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FORUM NOTICE Silver Level Is Now $30.00

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As long as the word free is connected to anything, the 96.6 feel no obligation but to take advantage of it.
That is why the US government is in financial trouble. Nothing
can remain solvent forever when there are more free users than there are people paying the bills.
If we all got free TV/internet service/telephone service/magazines/newspapers, we might expect
it here, but we dont. So why does the vast majority feel
like its not their obligation to help pay the bills here ????
As long as anything is free, there will be some who will
never help pay. Put a charge on and some will do the right
thing, but others will leave in a huff. For the ones who elect
to leave, "WHAT HAVE WE LOST"?????
Zero from Zero still equals ZERO
LDS
 
The bottom line is that the Boss needs money. In my opinion it's time for the Boss to really think about making this a pay site. Give people 10 or 15 log-ins and that's it.

If all 1570 contributing members were gold members that's only $78,500.00 a year.

If it becomes a pay site and 25,000 people get mad and leave, that still leaves 20,000 paying members. If those members only pay $10.00 a year, that's $200,000.00 a year. Seems like a no-brainer to me....

Some guys like to talk about how they contribute by giving advice. That's funny.... Well next month, go to your mortgage company and give them some advice and see if they accept that as payment for your house. When they are done laughing at you, maybe you will start to understand that it takes MONEY to support this site, not advice.
It shouldn't matter if you use the classifieds either.... If you are learning from other people you should support the platform from which you are reading it. You don't get a newspaper or magazine for free either.... so if you read something here, pay for it.

The Boss is obviously a generous man. He created this site and maintains it for free while running himself into the ground. It is obvious that he likes the idea of doing it. But he has created a monster so to speak and now it needs fed. This isn't a nice little easy to run forum anymore. In my opinion, if it becomes a pay site and some people leave, so be it, it's just less work for the boss. It's less background checks, less bandwidth, less stupid PMs etc...I'd hate to see some of the PMs the Boss gets. That alone would probably send people over the edge. If people leave and he has less to do he can then provide more content for the remaining members and those members will appreciate it even more.

I think there should be at least 2 more levels too. I think people would upgrade to it if the top level was $200.00. Compared to what we spend on shooting, it's still minimal.
$25.00 Silver
$50.00 Gold
$100.00 Century or Platinum or ???? Give that level their choice of a shirt or a hat.
$200.00 Call it whatever you want and give that level both a shirt and a hat...and I hope the Boss PMs me when he does it so I can be first in line to get it. It's not a status thing either, I just truly appreciate this site.
 
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Begging for money isn’t the answer. Asking people that already pay to pay more will not net a whole lot more money. Need to find a way to tap the highest percentage. I would guess all the free traffic you get helps your ad revenue. If that’s the case then you are at a crossroads. In all honesty I’m not paying anymore than I do to support the freeloaders.
 
sdean said:
Begging for money isn’t the answer. Asking people that already pay to pay more will not net a whole lot more money. Need to find a way to tap the highest percentage. I would guess all the free traffic you get helps your ad revenue. If that’s the case then you are at a crossroads. In all honesty I’m not paying anymore than I do to support the freeloaders.
Click to expand...
true words these are:cool:
 
Last month , I said I would become a contributor after I dealt with a couple of personal financial issues . I took care of it the other day . I believe in supporting this site , as it is , without a doubt , the best one available . Knowledgeable people . Excellent information , and it appears that egos get checked at the door . *Well ; most of the time , anyway.* :D:D
If I could afford to be a Gold , I would . But I do agree that those who use the site should be involved in supporting it . If a old dude like me with diminished skills , and a moderately fixed income can "kick-in" , then my question to the rest of you is : Why the Hell not ?
 
I’ve said this a thousand times on this forum.

It’s up to the boss if he wants a mandatory payment. He’s the only one who gets to decide that. Until then, don’t shame others into paying.

The quickest way to kill shooting is to become pretentious and put yourself on a different level than someone else.

I support the forum because I like the people, for the most part, and I like the information. Just leave it alone.

Contribute because you want too, not because you were forced to.
 
I just can't fathom anyone accepting the concept of information, goods or services being made available w/o anteing up. Sirius, newspaper, magazine, cable, life insurance etc etc. How do we get those?
Obviously the overhead has grown beyond the major advertisers and work load . . . !!!!?? 3000 hours a year? Whoinhell wants to work 60 hours a week, EVERY week. Especially after 50 or 60 years of age.
Out of the goodness of the Boss' heart it was initially free. We have outgrown that - 44k members ! !

To maintain the high standards we so readily enjoy, the reality of economics needs to be faced. I'd hate for our horse to be ridden so long and hard as to just finally, wearily, sell out. And I'll bet he could, if he wanted. Health, life, these things can all change in half a heart beat. Let's do the maintenance now before hand.

If not, as a Varminthunters.com (Green Board) member that had 10k posts iirc.... I've noticed after it was sold the second time, it's gone downhill...as a board. I have many friends I've share a bench with from GA, SC, IN, KY, VA....you get the pic. Now?

No editing of posts, big kerfuffle after last sale, couldn't log in for weeks stretching to months, multiple re-registers, pw not working after last reset. A real pain. Now it is just a $$ making entity owned by a large outfit. No personality from up the food chain. None. I'd be curious how many non shooters are pulling the strings.
I'd hate to see us slide in that direction.

C'mon guys, do what's right, please. Tom
 
Would it be possible to raffle off a few " Accurate shooter " rifle builds a yr to help fund the site? Non paying members wouldn't be allowed to buy tickets without becoming a paying member, or atleast paying a premium . The same could be done by selling or raffling off swag.
 
Nobody is demanding anything.... Everyone on this forum that wants more contributors are driven by the same things. They want the forum to continue and they want better things for the Boss. They make suggestions, sometimes strong suggestions but they are only suggestions as nobody can make the Boss do what he doesn't want to do. It seems that he doesn't want to make this a pay site and that is fantastic, but the bigger the site gets, the less realistic it is.

I run a business and I do a lot for free in that business so I think I understand that sometimes it's just hard to charge for something. Sometimes you just don't want to be the guy that charges money, but in reality unless you have an unlimited supply of money, it will run out sooner or later. So why wait till it runs out before you make a change. Reality is reality and it can't always be what you want. Sometimes it has to be what it HAS to be.

The way I see it, the Boss can't continue the way he is indefinitely. I too work 7 days a week usually. I worked a half day today. It just runs you down. The Boss needs help to keep this forum as is and that help takes money. The Boss needs more money and asking for it isn't bringing it in, so what else do you do but make it mandatory???
 
I like the option for a higher level like “Platinum” with increased fees to support the Website. Would this help the compensation of the website owners? Absolutely, this is a business so most expect an increase in compensation over time. IMO, all AS members should be willing to support an increase in fees. There are a few other websites are offer less cost & value.
Ben
 
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