Jerry Doe
Admin
- Joined
- May 21, 2003
- Messages
- 2,337
Hi everyone,
This message is for NON paying members.
I wanted to take a moment to speak to you directly—not just as the person who runs Access Norton, but as a fellow enthusiast who deeply cares about this community we've all built together.
Some of you might remember when we used to have Google ad banners across the site (over a year ago). They helped cover the forum’s operating costs, but let’s be honest—they were a bit of an eyesore. I made the choice to remove them to give you all a better experience. At the time, paid members could log in and enjoy the site ad-free, which worked well. But after removing the ads for everyone, I noticed a significant drop in membership renewals.
Fast forward to today: the forum is growing in popularity and traffic, which is great—but the cost of keeping everything running has really started to add up. And unfortunately, I’m no longer working, which makes covering the difference personally much harder than it used to be.
I’ve put a lot into improving things recently. The classifieds system has been completely rebuilt—now it’s powerful, polished, and built with SEO in mind to give your listings top exposure (in some cases, right next to sites like Bring a Trailer in search results). For just $5/month as an upgraded member, you can list bikes, parts, services, and more. It’s a great feature, but I don’t think enough people even realize it’s available. Note: for upgraded members posting ads is included in the features you have.
I’ve also spent a ton of time optimizing the forum’s SEO to make Access Norton easier to find globally—and it’s worked. Registrations are way up. But unfortunately, most of those new users aren’t upgrading, and more users actually means more server resources and more work on my end.
Here’s the thing: I could bring the ads back, or even start limiting content for regular users after a certain number of views. There are a lot of ways I could try to force upgrades. But I don’t want to go that route—not unless I absolutely have to.
Instead, I’m just asking. If this forum means something to you—if you've enjoyed the camaraderie, the knowledge shared, the support—please consider upgrading your membership. Not just to keep the lights on, but to show that this community is something worth investing in.
It’s your support that’s kept Access Norton alive all these years. I’m asking now, personally, to help keep it going strong.
Thanks for being part of this amazing community.
Warm regards,
Jerry
This message is for NON paying members.
I wanted to take a moment to speak to you directly—not just as the person who runs Access Norton, but as a fellow enthusiast who deeply cares about this community we've all built together.
Some of you might remember when we used to have Google ad banners across the site (over a year ago). They helped cover the forum’s operating costs, but let’s be honest—they were a bit of an eyesore. I made the choice to remove them to give you all a better experience. At the time, paid members could log in and enjoy the site ad-free, which worked well. But after removing the ads for everyone, I noticed a significant drop in membership renewals.
Fast forward to today: the forum is growing in popularity and traffic, which is great—but the cost of keeping everything running has really started to add up. And unfortunately, I’m no longer working, which makes covering the difference personally much harder than it used to be.
I’ve put a lot into improving things recently. The classifieds system has been completely rebuilt—now it’s powerful, polished, and built with SEO in mind to give your listings top exposure (in some cases, right next to sites like Bring a Trailer in search results). For just $5/month as an upgraded member, you can list bikes, parts, services, and more. It’s a great feature, but I don’t think enough people even realize it’s available. Note: for upgraded members posting ads is included in the features you have.
I’ve also spent a ton of time optimizing the forum’s SEO to make Access Norton easier to find globally—and it’s worked. Registrations are way up. But unfortunately, most of those new users aren’t upgrading, and more users actually means more server resources and more work on my end.
Here’s the thing: I could bring the ads back, or even start limiting content for regular users after a certain number of views. There are a lot of ways I could try to force upgrades. But I don’t want to go that route—not unless I absolutely have to.
Instead, I’m just asking. If this forum means something to you—if you've enjoyed the camaraderie, the knowledge shared, the support—please consider upgrading your membership. Not just to keep the lights on, but to show that this community is something worth investing in.
It’s your support that’s kept Access Norton alive all these years. I’m asking now, personally, to help keep it going strong.
Thanks for being part of this amazing community.
Warm regards,
Jerry
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. I'll be a seasonal VIP downgrading in winter months because I work long hours and 6 days a week in winter.
