Nice to have VLJ back

[Micawber]

Good to have the forum back. Thanks for paying the bill for us

 

[B-Man2]

Thank you Ethan, we appreciate you .... Let us know if we can contribute and help to maintain the forum .

 

[ausreenactor]

Thank you Ethan, we appreciate you .... Let us know if we can contribute and help to maintain the forum .

Nobody should be funding this alone.. just ask.

 

[s4rmark]

I would be happy to pay a yearly subscription to the VLJ. I belong to a motorcycle forum and subscribe , it makes good sense.

 

[bazzer]

Yes just set up a PayPal I think thank you for sorting
Baz

 

[Officer Dibley]

Amen to all. We who benefit need to contribute more than just words & photos. Happy to do so
Dave

 

[Lorenzo_l]

Same here. Thanks Ethan and happy to lend a hand.

 

[Edward]

Agreed. I will contribute financially what i can as well!

 

[Silver Surfer]

thanx Ethan, ya dun gud

 

[ausreenactor]

I was swearing at my phone, internet provider and lots of other things going on at the time. I am in Australian Army Aviation and well versed in solving problems by throwing money at it....

 

[Micawber]

I have administrated and moderated a number of forums (plus Yahoo groups, Facebook groups etc) going back years.
We found the most efficient way of funding forums is to create a membership package for a modest fee, then either grant paid up members access to members only areas (can get cliquey) or accept advertising but ensure paid up members do not see it - but casual visitors do. Also make use of things like Google Adsense which will generate income from content etc.
Of course accepting funds does carry a degree of responsibility so admins need to be prepared to be open about the status of funding and aware of potential tax and other liabilities in the hosting / operating countries.

Just my tuppence worth.

 

[Nathan Flowers]

Yeah, we weren't actually out of bandwidth--the host just forgot to increase the limit when I migrated servers a few months ago. I'm now paying for 5TB/month. We're banging through 1TB/month regularly lately. I'll probably need to implement some caching for images to control it as we grow.

 

[Micawber]

Yeah, we weren't actually out of bandwidth--the host just forgot to increase the limit when I migrated servers a few months ago. I'm now paying for 5TB/month. We're banging through 1TB/month regularly lately. I'll probably need to implement some caching for images to control it as we grow.

Thanks for the update Nathan. Not sure how the funding is here but if you would like assistance it looks as though you have quite a few who are willing to help

 

[Nathan Flowers]

If anything, I may run some ads on the site for non-members. It might make enough to cover half the server costs.

 

[Micawber]

If anything, I may run some ads on the site for non-members. It might make enough to cover half the server costs.

Yep, that's a good move. Look into Google Adsense and similar which could also ease the burden.

 

[Chandler]

Maybe 5 Star wants to sponsor?

 

[Persimmon]

Maybe 5 Star wants to sponsor?

Not quite sure that sort of promotion is right /fair to other manufacturers such as Aero and Ken, Goodwear and JC, Eastman etc

 

[Chandler]

Not quite sure that sort of promotion is right /fair to other manufacturers such as Aero and Ken, Goodwear and JC, Eastman etc

Just a sponsor, like Miller Lite for NFL football. Doesn't force you to buy the product.

Then again, offering sponsorships to the other manufacturers is probably a good thing, too.

(is everyone always so serious around here? )

 

[Micawber]

Random ads work just as well. Sponsorship comes with all kind of perils. Having moderated a forum that was tied into, and paid for by, an international motor magazine I can say both sponsor and editorial influence is never far away.

 

[Persimmon]

Just a sponsor, like Miller Lite for NFL football. Doesn't force you to buy the product.

Then again, offering sponsorships to the other manufacturers is probably a good thing, too.

(is everyone always so serious around here? )

I guess my point was if 5 star was the site sponsor for newbies coming into the site for example may think that here at VLJ that manufacturer is the go to jacket maker.

I have absolutely nothing against that named company and the same would apply were it to be Eastman or similar. Confusing and wrong.

I thought it was serious. If you were suggesting it as some sort of April fool joke well yes you got me.