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TTonyTTony Frets: 27344

In another discussion, I've posted that we'll soon have our 1,000,000th page hit.  In fact, by now, we've probably had it (the stats update daily, not in real time).

We have nearly 700 users.

Not bad for just over a month.

 

BUT WE WANT MORE.

 

The more people that we can get signed up and participating here, the more interesting a place it will be.  The more useful it will be, with more people contributing help, expertise and opinion.  The greater the chance that this place will live on for the long-term.  The more attractive that we become when we come to raise revenues (don't panic - no big banner ads!!).

 

So, we need your HELP.  We need you ALL to publicise theFretBoard.co.uk wherever and whenever possible.  Stuff like;

  • A big linky on your website
  • A linky in your sig in any other forums that you're a member of ... all your old posts should update with the new sig immediately
  • Stuff on BookFace and Titter.  I personally don't use either, so don't know a lot about them ... but we need more chat about theFretBoard, we need more people seeing it, and coming to visit.

And your IDEAS.  We have a limited advertising budget (limited to about £0) so we're not about to start a massive press, TV & www advertising campaign ... but there must be other stuff that we can do, within our budget (and legal) to raise awareness of what we're doing here amongst the guitar playing & buying public.

We will be approaching the retailers in due course, though not just yet.

I will be contacting all of the small builders (listed in one of the discussions here) to ask them (a) to participate and showcase, and (b) to give us linkys on their sites.

WHAT ELSE ???

Suggestions please ....

Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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Comments

  • Phil_aka_PipPhil_aka_Pip Frets: 9794
    edited September 2013
    I have tried putting our url in my soundcloud profile

    I'm happy to have a fretboard url on my teaching website as & when said website gets created

    also edited my basschat signature
    "Working" software has only unobserved bugs. (Parroty Error: Pieces of Nine! Pieces of Nine!)
    Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
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  • SporkySporky Frets: 27580
    How about getting some cheapo business cards done and distributing them via the site membership to be stuck on appropriate noticeboards, handed out with CDs, that sort of malarky?
    "[Sporky] brings a certain vibe and dignity to the forum."
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  • Attraction rather than promotion is a very decent policy imho. Interested parties will come by word of mouth, and by en large stay to enjoy what's going on, and even make some contribution to the general vibe. I'm not quite sure what the numbers game is all about to be honest, I'd rather share time with 100 individuals who I have common interest with, than 10,000 that I perhaps don't. 

    700 members and a million hits in a month suggests to me strongly that nothing needs to be done. You've built it and they have come, what it turns into is pretty much in the hands of us all. 


    b-(
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  • monquixotemonquixote Frets: 17485
    tFB Trader
    Attraction rather than promotion is a very decent policy imho. Interested parties will come by word of mouth, and by en large stay to enjoy what's going on, and even make some contribution to the general vibe. I'm not quite sure what the numbers game is all about to be honest, I'd rather share time with 100 individuals who I have common interest with, than 10,000 that I perhaps don't. 

    700 members and a million hits in a month suggests to me strongly that nothing needs to be done. You've built it and they have come, what it turns into is pretty much in the hands of us all. 


    b-(

    Though we have a decent community size there is always an attrition rate so if we aren't continually attracting new blood the site will die. 

    That and we are megalomaniacs. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • bertiebertie Frets: 13564
    topless barmaids ?
    just because you don't, doesn't mean you can't
     just because you do, doesn't mean you should.
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  • jaygtrjaygtr Frets: 218
    edited September 2013
    bertie;30615" said:
    topless barmaids ?

    Wearing the forum t shirts?

    Oh hang on....


    1reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27344
    700 members and a million hits in a month suggests to me strongly that nothing needs to be done. You've built it and they have come, what it turns into is pretty much in the hands of us all. 

    I think we're all more-than-pleased with those stats.  Certainly done better than I'd hoped.

    But, for comparison;

    • The UK Guitar Builders forum (so, quite niche really) has 6,759 members.
    • The BKP forum has 5,654 members.
    • The UK Guitar forum doesn't publish its membership stats, but had over 1000 people on-line when I checked (albeit only 43 of those were actual members).
    • Basschat had nearly 2500 users on-line (168 members).

    We're a long way short of any of those stats, although we've obviously only been around for a much shorter time.

    It's not just about the numbers.  But numbers help establish our credibility and will make us a lot more attractive when we need to start generating revenue (NB; see comment above re advertising!).

    Numbers also make the place more resilient.  Right now, we're really dependent on a fairly small number of members who are very active in starting and contributing to discussions.  A lot of those are OT right now, and I (for one) would like us to build up more content in the OnTopic sections.  But we need more people to contribute more knowledge to those sections.

    I always think of a forum as being an on-line pub.

    No-one likes to spend much time in a quiet pub, and quiet pubs don't tend to stay around for very long.

     

     


     

    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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  • mike_lmike_l Frets: 5700

    I shall let the Cambridge Cartell know of this place of goodness and joy.

    Via word-of-mounth, and bacefook

    :(|)

    Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21) 

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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27344
    mike_l said:

    Via word-of-mounth, and bacefook

    And the mandatory wearing of forum t-shirts at every jam evening ;)
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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  • Tony, I appreciate your comments - I may indeed be missing a trick here.

    Why do we need credibility? and what revenue generation is dependant on said credibility? 

    Numbers, in my experience, just make things empirically larger - very seldom more measurably resilient. 

    I take your point about active members - but the above stats of other sites memberships, whilst being very impressive, on closer inspection I suspect will reveal the same kind of thing ie lots of listeners and very few actual orators. To further the pub analogy, isn't that just the same, there are those vociferous people, and those content to contribute nothing other than active listening. 

    I used to love spending time in quiet pubs, where I could hear myself think.

    everyone's miles may of course differ!!




