Inflation ... the cost of supporting member will be raised to $19.99

[Tom]

Starting June 1st the cost of the supporting member privaledges will go up to $19.99 from $15.00. The reason we are doing this is to help share the cost of the server and domain names.

I have been trying to keep this board as advert free as I can. We have the small google advert at the top of the page but as of late the revinues from google have been down.

Rather than increase the adverts on the page I have decided slightly increase the supporting member cost. Those that signed renew or subscribe before Jun 1st will be able to do so at the current $15 rate.

Thanks for understanding.
Tom

[Chicklady]

Re: Inflation ... the cost of supporting member will be raised to $19.99

LOL. Why do you sounds like a retailer? $19.99??? How about $20

[OzLover]

Re: Inflation ... the cost of supporting member will be raised to $19.99

I will gladly pay $19.99 when it is time for me to renew. The support, knowledge & friendship is priceless!!

[Adena]

Re: Inflation ... the cost of supporting member will be raised to $19.99

I agree with ChickLady, Tom... just take the extra penny (use it wisely ) and round it up to $20. At $19.99, I'm afraid we'll sound a little like an infomercial. "You can get all this great support and advice for one easy payment of just $19.99!"

[gunnabfit]

Re: Inflation ... the cost of supporting member will be raised to $19.99

sounds good to me!

[Greeneggs&ham]

Re: Inflation ... the cost of supporting member will be raised to $19.99

I suppose a valid answer to the question I'm about to ask may be "nunya" as in "nunya business", and that some may even suggest I "put up or shut up" and both would be valid responses!

I love the effort that has obviously been put into this site, and can see myself becoming a supporting member in the next month or two after I am certain I will stick with it (it already is my most frequent web stop!).

But as a volunteer who manages a website for my church youth group complete with picture galleries and forums, I'm interested to know how a $200/month budget is being allocated? I know I pay $60 per year for two domain names and 120 GB of storage space. I realize this site probably gets a LOT more traffic that we do, but even the top tier package with my webhost runs only $20 per month with virtually unlimited space and bandwidth.

Now I imagine that a portion of the monthly fee is being used to pay for the time Tom (and anyone else) is putting into maintenance, and I'm hardly inferring you don't deserve something for your time and talent! But as a potential donor, I'm just wondering if the $2400 budget could be broken out for me?

If I can be of any assistance, please let me know (although I'm a hack at best!). If I've overstepped my privileges, just let me know, and I'll go back to my green eggs & ham!

[Chicklady]

Re: Inflation ... the cost of supporting member will be raised to $19.99

I wanna know how you figured how many supporting members there are?

[joee5]

Re: Inflation ... the cost of supporting member will be raised to $19.99

I'm kinda curious as to why this is a concern. Not everyone is obligated to donate, and those that do want to. Keep up an excellent job, Tom & co.. God Bless, Joe

[Greeneggs&ham]

Re: Inflation ... the cost of supporting member will be raised to $19.99

I don't know how many are supporting the site financially -- I just know the goal is $200 per month (x12 is $2400).

It's not a concern per say -- more curiosity than anything, and an opportunity to see if there is a way to save money if it's all going towards hardware and bandwidth.

As said before, I have no complaints with the site and thank all who give so freely of their time and talent towards making this the fantastic site it is. I am by no means stepping on toes or accusing anyone of a scam! I'm truly just curious.

[carbless_in_seattle]

Re: Inflation ... the cost of supporting member will be raised to $19.99

is it 19.99/month?

Also, if we now have a pay system to avoid ads, how come there's that new google ad under the first post of every thread

It's been confusing me all day.

and now, if you click on some of the site links, they take you to ads. Like i wanted to read about becomming a supporting member, so I clicked on the "supporting member" link at the top of the forum page and it took me to a music ad.

[Tom]

Re: Inflation ... the cost of supporting member will be raised to $19.99

There is a lot behind the scenes. I just paid roughly about $1000 to get the server and the boards upgraded. That includes new licenses for all of the software + I needed to hire a programmer to help me convert the old board to the new one. On top of that there are the domain names, the monthly server cost ( which is more than $200 / month alone ), admitedly some of this also supports the dietaatkins.com site which is the atkins diet site in spanish. On top of all of that I do a little bit of advertising for this and the dietaatkins.com sites.

