Mike, Spark, offer a free subscription!

O

Oregon Duck

Joined
Sep 21, 1999
Messages
137
Offer it to someone who will edit the new magazine for the equivalent of thirty dollars a year until you guys become publishing magnates and can engage in profit sharing with this pioneering and intrepid individual.

Despite Spark saying he has his hands full editing Mike, there are some errors in the new magazine that are probably easily avoided with the help of someone who isn't deeply involved in writing it. Besides, as people submit material, the editing headache will only grow.

Since on-line editing is more time intensive than being a moderator, offer the carrot of a free subscription to someone who can demonstrate through resume, experience, or both, the ability to comb through the writings of others for mistakes and lack of clarity.

Just a thought.

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Never confuse movement with action.

Ernest Hemingway
 
I have a thought; if some generous forum member is going to edit the on line magazine, wouldn't he or she already be reading the magazine to edit it? Then wouldn't a free subscription be redundant?

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LD
"Every Dog Has His Day"
BFC Member Since October 2, 1998

 
Another option:

I noticed that Blade magazine was offering a free knife with a subscription. You got a better knife with a longer subscription.

How about BF offering a free subscription with a knife? Say one year for a BF Native or something similarly priced, two years with a sifu? Adjust to 6 months / 1 year or whatever looks good.

IMO, a lot of objections about paying for an e-zine would melt away if it was part of a knife purchase. Who knows, might sell a few more knives in the process too.

The e-zine could still be available separately.

Thanks for your time.
JH
 
One year for a BF Native which costs us over twice the subscription rate? I would love to do that if we had advertisers. I can't get advertisers until I get enough subscriptions.

I may offer a CRK&T knife down the road.

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Best Regards,
Mike Turber
BladeForums Site Owner and Administrator
Do it! Do it right! Do it right NOW!

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[This message has been edited by Mike Turber (edited 06 December 1999).]
 
Lucky Dog - LMAO
I had to read that a few times to realize what you were saying!
smile.gif


I'd offer to edit the magazine gratis, but I have a feeling that Mike and Spark might be somewhat hesitant about my take on any subject.

For example, here's what Mike said:
One year for a BF Native which costs us over twice the subscription rate? I would ove to do that if we had advertisers. I can't get advertisers until I get enough subscriptions.
I may offer a CRK&T knife down the road.
Click to expand...

Here's what my version would come out like:

One year for a BF Native which costs us over FIVE TIMES the subscription rate!?!?!?!? ARE YOU OUTTA YOUR SKULL?!?!?!?! People like you make me wonder if I should just pack it in and move in with the pack of wild rats that live in my cellar!
On second thought, perhaps I was being too harsh.... I would Love (pssssstttt.. Mike! See how I corrected that typo for ya?) to do that if we had advertisers. At this point I would like to mention to the advertisers that we are offering full body massages (provided my a drunken octogenarian) to all advertisers taking ads of one inch or more. I can't get advertisers until I get enough subscriptions, so get your massage now before the octogenarian turns 90 and we have to figure out what to call him!!
I may offer a CRK&T knife down the road. Let us know if you prefer it in .gif or in .jpg
Click to expand...

Thinking I missed my true calling,
I remain,
VG, Ed.wannab

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Vampire Gerbil: Nosferatus Rodentus Moderatus; similar to a domestic gerbil, except for the odd accent and little black cape.


 
Got to love those blood sucking Gerbils!
smile.gif


------------------
Best Regards,
Mike Turber
BladeForums Site Owner and Administrator
Do it! Do it right! Do it right NOW!

Support BladeForums! Check out the BFC Store!
www.bladeforums.com/store
Subscribe our NEW online magazine!
www.bladeforums.com/magazine

[This message has been edited by Mike Turber (edited 06 December 1999).]
 
Pretty close, Mike!
My eyes are kinda whiter though.

Thinkin' that I ain't the only one with too much spare time,
I B VG
wink.gif
 
Mike,

Bundling the subscription with a knife still makes a particle of sense to me. If you have to charge 129.00 for a BF Native with e-zine so be it.

I may be duller than the average forum member (shhhh, VG), but there's a certain resistance to laying out money for something partially intangible as opposed to getting something "free" with a purchase. At the very least, it sounds better to the spousal unit. At least some kind of box shows up in the mail.