    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • bertiebertie Frets: 13564
    edited September 2013
    jaygtr said:
    Wearing the forum t shirts?

    Oh hang on....


    the humidity could be high ?
    just because you don't, doesn't mean you can't
     just because you do, doesn't mean you should.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • what you need is a jingle
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  • frankusfrankus Frets: 4719
    TTony said:

    But, for comparison;

    • The UK Guitar Builders forum (so, quite niche really) has 6,759 members.
    2006

    • The BKP forum has 5,654 members.
    2004?
    • The UK Guitar forum doesn't publish its membership stats, but had over 1000 people on-line when I checked (albeit only 43 of those were actual members).
    2001

    • Basschat had nearly 2500 users on-line (168 members).
    <2006


    ... it would be churlish to sing a few bars of Parliament's "It it don't fit don't force it" ... you know "If it don't fit don't force it, don't let your ego tell you when... if it don't fit don't force it .. take some time to check it out" - that kinda thing..

    So I'm warning anyone who thinks of doing that, that it's a bad idea... a bad idea so don't do it... this is totally different and hasn't been seen a billion times by anyone who worked in the dot com era... or did work for people like Dustin Bandicoot or anyone who sounds similar. Utterly different.


    A sig-nat-eur? What am I meant to use this for ffs?! Is this thing recording?
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  • mike_lmike_l Frets: 5700
    TTony said:
    mike_l said:

    Via word-of-mounth, and bacefook

    And the mandatory wearing of forum t-shirts at every jam evening ;)

    Thank the Lord it's not the forum Thong.... :))

    Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21) 

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27344
    Why do we need credibility? and what revenue generation is dependant on said credibility? 
    Numbers, in my experience, just make things empirically larger - very seldom more measurably resilient. 

    Thus far, we've managed to build and run this place with no funding.  Through the generosity of those involved.  At some point we'll need funds though.

    We want to avoid the intrusive banner-style ads that MR ran (and most of us blocked).

    But we are thinking about options like promotions with retailers - perhaps some sort of forum-special deal of the week.  Or advance notice of special offers & sales to forum members.  And likewise perhaps with some of the smaller builders.  We might manage to sort out some very bulk deals on stuff.  There are a number of options that don't involve advertising, but which will work on the same principle - ie that numbers will matter.  The more members we have here, the more attractive those options will be to the retailers/builders/suppliers.  Also, many of those are low margin - we'll not be able to buy more server capacity by selling a couple of packs of strings - we'll need to sell a couple of thousand packs.

    Numbers matter.

    And I'm aware that we are very dependent on the continued involvement of some of our key and most active members.  For some, this forum seems to be their main activity and they're free of the commitment of work (Hi Emp_Fab & Chilli ;) ), but others are contributing a lot here whilst also running businesses and/or holding down day jobs.  The more people we have, the more than burden can be shared, the more discussions will be generated, the more knowledge will be shared.

    Accepted - that point is much less about the pure numbers, and more about the quality and contribution.  Hence we'll be targeting some specific individuals to join up.

    I used to love spending time in quiet pubs, where I could hear myself think.

    Me too.

    I'd hope that, as we grow, there will still be plenty of quiet corners where smaller groups can meet and discuss quiet things, without having to listen to the metal widdling that's happening in a slightly noisier corner.  We want it to meet the whole range of needs and interests.  If you play something with a fretboard, there should be other people in here with whom you can have interesting conversations, share knowledge, tips & techniques, buy & sell stuff, play collaboratively (on or off line), etc.

    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • monquixotemonquixote Frets: 17485
    tFB Trader
    Tony, I appreciate your comments - I may indeed be missing a trick here.

    Why do we need credibility? and what revenue generation is dependant on said credibility? 

    Numbers, in my experience, just make things empirically larger - very seldom more measurably resilient. 

    I take your point about active members - but the above stats of other sites memberships, whilst being very impressive, on closer inspection I suspect will reveal the same kind of thing ie lots of listeners and very few actual orators. To further the pub analogy, isn't that just the same, there are those vociferous people, and those content to contribute nothing other than active listening. 

    I used to love spending time in quiet pubs, where I could hear myself think.

    everyone's miles may of course differ!!




    See my previous post. 

    Not replacing members lost through attrition = eventual site death. 
    I've seen it happen on other sites.
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  • what you need is a jingle
    That should be our next Fretboard task. 30 sec exactly, to contain the forum address either sung or as voiceover. I suggest @monquixote consider it
    "Working" software has only unobserved bugs. (Parroty Error: Pieces of Nine! Pieces of Nine!)
    Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27344
    frankus said:

    ... it would be churlish to sing a few bars of Parliament's "It it don't fit don't force it" ... you know "If it don't fit don't force it, don't let your ego tell you when... if it don't fit don't force it .. take some time to check it out" - that kinda thing..

    So I'm warning anyone who thinks of doing that, that it's a bad idea... a bad idea so don't do it... this is totally different and hasn't been seen a billion times by anyone who worked in the dot com era... or did work for people like Dustin Bandicoot or anyone who sounds similar. Utterly different.

    Your point is fair.

    This isn't about press-gangs roaming the www.

    It is about broadcasting our existence.  People can't join-up and join-in if they don't know about us.  So we're looking at how we tell the UK guitar (etc) playing masses that we're here.  And doing that as widely, quickly and effectively as we can because we're impatient.


     

    and we are megalomaniacs. 
    I'm fairly sure MQ was joking.
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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  • frankusfrankus Frets: 4719
    TTony said:

    Your point is fair.

    I had a point?

    A sig-nat-eur? What am I meant to use this for ffs?! Is this thing recording?
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  • IanpdqIanpdq Frets: 131
    A link is on my facebook page will that help :)


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