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A Bit Of A Crisis For CAFCNA

Chief

Chief

CAFCNA FOUNDER
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Joined
Jan 10, 2002
Messages
12,693
Location
Edmonds, WA
What a wonderful problem to have. ?Seriously, I couldn't be happier - well sort of. ?And make it clear - the site isn't going anywhere!

Here is the deal. ?This site is becoming very popular. ?Think there are a lot of regular posters here. ?There are a lot more lurkers. ?The site is now averaging more than 1,100 unique visitors a day (that's unique folks). ?This is resulting in over 11,000 page views a day. ?That is resulting in over 500 Megs of data moved. ?Every day.

Here is the problem. ?At 500 Megs of data a day, in the month of March I'll move 15.5 Gigs of data. ?Right now my allowance is 10.5 Gigs a data in a month. ?How much does the extra 5 Gigs cost? ?A lot in the big scheme of things. ?$187 extra plus a setup fee.

The secondary problem is this is only a band-aid solution. ?Traffic will do nothing more than continue to grow so I need to come up with some answers. ?If things continue to grow at their current rate (all statistics for the entire month of January were broken in the first four days of March) I could see traffic growing to 30 Gigs, and more - so you do the math on the monthly costs.

So - with that said I have to announce a change to the site. ?Effective March 10th I'm going to have to remove links to the PDF version of the Owner's Manual. ?At over 3 Megs and with hundreds of accesses a week, well I think it is a key area to cut down on the amount of traffic flowing through the site.

Second, I'm going to be looking into the possibility of changing hosts. ?But I've got a really good deal right now as it is that is going to be hard to beat. ?For what I pay/get and the allowances I have, I just don't think things will get better. ?If anyone has a suggestion, I'm willing to listen.

Third, I know I tabled this but I need to rethink about running ads on the site. ?I have several requests actually. ?I remain committed to no pop-ups or pop-unders but the need to run banners and/or sky scraper ads is growing to help cover growth in costs.

Fourth - I need help. ?Just keeping up with the boards and playing Admin is eating into my time. ?Coupled with other business ventures and my committments to Uncle Sam, I'm getting spread thin. ?If anyone has experience in running/setting up local clubs I need to hear from you if you want to step up to the plate and help. ?If you do web work - well let me know if you have ideas too.

Fifth - I'm going to be setting up a steering committee. ?Folks will be notified over the next week via Private Message to see if they want to get involved. ?The steering committee will meet virtually to discuss the direction the club is going to take. ?This would include setting up a charter, policies, and making longer range plans on regional level clubs, meetings, hard copy newsletters, membership cards, dues (not for the website) and other issues.

Well - that's the deal. ?Feel free to discuss...Chief out.
 
Ah, the sweet smell of success!

How about a sixth option: voluntary donations. Other sites and email lists I'm active in do it. There would be no requirements, no commitments, no recognition. Just the offer for people to send you some duckies ($) via PayPal, check, etc to help defray the cost of running this wonderful site.

Game?
 
Chief Avalanche Fan said:
The site is now averaging more than 1,100 unique visitors a day (that's unique folks).
Click to expand...
Cool. :cool:

I say go ahead and do the banner/skyscraper ads, Chief. No biggie, we're all used to seeing them on the quality sites anyway. ;)

Tim
 
I would donate.. Send me paypal info..

The information I have gained on this site has been very valuble.
 
Whatever is clever, I will be willing to donate as well...this site has done a lot for me since signing on and I would do anything to support its growing success...
 
Hey Chief!
I am on board as well. Donations may be a good short term solution until you find a site that can handle the amount of forecasted traffic. I also would be willing to be considered for the steering commitee, as I too have found this site and our members to be of great value.
 
Don't know who's doing your hosting now, but as far as traffic concerns you should look into mediatemple.com. They have hosting solutions for a good price that are taylored to high traffic sites.

The cheapest package I saw there for 30gb monthly transfer was $84/month. It goes up from there.

These guys come highly recommended by the web design community. With guys displaying huge file sizes of motion graphics and flash based sites, these guys have come to the rescue when other hosting providers have shut down their sites.
 
I have been an active member here ever since I was a wee youngster. Well maybe not that long, but I do feel a sense of a close community here and I for one don't mind low key banners or ads. I also don't mind membership dues and it seems that others here don't either. The donations although temporary, is also an interesting idea.
 
Chief:

I am game for the steering committee... Ads will be a good thing... did someone say GM? ?I can possibly line up at least TWO major dealers to participate... One in MI and one in OH... ?

