State of the Nation
State of the Nation
Even though I've done it in the past
Lexus IS200 Mods--TTE Supercharger, Tein Superstreet Coilovers & EDFC, 6000K HID Lights, HKS Silent High Power Exhaust, DBA Front Discs, Kenwood DNX9240 Head Unit, 19" Rims, TRD Kit, FIGS Bonnet Struts, Greddy Pillar Pod & Defi Gauges, TTE Red ARBS . And Been To WIM twice
Not many people are going to give the profits of their products they have made to the club.
Even though I've done it in the past
Lexus IS200 Mods--TTE Supercharger, Tein Superstreet Coilovers & EDFC, 6000K HID Lights, HKS Silent High Power Exhaust, DBA Front Discs, Kenwood DNX9240 Head Unit, 19" Rims, TRD Kit, FIGS Bonnet Struts, Greddy Pillar Pod & Defi Gauges, TTE Red ARBS . And Been To WIM twice
- Up the membership fees (while providing nothing for paid members other than the ability to sell)
- Request donations and operate on that basis
- Modernise/reorganise into a product worth paying for
- Close
- Mystery option No.5
The first two are not sustainable business models. As you've correctly identified, the face of internet communities has evolved. Like any other business, you evolve with it or you die. You've previously asked members for suggestions on ways to improve or add some value, has anything actually been put into action?
People aren't going to come here unless it is a well structured, valuable resource. We can't hike the fees on sponsors when traffic is declining, that's going to prompt them to up sticks and leave (and who could blame them).
Can we move the discussion and social aspect of the site entirely on to some form of social media and save a ton on hosting fees for the heavy traffic?
el_bandido
25-02-2024, 07:21 PM #12What are the realistic options then? I see it as something along the lines of the following:
- Up the membership fees (while providing nothing for paid members other than the ability to sell)
- Request donations and operate on that basis
- Modernise/reorganise into a product worth paying for
- Close
- Mystery option No.5
The first two are not sustainable business models. As you've correctly identified, the face of internet communities has evolved. Like any other business, you evolve with it or you die. You've previously asked members for suggestions on ways to improve or add some value, has anything actually been put into action?
People aren't going to come here unless it is a well structured, valuable resource. We can't hike the fees on sponsors when traffic is declining, that's going to prompt them to up sticks and leave (and who could blame them).
Can we move the discussion and social aspect of the site entirely on to some form of social media and save a ton on hosting fees for the heavy traffic?
As I'm brand new to the club I'm not sure how much weight will be added to this but I though i'd add my 2p.
The site is great and there is a lot of information on here for lots of different mods and fixes, however the availability of this information can sometimes be hard to get to and when you find the information you need the OP has removed the pictures from their Photobucket account if your a newcomer to a particular model these photos can be crucial and if you are searching for inspiration through the build threads this can also be a problem, people like myself enjoy looking at the pictures of a build from start through to end if the pictures are gone the interest wains, and that means people won't be spending as much time in the forum which means advertising revenues may take a hit (I'm guessing there) as El_Bandido has stated a Wiki on "How to" guides for Mods or common faults on a car would increase traffic through the site. If you can get the high standard of information that's already on the site more easily available to the wider audience when people come into an issue or want to do a mod the first place they'll come is here, the member ship will grow and the status of the club will improve.
As for the money side of things What you do have is a great name for a club, I think that with a little redesign / design of a club logo into something that you could plaster on a t-shirt and people even unassociated with the club would be happy wearing it. Take it to shows sell, sell, sell etc. A fundraiser could be a good idea, pick a show that you will have a strong presence at Buy some prizes ( something people want but inexpensive or freebies from a sponsor) then get the raffle tickets out get members out selling to the public and pulling people to the stand it's a bit of a gamble in that people might not want to buy tickets. another option might be to get kits together to complete certain mods, things that people can buy separately to mod their cars but you can save them the hassle and add 10% the cost. What would be really useful and possibly a really good seller (though a lot of hard work would be required) is if you can put together a manual similar to a Haynes manual. A pdf you can sell for a fiver with the the servicing and repair jobs step by stepped with pictures.
I may be way off mark and please tell me if I'm out of line. I just thought I'd put some ideas out there.
