A quick note to the C&H community

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Gus Kalanzis, Esav Benyamin
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Darby, Lorien
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Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith
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I've learned from and enjoyed this forum immensely over the years and feel it's been worth every penny I put into membership.
 
Not totally on target for this thread, but I skimmed through this again and this hit me like a ton of bricks. All my life, with one brief exception, I have put production first. Always worried about how to produce something better so that it would sell better. I've had it backwards for over 50 years. The successful people dream up a product and figure out how to sell it FIRST. Then they worry about production. The market is more important than the production. I've had my Facebook loaded with ads for Man Crates. This is a prime example. Man Crates figured out the market. The product is pretty crappy and available at Walmart but they figured out the market first. They may have to improve the product for the long term but I bet they sell like crazy between now and Christmas. A simple knife kit is one of the Man Crate offerings.
 
If Social Media is the new market we better figure out Social Media. Forums are the new "university." Here is where you find the knowledge. So let's open up BF Marketing 101.
 
If I use a forum frequently, I pay for membership. Period. I want to support the sites I love.

I am fortunate that I don't have to pinch pennies, but I don't throw money away either. This, and two other sites (The Rolex Forum and an astronomy site) give me great pleasure and I want to support them in any way I can. And to me it is a very small price to pay.
 
I started making knives about 12+ years ago. Rarely ever talked to anyone, never asked questions of anyone either. I had one contact, shop talk. The guys there, and of course the saint of all saints, Stacy, answered every damned one of my questions with great patience. I've gotten pretty good by now, but everything I learned I got from this place. I rarely post here in C&H either, but this place too has been inspirational. Now, mind you, I am not advocating a increase in dues, it's already went up a lot over the years, but all in all, it's money well spent if you want to learn how to make knives, talk to greatly talented men and women, and just hang out. Lorien, I don't think it's up to you to encourage or discourage folks from joining the forum, it is a personal choice each person will make.
 
The yearly fee is cheaper than a knifeshow fee.....

I sell more here than I do at a knifeshow.

Simple math.

That said...I don't sell a lot of knives and while I do pay up without complaint...$75 does seem a little steep everytime I pay it.

But like I said...simple math.
 
At $75 dollars I only renew when I need to sell here.

Weird thing happen last time my knifemaker membership ran out, a moderator sent me a message that I needed to renew and pay for a membership.

I let him know I will pay when I want to pay.

I was not posting picts or promoting sales at all that would require a paid membership.

I thought that was kinda creepy a non paid moderator would be so concerned that he would go and contact a member to pay up.
 
AVigil said:
I thought that was kinda creepy a non paid moderator would be so concerned that he would go and contact a member to pay up.
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Payment can exist/occur in different ways... I was a moderator on a forum unrelated to knives for many years... you wouldn't believe how some other mods were being enticed to spend ALL their time moderating... not to say it's happening here, I wouldn't know. But it happens at other such places.
 
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Coke said:
Payment can exist/occur in different ways... I was a moderator on a forum unrelated to knives for many years... you wouldn't believe how some other mods were being enticed to spend ALL their time moderating... not to say it's happening here, I wouldn't know. But it happens at other such places.
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It does. For some it goes to their head in a power trip though.

We literally had a moderator tell some of the most accomplished knifemakers in the USA they were being free loaders for not paying up. Never mind all the content they gave for free, that did not matter only the $$

I know a bit about forums myself. I co founded one of the largest airgun forums at http://talonairgun.com/forum/ and moderate it. It can be like the wild west at times :)
 
AVigil said:
... It can be like the wild west at times :)
Click to expand...

That's the reason I gave it up...I was going there to enjoy myself, learn and help others, and some days I would end up with a headache conducting myself as the local fireman therein. lol And I wasn't getting paid anything at all for it, though I wasn't on there ALL day long like the ones who were getting kickbacks that could add up to an average annual wage over the year... so I called it quits.
 
Lorien

I find you enthusiastic support of the custom knife hobby quite refreshing and you are a real plus to this community

You will be an excellent moderator

That being said, this forum is part of a for -profit business and is not a charity.

I have not sold anything here for at least 10 years, but still pay every year to be a member because I enjoy it

I wish more knife makers participated here, one way to guarantee that they won't is to lock or delete any of their posts conceived to be a sales pitch.

I think this forum has a fairly high paid membership rate among its regular contributors. That will likely not continue unless more collectors and makers continue to join and contribute.

