Concrete suggestions
- Thread starter Slinky Bender
- Start date
It appears that attracting a large supply of paying providers to financially support this site seems a tough go. UG is a membership powered board. Now to convert this to a pay site has numerous inherent problems i.e. many would not sign up; cost of administrating and handling huge quantities of small amounts; hesitation from members to supply personal info or credit card info...etc.
One thought is to create incentive to donate. Donations can be tracked & kept private, and stages can be setup that when reached provide benefit(s). For example, if a certain plateau is reached that member can receive some private invite or a personal line to an UTR provider or maybe a heads up or "in" to a hard to get-into club. Select ladies that have a presence here can work out an arrangement with Bender to reward members that donate to certain levels. It's a win-win for all. Guys get something they may not have gotten before...and the ladies get some business & help support UG without reaching into their pockets.
This will maintain UG as a free board. The donations will remain private and voluntary...if you donate there is an added benefit...if you don't no one knows (except Bender & staff) but there's no pressure.
Maybe a little positive reinforcement is the way to approach some of the issues here.
One thought is to create incentive to donate. Donations can be tracked & kept private, and stages can be setup that when reached provide benefit(s). For example, if a certain plateau is reached that member can receive some private invite or a personal line to an UTR provider or maybe a heads up or "in" to a hard to get-into club. Select ladies that have a presence here can work out an arrangement with Bender to reward members that donate to certain levels. It's a win-win for all. Guys get something they may not have gotten before...and the ladies get some business & help support UG without reaching into their pockets.
This will maintain UG as a free board. The donations will remain private and voluntary...if you donate there is an added benefit...if you don't no one knows (except Bender & staff) but there's no pressure.
Maybe a little positive reinforcement is the way to approach some of the issues here.
What about this: Those that contribute and can be personally identified can be by definition considered "safe". This "safe" list can be made available to providers, allowing them to be first to receive heads up about discounts, events, visits, etc. They would constitute a unique group of individuals that get to participate in things that are too downlow to be open to public.
I think this would be fair. As a non-paying member, i really hope my access doesn't get taken away. I can only afford cheap thrills as it is...
I think this would be fair. As a non-paying member, i really hope my access doesn't get taken away. I can only afford cheap thrills as it is...
how 'bout...
It seems to me that the best model to keep the board as close to it's current state is to find advertising to support the operation of the board. However, obviously taking too much advertising from providers jepordizes the "integrity" of the reviews and the information here.
So...why not go after related, but non-whore, advertisers such as porn sites, sex toy sites/manufacturers, porn film makers/distributers sites, sites that specialize in fucked up and/or sick videos or pictures (like consumptionjunction and the like).
Set up a clik-through deal with them, place their info and banners in a special section called "support UG advertisers" so we can all click on their
links and raise cash for the board
or
set up a "pay for play" model with different access levels for different contributions. Say access to the first 8 fourms (reading from top to bottom,
ie. "Holding UG Hostage thru "newbie fourm" is free for anyone. $20 gets you access to the next 10 (thru "Diversions"). $40 gets you access to what is now the entire fee board. TO make it fair and to add incentive - give monetary credit toward membership for each LEGITIMATE, NON-REPETITIVE review a member posts - say $.50 per review.
hey...just spitballin' here!
It seems to me that the best model to keep the board as close to it's current state is to find advertising to support the operation of the board. However, obviously taking too much advertising from providers jepordizes the "integrity" of the reviews and the information here.
So...why not go after related, but non-whore, advertisers such as porn sites, sex toy sites/manufacturers, porn film makers/distributers sites, sites that specialize in fucked up and/or sick videos or pictures (like consumptionjunction and the like).
Set up a clik-through deal with them, place their info and banners in a special section called "support UG advertisers" so we can all click on their
links and raise cash for the board
or
set up a "pay for play" model with different access levels for different contributions. Say access to the first 8 fourms (reading from top to bottom,
ie. "Holding UG Hostage thru "newbie fourm" is free for anyone. $20 gets you access to the next 10 (thru "Diversions"). $40 gets you access to what is now the entire fee board. TO make it fair and to add incentive - give monetary credit toward membership for each LEGITIMATE, NON-REPETITIVE review a member posts - say $.50 per review.
hey...just spitballin' here!
Are we looking for suggestions to....
1) Make UG a friendlier place or change the negative opinion of UG
2) attract more advertisers
3) improve UG's revenue
Cause short of completely changing the way things have been here for the past 5 1/2 years and ruining the integrity of the board, I don't think (1) can change a whole lot. And changing peoples opinion of this board is probably going to take months if not years if at all. Face it... this is UG, it's history had been made, ain't no going back now.... So lets move on.
