Concern over site viability

[Ericg]

Hi Ray,

I have also given this some thought. I reckon you need to keep the site going for longer and bear the cost at least until expo next year. Think of it as an airline that enters a market on a route that is marginal but will become successful given time. You need to build the trust of the punters which will require investment and patience. Maybe draw up a graph that shows members joining versus time and see what the curve looks like. Is it exponential growth? was it high to begin with and then has tapered off? Has it grown slowly over time? These points may help to see where the site is membership/cost wise in 6 months or even a years time.

I think there would be a good case to get some shirts printed up that members could wear, especially at events such as Expo next year. Think of our members wearing ACAM shirts who may be up `on stage' accepting awards and the like and the attention this may bring. There would certainly be a business case for getting the shirts, as there should be a mark up over your cost which would help offset the cost of the site. Say a shirt costs you $20 per unit and then members could buy them for $40. 20 shirts = $400 that could be used to pay for the site. I think your core members would be more than willing to do this for you.

I have seen guys happily blow a couple of weeks wages on models at a show but then be missing in action when it comes time to pay for club membership fees. I guess that is the stingy nature of modelling in general but I reckon you could offset the cost of the site by using such means as outlined above by me, and advertising as outlined by the others.

Eric.

[hrtpaul]

Some good points there Eric. I like the idea of the ACAM shirts. Most of us go to 1 or 2 model shows (plus Expo) a year at least so that's a lot of exposure for the site with shirts alone. I'd definitely buy 1 and wear to every show I attend for sure

[VH-WAL]

How about a version of the site logo be made with "member" (maybe with different membership levels) as part of the logo , this could be added to our signature blocks when we post on other sites, so our presence is there, just make it big enough to see it is there with a link to our site but not so big that it takes over

[hrtpaul]

Cracker idea Wally. I like that heaps. Might have to start posting on other sites again It's refreshing to see a site owner ask for ideas/help/opinions and take some on board for the improvement of the site. Well done guys and Ray And you wonder why I like it here

[hrtpaul]

I hope this is OK Ray but I just gave this a crack. Obviously you could have different colours if ya wanted. What do you guys reckon?

Original


Member (below the 747)


And 1 especially for Damo

[hrtpaul]

I tried to get them smaller but I'm not smart enough for that. Is there a way of making the image size limit a bit bigger than 6kb? Damo or Wally might be able to get it small enough so you can still read it

[Cap'n Wannabe]

And one for Paul..

Pauls Logo.png (40.92 KiB) Viewed 4323 times

[hrtpaul]

OI stop being a flog and make this thing smaller will ya. I want it as my avatar

[tor lives]

Hi guys,
Can I firstly say thanks for everyone's considered input.....it is indeed gratifying to know that the core A/CAM group is interested in and committed to the on-going health, vitality, and viability of our little site.
There have been some very good suggestions put forward here that I will be taking under advisement and giving some serious consideration to.
In the meantime the site will continue as is. This site is only as good as it's membership and I consider myself blessed to have the calibre and quality of membership that is evident in this thread.
I will never loss sight of why I started A/CAM, and that will continue to be my motivator to evolve, develop, and grow the site.
I am proud of A/CAM, and I do think we have a great future.
TOR
PS: good to see we are still VERY popular with the spammers....today over 30 spammer forum entry requests, that's two pages . Why the hell do they bother???

[oz rb fan]

along with the other Paul this place is a cost i'm happy to pay,but i understand your concerns though Ray,as to how to increase the membership..i have no idea(but i do like the t shirt idea....put me down for 2