If I owned BF, I would strive to make this specific forum the go-to place for any maker or serious collector.

FWIW, I am an expert on my own opinion..and not much else in regards to knives
 
^^^ Good post. You nailed it.

I would like to see Kevin (Spark) the owner, weigh in here with any advice or guides. Lorien is stuck in a position of wanting to see growth, wanting fairness applied, and yet not wanting to alienate quality people.

I know there is a sticky above, yet it's a signpost from a while ago. Has anything changed? According to some, membership costs needs revisiting?

The Knife Community at large (the majority of Bladeforums) is different than the Custom and Handmade Knife community.

Kevin is a REALLY smart and fair person. I've always nodded my head when he contributes and shakes things up.

All this said, MY membership has been worth FAR more than the money paid. The cost of doing business requires funding. ANY sales transaction is business. Right?

Of course I'd like to see this area grow, and for Bladeforums.com to remain profitable.

Coop
 
Ill offer up my perspective. I have a paid membership here because I sell stuff here. It is affordable and gives me access to a huge market. I am new and looking for exposure and customers.

For an established maker that does not need more customers but just comes here to converse and oftentimes give advice, then why hassle them with membership fee?
If a member that has previously had a paid membership but has let it lapse and is no longer selling/advertising then why hassle them?

As an example there is another forum I wont even frequent simply because I do make knives but I have no desire or need to sell there. I have been pursued and informed of strict rules on what I can and cant post, so I just dont bother with it at all. Overzealous leaves a bad impression.
 
I just left another forum after 19 years as two delusional goderators decided they're going to charge full-time sellers $1500 - $4000 to sell on the forum. They completely ignored my 19 years of contributions and only saw the sales posts and the $$. Many sellers left when told to pay, but many didn't contribute.

$75.00 is small amount, but it depends on where your from and how many knives you actually sell.

A seller who often sells 1-2 knives per month or a higher priced knife. Price is fine. If they contribute on a regular basis. Maybe they get a lower fee or a buy. Other country members selling a few average priced knives per year. Price could be high. Again. Contribute on a regular basis. Get a lower price.

A photography forum I use has a pay as you go sales forum. You have to prepay $7.00 for your listing (built into the program) which if you can install here. Might be better for a smaller knifemaking seller or even some members who want to sell the occasional knife without having to buy a membership

DON
 
I see more makers, collectors, engravers, purveyors on Instagram, it is free and reaches a lot of like minded folks. I posted a sheath, here on BF, made by the great, Arne Mason and posted it in the Sheaths subforum, they moved because Arne is not a paid member here, I found that to be BS, I am a paid member. Too much moderation makes folks go elsewhere(Instagram).
 
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There's plenty of ways to revamp the monetization model without breaking the site, and actually improving it over all. A lot of this would have to associated with the sales pages, and how they are operated. While this website in the forum variety works just fine, the sales page for knifemakers could certainly be improved.

I don't see why the sales page can't just be a separate module actually made for sales. This would attract other knife makers, and keep up with the times. As many here have mentioned the internet changes often and you seriously need to keep up with it.

If you dropped the membership fee by $25 to $50, and made it so that gives you unlimited access/listings to the sales page. Then if people don't sell often they can just pay a small fee for a sales post to test it out instead of a full membership. If everything goes well these people would probably buy a full membership. I personally don't like risking $75 on something I have no idea will work. Plenty of people that think a small fee is worth the gamble will give it a genuine try.

Not only will this make the paid members happy, but it will create a model that attracts new customers along with having a far more attractive sales page for the general public to look at. How your site appears says a lot about your legitimacy. Exactly why I spent plenty of time on my website. You don't go on there and say this guy looks shady, my site makes you think of professionalism. Those that are not familiar with BF might not think that because it's a forum, and that could hurt individual sales.

Random people looking for something to buy need to trust the source as soon as they see it. I mean taking pro pictures of you knife does more than just compliment the blade it has plenty of psychological effects on perception attached to trust worthiness.
 
I think a better moderator could not be picked

Your love of all things sharp and your eye for design is a gift to all here

I believe we should all help row

The world of custom knives will get there sooner :)

When I was doing projects I always paid for a dealer membership even though we all know that I'm not a dealer

It was my way of thinking the forum for the stage they provided

Now that I'm not doing many projects these days I still keep up my gold membership to show my support

Thx Lorien
 
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