Mr.Tom Kirkman - Doing the Math (IMO-cmhall): You have said that there are 10,000 Subscribers to RMM. They represent a pool of RBO visitors who have demonstrated a willingness to pay for their information-access rights. If 5% of those 10,000 Rod-Builders are willing to pay $10 each for an entire year of access privileges, then that is $10 x 0.05(10,000) = $5,000. That seems to begin to cover your preliminary acquisition costs for a dedicated Server.
You can still support a TWO-TIER Access system, which is what you (seem to) have now. And all the casual and “hit & run†Visitors can still visit RBO and see how valuable your Forum & Database are. You can decide where to draw the line of Access privilege. But I am suggesting that many Internet users are already accustomed to some sort of two-tier Access system.
If you lose traffic because of slow Forum-Server speed, then that is its own consideration. If you start to charge something like a $10 registration fee for FULL ACCESS, then you can probably cover costs AND reduce some of your clutter-traffic. In fact, a $5 fee every 6 months may help fend off some of the idle curiosity, if that is what is slowing you down. (Only you and your web people know your user profiling, with respect to frequency, time-on-site, features accessed, etc.)
So, let me know where to send my $5 or $10. We can't go see one movie for $5 a head any more. Even a DVD rental is coming close to that price. The price of gasoline and bait for even the nearest little fishing trip is probably over $5 for most people, even for shore-bound fisherman. Nor can 3 people eat anything particularly worth remembering at "Mickie-Dees" fast-food restaurant for under $10.
What RBO offers is a far better value, compared to other common modern expenditures. And it is a much better value than other Internet "entertainment" activities, such as dating websites. ... RBO is a sure thing for the hobbyist seeking reliable information and quality entertainment, because it is true that: "Rod building is a decent and rewarding craft." RBO is worth an admission fee, if you think about it.
Many here at RBO have agreed that no one would build a custom fishing rod for a paying customer for less than $XX above cost (usually cited as ~$100). Why then do we think that the best rod-building website can always be expected to be available for free? I, for one, do not see it as a deterrent to continued use, nor is it an unreasonable consequence of growth and the passage of time.
When I first came on-board last August 2004, my very first comments to you, Mr. Kirkman, were that RBO was so outstanding that I would gladly pay an annual Membership fee of $5-15. Any stupid dating website costs that much each MONTH. RBO is clearly head and shoulders above everything else out there COMBINED, as far as building fishing rods is concerned.
You can always back off later if it seems to adversely affect your clientele. Those who complain may not be spending much money with the Sponsors anyway. That's the dead wood that may need some pruning. What the right thing ot od is , or what is best in the long run, I don’t know. But perhaps something should be done. Maybe a trial Membership, say for 10 or 20 days. Maybe just a one-time $5 registration fee. Or something. I realize that most rod-builders are tight-wads – that’s how most of us got started in rod-building. Too cheap to buy another factory rod, or to pay someone else to repair it for us. But within a short while, we were spending 3-5 times the price of that junky factory fishing pole on our own handiwork, and are simply fascinated with the joys of rod-building.
Guys, isn’t that worth a few bucks to ensure that the ship is still sailing the next time we excitedly show up at the dock and what to head out on the “good ship looli-popâ€, I mean, RBO info-tanker? (If you don’t how who Shirley Temple was, forget it.) If that’s what it takes to preserve RBO, I’m in !! …
Remember less than 2 weeks ago when we read the timeless words of John Ruskin: (in the Post “For builders who sell rodsâ€, posted by: Tom Kirkman (Moderator), Aug. 31, 2005) [
www.rodbuilding.org] : "When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that's all: But when you pay too little you sometimes lose everything because the thing you bought is incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do.†… Two or three years from now, I don’t want to be telling people how great RBO “WAS†– I want to be saying how great RBO “ISâ€.
Obviously, Mr. Kirkman, you are hitting another level of growth, and that often incurs the requirement for a new support structure. Adding another support beam may be the only way to the added weight on the second floor from bringing down the house. Not adapting is a meta-stable condition which is subject to spontaneous reversion to the lower level of stability, or a certain dysfuncion at the higher level. I suspect neither condition is what you want. And this is one case where the default position of indecision may decide for you, whether you like it or not. Also, since RBO is just a part of the bigger picture, of RBO, the Photo Gallery, RodMaker Magazine and the RBO Show, then a threat to one may be a threat to all. THAT would really be a shame. ... So, where do I send my $10?
[End of soliloquy] IMO, -LOL, -Cliff Hall, Gainesville, FL-USA+++