'course the forum members, being knife knuts, may not be subject to marketing ploys but it would've worked on me (down, VG, down boy).

Naturally, my interests are self-serving: I like this forum and want to see you guys make money. If I can more easily cut loose 129.00 with a box than 29.00 without, presumably somebody else, maybe multiple somebodys, share the same dementia. (OK, VG, let 'er rip).

Also, I have no clue what your costs are and wouldn't have a clue I was paying a full 29.00 more on a suitably priced store item - admittedly, this might not be the case with the non-newbie contingent here.

I guess it's pretty obvious that "Birdman" is my "at work" account due to different e-mail addresses but before anybody gets indignant, be assured "Birdman" only posts while "lunching in".

The intent was to cover costs in the knife price - I gotta work on clarity in my posts.

I remain,
with 2 BF Natives, a SIFU on order and ready to buy another at 29.00 higher than it might of been.

Thanks.
JH
 
Thanks VG, I know I sometimes see things differently then others do, I guess you have to be from Jersey… It still seems to be going over other heads.

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LD
"Every Dog Has His Day"
BFC Member Since October 2, 1998

 
Mike,

Nice photo work.

Another week of waking up screaming from the nightmares - and I know it couldn't have anything to do with the pizza and menudo.

Crawling back to my lurking ways, seeking the solace of darkness...

 
This is a good idea but a free subscription is too cheap for the work you are asking for. From what Mike has said about the size of the magazine, it would take a proof editor at least 3 hours a month to do a halfway decent job. 3 hours times 12 months = 36 hours. At $29 for a subscription you are asking a professional to work for less than a dollar an hour. In my opinion, people will pay for quality, and it is tough to get quality work for less than a dollar an hour. Unless someone wants to do it for the bragging rights/priviledge...you need to up the ante if you expect quality. If this 'zine is going to be the "Consumer Reports" of knives and really tell it like it is, you won't be able to accept advertisers or it will make you look biased. Do you think any company is going to pay for advertising if one of their knives is the "POS of the Month"? Recommend making the first real month (not a trial version) free, and if the 'zine is as good as you say it will be, you will have loads of subscribers.

Build it, and they will come.
 
I still insist you will find someone who would do it for free access to the mag. First, there is no doubt it would be a labor of love for the compensation offered. But one would have the so-called bragging rights, and if the enterprise takes off commercially, it would only be logical that this person be rewarded in a fitting manner, with say a real paying job if he or she wished.

So in a sense, this prospective editor would be offering some sweat equity to the magazine. If it ever becomes a commercial success, which is speculative, then that person should be able to cash in for a form of "backpay" for helping "To The Point" become successful.

Maybe a partnership agreement would cover such a situation.

It is still just a thought.

------------------
Never confuse movement with action.

Ernest Hemingway
 
Let's see, you get a magazine in the mail, you read it, you put it aside, read it some more later, put it aside, forget where you put it, find it again later, thumb through it, put it aside, forget where you left it, remember four months later you saw an article about that knife you're now thinking about buying, look through your stash of knife mags, and realize the mag you're looking for is the one mag you seem to have misplaced. Meanwhile, your wife wants to know what you're going to do with all the those knife magazines you've got in the closet and laughs that you save all those mags and can't find what you want when you need it!

Somehow, getting an e-mag that I don't have to store, can't misplace, and can access all the back issues anytime I like, from anywhere I can access the 'net, . . . well that appeals to me!

Basically, we're buying information, not paper.

(and I think I might even pay extra for a VG version!)

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Frank Norman
Valdosta, GA
 
Oregon Duck - First off, I hope you know me well enough by now to know that I never mean any harm, or mean to make fun of anyone (with the exception of President C and her hubby, Martha Stewart, Al Sharpton, Saddaam Insane and myself), so don't think I'm busting your chops, ok?

That said....
What you seem to be implying is for Mike to offer someone a free subscription to a person to edit the free subscription.

Or did I miss something?

Wouldn't that be like telling a printer that if he prints the job for free, he's allowed to read it?

I'm thinkin' I musta missed something....
Did I?

I already paid for the subscription (as well as some prescriptions, since we're talking about words ending in "tion") but I'd be happier than a greased wombat to help out.
smile.gif


Head spinning frantically,
IB VG

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Vampire Gerbil: Nosferatus Rodentus Moderatus; similar to a domestic gerbil, except for the odd accent and little black cape.


 
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