YK
YelromKram
25-02-2024, 07:22 PM #13Hi Everyone,
As I'm brand new to the club I'm not sure how much weight will be added to this but I though i'd add my 2p.
The site is great and there is a lot of information on here for lots of different mods and fixes, however the availability of this information can sometimes be hard to get to and when you find the information you need the OP has removed the pictures from their Photobucket account if your a newcomer to a particular model these photos can be crucial and if you are searching for inspiration through the build threads this can also be a problem, people like myself enjoy looking at the pictures of a build from start through to end if the pictures are gone the interest wains, and that means people won't be spending as much time in the forum which means advertising revenues may take a hit (I'm guessing there) as El_Bandido has stated a Wiki on "How to" guides for Mods or common faults on a car would increase traffic through the site. If you can get the high standard of information that's already on the site more easily available to the wider audience when people come into an issue or want to do a mod the first place they'll come is here, the member ship will grow and the status of the club will improve.
As for the money side of things What you do have is a great name for a club, I think that with a little redesign / design of a club logo into something that you could plaster on a t-shirt and people even unassociated with the club would be happy wearing it. Take it to shows sell, sell, sell etc. A fundraiser could be a good idea, pick a show that you will have a strong presence at Buy some prizes ( something people want but inexpensive or freebies from a sponsor) then get the raffle tickets out get members out selling to the public and pulling people to the stand it's a bit of a gamble in that people might not want to buy tickets. another option might be to get kits together to complete certain mods, things that people can buy separately to mod their cars but you can save them the hassle and add 10% the cost. What would be really useful and possibly a really good seller (though a lot of hard work would be required) is if you can put together a manual similar to a Haynes manual. A pdf you can sell for a fiver with the the servicing and repair jobs step by stepped with pictures.
I may be way off mark and please tell me if I'm out of line. I just thought I'd put some ideas out there.
YK
I replied to the email sent out, but just in case you didn't receive it I will say the same in here just to make it official n'all.
I have been running niche business hosting services for around 15 years now. I have several stupidly powerful servers up in the city all on unmetered net connections. I don't pay for bandwidth, and I own all of my servers so I can easily offer you completely free and unrestricted hosting without any strings.
I'm happy to help OJC out with hosting, but I know from personal experience that there is more to running a website than simply hosting fees. So I would hope that you continue your 'drive' so that you can fund any other improvements you may have in the pipeline.
Hi guys,
I replied to the email sent out, but just in case you didn't receive it I will say the same in here just to make it official n'all.
I have been running niche business hosting services for around 15 years now. I have several stupidly powerful servers up in the city all on unmetered net connections. I don't pay for bandwidth, and I own all of my servers so I can easily offer you completely free and unrestricted hosting without any strings.
I'm happy to help OJC out with hosting, but I know from personal experience that there is more to running a website than simply hosting fees. So I would hope that you continue your 'drive' so that you can fund any other improvements you may have in the pipeline.
![[Image: FB_IMG_1474048273787_zpsnbfq6a3s.jpg]](http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee440/davis5835/Mobile%20Uploads/FB_IMG_1474048273787_zpsnbfq6a3s.jpg)
![[Image: LexuS-Copy.jpg]](http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h204/Sparkystav/LexuS-Copy.jpg)
Read my thread here: The Evolution of my Turbo Lexus from NA-Supercharged-Twin Turbo-Massive Single
Please leave your comments.
Sparkystav
26-02-2024, 11:01 AM #16thank you all for the replies and suggestions, it shows that there is members who care the same as the admins about ensuring we continue to be the club you all know and love
Read my thread here: The Evolution of my Turbo Lexus from NA-Supercharged-Twin Turbo-Massive Single
Please leave your comments.
![[Image: Supra-logo-toyota-supras-119417_1569_512...duxjro.jpg]](http://smg.photobucket.com/user/rob-savage/media/Supra/Supra-logo-toyota-supras-119417_1569_512_zpslqduxjro.jpg.html){kind=logo}
FOSSIL FUELS
26-02-2024, 11:36 AM #17Thank you for the offer Jimxms.... It's greatly appreciated!
Also have you considered pushing your google ads a bit further? Going for some, dare I say it, more intrusive adverting placements and banner sizes? Possibly some text based links too?
