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jeffdavison · May 13, 2012

Re: Thanks

Jerry,

Check out the format of another forum I hang out at. See the way they handle their commercial sponsors and theri "levels" of membership... they have 4. non-subscriber , suscriber, silver suscriber and Rossa subscriber. Each has it's own set of privaleges and site accsesabilty and participation. Some even have their own members only sub forums. Rob Lay has been running it for about 12 years now and it has been an evolution. When I first joined in 2002 it was very much like Access Norton is today.

Check it out: www.ferrarichat.com

JD

Jerry Doe said:
Happy Saturday

I wanted to say THANKS again to all who have donated. My Paypal account has just under $2000 in it now. We are going to work on the new VIP members area some more. The goal is not to have ads/banners. Members who have donated will get access to the VIP members area for a free set amount of time to help beta test (undecided how long).

VIP Members will at the least get these things:

1) Their own personal photo gallery. (needs about another 8 hours work to finish)
2) Full search capability (search will be turned off for non VIP members)
3) The ability to easily upload images to their post and host them here (needs programming)
4) A larger forum mail box where photos can be emailed too.
5) A VIP next to their log in name (needs programming)
6) Normal VIP membership will be between $50-$60 per a year (not sure if I am going to use PP or allow Credit Cards/Gateway. Will probably use Paypal to start, to keep it easier)
7) There will be a commercial membership where members get their own page and can advertise http://www.companyname.accessnorton.com

Other things will be added over time.
I will be securing the server after launching the members area. There are no timelines yet,

Cheers-Jerry

rwalker28 · May 13, 2012

Hi Jerry,

What you are wrestling with is very similar to how this guy get his cribbage site going. I like to play online. He had a regular job, was doing this on the side. Around 2008 maybe a few thousand member. Cribbage site is all about how many folks you can get to join to make money on ads, not like this Norton site. This site will have a more finite amount of members, i think.

Anyway, here is his registration page, maybe you can get some ideas from this.

http://ecribbage.com/members.php

Anyone that play crib, this is a good site, i am on there sporadically as rwalker28, as well.

Saber13 · May 14, 2012

Jerry,
I just made another small donation. I for one would be in a world of hurt if not for the help I have received through this forum. If you go with a paid membership, I would like to see a life membership option. I'm in the over 65 crowd and have a hard time remebering to allocate funds for annual renewals.

kickstart · May 17, 2012

Hi jerry, you could have a time separation, for non members everything is month old and for members all is up todate?

grandpaul · May 17, 2012

Great news and several good suggestions!

I'm "in" for sure.

Brooking 850 · May 17, 2012

hi Jerry , dropped some funds your way, tried through the 'Donate' button but didn't work for me, so just through normal paypal path
Regards mike

Jerry Doe · May 18, 2012

Mike thanks so much!

dougmatson · Jul 22, 2012

Just donated, hope it helps and thanks to all on this forum for their help!

Jerry Doe · Jul 22, 2012

Doug. Thanks so much.
We will be launching the VIP members area very soon and everyone who donated will receive a coupon code to get a deal

It really helps as the server is expensive, more so my time as I would rather be working on the bike...

Cheer and thanks again. Jerry

Diablouph · Jul 22, 2012

It really helps as the server is expensive, more so my time as I would rather be working on the bike..

See, I knew that bike was a bad idea. Someone on the Forum should have outbid him.

Dkt26 · Jul 23, 2012

CNW said:
Jerry,

I would like to see a dealer/shop/vendor specific area where the members can ask specific questions to the dealers and where the dealer can offer up information such as new parts and services being available. That way it doesn't interfere with the general discussion area.

The dealers/vendors (anybody selling anything Commando related, parts or services) that wanted to be actively involved would have to pay a yearly fee for this. Essentially a sort of advertising. No banners or things like that. Keep it clean like it is now.

What that fee would be can certainly be discussed but considering the membership size and activity it seem like it would be very valuable.

I also like what Jim said about a reasonable member ship fee. There is so much good information available and knowing that its just to keep the site alive as opposed to making a profit for someone, I cant imagine that many current readers would have a problem contributing.

Matt / Colorado Norton Works

As soon as I started to read the original post, this idea immediately came to mind for me too. It's a fantastic approach without the inclusion of banner ads etc. Dealers receive passive endorsement for their products from this site anyway so a dedicated section inclusive of a Q&A feature will enable a competitive one stop marketplace with current and upto date support for the purchaser.
I am sure any business worth their salt would pay well to access a market like this.
You may need to incorporate a resolution centre to manage complaints/issues between customer and client(your business client paying advertising fees) that would enable individuals to discuss disputes openly and passionately without risking defamation in a public forum.

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