GreekChat Advertising & Optional Paid Subscriptions...
 

It's been a long while since I've posted in the forums. Lately I've been thinking a lot about GC & the site's future. There are so many possibilities and so much potential with GC. For the most part I've operated GC on a shoestring budget, which hasn't made things easier. Mostly my fault, because I tend to not want to see so many ads on the web... so I keep the advertising very light on GC (even had zero ads for the first 5 years or so of running the site). Result is less revenue & that means less gets done.

Almost hard to believe that this coming July will be the 15 year anniversary of when I typed in "greekchat.com" to register the domain name then launched the first version of the website. GC is long past the point in time when I was first amazed at how the site has grown into such a large & vibrant online community. Things have stagnated a bit development wise, though, which is disappointing. It's just how things turned out. I envision so many possibilities for GC, have so many ideas, but things need to be working in certain ways for any of that to ever happen.

Maybe this is the year that things start happening again on GC in a big way. Or, as the saying goes, this is the year we take it to the next level.

GC should have avatars, significantly increased message storage, threaded PMs, photo albums, video albums, mobile apps, a mobile version of the site, forums for each college & university that have Greeks on campus, forums for each chapter that wants one, other services for chapters, a member & alumni directory (for those who want to be listed), improved hosting infrastructure and other ideas that I do not want to mention publicly.

But none of it happens unless I'm able to turn GC's shoestring budget into a reasonable budget.

So I have a few ideas in mind:

- More advertising on GC

- Optional paid subscriptions with the ability to turn off the ads for an ad-free experience on GC. Pricing I think would be $5/month, $29/year or $99/5 years, which works out to $2.42/month for the 1 year and $1.65/month for the 5 year. (Not sure who might be interested in what, so probably best to have a few options.) (Should there be a lifetime paid subscription level?) Subscriber accounts would have some extra features not available to free membership accounts and maybe also first access to general site new features.

- Business paid subscriptions. Not sure on price. This would include a variety of site features which are useful to businesses that provide products or services to Greeks.

Please let me know what you think about all this by posting your comments here. You can also send me a private message or use the website contact form.

If you gave us the opportunity to financially support the site for a reasonable price, lots of us wouldn't hesitate. Perhaps more customization for users in terms of avatars, signatures, etc. (so long as at least supermods have the ability to step in where needed because there would undoubtedly be some abuse).

PayPal has some pretty decent tools for that. Another site I frequent has been able to do some of those things pretty effectively.

Thanks for doing what you do.

Ditto!

Me three.

I would opt for "pay to play" rather than adding more advertising to the site. The fees you describe are very reasonable to me.

I'm number four! I'm number four!

I disagree on pay to play. One of the things which makes this site relevant is the ability of PNMs to get information or be directed in the right direction. I wouldn't want to lose that.

This is the option that I was supporting. I do agree that it is important to retain some level of free access to GC for PNMs.

Agree to allowing the best of both worlds. I'd be glad to pay to play because I know the value of the site both to myself and to helping others. But I also know that those who are researching membership in what ever form or group would need a free access option especially considering the shortage of funds many college students have.

I'd pay for a 5 year subscription and/or a lifetime subscription.

There will always be a free access option. I don't plan on ever changing that.

The paid subscriptions will simply be an option for anyone who wants to help support GC along with additional account features & the ability to turn off most or all of the advertising.

I'm with Kevin. I'd rather put up with some more ads that see a payment required. Lots of college students especially would not participate if there's a subscription payment required.
I'd hate to lose them to reddit.

Payment would not be required.

It would be optional. GC would continue to have free access available just as it is now.

Essentially, nothing would change. Everything available now would pretty much continue to be available for free. Paid subscribers would simply receive bonus account functionality.

Would there be the possibility of capturing spammers before they release their hounds(start spamming)? Several of us can pick out new members that we know are spammers, but until we can get rid of them before they start posting, they are going to continue to reek havoc. Many of the spammer names have distinct configurations.

BTW, I think that your prices are very reasonable and would definitely be willing to buy a subscription.

Upgrading the anti-bot-forum-spammer setup is near the top of my to do list for GC. I have a solution which I believe will make a very big difference.

That is super. Thank you, John!

How about a system where your first say 100 posts are free, then after that you can opt for a paid subscription? That way PNMs can get info and request assistance, but when people choose to continue to participate actively they can do that in a subscription setup?

Sounds super, John! And sigmagirl2000, that sounds doable.

