Making a free site self-supportive

[MJM]

For the last few years I've been running a free site, also free of banner ads etc.
It's been great because I am also free of various obligations and complications that can arise from a site that is associated with a paid product or subscription.

My main wish is that some day it may be worthy enough to give it away, ie pass the responsibility of running it on to others.

I believe the information at the site has become of sufficient worthiness, though far from complete.

One thing I will need to do is find ways to make it eventually self-supportive, even though paying for it is no big deal at the moment.

One thing I'm considering doing is setting up a paid directory, which would also be helpful in redirecting increasing numbers of commercial members wishing to be listed at the site.

But I need to think more about what application to use and all the other stuff that goes along with it.

another thought is a donate button.

So last night I put a donate button at the site, had a sleep on it and got the chills.

Now, I'm the guy that answers many support questions, and because it's free I can let questions wait unanswered for days without a qualm.
It is very rare that a question gets bumped.

But I'm thinking members may use this donate button to 'buy' instant support, when the real meaning behind the donation is supposed to be in appreciation for the info already at the site and supporting operational costs.

So I'm thinking of taking it off already.

Anyway, just hoping to hear of others experiences and hopefully learn from this.

Thanks,
Mark

[Sean S]

Yes I hear ya on the donate button issue. For some odd reasons, most people that donate automatically assume that they have a higher priority or have become some kind of customer that you have to give support to.

Usually the way I would approach the support problem is first make sure what I am really offering and what the users/customers really want, and according to that, write a thorough documentation/FAQ file that would go through the whole system and also show a few examples of how it would be used.

Also the last thing, I don't know exactly what your site is about or what the exact situation is, but putting a few ads through out the site wouldn't hurt you.

Some people go crazy with the ads and make the whole page full of ads and the content is very hard to find, however, if you keep it simple and even just put one at the bottom of each page, it might help you a little to earn some money with the free content that you are sharing.

At the other hand, to make your plan work better, you can setup a system where subscribed members at your website would not see the ads throughout the site and get to post in your directory as well.

There are a lot of things you can do, it's just really up to you what you want/don't want to do.

[MJM]

Thanks Sean!
Whew! Right after posting I removed the donate link.

I really appreciate your comments. You're the first person I've had an opportunity to discuss this with - haven't even brought it up at my site yet.

I'm thinking the best way to go is a separate paid resources directory.
(maybe at a distinctly separate part of the site, ... though maybe there's good reason to have it on another domain ... )

I've known all along of a commercial potential, (The site is about a specialized arts and craft field), but I've tried sticking to my principles that this site be free, and contents should be as ad-free as possible.

I've been flexibile in letting some "advertize" in the forums as I have been happy to help promote others, especially those who have helped contribute content to the site, but increasing numbers are posting but not contributing.

A paid directory would help to direct any appropriate solicitation away from the forums.

... it would also be helpful in directing both guests and members looking for sources of resources.

The sites' still very much a work in progress, still in it's infancy, though our statistic graph has been steadily rising (with no special efforts of my own) ...
Last month was 954,00 hits, 258,00 page views
(... haven't really started making distinct web pages yet ... most of this is to the forum and galleries)

How does one determine a sites' value, ie much to charge?

PS I'll PM you a link to the site .. but keep in mind that it's a bare bones site, in much need for the next step of restructuring and a make-over.
(ie, I am definitely not ready to show off the site yet)

But now that I've finally decided to set up a paid resources directory, my biggest decision will be what to use ...
... hoping that going down this road isn't going to take me even further away from what I love to do most, rather may make it easier to do what I like most to do.

Mark

[Sean S]

Hi Mark,

I viewed your site last night, nice site. As for the reply that you made to the post, I agree with most of the points that you made. However, there are couple of things that I like to tell you but I want you to decide which one would be better for you.

As for putting the paid directory in another website/domain seperate from your main site, I personally don't think that is a good idea. I think that having the paid directory be a part of your website will not only attract more customers, but it will be giving your customers a lot of visitors and keeping them happy.

Let's think about the downsides of having it on a seperate domain. One, you would have to put some sort of advertisement or link in your website to get it your new paid directory started, this will go against what you wanted to do about keeping advertisement to minimal level. The other downside is that you will get less customers cause they can't see how much hits or how active the paid directory site is.

Now lets look at it if you put it in your website. This way you wont have to advertise it throughout your site or anywhere else. You can simply link to it the same way that you would link to your gallery or forums. You will get more customers because they would see how active the forums and galleries and the rest of the site is, and because of that activity they will be encouraged to use your paid directory.

