Free advertising/Site Membership

I know it may sound as though I am going on a bit however, this forum has been the brainchild of Tim and it works really well for all of us Brazi bay owners. I have to say and admit if it wasnt for the strength and success of Danbury and their investment in taking a gamble in importing the T2 we may not be were we are today. However, when you look at Jason's posts there is always a note on promoting the company and why not. I am in business and understand this but a lot of people who do not have or are thinking about buying a Brazi view this site. Therefore I think it is only fair to either eliminate any marketing or promoting of not just Danbury but any company or ask for a nominal fee to let them promote their company only on a small basis. If you look at other sites latebay.com bongofury.com they have a high number of members and they have a high number of advertisers on the site. I know we wont have that many but why not make a charge. Another thing, prior to me buying Olive I previously had a Mazda Bongo and was a member of the Bongofury club. To be a member there was a small fee, I suggest we should set a small charge as we are now in our second year, if some members dont want to pay a small fee then they wont get access to the informat5ion that is transferred between members so that is their choice.

Tim you have done a great job here but I think it is time we stepped up a gear.

olive and anyone else who's interested!

Plans are afoot to take advertising on the site. I'm not going to go into detail about it yet as I am waiting for responses from companies I have contacted regarding this. Before you jump up and down Jason - I assume by default that you will want to advertise, hence I have yet to ask you.

Yes we need to establish a form of paid membership, but making areas only available for certain members to see sections of the forum is not possible (as far as I know so far) with our forum provider. However other forum clubs have gotten around this by asking for a voluntary payment to be made. It will make no difference as to whether members are able to view sections of the forum, but those that enjoy use of the forum may wish to show that they do by paying for it.

I certainly don't want to put the site into lockdown so that only paid members can see and write posts as I believe that goes against the spirit of a forum and that of an online community. Further it will prevent guests from seeing what we do here and ultimately that will prove self destructive.

The club's membership of the ABVWC is up for renewal next spring. By then I hope we have established how people feel about a membership fee.

Discuss!

I am not in favor of setting up a membership fee for being a member of this site.
On the subject of Jasons posts, I too am getting fed up with the constant Danbury adverts. It is only right and propper that Danburys frequent this site as the main provider of brazillians, however it would be nice to see posts offering technical knowledge and advice (other than their sales pitch). Come on Jason, we all know what services Danburys offer, less adverts please, all you are doing is turning the members of this forum off your company

Sorry Matt didnt mean to offend! It might be best for me to leave the forum all together? Ive noticed no other traders take part so maybe thats the reason? Dammed if you do - Dammed if you dont..........I was just trying a 'modern' approach and taking part (I also am a lover of the VW scene in my private life too) .

The fact that no other traders have taken part is a poor show in my book.

Jason - your enthusiasm for your product is to be admired but can I suggest that your energies are redistributed towards improving customer relationships with Danbury? Every Danbury customer has the potential to be a second time round customer .....

It's not that there is a problem with you being here Jason, just enough of the plugs.

There are a lot of people on here asking a lot of technical questions. If anyone was in a good place to answer them it is you, but that doesn't seem to be. Maybe a bit more help on some of these technical subjects, after all that's what the forum is for.

It is the constant adverts that offend, not your taking part. As a customer of your company, it produces the feeling that all Danburys are after is my money, and as much of it as they can get. I presume this isnt the image you are trying to promote, which is why i raised it.
As i said, i think that it is right that Danburys are involved with this forum, along with anyone involved or interested in brazillian vans.

Matt wrote:

I am not in favor of setting up a membership fee for being a member of this site.
On the subject of Jasons posts, I too am getting fed up with the constant Danbury adverts. It is only right and propper that Danburys frequent this site as the main provider of brazillians, however it would be nice to see posts offering technical knowledge and advice (other than their sales pitch). Come on Jason, we all know what services Danburys offer, less adverts please, all you are doing is turning the members of this forum off your company

Hi Matt, I dont understand why you are not in favour of a membership fee seeing as you are a frequent user of the forum with 193 posts, surely a nominal fee to pay the overhead and possibly some better uses will be a benefit to all of us? Anyway it is your choice. I agree with you regarding Danburys posts however, they are a business and if I needed a plumber I would not expect any free advice from them prior to any work being done. So I would not expect any free technical advice from Danbury and agree that they should not advertise here.

jj123vw wrote:

Sorry Matt didnt mean to offend! It might be best for me to leave the forum all together? Ive noticed no other traders take part so maybe thats the reason? Dammed if you do - Dammed if you dont..........I was just trying a 'modern' approach and taking part (I also am a lover of the VW scene in my private life too) .

Jason, you have a business with a large overhead to support, your not offending anyone here, we just see you trying to pitch for any business opportunity you can possibly get, and why not. This forum must be a great advert for you and your business so why dont you, and I dont mean to sound offensive. Put some money into this site and reap the rewards. You will benefit and in the long term so will we., Cos how I see it....Danbury prospers T2 are imported, demand is high and values increase............simples,

This site is - and always will be as long as I hold the reins - independent. Therefore overly dominant paid for advertising is not going to happen.

Maybe the answer could be to have a separate thread, say a Danbury thread, VWDownundwer thread, etc, where these company's if they wish, can advertise new products, promotions, offers, etc. As I'm sure we're all interested in the latest developments within the Brazilian Bay world, be it power steering, exhausts, roof conversion, accessories, etc...
As it is very irritating to be reading through a thread and suddenly a Danbury sales pitch appears.

Maybe as the site grows Tim well make a few pence through advertising banners etc, but I don't think charging a fee for membership is the way to go.

On another note - Just got back from Brighton Breeze. A bit disappointing this year and the weather didn't help, only seen about 4 or 5 Brazilian Bays.

Julian

olive wrote:

they are a business and if I needed a plumber I would not expect any free advice from them prior to any work being done.

I dissagree, many buisness give free advice, especially tradesmen. It is how you develop a good customer base and helps you keep them with good cutomer relations.

On the subject of a membership fee, i am not in favour because although we have a members list of just over 100, i think the amount of those who would consider paying would be a low percentage. Even if we had 50% agree (which i think is unlikely), we would half our membership. We would also loose all the people who are looking into the possibility of buying a van. Obviously how the site develops is ultimately down to Tim, and if he choose's to go down the membership route, then so be it. There are other ways of raising money, if this is an issue, to be honest i havent a clue how much this site cost's Tim. If we are talking of a few hundred pounds, i would much rather look at setting up a club camp somewhere for next year and charging slightly over the pitch fee.

[quote="Matt"]

olive wrote:

i would much rather look at setting up a club camp somewhere for next year and charging slightly over the pitch fee.

That sounds a good idea, and the additional money goes towards the overhead costs for Tim. Count me in

Just trying to read through some of the threads and I came across this one.
Did anything ever come of this with regards to paid advertising / membership etc...

Yes Timmm. The advertisers that you see on the site pay an annual fee and registered members who wish to show their appreciation of the site make a voluntary annual payment of £5. They then join what we call our Executive Club. There's a section just for them which only they can see.

How much is the advertising Tim please and has it just got to be Vw related...and I'd be happy for the membership fee also if possible...

Yes the advertising must in some way be connected to VW Kombis. It's £100 per year.

I'll send you the details about joining the Executive Club.