yep
i would be in for it, but i think there would be a lot who would not. Overall numbers would be down. I dont really like the auction link either oz but it is a catch 22 i think mate. If ads charges the users for the site then he would have less overall numbers and some of the other sponsors might not want to sponsor any more because they are not getting the publicity
perhaps with the exmouth comp taking off in the next couple of years part of the proceeds etc could go to the upkeep of the site
I must admit though. Compared to other forums this one has the least "in your face" pop ups etc in advertisements

Id happily pay a fee, money well spent i reckon.

that there are 3 or 4 other wa based fishing forums that have no fee, I reckon it would kill numbers.

Me personally, no worries, but as Brad said I reckon a number (especially young guys and occassional viewers) of other members would drop off off the radar to the detriment of the site.

i agree it would bugger up the numbers very quickly. The auctions have been fairly good at raising operating capital. Why not:

1. Have those who wish to donate an item for auction - being anything from a trip out, a seafood dinner or fishing gear. This worked well last time- just someone metro based to co-ordinate or Adam can start a forum called something like "Weekly Auction" and say 5 items weekly are auctioned off so there is a steady flow of funds in. People can post an item with payment to Mr. Gallash.

2. Raffle the donations off - may not get a permit but there are raffles going on all the time that don't have and maybe don't need a permit.

3. Donation tins in the sponsor's premises?

Any comments, criticisms or constructive advice would be good.

I would pay it, but like has been said, I think many would go elsewhere. 

I dig the auction idea, but probably more sustainable if you it was monthly instead of weekly.

Certainly wouldnt be interested myself.. Would make it the first of its kind that i know off. You would have to be a bit naive to think Adam isnt doing okay from this site already guys struth?!@

No offence Adam.

In my opinion introducing a fee would the death of FW.

It is a good site that I spend, probably, too much time on, however I wouldn't pay to contribute.

Just my two bobs worth

Steve

Think you would be very suprised Albee!!  Heres an example, I have to pay my techie guy for 3 hours what an advertiser pays for a month.... I bump it up anymore and I risk losing them, I take new guys on and well...

Your a website owner Albee, I bet that if it gets off the ground you will be thinking back to this comment in the next few years once you realise the costs involved in making it a success!

I know some of you guys would be happy to pay a fee, but I too think that it would be the death of FW.

The FW Exmouth comp is not for profit either, just if theres any misconception.  

I don't speak for Adam here but it always has been and always will be a community site imo. The countless hours that Adam has devoted to getting this thing going and keeping it going are amazing. I have added a fair few hours myself I can tell you. We do it for free because we love the community vibe that has been created. Keeping it free has come at a cost though (a time cost) for those behind the scenes.

I would suggest that charging a subscription fee would be to the detriment to member numbers and subsequently advertising revenues. Accordingly its not a preferred option.

If the site was all about making money you would have a very very different vibe to it. Its always been community first. Given the size and effort needed to keep it growing I doubt anyone would begrudge Adam trying to recoup his costs and maybe even turn a small profit. Advertising is the natural way to achieve this.

With the reeltime magazine I contemplated making it subscription fee based but again that just didnt feel right. The magazine is free to keep the community feel and we hope to cover costs through increased advertising in future issues.

The recent Bidhere advertising may be a little controversial, but its far better than charging a fee to join FW and seeing membership plummet. 

Thats just my opinion on where we have come from and where we are going as a site. Inevitably things will change over time and decisions made will please some and anger others. Just be confident in believing that we keep this site and it's offshoots going because of the buzz it gives us, not the money it generates. If we can get both those things however without compromising our ideals then woo hoo, party time!!! (Dream on Andy!)

is obviously enormous - i have seen photos of his boat - i bet he is going to add a flybridge soon using 2 safety stools and an ironing board.

Some sites have a donation option. Would this not be worth considering?

There seems to be a few people who would be willing to contribute towards costs.

Make sure people know it's purely optional, it would be fairly easy to do using paypal.

Yes there is a donations link at the top of the page.

I dont post very often .... but i browse this forum every day. I am a web developer by trade and would be more than happy to pay for a registration fee and also offer some web devlopement services to keep this site up and running. !!!

Its a great forum and there are pleny of guys worth chatting to on here for advice, knowledge and even the stories / reports. 

If you need any help Adam let me know.

Thanks 

Carl

you need a donation (like before) I'd gladly donate, I can't join any other site as I don't have iinet, bigpond or other sites just a hotmail account they don't reconigise this email service (even though its a microsoft email account) plus I don't have a credit card to buy things on the net.  Love this site, as a woman I don't get tossed off or fobbed off as like some other sites I've been on.  Good luck Adam, what ever you decide.

Andy Mac agree it sure is a community site and I love it, just wish old fart would go out fishing more so I can brag and brag ha ha ha

There's lots of new members lately and probably heaps who don't know that those little fish you see beside the avatars are for people who have made donations to the site to help Adam cover costs. 

