Promotion and Registration

[RedLiner]

Ok..thought id start a new topic about promoting the club...i think the other ones are too large and i wanted to get the moderators or admins attention...you can merge the topics if you so wish....

but i was thinking..

Why not register our club?? make it official....

I think that way people will respect it more. At the moment all we are offering is this forum...

But maybe people want more...

Cost will be covered by an annual membership fee of say $20 or so.....

and maybe give people membership cards..a t shirt etc etc once they join

I dont know if you would have to register in each state or just in one.....

But i think if this club becomes registered it will be easier to promote.

Just a thought.

Opinions?

[Brad!]

The thing that we need to remember is that its owned by steve, who owns all the other boards. By making it offical, i think in all honesty we would need to branch of steve, or buy it of him. Actually i dont know, but to make it offical, i think that there might be a few problems

I think that maybe we should set up an actual website, which has information, which yes would take alot of time, but would be excelent

I mean like, have a main page

Off that, have tech stuff, gallery, etc etc, and then still have the forum

The tech stuff would be grabbed from the forum, and re-formated into a more reader friendly aproach

Apart from that, i think that we really need to get more active members, and how that can be achived, well i dont have an answer

Actually, i dont know if this has been done before BUT

What about autosalon?? I know there is a few nice cars in each state, get a club banner made up(This could be used at crusies etc as well) like if your at kiama, with a massive banner, magine that coverage

Well with the banner thing, im pretty sure that you could almost score it for free...How?? Sponsorship... Say hey this is our club banner, we will be at autosalon nationwide, would you like your logo on it.. Few companies, bingo. Also this makes it look more pro as well

Ok well that is me going on, and i never re-read my post, so if you cant desphire it, try again, if after that it fails, tell me ill try re-explain

[eggbert_99]

its a good idea but yes .. same thing as brad is saying ...

and i find it hard to understand the slow uptake of the silver memberships !

[Brad!]

Ok this might sound hash, but i think fair

Now the club is just a forum, but say when it becomes official (IF)

I think to be a Member of the club, you have to pay a fee. I think $20 Anual, maybe 30. This would include say A few stickers, and a hat. I think keep shirts for extra money to push into the club.

Im not saying you have to pay $30 to come on the forums, but to be an actual club member, not a by stander, you have to pay.

Make sence

[eggbert_99]

whats the difference with that and whats happening now ...

the simple fact is that ppl need to accept that if they have revcieved $40 worth of value from this forum .. then they should put back in to this club ...

its a really simple concept..

[Brad!]

i think people will feel they are getting more back, im not saying thats what i think. But think about it for a sec

40$ and you are silver on the forum

X$ and you are a member of the club

Not trying to bring silvers down at all, just what i think people might be thinking

[eggbert_99]

i think its the same thing ...

i dont think the difference between "silver member" and "club member" is stopping ppl from paying a few $$ to join ..

it comes back to my point ..

its not about the freebies ... the stickers etc etc ..

its about supporting something that has helped you ..

weather its a club or forum ..

It seems to be all about activity .. when you look at the number of bronze, silver and gold members .... they put us to shame !!

[Brad!]

Yer i think that should be the main focus point, getting more members. Imagine how much easier it will be to have 100 silvers when you have 300 active members

But if you look it the other way, if you use the funds to promote the club then yer, but to be hoesnt, the money is keeping the board up, not promoting the club

But i think try to get more members then the silvers will flow, and the club will grow

When i say active, have a look at the skyline australia forum, and at any given time they will have like 300-400 people on

[eggbert_99]

i completely agree ..

it is about exposure .. and advertising is hard to do ..

now our meets and cruises are generating more and more interest...

the club is growing .. slowly .. but surely !

and the more silvers sign up .. more and more will follow ..

other than that its tough to promote through the other avenues ... with out funds .. extra extra funds ...

and when it comes to sponser ship ... its not as easy as it sounds ..

and ive tried for other groups ...

[Brad!]

yer i was just thinking ideas kinda things. But even so, im sure that the funds could be rasied to get a banner made up, well i have no idea how much it would cost, but you know... CES might be willing to help.... ;)

My 19cents

[eggbert_99]

where would you use a banner like that ... a

and how much attention do you think it will get ...

[iniff]

we can hang it from a helicopter and have it circle all our meets and cruises.

[Azza]

Whats the point of making it a 'club' as opposed to what it is now. We talk, we meet, we converse....aren't we already a club... ;)

I think Steve has done an excellent job of what has been happeneing on these boards now. Why change???