If (1) doesn't happen there's very little that can be done about (2). Unless you can find some naive ho's or agencies who are clueless to UG's reputation or some brave soul like Val/AATR who heard all the bullshit but rolled the dice and found a nice home here. There's also the possibly of creating some more attractive advertising specials. Specials that would be hard to turn down. There's also the scheme *** came up with and have UG partner up with a known ad site such as EROS or NY Exotics etc.... But that would more than likely require UG not compete with these sites for those advertisers $'s and a review section be added here.
Lastly is (3).... picking up the revenue here. This part is probably the easiest of the three..... Much easier. However... turning UG into a pay site or no access is sheer suicide. We've seen how few are willing to donate even $5. While the prospect of being shut out might encourage a few more to donate.... maybe even a hundred members or two, it probably won't enough to sufficiently sustain the amount of active posters UG needs to remain viable. The site is built on its massive membership and cutting out about 90% of that membership spells a sure end.
So that leaves a few options... Add some more specialty (pay per view) sections ala the stripclub and spa forums, which could add some revenue, add a ppv review section which I think once loaded with a sufficient database would attract more than any specialty forum and supply enough revenue to pay bandwidth and perhaps something for staff. But these must remain client only if they're ever to succeed. Then you have to deal with the advertisers who apparently will bitch a plenty about being excluded from that. Frankly... I don't see where their advertising dollar entitles them to access to private pay boards should this happen. They pay for advertising and the get clients willing to pay them $300 an hour out of it. If you're to expect tricks to fork over money for information that can be had for free or a couple of reviews elsewhere..... you have to give them this "hook". I think it also makes a review site here more honest and thus more attractive to someone expected to pay for it.
1) Make UG a friendlier place or change the negative opinion of UG
2) attract more advertisers
3) improve UG's revenue
Cause short of completely changing the way things have been here for the past 5 1/2 years and ruining the integrity of the board, I don't think (1) can change a whole lot. And changing peoples opinion of this board is probably going to take months if not years if at all. Face it... this is UG, it's history had been made, ain't no going back now.... So lets move on.
If (1) doesn't happen there's very little that can be done about (2). Unless you can find some naive ho's or agencies who are clueless to UG's reputation or some brave soul like Val/AATR who heard all the bullshit but rolled the dice and found a nice home here. There's also the possibly of creating some more attractive advertising specials. Specials that would be hard to turn down. There's also the scheme *** came up with and have UG partner up with a known ad site such as EROS or NY Exotics etc.... But that would more than likely require UG not compete with these sites for those advertisers $'s and a review section be added here.
Lastly is (3).... picking up the revenue here. This part is probably the easiest of the three..... Much easier. However... turning UG into a pay site or no access is sheer suicide. We've seen how few are willing to donate even $5. While the prospect of being shut out might encourage a few more to donate.... maybe even a hundred members or two, it probably won't enough to sufficiently sustain the amount of active posters UG needs to remain viable. The site is built on its massive membership and cutting out about 90% of that membership spells a sure end.
So that leaves a few options... Add some more specialty (pay per view) sections ala the stripclub and spa forums, which could add some revenue, add a ppv review section which I think once loaded with a sufficient database would attract more than any specialty forum and supply enough revenue to pay bandwidth and perhaps something for staff. But these must remain client only if they're ever to succeed. Then you have to deal with the advertisers who apparently will bitch a plenty about being excluded from that. Frankly... I don't see where their advertising dollar entitles them to access to private pay boards should this happen. They pay for advertising and the get clients willing to pay them $300 an hour out of it. If you're to expect tricks to fork over money for information that can be had for free or a couple of reviews elsewhere..... you have to give them this "hook". I think it also makes a review site here more honest and thus more attractive to someone expected to pay for it.
I actually pitched this to the boss today knowing he would turn it down. I've seen it used successfully on a local site here in fla, but then it brings in a conspiracy act with the promotion of prostitution. (JL... did I get that right?). The way things are in NY I'd think this a very very dangerous idea.
Just to build on Ozzy's idea...
I suppose the only way to know how membership would be effected by making UG a paysite would be to go ahead with it......but what if that severely cut into the amount of members to 100 or 200. The question then becomes whether the board would still be able to generate revenue from provider ads. Would a provider want to spend 'X' amount per month (or however it goes) if the viewing audience was a relatively small number? Then again, the board could also be set up so that the ads could be accessed by anyone (as it is now), but only those who pay the membership fee gain access to the site. Sorry to be redundant, but I'm sort thinking as I type.
In regards to the providers having access to to the reviews sections....what if they could get in but couldn't post? I would agree with Ozzy's concern that the providers would get upset if they saw something posted about them that they didn't agree about, but then again such issues would be resolved by some of the other hobbyists who had seen her and could counter such stuff. In the end, I would think that the norm would outrule the exception and the balance (and trusworthiness/fairness of reviews) would be maintained. Any outrageous posts could be taken up with the moderator and the moderator could take action as he sees fit (for example, if someone accused a provider of having an STD without knowing firsthand). So mabye this would be a viable thing.