If you want to check these folks out for a possible hosting solution... point your browser to www.site-technologies.com and email John from there. ?Let him know I sent you and what you are looking for they might be able to help us out in many ways... Hope this helps...

Take care,
 
Chief how ever you what to do it I'm in just keep this baby going !!!!!!!!!!
 
If you have offers for advertising, then that's more than half the battle won. Bring on the ads! Maybe they'll even be ads for some good aftermarket stuff that I can buy!
 
I can live with banner ads, etc (no pop ups pleeeeease, as you also seem to agree) especially if they are Avalanche relevant - who knows I may see a part or mod I need. Seems to me that some outfits are getting free promotion (because of a member's positive experience) right now (for example: gmpartsdirect.com, tirerack.com, Westin, Steel Horse, Ultimate Performance & Design, AMP Research, and of course GM/Chevy) and they would seem like likely candidates if you found the need to approach potential advertisers.

I am also absolutely willing to make a voluntary contribution, as someone alse said, the info I have gleaned from this board is very valuable to me. Post paypal info and I will send off a quick contribution today. And thanks for all of you hard work Chief.
 
DO what you have to do!

Ads, donations, selling blood, Dealerships, whatever.

I am also willing to volunteer to help but I am no computer geek.
 
I'd say the banner ads and accepting taking voluntary contributions are good ideas. Other sites that I belong to went this route to offset hosting costs. Just curious, have you filed for a 501 (c) 3 Non Profit Corporation status? This would allow contributions to be taken as qualified and auditable deductions.

The steering committe is a good idea too. Get a few knowledgable heads together to do some long and short term planning.
 
Count me in for a donation when you need it. Also, I have nothing against banner ads.
 
Banner ads are fine with me. As long as you stay away from things that track down as you scoll and things that dance across your screen. (I hate those) Also, I would suggest to you that you make sure that the sponsors are relevant. I don't like seeing ads for things that are totaly unrelated to the content (like some "link exchange" programs). Web advertising is a hard sector now. If you do sign up unrelated sponsors, you may be setting yourself up to have those sponsors pull their ads (and revenue) due to the ads not being effective for them. I would hate to see you get going and have a setback like sponsors pulling their revenue.
 
Banners would be fine with me. They're a part of life. I also would be willing to pony up a small donation to help out. I don't post a lot, but I sure read a lot! And learn a lot.
 
You mentioned something about membership cards, and there have been a number of threads about group purchases of various things from gas caps to Zaino. Perhaps it would be possible to meld the two ideas together.

To become a member of the club there would be a nominal fee, possibly annual, and for the price you would be able to get group discounts from supporting vendors. It's a win-win for everyone. The membership dues help fund the site, the vendors are guaranteed exposure at the site, and members get discounts on products they would probably be buying anyway. In order to get the discount the member would supply their membership number.
 
Banner ads are OK by me.

Also count me in for a contribution if needed in the short term

Thanks Chief for all the hard work - it's a great site.
 
I have been a web developer now four going on 5 years. Not just the crappy HTML thing. A full-blown web developer doing Java Servlets, JSP, Java Beans, ASP and ColdFusion. I say that only so you don't think I'm some high-school punk crankin out html via Front Page!

I'd love to help, if possible. I am very skilled at PhotoShop as well for image creation/editing. I also have my own domain and web site (not the free kind if you know what I mean). I have enough space open I could look at hosting some of the static content as long as I don't break my provider's rules either.

Let me know if I can help, Chief. Hey, I'm also a vet. US Air Force 1985 - 1992 honorably discharged due to Graham-Ruddman-Hollings act of 1987 (?) I think that's right. You remember the Base Closure Act? Here's a victim of that crap!
 
Chief,

I am also on board with the rest of the folks. Whatever it takes to keep the site rolling.

As for the banner ads, what about approaching the businesses all of us have been doing business with to get our mods and accessories? When I bought my upgrade lights from the folks at "Demand Motor Sports" they said a lot of purchases that were being made for Av's are coming from folks that were getting their info from this very site!

I don't know if this is even feasible but, what about approaching GM themselves. This site has help a lot of us make the jump to the Av bandwagon. Maybe they wouldn't mind helping with the costs since it is helping them with their sales. Just a thought!
 
Chief,

I applaud you and your hard work thus far. Bring on the ads--- we understand. I don't think the donation route would work. The first month some guys will send in cash to you. Next month, if they forget or decide not to participate, it will cause trouble.

Go with the ads.

We will support you!

Trophyman.
 
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