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  #1  
Old 04-23-2003, 04:00 AM
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amykhar amykhar is offline
 
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Default Looking for input

Currently I have a board that is just large enough to cost too much and too much of a hobby site to bring in income.

I have members who +++++ and moan when I prune. I have members who gleefully block out site ads and expect me to provide them with free entertainment. Sigh.

I am considering pruning most of our almost 2000 members and keeping only the 36 or so paid members. Then, distribute hosting costs evenly for all the paid members, kill the banners and just hang out together.

I don't want to do it, but currently I still cover $500 a year in hosting, $30 a year in software upgrades, and $45 a year for domain renewals out of my own pocket. I haven't worked full-time in over a year now, and it is almost impossible to justify this hobby.

Any words of wisdom?

Amy
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  #2  
Old 04-23-2003, 05:40 AM
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Velocd Velocd is offline
 
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$500 a year for hosting? Well, you have a relatively small forum, so what kind of service do you have from your host? This isn't a dedicated is it, if so, I would recommend getting an inexpensive but very reliable $20 host, such as Vervehosting (my host).

Otherwise, if you have regular old hosting, are you talking about almost $40/month you have to spend? $45 domain renewels??

I pay $15 annual domain renewels, as well $15/month (soon I should upgrade to $20).

If you were to prune all those members to leave you 36, then justifying your hobby would be easy enough if you only have to pay $10 hosting and $15 annually for registration-- right?

Anyway, a forum usually is meant to be open, and I don't recommend closing it for only pay members. Actually, a paid-registration forum seems alittle odd actually, but I understand you need ways to pay for your hosting.

Hmm.. maybe T-shirts?
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  #3  
Old 04-23-2003, 06:14 AM
RDX1 RDX1 is offline
 
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<a href="http://www.namcheap.com" target="_blank">www.namcheap.com</a> has 8.88 domains
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  #4  
Old 04-23-2003, 10:20 AM
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Dean C Dean C is offline
 
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Amy - are you one of these people who doesn't utilise their skills

Your a coder... there's lots of big paid jobs out there waiting for you !

- miSt
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  #5  
Old 04-23-2003, 12:28 PM
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Tony G Tony G is offline
 
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I agree with Mist, I don't want to see you giving money away instead of earning it.

If it's too big, try finding somebody who is as interested in it as you are to help you out.
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Old 04-23-2003, 12:41 PM
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Erwin Erwin is offline
 
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Quote:
Today at 02:00 PM amykhar said this in Post #1
.. currently I still cover $500 a year in hosting, $30 a year in software upgrades, and $45 a year for domain renewals out of my own pocket.
That's not much you know. I pay almost that much in a month. LOL! Try to get more members to donate and support the site. Implement a "points" system where each dollar translates to points that can be traded for things. It worked great on my forums.
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  #7  
Old 04-23-2003, 02:14 PM
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amykhar amykhar is offline
 
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No, the $500 a year is what I pay out of my own pocket. Subscription fees cover the rest. Currently, our hosting is $109 a month.

Amy
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  #8  
Old 04-23-2003, 02:16 PM
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amykhar amykhar is offline
 
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Quote:
Today at 06:20 AM Mist said this in Post #4
Amy - are you one of these people who doesn't utilise their skills

Your a coder... there's lots of big paid jobs out there waiting for you !

- miSt
I agree, Mist. I am actually moving towards doing some of this. The problem thus far has been that invariably when I accept a paying job, the kids and hubby decide to go nuts and have a fit every time I go near the computer.

Amy
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  #9  
Old 04-23-2003, 04:25 PM
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Velocd Velocd is offline
 
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Quote:
$109 a month
Why do you pay $109/month? Given your forum seems quite relatively small in size, you could be saving much more money getting a reliable $20-25/month host.

Quote:
That's not much you know. I pay almost that much in a month. LOL!
Sure it isn't, Doctor Erwin.
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  #10  
Old 04-23-2003, 04:38 PM
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Dean C Dean C is offline
 
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Hehe that's understandable Amy

Erwin doesn't want his forums made public which i have to respect but he has an excellent system set up for allowing donations in which the incentive for it is really good. I might even donate if i wasn't so stingy

Try to offer incentives for donations and tell ure kids and husband Mist says "let amy work "

All the best

- miSt
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