I suppose the only way to know how membership would be effected by making UG a paysite would be to go ahead with it......but what if that severely cut into the amount of members to 100 or 200. The question then becomes whether the board would still be able to generate revenue from provider ads. Would a provider want to spend 'X' amount per month (or however it goes) if the viewing audience was a relatively small number? Then again, the board could also be set up so that the ads could be accessed by anyone (as it is now), but only those who pay the membership fee gain access to the site. Sorry to be redundant, but I'm sort thinking as I type.
In regards to the providers having access to to the reviews sections....what if they could get in but couldn't post? I would agree with Ozzy's concern that the providers would get upset if they saw something posted about them that they didn't agree about, but then again such issues would be resolved by some of the other hobbyists who had seen her and could counter such stuff. In the end, I would think that the norm would outrule the exception and the balance (and trusworthiness/fairness of reviews) would be maintained. Any outrageous posts could be taken up with the moderator and the moderator could take action as he sees fit (for example, if someone accused a provider of having an STD without knowing firsthand). So mabye this would be a viable thing.
As long as the condition of anonymity exists, any one can blatantly attack any one else. I see it quite often on other forums.
As for having one section for free members and a special section for paying members, this may work. I see it on boards such as SlaveFarm, Bondage.com, and Alt.com.
Yeah, I am a fetish chick. Yeah, I got tatoos.
But I'm a nice gal.
As for having one section for free members and a special section for paying members, this may work. I see it on boards such as SlaveFarm, Bondage.com, and Alt.com.
Yeah, I am a fetish chick. Yeah, I got tatoos.
But I'm a nice gal.
It's nearly impossible to limit newbies to 30 days. If all I wanted to do was read the boards I could be a different newbie every day. With proxy services there is no way to track this.
What you can do is make free access limited to the first page of any thread, disable search, etc. Enough to whet a visitors appetite and convince them to pay.
Of course, there needs to be way to pay that doesn't leave a trail. Also, the rates need to be very reasonable or most casual readers won't be interested.
What you can do is make free access limited to the first page of any thread, disable search, etc. Enough to whet a visitors appetite and convince them to pay.
Of course, there needs to be way to pay that doesn't leave a trail. Also, the rates need to be very reasonable or most casual readers won't be interested.
I think the true solution for an organization must come from within. When a corporation is in a downward spiral, it must take a deep look at what caused it. This situation is no different than any other situation in the overall way things can be improved. I agree that it has a different style, focus, etc. I think that those that have run the place through the years are most aware of what has worked and not worked. When business was up and when business was down. Thus, they are the best ones to work out the solutions. We, as outsiders, know very, very little about running such a Board. Thus, I would look for the real suggestions or recommendations to come from Slinky and the UG Staff. For our suggestions/recommendations would only touch the tip of the iceberg.
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I'm not sure I understand the problem with making a payment to UG.
One can simply go to the Post Office and purchase a money order.
Paying by CC, Paypal, etc. all presents problems that money orders seem to solve - unless I am missing something here.
Any off the shelf accounting system could track the funds so the Slinkster knows who has paid and who hasn't.
With a P4P site the lurkers would go away. I would think the active members who contribute would have no problem coming up with a reasonable annual fee. While the membership numbers may decline significantly it might make very little difference in the number and quality of posts.
One can simply go to the Post Office and purchase a money order.
Paying by CC, Paypal, etc. all presents problems that money orders seem to solve - unless I am missing something here.
Any off the shelf accounting system could track the funds so the Slinkster knows who has paid and who hasn't.
With a P4P site the lurkers would go away. I would think the active members who contribute would have no problem coming up with a reasonable annual fee. While the membership numbers may decline significantly it might make very little difference in the number and quality of posts.
Making money is the most friendly thing that can be done for an advertiser and that has been shown to be true on UG. I guess the question is do you think being honest with an advertiser can ever be considered friendly.
This begs the next question; If an advertiser is not accuarate in describing her wares, do you consider it unfriendly if that is pointed out.
Ultimately an honest board is the greatest most friendly place for an honest advertiser because once she has the reputation for being what she says she is, the dough will roll in.
This begs the next question; If an advertiser is not accuarate in describing her wares, do you consider it unfriendly if that is pointed out.
Ultimately an honest board is the greatest most friendly place for an honest advertiser because once she has the reputation for being what she says she is, the dough will roll in.
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It is impossible to make any public forum "advertiser friendly" without censoring. Isn't the one thing that is "advertisor friendly" business generated by the ad ? If there is enough revenue generated then the ad works. Due to the business we have chosen there will always be hating. You cannot keep people with an agenda quiet.
Is it possible for Slinky to get numbers on how much revenue a UG ad generates for a provider ? If other providers / services knew that a UG ad would add X dollars to their bottom line they would be more likely to invest.
Is it possible for Slinky to get numbers on how much revenue a UG ad generates for a provider ? If other providers / services knew that a UG ad would add X dollars to their bottom line they would be more likely to invest.