152 replies to this topic 4 votes

[Neobond]

Enron, on 16 November 2012 - 12:01, said:

Make a Windows Phone app and I'll subscribe

This is already in the works.

Anarkii, on 17 November 2012 - 05:30, said:

1. A vote down system for subs only or a dislike button added.
2. Access to the private beta server to give feedback and help with adding themes or features before going live. Actually I know this is already in place, but it would be great if we could get more access to features or even have more input to themes in development.
3. LOVE the idea of monthly give-a-ways! Maybe up the price of subbing by say $10 and use the profits so to speak to pool in for the prizes for that month.
4. This idea is actually pretty out there but I remember reading that Neowin is losing members. Why not have the first competition to design a magazine layout highlighting what the site is, and how it can help the tech minded people and put that advert in a few tech mags? Example would be T3 magazine, and say Windows User or mags like that. Surely a 1 page full advert in say 4-5 different magazines a month wouldn't cost that much? It would be a awesome way to reach new people to join the site!
5. Free T-Shirt

We aren't losing members, daily registrations are pretty steady

We won't ever delay our news 10 minutes (or however long) for a limited small group of people, sorry.. That would just ensure that Neowin is 10 minutes slower to push out news.

I think Darkside is needed anyway, a light and dark version of a website for comfortable reading would seem the logical thing to do anyway, but we can maybe talk about additional themes or features.

One thing I'm considering is a monthly subscription option as well, so people can see what they get for the cheaper full year.

And the removal of blogs, yeah.. I'll be alerting subs soon to back up any content from there as they won't be included with the 3.4 update.

[+remixedcat]

y u remove blog?

[Timan]

remixedcat, on 17 November 2012 - 11:54, said:

y u remove blog?

This is a pretty good reason why, http://d.pr/i/1nvO its not used and its a pain in the butt to maintain, specially when upgrading forums/skins. Hopefully this thread though comes up with some good ideas to take its place in terms of perks.

[+remixedcat]

how was the last upgrade with blogs for you?

[Neobond]

remixedcat, on 17 November 2012 - 12:31, said:

how was the last upgrade with blogs for you?

Really painful, a bit like unwanted buttsex I'd imagine.



at least that's how Timan portrays it

[+remixedcat]

Neobond, on 17 November 2012 - 12:44, said:

Really painful, a bit like unwanted buttsex I'd imagine.



at least that's how Timan portrays it

LOL ok... I just hope hampsters werent involved.

[InsaneNutter]

Idea 1 - Licence for a Stardock product

As Stardock own a stake in Neowin could you not include Start 8, or a choice of a licence for a Stardock product of the subscribers choosing?
For me personally i think that would be a great incentive to subscribe, I would feel i was helping a good website out and getting something nice in return.

Idea 2 - Simply make the price cheaper, or offer a lifetime sub.

My opinion is at the moment with a tier 2 sub the only perk to me would be seeing no adverts, however that's honestly not worth almost £18ish a year to me... especially in these harder times where money is often tight, i would sooner pay my way by viewing adverts.

At the moment Neowin has 118 members and 1722 guests online, from my own experience of running a forum i would imagine the majority of the ad revenue is coming from guests, not members who actively use the forum. Even if you chose not to show adverts to anyone who was logged in to Neowin i honestly dont think the revenue loss would be that significant, compared to howmuch the site makes from guests.

I think a lifetime subscription to see no adverts on the site would an attractive idea, rather than a very expensive yearly subscription.
Given i've read Neowin since 2001 and been a member of the forums since 2003 i wouldn't mind paying a bit more as a one off to support a website i have really enjoyed over the years.

Something like $50 or £25 to £30 for a lifetime ad free membership would be a pretty good reason to give some money to Neowin i think.

[Neobond]

InsaneNutter, on 17 November 2012 - 13:24, said:

snip

The Lifetime sub is a really good idea, $50 is a bit low though considering it's less than two years worth of Tier 2, $75 might do it.. and I sort of agree about the ratio of members to guests, members already see fewer ads than guests and the incentive needs to be there to sell some subs

We average around 120 odd subs a year, and that hasn't changed over the years (except when we gave a bunch away and had a lot more subscribers). What about the "monthly" idea so people can test the waters for only a couple of quid?

Edit: I'll talk with Brad W about the Start8 idea, it should be doable, but the logistics of it will need to work smoothly, obviously.

[Simon-]

PLEASE DONT do lifetime subs. Lifetime Subs rarely work out in the long term and if you are having financial difficulty in the future, your only option would be to screw you most loyal fanbase by no longer providing the lifetime sub. Also, you will have problems if you have to ban members and they have paid a large sum for a lifetime sub. Finally, if you price it at say 3x the price of a yearly sub, then everyone would jump over to lifetime, and the income stream with dry up in year 2, and at the end of year 3 you would not be making any more money off subs from the people who tool lifetime.

[Detection]

Maybe make a small game similar to how o2 rewards work, once you buy your sub, you are taken to a small "Hook-a-duck" game, the subscriber gets to hook 1 duck from the pond, some ducks contain great prizes and some just contain fun prizes, its up to the member to guess and choose the right duck

Member buys the sub, hooks a duck, and the prize could range from a funny avatar > up to an extra 1 / 3 / 6 months free on their sub > upto a free stardock product > their sub is only half price - etc etc

Something like that might attract more people into buying a sub knowing they could land lucky playing the hook-a-duck game

If creating the game would be too difficult, just clicking on boxes / picking a number from a hat might work just as well

[+remixedcat]

hey that idea would be fun, Detection!

[+littleneutrino]

I have been a subscriber for several years now, To be honest I cannot think of anything I would like added. I have never subscribed for the features. I do it to support the site. If i could think of anything that would be nice to add for subscribers would be a web based IRC client, (so i can view IRC at work )

[Rappy]

Timan, on 17 November 2012 - 11:56, said:

This is a pretty good reason why, http://d.pr/i/1nvO its not used and its a pain in the butt to maintain, specially when upgrading forums/skins. Hopefully this thread though comes up with some good ideas to take its place in terms of perks.

I remember when they were popular, sad really but its a bane then get rid of them!

[Draconian Guppy]

Monthly subscription sounds like a nice idea.
+1 on what simon- Lifetime, no, There's no way you could keep up if everyone just jumps to lifetime, unless you charge a very high amount.

The magazine idea seems pretty cool, perhaps a Monthly compendium .pdf of the most popular posts/editorials and a random irc shot at the last page!

[TCA]

Could always have agree and disagree buttons next to "Like This" if there are too many dislikes on a post it gets hidden but can still be viewed if "show post" button is clicked..not a sub but eh' would be pretty useful