Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Keep alive contour.org

I don't think you will get a lot of people to pay when there is another free site out there. It's like when Napster stopped being free, how many people still use it?

I agree with Ratchie1. I use this site because I found it first and more people use it. But if it stops being free, I guarantee a lot of people will just naturally migrate to the other site. A lot of people already use both sites. I never understood the hostility between the 2 sites, but it seems to me if everyone from here moved over to there, wouldn't it really be the same? Plus, then Lance could keep up the main pages with all the FAQs and the profiles. It could be one big collabrative effort, all linked together. I would be willing to pay a small annual fee to keep this site going, but it would be hard to justify spending too much when there will be another free site available. I'm definitely addicted to this site and want to see it continue. However, I just don't want to see the bar set so high that people are turned away, especially since its not like there isn't anywhere else to go.

Hello,

I first would like to say that I've been following this forum for about a year, but never registered, or posted until today. I own a new edge cougar and mainly post over at fastcougars.

To raise money, I can think of several things that do not result in membership fees. Why not simply raffle items off, and use the proceeds from those raffles to help pay for the server hosting costs. The cougar forums have done this for quite a while now, it even helped pay for the server, IIRC. Basically, FastCougar offers up a banner to the company in exchange for a product to raffle off. He obtains the part for reduced cost or free.

If you are interested in lowering the amount of bandwith, I would suggest removing some of the images from your pages, especially the forums, such as the cougar logo at the top of this page. Also, instead of having button pictures in the replies, why not just have text options. Images use up the majority of bandwidth.

Anyways, I think that these options are much more realistic, and while providing money to help run the site, it also provides a service and something enjoyable to the entire site.

Some items that have been raffled off at the fastcougar forums include: rims, spoilers, body kits, Intakes, and exhausts.

Paul

My $.02 on the subject...

I'd be willing to pay an annual fee for the site; something in the neighborhood of $20...not the $5 per month that was suggested previously ($60per year). If we had 5000 paying members @ $20 per year, that's $100,000 per year! I have no idea how many active users we have, just going by the member #'s and throwing in a random attrition factor of like 50%. My only problem with an annual membership fee, is that potential new members can be turned off by it before they see how awesome this sight is.

I think the better idea is advertising. Tasteful, subtle (as much as possible) advertising. No pop-ups, no re-directs, no "in-your-face" flashing obnoxious ads. Just regular old banner ads on all the pages.

Like I said, that's just my $.02 on the subject.

or everyone who has left over $$ in paypal could just donate it

i mean 2$ here, 6$ there, etc etc from many users adds up

ive got 6$ and change in my acct left over I dont need, and I cant withdrawl anything less than 25$ anyways

if alot of people did this, Im sure it would help

I think the raffle system would work well. There are alot of items that I would love, but can't afford. Would be easy to justify a 5$ ticket for a chance to win the product.

Since posting, I read elsewhere that Lance doesn't really want to run a business, which is effectively what he would have if he started selling ad space.

I dont know if membership fees would be any better, from that standpoint, but I venture to guess that even a nominal fee will scare off trolls, and generally reduce membership. Say, 5 to ten dollars a year for the privilege of posting. Guests would be allowed to scan, read, and search, but not post, until fully registered and paid up. This would also cut down on repeat questions, and the subsequent flame-storm that inevitably ensues.

Anyway, with reduced numbers, maybe some of the bandwidth/server space issues would go away.

As for everyone jumping to "that other site," what do you think is going to happen to their bandwidth and server space with 6000 new members flooding in (current registered membership, 335)? You'll see the same problems.

If Lance doesn't want to run it as a business, maybe someone else could run the business side of CEG? Somebody with more experience in that field.

Advertising is the way to go. the VWVORTEX site is has a banner across the top and it works fine. non-intrusive and is pretty damn good site

I would be willing to donate or pay a yearly membership fee. Although I do not think a yearly membership fee is the way too go. It will turn away nearly all future users and contour.org will slowly fade away. No matter how cheap it is, people generally dont want to take the time to send the money. Advertising may help, but it does not pay nearly as much as people think. The raffel idea is good, but someone has to be willing to take the time to handle all of it. We could also have a store section with items like shirts, hats, stickets etc for sale. But again, someone needs to be willing to handle all the sales. I think with a small banner ad, and encouraged donations CEG could survive.

How about each regional group doing a fund-raiser? Out here in the desert, we could hold a car-wash or something. Anything left after supplies are covered can be donated to operating costs for the site. We used to do this in the USMC. Hell, we paid for an entire Marine Corps Ball in the Luxor at Vegas by doing this (not just once, mind you).