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I can name at least 2 other forums that are just as big and or bigger than S2Ki, get just as much if not more traffic, and have never once asked a member for donations. They have the same or less advertising and the guys running it are even turning a small profit. So what's different here?
My guess is that the forums are not as big as you might think. Or that someone is funding it out of their own pocket for whatever reason. The money is coming from somewhere.
Also, please give me the two sites you claim are just as big. I'd like to see these magical huge websites that somehow pay for themselves.
0) Make it so that you can sign up for multiple years... folks seem to not like being a guest for a few days while the renewal is pending.
1) Include another tier, Platinum ($75?), for:
2) Guests flood control = 60 sec, Members = 30 sec, Gold = 15 sec, Platinum = 0 sec. Since rapid posting slows down the site, tiering the FC time would help, I think.
2) Gold/Platinum members get the black borders around their photo albums removed. A lot of members use the album to store random smiley .gifs, and they don't show up right with the black borders. Observe:
is a lot better than
3) More ads for guests, and some ads for Members instead of none. None for Gold/Platinum. Like Pete said, there needs to be more of a distinction between the tiers.
4) I think the progress is always "Guest" for a while, then people buy the membership. No one will buy right away, so I don't think this should be a members-only site.
been Gold member the day I got my S and been ever since. S2ki is priceless to me. I have met so many great people and became good friends with some members. I dont regret being a Member and I dont regret paying few bucks to help out. If s2ki offer Plat membership, I would join in a heart beat. S2ki has been great to me and it also keeps me Sane in Iraq.
BTW; what are the gold stars under the membership status?
I've been wondering what the stars were for (?) years. Reading this thread, I finally figured it out! Hint - look at how long the member/guest has been here below his or her avatar.
No one should be requesting and or suggesting. If you want to put a disclaimer up of "if you would like to donate..." that's one thing, but to post up a sob story of why the forums are slow and that "WE NEED MORE MONEY" is kind of shitty IMO.
I have been told that it's up to me to decide that... So as a guest I guess you need to decide if a membership and or donation means something to you and or if you get what you pay for... Why would anyone pay when they can play for free?
If you think these posts are crap, you are within your rigths to read 'em and ignore 'em.
It is my right to bring the subject up. You seem to translate "appeal" into "someone coming to your house and pointing a gun to your head". Is this what happened? Can you show me the mark that the muzzle left on your temple? Can you even show me ANYWHERE on this forum that posts, "If you don't send money, you will be locked out?
You seem to understand that by virtue of you having free choice in this matter, that you can decide for yourself. Isn't that enough? Did you REALLY feel the need to UNDERMINE and cast negativity upon my free choice to put myself up as an example of me doing what I wanted to do? Did you really feel the need to post something that, clearly put negative impact onto how others determine their free choice? Oh, if this was indeed a sob story, wouldn't the money be coming TO me rather than FROM me? It would be a SOB STORY if I had some connection to the owners of this site (take a look at my sig) or if I had personal gain by it. Hell, I could be reprimanded for just being rude to someone like you or banned if I really got rolling. Remember, I got FREE membership as a CO. I didn't have to pay "NOTHIN' "! How is this a SOB STORY? You really have a weird point of view.
Why should people pay for something that they can get for free? I don't know, why don't you go through the list of ALL the members, PM them and asked them. OH WAIT! You don't have to. You already have an answer,
For reasons I deem worthy and on my own ground.
yet you make this sort of statement. DON'T make such a blanket statement just because that is your attitude towards life. "On my own ground." Noone has taken your "grounds" away. Are you so weak minded that seeing a thread like this posed a threat to your "grounds"?
On the most part, people have been exceptional understanding and generous so far and have deemed their return for the funds worthy, without analyzing it to death or trying to rationalize the intent of this thread. Then there's you.
Ive been a gold member since I joined. Although I dont agree with certain practices on this site, I still think its the best forum Ive ever been a part of. I am also glad that Eric can make a living out of this. Reason being is you care more when it's your livelyhood. If he was a doctor, and ran this site on the side, it would always have problems, and fixing them would not be a priority. I am in full support of people getting gold memberships. 95% of guest have saved that $50 by heeding advice. Ive saved people hundreds and hundreds of dollars in the electronics section, and if they didnt have access to me or someone like me, they would have spent much more money.
I do agree that this site needs more "members only" sections.
S2000 talk is fine.
UTH....should be members only. That is a place where you can be saved A LOT of money from the advice of other members. Its only fair, if you want access to their advice, you pay for it. Kind of like a "consulting" fee.
S2ki's rate of members/guest climbs unevenly, so of course the site will slow down.
Another idea to get more memberships....
Shave a few dollars off the sponsor pricing (nothing major, just a few bucks)....In return, members of s2ki (like the gofastlab) will get 5-10% off while guests pay regular price. This will make people sign up for gold membership, because 5% off when buying ADVAN rims is a decent amount.
Hope that was an insightful post, and gets more people to sign up.
If you think these posts are crap, you are within your rigths to read 'em and ignore 'em.
It is my right to bring the subject up. You seem to translate "appeal" into "someone coming to your house and pointing a gun to your head". Is this what happened? Can you show me the mark that the muzzle left on your temple? Can you even show me ANYWHERE on this forum that posts, "If you don't send money, you will be locked out?
You seem to understand that by virtue of you having free choice in this matter, that you can decide for yourself. Isn't that enough? Did you REALLY feel the need to UNDERMINE and cast negativity upon my free choice to put myself up as an example of me doing what I wanted to do? Did you really feel the need to post something that, clearly put negative impact onto how others determine their free choice? Oh, if this was indeed a sob story, wouldn't the money be coming TO me rather than FROM me? It would be a SOB STORY if I had some connection to the owners of this site (take a look at my sig) or if I had personal gain by it. Remember, I got FREE membership as a CO. I didn't have to pay NOTHING! How is this a SOB STORY?
Why should people pay for something that they can get for free? I don't know, why don't you go through the list of ALL the members, PM them and asked them. OH WAIT! You don't have to. You already have an answer,
yet you make this sort of statement. DON'T make such a blanket statement just because that is your attitude towards life. "On my own ground." Noone has taken your "grounds" away. Are you so weak minded that seeing a thread like this posed a threat to your "grounds"?
On the most part, people have been exceptional understanding and generous so far and have deemed their return for the funds worthy, without analyzing it to death or trying to rationalize the intent of this thread. Then there's you.
I'm not going to make 50 posts to defend my first one, but I will answer your question and I won't even post the bigger of three I know of...
Both make money to some extent and they don't have their members paying for it.
First, S2ki is the 5th largest forum on the internet according to posts. clubsi and bimmerforums are 6th and 7th respectively. that said, that does NOT account for the level of traffic the forum actually receives, so we have no way of truly determining that without asking the owner of each forum for website tracking statistics.
that said, BOTH of those forums make their money in order to keep the site afloat, just like this one. have you seen the vendor/advertiser list on bimmer forums? it's HUGE! http://www.bimmerforums.com/vendors.php
so what was that about bimmer forums not needing as much money as s2ki? they do need money just like we do. they just have a different way of obtaining it.
Same with clubsi. check out all the ads on their home page alone!
and on clubsi, they offer no image hosting or attaching images to posts. that cuts down on traffic tremendously.
So, the bottom line is, whether it's cutting back on fringe benefits such as image hosting/attaching, or getting money from advertising, all the other websites need just as much money as we do.
I'd like to see these magical huge websites that somehow pay for themselves.
A lot of members use the album to store random smiley .gifs, and they don't show up right with the black borders. Observe: 
is a lot better than
