Official how to keep AO alive thread

[felony]

i havent read since my last post here, but whatever happens..

dont turn this into MO where people are just not cool.

http://forums.matrixowner.com/viewtopic.php?t=11916

thats a thread i posted in asking about upping your F/S thread and why supporters can do that.

sigh

dont know whats up with that place, it seems those that support get good treatment and everyone else gets the shaft

[felony]

Have you ever seen Phil? If so you would'nt be saying that.

hahah

PS.. what does PBN do?

[Vanced]

I dont know why AO wouldnt go to AGD in the long run.... the expense can be written off, Im almost posative.

Because Tom wants to keep us close and loyal to him when he makes his triumphant return like Bob Long and his Intimidator!

LOL

[GT]

How about donations that actually mean something.

20 bucks for an avatar
+20 for image hosting
+20 to post in the classifieds
+Free to herass the mods
+50 for entrence to the donors forum. Be cool to have the paying members there own forum.


There are ways to make donations work, but you have to give something to the donors.

[CRySyS]

Felony made a good point...

You have to be carefull when you start rewarding supporters. If you get carried away you shaft non-supporters and they will go somewhere else. That may sound fine, if they don't support who needs them right? Well they do contribute discussion and that keeps a board alive as much as money.

My idea, Raffles! Monthly, biannual, annual, whatever it takes to make the money flow. Each dollar contributed is a ticket and a drawing is held at the end of the month, half, year, for who wins whatever is on the line. The system can be tweaked to give out more prizes and generate more income or smaller more frequent prizes if need be.

I know I'd donate for a chance to win an RT Pro once a year. Or a ULE body or LV10 or ULT. With the number of active uses here you should be able to easily generate much more than the cost of the prize in question.

And then you could get into registered dealers donating prizes in exchange for recognition. Now you have no prize overhead!

Forgot to add, I'm not completely against rewarding donators, a supporter icon and perhaps image hosting could be your reward on top of the raffle. Just be wary of going too far.

[SummaryJudgement]

Uh, how about getting some advertising money kickin for this site? You know, like how other websites make money.....

[GA Devil]

I for 1 would be interested in possibly interested in banner space as a dealer. So waiting to hear how that might work.

[Lohman446]

Midwest Paintball Promotions is interested in a banner, I'll figure out what to do with it later. I suppose having a company with a better goal would help me put things closer together, but a banner on AO would be useful (for something Im sure)

[HoppysMag]

i wouldnt post if we had to pay. its not that i don t think the forums worth it, i would donate, but i refuse to pay dues. i fought this same fight over on the phog. to turn this from a forum open to the public into a country club with dues and prerequisits for joining is just too much. its a bad idea and idont think it would have the same amount of diversity it has now

[Z-man]

It is worth noting that membership fees and pay-for-extra features is not a deal breaker. SomethingAwful.com (as you SA Goons know) makes quite a lot off their $10 membership fee. Add to that the VERY tight regulations and auto ban features and they still are getting lots of $$.

Now is AO=SA? no. its smaller and does not have the resources. I would suggest that you start with the least obtrusive of the options. Start with stuff that PBN has. A donate button (as has already been suggested numerous times), well placed obvious but not obnoxious banner ads. If the bills are still not being paid we consider the next steps.

[Kevmaster]

I agree with phil on this. Memberships fees WILL be the downfall of AO. I can't see membership fees for anything other than image hosting. If you do much more than that (and give away a 'supporting member' image) then you are 1) creating an elitist forum and 2) bringing it down.

Membership fees will not keep AO what it is. It will go the way of PBC if people have to pay to come here

I too have a few ideas, but membershipf ees arnt one of them

[Thordic]

All you really need is a small supporters circle. Get 20 people willing to pony up $10 a month, or 40 willing to put up $5 a month, or whatever it takes.

I'd be willing to do that. Nothing about the site would have to change. I'd want the site to stay exactly the same.

You could set up banners, or AdSense, or have raffles, or whatever to help defray the cost further.

I don't think supporters need anything extra, personally. Just knowing that you are able to give back to the AO community should be enough. Maybe a credits page with a list of supporters, but thats about it.

[AGD]

Guys,

I am guestimating that overall it costs about 1000 bucks a month to run this site. I agree that a sign up fee is a waist of time and will kill AO off. I do think that donations are a good idea with bonus stuff for doing so like sigs and avatars. It may make sense to charge a yearly membership fee to list stuff in the classifieds.

AGD

[MonsterMag]

Guys,

I am guestimating that overall it costs about 1000 bucks a month to run this site. I agree that a sign up fee is a waist of time and will kill AO off. I do think that donations are a good idea with bonus stuff for doing so like sigs and avatars. It may make sense to charge a yearly membership fee to list stuff in the classifieds.

AGD

Tom , are you gonna stay on ao?

[SuiciDal Sn Y p ER]

but then the classifieds on ao would bomb and everyone would do business on pbn