What's the point then in charging people $20.00 to join your 'club' if the money you make your just going to spend giving them a hat and a sticker... think about how much these things cost.

Maybe the nly thinkg I would suggest is if you want to set up your own club, then pay royoalties to Steve for linking to this board then...

[RedLiner]

All of you have valid points.

I dont want to cause any trouble...all i am doing is making a suggestion.

What im trying to say is that this only appeals to people who have access to the internet, spend alot of time on a computer and have enough time to browse forum.

What about the people who drive toyotas yet they dont have enough time to view forum.

If you register the club you will be able to create a database of members and addresses and maybe send out monthly newsletters etc etc....

And going around to cars and putting "you have been spotted by toca" pamphlets on cars will only will probably have a 5% success rate....if that....

As for silver memberships...

all i get is more space to post pics of my car...for someone that hasnt used the space i have available now...why should i pay??

also to get access to the "lounge".....

anyways...

[eggbert_99]

what you listed are extras ...

you pay the $$ and support the club because you have already got the value from the information and knoweledge on here .. or those who participated in group buys .. who have saved money because of this forum ..

you dont pay $40 for more pm space ..... its a benefit of supporting the club ..

and you support the club if it has supported you ...

thats the mind set you have to understand ...

I know for a fact that there are members on here who have recieved more than $40 in discounts through group buys and more than $40 in information and knowledge ... but have not join silvers ...

IMO that is pretty low ...

If someone comes to my house to help me out .. i feel the need to repay them .. a beer... lunch what ever ...

Its about doing the RIGHT thing ...

[RedLiner]

if your so worked up about silver memberships then....

why not make it compulsory for everyone to pay $40 to use this forum???

[eggbert_99]

but you cant make someone pay for some they dont know they will use ....

Im talking about doing the right thing ....

if you use it .. you should pay right ???

if you dont .. then dont pay ..

[RedLiner]

why would you join if you're not going to use??

anyway...this topic isnt about silver memberships...

[eggbert_99]

lets rephrase ...

instead of use ... lets say useful ..

you cant make someone pay for something they dont find useful ...

encourage as many ppl to join the forum ... and if they find it useful then why not ...

[RedLiner]

The we come to the question of how would you define useful???

[eggbert_99]

each individual has to come to their own conclusion of that ..

its up to the individual to use their judgement to decide. If they honestly believe they havent got anything out of this forum then ofcourse they shouldnt give up their hard earned cash ...

But if they know they have gotton something .. then ...........well ...

[blue_rolla]

ok i joined up for silver membership becuase i spend a fair bit of time here... and everything i know about my car (except that its a 1.8L 4 cylinder engine and has 4 wheels) has been learnt from here...

i learnt how to take my dash apart first, then i learned what sort of wheels look good by checking the galleries, then i found out what sort of springs to buy and how they looked, then i found my springs on here, and i also found my headers on here... thats only a tiny bit of what i've learned and the entertainment ive had... now thats WAAYYY more than $40 of usefulness right there... i've made great friends on here (not that i buy friends or anything, but thats worth more than $40 in itself...)

annyyyway... its not about silver membership...

i like the idea of being a registered club, but there is ALOT to work around first (all mentioned above)... if we're serious about it, then we can get around all these things... i can get a banner made up cheap by my mate's dad if we decided to go ahead with it, and id be more than happy to look after some administrative stuff...

but are we serious? it doesnt seem that we have enough active members to make a registered club... there are fees and admin costs involved then, and if we cant convince enough people to join up (as a member with a rego fee), then if we dont cover our costs, then someone is going to have to be out of pocket..

if we're serious about it, ill support it every step of the way.

[eggbert_99]

ditto ... im more than happy to support this all the way ...

although steve may be able to add more insight here ...

coz with registered clubs come presidents, vice presidents, super vice presidents, junior vice presidents, super junior vice presidents, board members , chairman, etc etc etc

i dont know if we have that many members willing to step up and commit ... as already proven by the number of silver members

[blue_rolla]

super junior vice presidents

hahahahaha

i agree though - if people arent willing to commit $40 to this club/forum, then i dont think we're going to have enough people to step up to the admin/leadership roles that are going to have to be filled...

[perthcamry]

If you registered then maybe there would be more people in Perth join and someone as the administrator for Perth and activities and then I think the numbers in the west would grow. ;)

If you have a Camry and live in WA then the Forum does not offer as much as if you own a Rolla in live in the east :)