Now looking at it the other way,

If you put the link directory in a seperate domain, then you wont have to deal with support issues in your free website, and because there wont be any forums there, you can handle support through e-mails and keep them private.

If you put it in your free website, then most customers might post in your forums for support which you probably wouldn't want.

Both ways have their up and downs, it really depends on your goal. If your goal is money, I would suggest putting it in the same site as your gallery and forums. If your goal is to just simply keep the ads and advertisers away from your free website, then putting it in a different domain would be a good idea.

As for how much you would charge. That is really dependable. There is no fixed amount or formula that would give you the number. The things you want to look at is to see if there are other similar websites like yours offering the same service, if so, how much, if they are, then make your price a bit cheaper then theirs. If no place like yours exist, then you have the ability to set whatever price that you want. The more traffic that you can get to those link, the more you can charge.

As for giving any recommendations for a script that you can use for the paid directory, I don't really have one to recommend. However, what I usualy do when I'm in the same situation as yours, I usually do a little research and see what scripts offer the best features. Usually I start by searching google or hotscripts.

Here is a search I did for you at hotscripts for paid directories, hope this will help you get started,

http://www.hotscripts.com/search/10488567.html

good luck

[MJM]

Sean you've given me a lot to chew on! Thanks!
I'll give it some time to digest this as I'll need to check out how others are doing it.
I think our site is unique, in that I've never found another site comparable.

Our member base has grown to 88 countries and ultimately a sub-directory could be made for each country, categorized by suppliers of raw materials tools equipment products and so forth.
Setting up the directory will be a mammoth task.

Yes, maybe it would be better to have the directory on the same site, and use usergroup/permission controls to manage permissable forum content.

Mark

[DrkFusion]

Hey MJM, great thread, some might find it useful. I found myself in this same situation awhile ago for a FREE website that was a pretty thriving community. I had no ads on it, but what I did do was offer something exclusive to the community, that was again free, but somehow brand ads into there.

The reason I did this was because I wanted to keep the forums clean of ads. Now the ads that I did incorporate were not overwhelming or disgustingly overpowering in any way, very subtle and due to the statistics and nature of the site people were willing to advertise.

I have sold the website since, and now it has been fully changed to a paid service (which I sad to see happen, and totally regret) but the steady stream of income the site was generating help attract bidders, I just hope I could have attracted a more honest bidder :S

Now for your situation, like Sean has provided, keeping it on the same domain will help, because it is offering your members a new service. Now depending on how you have it setup, maybe only people that utilize the system can have access to support -- but I am guessing you don't want to provide support through the site, or not at all (not sure) -- but if you wish to go ahead and launch a paid directory, I think at least, in a way you are obligated to make sure they are all satisfied.

Sometimes the best thing you can do, depending on the nature of your site, is to be creative to bring something exclusive to the site -- it is really tough to do this these days, but I am sure you will be able to come up with something.

If you want more information on what I did with the site (though there really isn't a live example of it anymore ) I'll be glad to explain it to you, maybe it will give you a brief overview of my problem and how I did it. It may not be your exact same situation, but there are many ways you can go without directly exposing your members to become customers, which will bring a large turnover of support questions and other problems.

[MJM]

Hi DrkFusion, thanks for your comments. This is totally out of my league.

I'm just an ole geezer with a 9th grade edu that learned albiet late in life how to write through the use of a keyboard/internet.
In 2000, after finding sparse practical info related to my craft, I discovered yahoo and found that even a person like me with empty pockets and no computer could start an internet discussion group.
That's where my distaste of imposing ads began.

So I got a website, and these incredible software applications and am amazed to be able to do all this for what it costs to have cable TV.

However the site is highly image dependent and what is up is just the beginning of much more to come.... including video workshops etc.

I suppose I'm a little obsessed about having a free site (with no banner ads around the content), firstly because I have proven even someone like me on a small income can do it.
But this also stems from my disappointment that educational institutions and other related organizations haven't provided this comprehensive service in the first place. Even the public library system has only a few books on our topic.

However as the site grows my main concern is to find the least intrusive means of making the site self-supportive.
I'm thinking maybe a directory with each category containing a premium banner ad and listings below.

Unfortunately I'm so busy with day to day stuff ... or maybe it's a good thing > to let this brew for a while till I get a chance to look into this in greater depth.

I'll PM you a link, pardon the mess, and much appreciate any suggestions.

Cheers,
Mark

[Sean S]

no problem Mark, glad I could help a little.