Ditto NBH!

I'm fine with the idea John proposed and would probably get a subscription- I hate ads. I kinda hate Avatars too but would deal with them...lol.

I don't like the idea of 100 free posts and then a subscription required. I think we'd lose too many people and stop getting new addicts.. errr, posters. If you want to put up with lots of ads, then you post all you want for free.

ETA: Mobile App for the win!

Yes!!!

I like the subscription idea where you can get more functionality and less ads.

I also think if you set up a way to make donations to GC, a lot of members would donate! I know right now I am not in a place where I can donate a lot, but if I had extra money laying around, I may! Especially when I will also have a daughter going through recruitment in two years (fingers crossed... shes kind of hating me at the moment! Haha!)

Ditto on all. I'd definitely subscribe once DH is employed again, but if I have to put up with ads until that time comes I'm willing to do so.

Ditto on all...me, too!

I guess I am wondering a little why the longtime people here who would be helping would end up paying money and the new people coming and getting the benefits of the help wouldn't?

Those paying would get the benefit of fewer ads (or maybe no ads) and increased functionality.

I think the optional paid membership is a great idea, but would love to see a patronage option for non-paid members. I'm about to leave my job to start grad school, so while I would probably not opt to pay for a monthly membership I'd still be willing to financially support GC in some way.

Second!

Let's talk about a democratic process for selecting and retiring moderators.

Then we can talk subscriptions.

I would pay to use the message board if necessary.

I would definitely pay for viewing GC without ads, and like the idea that people who are still dipping their toes into the water could still experience GC without the ads. With the number of grad students on GC, I think Gusteau makes a good point, too.

Honestly, the only "upgrade" listed that I'm the least bit interested in is increased message storage. I have no desire for photo or video albums or any of that other (what I see as) clutter - and as far as forums for every school with a Greek system, does that include locals? Schools that have "clubs" who operate like GLOs? Community colleges that have their GLOs? Where do you quit? I'm just afraid that something like that would either result in a lot of empty forums (much like a certain happy pony rainbow filled Greek site I can think of) which I personally think makes people less inclined to post anything, or else turn into another aaaay ceee beee or the like.

I'll gladly pay a "pledge drive" fee (rather than a subscription) to have more PM storage and increased protection from spammers, but the rest of the things don't have me inclined to donate a dime.

There are already forums out there for every school with Greek Life. I don't think John is considering that. The ability to embed Youtube would be nice though.

ORLY?

Didn't catch that on my first read.

I agree, that'd be a bunch of empty forums. We already have lots of those.

I was a little too brief with how I posted about that idea. My plan isn't completely figured out but I have given it a bit of thought.

Current forums that are empty or seriously inactive could end up being deactivated or moved out of view.

Then we would have an area of the site, or use an existing area, for new forum requests. New forums would be added when there is enough interest indicated by GCers. This process would also be used when/if there is interest to bring back any of the old forums that were deactivated.

That's generally the process I've thought about using even with the campus forums. If there's enough interest then we would add them. No interest would mean no forum for that campus.

Somewhat of a work in progress, but that's the general idea.

Would it be possible to group schools together? Perhaps do a west, mid west, north and south or something similar instead of individual schools? That way if I am looking at multiple schools I an look in that area? The problem with my idea is that there is a wide variety in areas, but something like that idea?

If you were going to do it, probably just have forums dedicated to different athletic conferences as greek cultures seem to be pretty similar from school to school within big time athletic conferences, then maybe another forum for FCS and DII/DIII schools as they are very much in the YMMV category.

I see lots of potential in what is being discussed and how it could potentially lure a lot more folks here. The down side is that other sites (which shall not be named) which do this are just endless rumor mills with zero credibility where you can read some anonymous sorority girl telling everyone what she heard about why half of Pike's pledge class and their rush chair quit. That said, if there was a better moderated forum out there, the current mods would likely be up to that sort of task.

^^^^ HAhahahaaaa!

LOL :)

I was thinking that I like the optional subscription but thought maybe people won't take the 5-year plan because who knows if they'll still be coming around in 5 years? But then again, I was active for 7 years before I was even Greek so hell, I'm not going anywhere. ;) But I don't mind the ads so I like the idea of having an option. But I wouldn't mind making a contribution, this place is awesome and I want to see it thrive as much as everyone else.

Having an option like "reddit gold" would be another way to drive revenue and add to someone's avatar.