The donations button is up the top just under the Fishwrecked.com name on the left.  

Maybe people who have successful sales in the sale, swap, buy section could make a donation from their sale too.  I'm sure it all helps.

even a couple of bucks per sale would help. The Readers Mart or the West would slug you some serious dollars for what costs zip here.

people from the site can donate their services to assist with admin and web development...and anything else.

there are a diverse range of people on here who are probably willing to donate their time and skills as mossie has offered.  this would save ya on running costs.

you could also post ads for the types of people you need to volunteer for particular jobs.

Guys has there ever been any thought of taking reeltime magazine to paper.??? Mag comes out every 2 months...earn money and go fishing. Never have to work for the man again!   Can have Cols homemade lure of the month, Faulkners Recipe of the month..ha ha

Would also be good to see my name slowly work its way to the bottom of the donations page fellas.

then i can sell the lure colin gave me in like 10 years time :P

Perhaps its something we can spin off far into the future, but way too many mags in the market as it is, and a big jump in production costs to get it out there,

I like the "uniqueness" of what we have right now, with the interaction and vid capability. You would lose all of that the moment you go paperbased.

"Mag comes out every 2 months...earn money and go fishing. Never have to work for the man again! "

If only it was that easy...

Adam - have you thought of intergrating a pay per click advertising program such as Google Adsense - or something similar?  I used to own/operate a holiday homes listing website and we had half the traffic you have though we used to generate a decent income from it.

This types of programs don't have to invade the whole site - they can be setup to suit the site and to look like part of the site.  Here's a site that integrates google adsense well - notice the sponsored links on the left side (ignore the banner at the top) http://www.hotfrog.com/Products/airconditioning-equipment

might also be worth looking at how other forums integrate advertising aswell - such as

http://www.hotcopper.com.au/default.asp

i wasnt aware there was an option to do that or thats what the fish meant...ill make one tonight now that i know :)

ADD - Ok just coughed up a donation, now how about a few more loosen off the ol purse strings :P, anyway when do i get my bloody fish :D hahahahaha

sorry for the silly question but i cant see any link banner ?

what page is it on? if it bothers others why dont they just ignore it?

i dont get upset when people post pics of boats i cant afford?

ive seen the bid website its pretty simple 

Adsense would pay less than the current advertisers. Its pretty low-rent.

it is like one big family on here all with the same interests, would you charge a family member to be in the family, ? . i know i wouldnt and i wouldnt like to pay either. this is a great site and if it was downsized by way of what was suggested it just wouldnt be the same. anyone can join from schoolies to pensioners without worrying about the $. you dont get much for free these days so imo make the most of this friendly and informative site

till - was thinking that adsense could be worked into the "secondary" advertising spaces... eg, as you read this message what do you see to the right of the screen - a blank space... this could be used in areas such as this...

Mailing lists are also another good traffic/revenue generator...

Adsense can do awful things to how long it takes to load a site, all Adam's banners are local, no dependancy on external sites or services to get a page.

I haven't had this experience as these modules load after the page is loaded, though whether it is adsense or another external ad agency - point being using an external pay per click system can be very profitable and efficient.  If you look at any major portal that has large volumes of traffic - they all use external ad agencies.

Localisation of ads and target marketing of banners is a feature within these external ad modules.

There are a number of agencies out there that would kill to have a site by where they could market companies in there portfolios such as BCF, Ranger Camping, Quintrex, Mercury, okaley sun glasses - basically anything to do with fishing/camping/boating/diving!

Have a look at http://www.seabreeze.com.au/ - they went through this stage.  Initially they had no banners etc though as soon as they had the eyeballs they tied themselves in with an agency.

In my experience this is the usual step taken by a growing website.  As soon as you reach the stage where you have reliable traffic you then present the site to agencies.  I'm not saying cover the site in flashing banners - though my point is that this is a much easier way to create a residual income for the site which in turn would allow adam to spend time on the more important areas of the site.

if you had another option than paypal to donate money you might end up with more donations alot of people dont have or use credit cards & ive had bad experiences with paypal & refuse to use them alot of sites should give other options for payment they would make alot more money like a bank transfer direct deposit or money order just my opinion 

wombat, just pm adam and im sure he would gladly pass along the FW account details for you to direct deposit in a donation, i know a few people went this way with the entry fee for the FW exmouth comp

till - i'll agree to disagree on this one...i was a web designer/developer for 7yrs+ and yeah many sites had loading problems in the past though times have changed and coding and graphic compression technology has come a long way.

end of the day the use of online ad agencies is a proven business model which is the main revenue source for many successful sites... facebook, google, seabreeze, realestate.com - they all use them...

The same business model also keeps newspapers afloat - whether its online, or offline it all about selling your advertising space effectively (in a non invasive manner)

If donations etc are not enough to keep the site going then this is an option to consider...

I used to admin server hardware, we could time banner loads down to the milisecond so it was all about caches and loading and latency.

I'll agree to disagree.