We don’t have a way of knowing the wealth of posters here, so trying to figure out a way to charge the wealthy more is not getting us anywhere. The point is that we should do what makes sense in terms of raising the most revenue. I think we’re OK with a a few tiered offerings, but if we do nickel and dime for every little thing it will most likely cause people to leave or just not sign up in the first place. And that will be a net loss of income, not a net gain.
I find the idea of trying to guilt people into paying rather gauche. Some people choose to pay, others not. It’s each person’s choice and they don’t owe anyone an explanation.
The aim should be to make this a place that people are willing to pay to support. I know that personally I pay because I enjoy the site and would hate to see it go away. It’s one of my main hangouts on the web.
However I recognize that what I find valuable isn’t necessarily what others find valuable.
I think the question is how do we make it something people are willing to support financially without catering to the lowest common denominator. (Does that sound elitist?)
I think a SD YouTube channel is a great idea. I also believe the SD should have a social media presence (FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin). Cross links help draw traffic and help “search engine optimization”. I have experience with all of these—they’re not costly or hard to build. Big companies like Coke, Nike, etc. do social media, so should the SD.
One way to attract more guests is to offer more and better content. One way to convert more guests to members is to offer *premium *content available only to members. Let’s use a SD Youtube site as an example. Let’s say one channel is “Movie Revues” (I think Onion type movie reviews would be great). Lot’s of musicians on the boards, too. I’d like to see TubaDiva play the tuba on the SD music channel. Guests would have access to the channels on regular Youtube. But, members would have access to the channel on ad-free Youtube Red. It’s quite easy to put a member log-in to whatever pages you want.
Suggestion: How about a button to translate the website into alternate languages? It may attract more foreign traffic and perhaps make current foreign-speaking members more comfortable reading in their native tongue. I put a translation button at the top right of the mock-up page, here. Languages can easily be added or subtracted to the submenu. I also put dummy social media buttons on the footer. Check it out.
As I mentioned in a previous thread, we want new members, but we want the right type of members. If any of you belong to other high-brow message boards (science, creative writing, the arts, ad infinitum), suggest that they check out the SD. I got at least a couple eggheads to join this way.
Hopefully the Sun Times will decide to retain the SD website and boards. If they do, I offer my services to revamp the site, add new menu items, content, social media tie-in, YouTube, etc. I have experience with all that. Is the SD still in print? That’s the only thing I can think of that would be costly to The Sun Times. Maybe suggest that they drop the print version and just retain the web presence. Nothing expensive about that. And with a dedicated webmaster or 3, I’m confident we could reverse the attrition. Show the Sun Time increased revenue and they won’t want to drop us.
If, on the other hand they do want to drop the SD, hopefully we could come to an amicable agreement to transfer ownership to us, at little to no cost (I mean, if they’re going to drop it entirely, it’s worth nothing to them. If they sell it to some other entity, that’s ok—our eyes are the biggest asset, so no loss to us.
But, if they sold to us (at least the domain name and boards), I think that would be be the best case scenario. We’d have complete control over content. Migrate the site to a new host (I recommend Bluehost, they are one of the best and very secure).
Is the goal to keep the site alive through memberships and voluntary contributions from those us who are die-hard fans (many of whom have been around for a while)? Or is the idea to increase traffic, membership and page views among new users so that the ad revenue, membership fees and so forth sustain it?
Because the former doesn’t seem sustainable in the long run.
A YouTube channel is total pie in the sky. There’s no way you could keep up a stream of decent quality content.
I’ll bet this guy will take up the cause. SDMB Fan
I didn’t read through the whole thread (sorry!) but the thought of the SDMB going away disturbs me a lot. This has been one of my most consistent internet “homes” since I joined in 2000, kind of a refuge away from the nastiness of the rest of the net. I’d be willing to pay a monthly fee to keep the lights on, as long as the board maintained most of its essential qualities (mods to keep civility, not a lot of glitz and flashing lights and giant signature files, etc.)
If the board should ever go away and we had to move on to somewhere else, would there be any way to archive it somewhere so the old posts were available? There are some important events in my life that I wrote about in detail here (like my feelings about both my parents’ deaths) that I would hate to lose access to. I know I could grab them myself and probably will, but I’d really hate to lose access to this big chunk of history, both my own posts and others’.
The other thing is that there are millions of videos and probably thousands of channels on YouTube. What are the odds that any particular one breaks out in popularity? Not very likely.
A very few SDMB threads have attracted a decent amount of traffic or attention, such as “If LotR Had Been Written By Someone Else!?” or “Best Names in Public Radio”. If we could reproduce that magic on a regular basis, they wouldn’t need voluntary contributions. But it’s tough.
This.
Yeah. Some of this thread reminds me of a Judy Garland / Micky Rooney movie.
JUDY:* “Oh no! They’re gonna close the nunnery because they’re out of money!”*
MICKEY:*“Say! We could put on a show! Sam there could play a detective, and Mary’d make a swell damsel in distress! Why, we’ll make up the money in no time at all!” *
It’s super-sweet good intentions coloring reality a bit.
They may seem similar, but the important part is why the language was changed. The GB allows personal attacks in all forums, not just the Pit. In fact, the Pit is a very underused forum over there (to the point of it being mostly joke threads back when I posted over there). This change causes a huge difference.
The moderation over there is quite different, as well. Some rules are different, like the previously mentioned insults rule and allowing socks, but it’s mostly a completely different goal and attitude. Mods just decide if something is getting out of hand and then deal with it as they see fit. Sure, the SDMB isn’t entirely about rules, but the GB basically doesn’t involve them at all in moderating decisions.
In addition, unless things have changed, The Giraffe Boards are supported out of its owner’s own pocket, meaning that making money off of it has never really been a goal. But trying to make more money is the entire purpose of this thread.
Point is, it’s a different place. And those differences must be acknowledged, even if some ideas can transfer over.
The only time I’ve seen this “Guest vs. Member” conflict is when the topic is “Guest vs. Member” … I’ve never been told anywhere else that because I’m a guest I should shut up …
More like The Bickersons {YouTube 13’16"} … (note as a married couple they sleep in separate beds [rolls eyes]) …
[Blatant aside]
IIRC that’s not actually uncommon. I think we’ve had a thread or two about it.
[/Aside]
I have Dachshunds. I could do it single-handed. 
Keep in mind that increasing traffic, membership and page views might involve things that us long-timers hate. (Perhaps, for instance, they redirect the board so it focuses on Justin Bieber, or whatever music the kids are listening to today.)
Speaking of things you might hate, here are ideas cribbed from other forums that may not be technically possible:
In addition to titles, enable default avatars and allow members to purchase a custom one – including for other members.
Allow members to purchase ad-banner time/space that is displayed separately from regular ads. Most of these, I imagine, would point to specific threads.
Enable an ad-free expierence, not applying to the above member-driven ads, for a fee.
Disable features for guests, such as search and avatars.
And, to repeat something from the subscription thread, allow the banned to repurchase membership.
Edit: Enable media embedding for a fee.
No, Please Jesus, no!
So, avatars check. Next up: a like button? 