Styleforum's finances

[drizzt3117]

Per Foxx's discussion and some other discussion we've had in chat, it seems that finding a way for the forum to have the funds to operate (especially considering the new server move, etc) should be a priority.

Currently the mods, and j, have been spending many hours a day maintaining and running the site, and while income from affiliates, etc... helps offset the costs somewhat, it doesn't seem particularly fair that j especially is putting money out of his pocket and spending up to eight hours a day running the site without at least some renumeration.

We did mention that people should donate money if they feel they are using SF quite a bit, but according to sources, it seems the average donations per month are less than $100, so this avenue doesn't seem like it's particularly effective.

As I mentioned earlier, I don't think the solution is charging a membership fee, as this isn't viable on online fora.

That leaves advertising, either targeted ads from ad agencies (i.e. Google Adsense or the like) or banner ads taken out by individual advertisers. While this seemed distasteful to many people when it was discussed earlier, it seems to be a fair solution that doesn't take money out of anyone's pockets.

In any case, I'd like to see what people think about this.

Personally, I will be posting some nice items for sale in the next couple days, and will donate the proceeds from their sale to SF.

 

[zjpj83]

Membership and/or advertising

Another option would be to have a member's only forum. That is, you'd have the base level General forum where newbies could come and ask questions and get a lay of the land, but then the member's only forum (or two - a streetwear and a men's clothing) -- only viewable to those who have paid -- would be where most of the juicy discussion takes place.

 

[Halifamous]

Another forum I post on has very VERY vocal drives twice a year to raise funds, and they seem to work (several thousand members, high volume, still pays for itself). I didn't even know there was a donation option here.

 

[EL72]

A variation on the donations concept would be to have some sort of annual/semi-annual fundraising campaign with specific targets and a thread tracking donations and how far to the target. This may been suggested before but I believe it has the potential to generate significantly more than the $100/month at little cost.

 

[evilgeniusdan]

Donations and advertising. Sticky a paypal donation thread, and set up some google adsense.

Personally, I don't think a member's only forum is a good idea at all. But that might be because I am a cheap bastard.

 

[drizzt3117]

I didn't make this post with j's knowledge or consent and I don't think he's really interested in soliciting money from people, to be honest. I think if people wanted to donate, and actually did so, it'd be great. However, many people have said they totally would donate, but it seems that very few actually have.

 

[Quirk]

What are the monthly costs of running the site? I think members might be more inclined to contribute if they had some idea of the actual operating expenses involved. I for one, have no idea what kind of costs are involved in maintaining a site like this.

 

[drizzt3117]

Originally Posted by Quirk

What are the monthly costs of running the site? I think members might be more inclined to contribute if they had some idea of the actual operating expenses involved. I for one, have no idea what kind of costs are involved in maintaining a site like this.

I don't have any specific knowledge about SF in particular but I can tell you that webhosting for a site with SF's traffic will cost several hundred dollars a month. There will be also annual additional costs for domain name registration and potentially bandwidth costs that could range from nothing to hundreds per month depending how much bandwidth is supplied in the hosting fee and how much is used. This doesn't include the time and effort that j and the mods put in. It's not likely they'll be getting rich from donations or advertising, though, in any case.

 

[robin]

Originally Posted by evilgeniusdan

Donations and advertising. Sticky a paypal donation thread, and set up some google adsense.

Personally, I don't think a member's only forum is a good idea at all. But that might be because I am a cheap bastard.
I agree.

However, I would be interested in a membership option if it came with benefits, like exclusive sales and promotions to online retailers and such.

 

[pfr0g]

This site has saved me lots of money finding deals on cloths.

Or did it propel me towards the clothing spending frenzy I have been on for the last 3 months?

Either way I look damn good thanks to SF, imho.

I would be glad to help out the site monetarily.

 

[Soph]

HOW MUCH does it take to run this site?


I would recommend a sytle forum.net TIP JAR icon.
PayPaling funds.

 

[acidboy]

Selfishly speaking: this site needs advertising. At worse, members might get freebies from them.

 

[norcaltransplant]

I usually donate around $20 during Xmas time, and another $10 to AAAC. I also try to donate a few bucks during the summer months, or after the sample sale season where I make a little bit of side money to feed my personal addiction. I know, I know, dont use your own stash...

 

[drizzt3117]

Well for all you people that are feeling generous: Paypal whatever you want to: [email protected] for CC transactions. [email protected] for cash transactions.

 

[AlanC]

I believe J stated in Foxx's thread that the forum was self sufficient currently. He also said that if he was in dire need of funds he'd let us know.

I'm all for donating to the site, and I confess I've not done it like I should, but I figure J & Co. have a pretty good grasp of what they need. I'm not sure why we're having these hand wringing threads.