum...I think both the membership and you will be dissapointed. If your goal is to cover costs....then $75 annual fee for each member is far to high a price to pay if everyone is honest with each other.

The magic in the bottle for both this forum and DSSI is the participation of the membership....not the management of it. Lose the membership base and you lose the magic. My personal opinoin is that if you want forum growth you must continue to invite forum participation. How you do that is anyone's guess. One way would be to sell advertising, and let that pay for advertising of the forum itself in trade mags. If you can't find any advertisers interested based on membership participation, I don't expect you will be able to hold the memberships interest in going pay either. In other words...if you can't give the vendors any reasons to pay, you will be hard pressed to get the members to do so. If you can get vendors to pay...it just might be enough to help continue to draw new membership and keep the "magic".

The fear I would have is that the 10% or 90 active members would eventually get tired of sharing the same information with each other. You need a forumula for growth to keep things fresh enough to keep the old coming back day after day, and the new interested enough to sign up.

Chuck,

There are so many things I would find of great value in an industry, educational, and resource member-based website. The forum would be part of that, but having other resources and educational opportunities at my finger tips would be of even greater benefit.

A few examples have been provided, but here are a few I think are within reach.

Provide digital video field trips through factories and member businesses. David is in the process of investing in this video equipment as I write.

Audio and video tutorials. Nothing further needs to be said about the value of this feature.

In-depth articles on a broad variety of topics, not subject to any particular scheduling restrictions.

A database, searchable by vendor, substrate, product, state, etc.

A database, searchable by forum member, service offered and state. What a great feature when an equipment failure puts you in a pinch.

A database or listing of special wording for awards and gifts, indexed by categories such as retirement, wedding, promotion, sponsorship, leadership, etc.

A comprensive collection of artwork layouts for plaques, acrylics, gifts, etc. that are downloadable.

A formal grading system produced annually which lists the top 5 or 10 vendors or service providers in their particular specialty.

The formation of a buying group that would negotiate on behalf of the members. When EE members purchase equipment, products or services from an Engraving Etc. Super Supplier, they would receive benefits such as improved terms, lower minimums, additional discounts, rebates and other special incentives.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. This can become as big as one wants to make it, but it takes the resources of time, money and support staff to do it.

I hope this gives you some more food for thought.

Could the forum remain free, reading and posting for everyone, but these extra services be pay? Or maybe a hugely reduced fee for a forum only membership?

It could be part of the thing you agree to when you sign up to not freely discuss or reproduce what is on that extended data, articles etc...

I see the other forum sites getting busier if this forum goes pay, why pay for what you can get for free. Right now, it's the users that make this site good, not the mod's, but they often add to the discussions as users, i'm not saying anything negative about the mods, i'm just saying what's positive is the vast amount of knowlege frand experience from the users. So if this forum went pay, I'd just see if I could live for a while just using the others. As new users joined those would flourish, this one would stagnate.

BUT, all those extra features that you just named would be worth something. I don't know if I'd pay a yearly fee unless there was stuff constantly being added. Articles, hints, reviews. People will always be offering their own on those other forums, so the content offered should be a step above, not just a place to get all at once.

I reserve the right to change any and all opinions written in this email ;-) 

Shaddy

Harvey,

You said vaporware is to be avoided at all costs. I'm not sure if that's the best approach here.

You even gave an example of something that became 'vaporware' because it was discussed and openly rejected. Wasn't that a better use of resources then fully developing it, then forcing it on the members?

Big corporations are learning that product development works best when customer feedback is included from the start.

A supplier database would be great, but I feel there is still much that needs to be worked out. What type of searches would members actually like to do? I'd love to search for the laserable items made out of recycled materials. Where will the data come from and who will maintain it? How much detail will it contain? Will it have the information from past "where do I find" threads? It would be great to supply the structure and have suppliers maintain their own data, but will they have the motivation/resources to maintain another 'online catalog'? With so many vendors how do you standardize? Different names for the same thing can cause problems. I suspect it will need to be a large relational database.

The test program has been up for months. Guess you missed the thread. A lot of feedback was gathered and most was able to be accommodated within the program.

At the moment only the beginning of the alphabet is inputted, I need more time to complete the entries.

To see it, just click on this link. http://accentonengraving.com/suppliersearch.php

We will need to also add a definition of the search method.

Any search criteria entered is taken as a phrase. 'laser plaque' will search for only that phrase, not for 'laser' and 'plaque'. When you use more search criterion's, they are an AND search. Products. 'laser plaque', products 'wood', location 'MD' will give you results only if all are in the result.

Philadelphia, PA (Really Bensalem)

Harvey's Tips Page When you finally understand it completely... it changes.

David,
Thank you for laying out some of the potential features of the pay to play EE.

I think NOW folks that might have been not willing to pay, might since they have a tangible idea of what they could possibly be getting for their money.