Mike32282 Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 A couple suggestions... 1. Instead of having the annual Tailgate shirt only $10. Charge $25 and have all the rest go to the site. We sold shirts on BZ and got some money from it. 2. Ask people for a yearly donation. We have different donation levels, and people get different things for each level. Check out what we currently do and you might have some ideas on how to raise the money.... http://www.billszone.com/YourSite/global/t...e=news&nid=5085 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike32282 Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 Also, you could always try adding some banners or google ads. Those generate good chunks of money too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark VI Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 Well, if you only raised $1200 a couple years back, that mean only a handful of us donanted. Considering the amount of users here each day, a yearly registration fee of $5-$10 should be NOTHING to the folks who spend more time here than with real people. A link should be provided for Paypal I'd rather avoid the banners and junk which would cheapen the board. You shouldn't have to go that route. Nor should you have to worry about fundraisers at the opening tailgate. That should be a relaxing day when most people only get to see folks from here once a year. Consider other cutbacks overall. Certain boards perhaps. Obviously, registration would now be required. This would also eliminate all the BS with folks using multiple handles for attack purposes. Would increse the quality of the board and bring a lot of people back who now just lurk, fearing attacks,abuse,nonsense. The only people who would protest these ideas aren't worth keeping. They just wish to post for free and play their games with multiple handles, anonymous posts, etc. I can only see positives. Watch the quality of this place soar. Pin instructions to the top and start a 30-60 day " Reregistration " with a yearly fee of $5-10. I realize that probably digs at you, fearing people will leave in droves. The true supporters would NOT be offended. I think you'd be pleasantly surprised at the response. There are more good hearted people here than you think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet baboo Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 care to check out my friends at http://www.tundrahosting.com or http://www.sagemind.com ? I'll pitch in for whatever fees/memberships you end up setting up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griswold Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 Normal ops... then spikes in server load? I wonder if a Powerboard function such as someone searching posts is causing that... Or any other function that is out of the realm of routine posting. Anyway... I agree with what several others had said: a low yearly fee ought to do the trick. In fact, I thought $5 was too low. Maybe $5 year for posting rights... then leave a tip jar out for people to chuck in more if they feel the urge. Managed hosting may be a necesity: I expect the Bills to do well this year, some of these Sundays coming up will see some killer server load. Or, I could be wrong and the Bills will stink it up, then there will be server load from cry'in fans. One way or the other, I see only a sizeable increase in activity. (I wonder if Powerboard is the problem here... this software has the same look & feel as Power board vBulletin... I like Powerboard... but there might be another option out there) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 How can somebody who wants this board to live NOT be be able to afford $5/year membership fee? If it's true and there are 1000 consistent posters here, then that should be more than enough to cover the server costs for one year! Then everyone can renew the following year if they so choose. Wouldn't this be the most feasible option right now? 452[/snapback] How many of us were absolutely lost when the server was down last weekend? Who wouldn't be willing to pay $5.00 a year to have our own dedicated server? C'mon! I'm In! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tatonka12 Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 hey there SDS, I dont know what kind of capabilitys are required server wise or how happy you are with your current server or if you locked in contractualy .I work with 2 guys who each have their own servers . if you wanted to shop around(if thats feesable)I could get the info for you or put you in touch with them directly. let me know if your interested Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffalOhio Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 How many of us were absolutely lost when the server was down last weekend? Who wouldn't be willing to pay $5.00 a year to have our own dedicated server? C'mon! I'm In! 501[/snapback] This was my post. I didn't realize I wasn't logged in when I made it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick in* england Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 Here's my suggestion - do the paypal drive and see what surfaces. Depending on how much you get take it from there. If donations are low - invest whatever you get to keep us ticking over, and buy time to investigate whether mebership fees are worthwhile... Incidentally - the costs you quoted for a dedicated server seem kinda high. If you want a dedicated Linux server,Fasthostsdo a good package per year for less than $1500... If you are looking for Windows based hosting it's quite a bot more expensive... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bone Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 $5 bucks a year is darn cheap to post on this board, I think that $20 a year would not be a problem for most people on this board...(e.g. voyeurr.com charges $20 a year to view the explict stuff) I will be happy to contribute to a drive, I don't like using paypal and would rather send a check. But if paypal is the way, I will be there. EZ boards have a community chest set up so you can contribute all year round to help keep a board up. One of their boards that I go on ask for contributions which you could do and have charged to a credit card. I do not know if you could do this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightRider Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 Or is that only the Wall? Either way, $50/month seems amazingly cheap when considering there are at least 200 people who check TBD nearly every day. I can't imagine the hits you get on TBD... Based on the join date of the members list (the mass registrations seemed to slow around 9/15/2001 or so), you had an active member list of around 450. This was also during regular season. It took roughly 3 weeks to get that number. From 8/16/2004-8/19/2004, you registered nearly the same amount of people, and that was during pre-season! You know how much more traffic you have now compared to then. I'd hope that the increase in donations would be proportional to that traffic. Heck, I gave to BZ last year because for the most part they welcomed the TSW refugees with open arms! Could you carve up the bandwidth so that it is proportional to the amout contributed? For free, you would receive dialup speed, for $x, you get ISDN, $x, you get Cable/DSL? TBD/TSW has been around for a very long time. Scott, when thinking about how my interests and hobbies have changed in those seven years, I become more impressed that you haven't called it quits. Anyway, just give the Paypal address, and the cash will come... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 Or is that only the Wall? Either way, $50/month seems amazingly cheap when considering there are at least 200 people who check TBD nearly every day. I can't imagine the hits you get on TBD... Based on the join date of the members list (the mass registrations seemed to slow around 9/15/2001 or so), you had an active member list of around 450. This was also during regular season. It took roughly 3 weeks to get that number. From 8/16/2004-8/19/2004, you registered nearly the same amount of people, and that was during pre-season! You know how much more traffic you have now compared to then. I'd hope that the increase in donations would be proportional to that traffic. Heck, I gave to BZ last year because for the most part they welcomed the TSW refugees with open arms! Could you carve up the bandwidth so that it is proportional to the amout contributed? For free, you would receive dialup speed, for $x, you get ISDN, $x, you get Cable/DSL? TBD/TSW has been around for a very long time. Scott, when thinking about how my interests and hobbies have changed in those seven years, I become more impressed that you haven't called it quits. Anyway, just give the Paypal address, and the cash will come... 544[/snapback] There was a changeover in the Wall software that required everyone to re-register during late August, early Spetember in 2001. That's why so many people have join dates about that time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightRider Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 There was a changeover in the Wall software that required everyone to re-register during late August, early Spetember in 2001. That's why so many people have join dates about that time. 557[/snapback] I sort of remember. I stopped lurking when it went to rivals, and noticed sometime during that season that the TSW I had enjoyed was back. The point I was trying to make was that it took three weeks in 2001 to build a member list numbering 450. When you consider how many registered on the temp board, the rate of registration in 2001 is pedestrian. The temp board currently has 444 members. Instead of 3 weeks, it took 3 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevestojan Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 I dont know if you are completly against this scott, but an EASY way to get some funds would be banner advertising. TBD has one of the highest Alexa ratings i have EVER seen for a message board. Its unbelievable. For a message board! Anyway, as an avid ebayer/paypaler, I can tell you that on ebay, you could easily sell a 1:10 banner on your site (just by mentioning your Alexa rating in the auction). This means, you tell people they will be buying a banner that will be one of only TEN available. They buy it for the whole month, and they get impressions based on hits. That would be like buying advertising space on any other Alexa rated site in the top 50,000. (for those that dont know, Alexa ratings are basically ratings of all the websites on the internet - the lower the number, the more "valuable" your site is to advertisers). You could EASILY sell one of the banners on ebay for $60 - $70 a month. You get 10 of them, a voila. Now, I dont mean having 10 banners all over the site. I mean, get rid of Henry's picture at the top, and instead have one space where those 10 banners rotate all day, every day. That, on top of donations would go a long way. Honestly, i dont think a mandatory fee is a good idea, because then people will go away, and i dont want that. But, most of us are more than willing to toss ya $10, or $20 a month, and even if not, $20 at once. or whatever anyone can afford. I really think considering opening up banner advertising would be a quick solution. Again, i was shocked to see how low your Alexa rating was... no wonder we were having server problems. The site is just too damn popular! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCgirl Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 How can somebody who wants this board to live NOT be be able to afford $5/year membership fee? If it's true and there are 1000 consistent posters here, then that should be more than enough to cover the server costs for one year! Then everyone can renew the following year if they so choose. Wouldn't this be the most feasible option right now? 452[/snapback] I agree - $5/year seems extremely reasonable. I think even $10 or $20 a year is reasonable but for those concerned about losing members - $5 is probably the best option. Guests would still be able to view the posts - just not respond to posts. I also don't remember the last paypal drive but would definitely be willing to contribute this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussiew Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 How can someone not afford at least $10? Or have posting at $10 a year and "read only" for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARGB52 Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 From a long time lurker some time poster, Pay Pal would be fine but include an address to send checks some of us older guys still think that computer's are a conspiracy. I think it would be very upsetting if this site were not to continue over this small matter. With the problems that Empire has and the Simon situation it seems like the information route to the Bills is drying up or being controlled (it's that conspiracy thing again, I just can't seem to shake it ). Steve you started this site and now you have an obligation to the community of Bill fans to continue it. This is an opportunity to continue something that you love and have a passion for. Part of your goal should be to make money from this opportunity so that you can spend more time doing it. Set up the pay pal with an address for people like myself and then set up a B-Bay forum to aution off items for fans. ( Tickets etc.) B-BAY would stand for Bills -BAY. This is your oppitunity to turn some thing that you love into a dream come true. Don't be foolish and let it pass you by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan in Chicago Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 The way I look at it, SDS needs some money no matter what as his collections from 2 years ago are dry. So, SDS, please post/IM a mailing address and I will have $20 check in the mail the following day. I can't believe we are arguing about this, people - let's just do it ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jukester Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 $5-$10 per year. No problem. Count me in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USMCBillsFan Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 I'm in for whatever the cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.