It's been a while since I was last active in the club, but do you have a OJC Youtube channel? If you had someone willing to be the face of the channel you could offer tips/tricks for a variety of cars, arrange interviews with jap car enthusiasts that have awesome rides, record some hooning vids...etc. Could be a great way to attract new members and bring in ad revenue?
EDIT: another small thing (for the long haul maybe) would be to modernise the forum a tad. Go for a flatter, cleaner look more in-line with current websites and maybe introduce some Q&A sections similar to what you see on places like Reddit where people up-vote the right answers and earn points for doing so. I'm not sure if Vbulletin has this functionality, but Invision Forums definitely do.
no worries guys, happy to help if you need me to.
Also have you considered pushing your google ads a bit further? Going for some, dare I say it, more intrusive adverting placements and banner sizes? Possibly some text based links too?
It's been a while since I was last active in the club, but do you have a OJC Youtube channel? If you had someone willing to be the face of the channel you could offer tips/tricks for a variety of cars, arrange interviews with jap car enthusiasts that have awesome rides, record some hooning vids...etc. Could be a great way to attract new members and bring in ad revenue?
EDIT: another small thing (for the long haul maybe) would be to modernise the forum a tad. Go for a flatter, cleaner look more in-line with current websites and maybe introduce some Q&A sections similar to what you see on places like Reddit where people up-vote the right answers and earn points for doing so. I'm not sure if Vbulletin has this functionality, but Invision Forums definitely do.
Ive been into forums etc for quite some time now, Ive ran my own gaming forum, ive moderated one of the largest gaming sites there is and also helped a few car sites in the past,
Forums are unfortunately i dying breed due to facebook having basically everything. However the forum provides many things which facebook wont.
I think a re-design of the boards (jazz it up a bit) make it less cluttered etc. There is alot to choose from which can be daunting to someone who isnt forum "savvy" so to speak.
Promoting the forum through facebook, thats always generally a good idea.
This is something a few other clubs do, they have little business cards (We've seen your ride) or something on them, with the forum on the back to view pictures, who doesnt like to see pictures of there own car right?
This would increase traffic but only for show season, you might even get some new numbers by then!
Youtube channels are always a fantastic way to promote, have videos of events, meets or just a video of some guy showing you round his car etc. who is a OJC member, this just makes things a bit more interactive
This forum is still quite busy in todays terms, but i think re-modernising the forum is 100% the best first thing to do,
I like this place, its helpful, useful full of nice cars and more importantly nice people
Hi Guys,
Ive been into forums etc for quite some time now, Ive ran my own gaming forum, ive moderated one of the largest gaming sites there is and also helped a few car sites in the past,
Forums are unfortunately i dying breed due to facebook having basically everything. However the forum provides many things which facebook wont.
I think a re-design of the boards (jazz it up a bit) make it less cluttered etc. There is alot to choose from which can be daunting to someone who isnt forum "savvy" so to speak.
Promoting the forum through facebook, thats always generally a good idea.
This is something a few other clubs do, they have little business cards (We've seen your ride) or something on them, with the forum on the back to view pictures, who doesnt like to see pictures of there own car right?
This would increase traffic but only for show season, you might even get some new numbers by then!
Youtube channels are always a fantastic way to promote, have videos of events, meets or just a video of some guy showing you round his car etc. who is a OJC member, this just makes things a bit more interactive
This forum is still quite busy in todays terms, but i think re-modernising the forum is 100% the best first thing to do,
I like this place, its helpful, useful full of nice cars and more importantly nice people
we also have cross connection so when post are updated on the forum its posted on twitter and the FB page to keep things upto date.
we do have an OutlawJapClub youtube page which has videos from shows on but other then a few we dont have much on there.
could be a good idea to maybe link it to the forum as well.
with regards the forum yes i agree a more streamlined and upto date home page with cleaner lines would work alot better so we are also looking into this
thanks for all the input, we currently have a FB page and Group which most you will have seen we also have a twitter feed.
we also have cross connection so when post are updated on the forum its posted on twitter and the FB page to keep things upto date.
we do have an OutlawJapClub youtube page which has videos from shows on but other then a few we dont have much on there.
could be a good idea to maybe link it to the forum as well.
with regards the forum yes i agree a more streamlined and upto date home page with cleaner lines would work alot better so we are also looking into this
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