So at $200 / month I am still way in the red. Now I could run this totally differently and probably much cheaper but I try to get a first class operation going here to support the traffic we have.

I was tempted to raise the amount / month to $300 from $200 but for now will keep it at $200 to see how it goes.

Now ... on top of all of that. I ran the board and mailing lists before that without ANY financial assistence OR donations for about 10 years. So if we ever have a month in the black ... I hope nobody minds.

None of this includes any money towards me for the time I spent on this board nor towards all of the admin, mod, and other people that post and support the site.

For $20 a year ( yes I changed it to $20 instead of 19.99 ) and you are not even obligated to pay the $20 a year this site is a steal.

I dont mind answering this question and I hope that you understand where I am coming from.

So for all of you ( I see you have become a supporting member Green Eggs ) who have not donated or become a supporting member ... it is really appreciated.

For supporting members you dont see any advertisement ( except the one next to the logo, you also get more PMs and space in the gallery. On top of all of that you get the supporting member status under your name plus you are bolded in the members online. Plus you get your own supporting member only forums to post to. On top of that you get first priority for the Atkins Boot Camp. In the future we will be adding more features for supporting members. So please take this chance and become a supporting member. You can become a supporting member for 1 day or for 3 years. Whatever it is it is really appreciated.

I suppose a valid answer to the question I'm about to ask may be "nunya" as in "nunya business", and that some may even suggest I "put up or shut up" and both would be valid responses!

I love the effort that has obviously been put into this site, and can see myself becoming a supporting member in the next month or two after I am certain I will stick with it (it already is my most frequent web stop!).

But as a volunteer who manages a website for my church youth group complete with picture galleries and forums, I'm interested to know how a $200/month budget is being allocated? I know I pay $60 per year for two domain names and 120 GB of storage space. I realize this site probably gets a LOT more traffic that we do, but even the top tier package with my webhost runs only $20 per month with virtually unlimited space and bandwidth.

Now I imagine that a portion of the monthly fee is being used to pay for the time Tom (and anyone else) is putting into maintenance, and I'm hardly inferring you don't deserve something for your time and talent! But as a potential donor, I'm just wondering if the $2400 budget could be broken out for me?

If I can be of any assistance, please let me know (although I'm a hack at best!). If I've overstepped my privileges, just let me know, and I'll go back to my green eggs & ham!

[SunnySmile501]

Re: Inflation ... the cost of supporting member will be raised to $19.99

Another Atkins/low carb bulletin board that I used to frequent charged $25 to be a supporting member over two years ago. You got some really hokey perks and a couple of good perks for your money, and the atmosphere was not near as nice and helpful as ADBB.

ADBB is worth every penny if you decide to become a supporting member. Just seeing those stars gives that member extra clout in my mind. I consider them very serious about this way of life, and a person that will probably give as much or more than they take from the site.

I was extremely proud of my stars before I became a moderator. I get no monetary compensation from being a mod, but I get a lot of satisfaction from helping keep the board running and affordable.

I have owned and ran my own websites and have been the Webmaster for two federal non-profits, so I can tell you how much work goes on behind the scenes. Once when one of the non-profit's site was hacked, I worked around the clock, without sleep, for 30 hours to get it back up. I was fighting the hackers in real time, and I wasn't giving up. There's not enough money in the world to cover something like that happening.

I, for one, would be lost without this site to keep me grounded in this WOE. I've been involved with pay by the month sites (eDiets) and with other low carb bulletin boards over the last 2 1/2 years, but this is the best by far. This is my home and the members are family, and I will be here as long as Tom goes through what he goes through to keep it open. Whatever the fee is to be a supporting member is worth it to me.

Sunny!

[Chicklady]

Re: Inflation ... the cost of supporting member will be raised to $19.99

"You can get all this great support and advice for one easy payment of just $19.99!"

Plus shipping and handling

[Greeneggs&ham]

Re: Inflation ... the cost of supporting member will be raised to $19.99

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I agree with everyone who raves about the value of the site. I never intended my post(s) to be critical -- just pure curiosity. It wouldn't have occurred to me that you were running the site off your own hardware rather than using a 3rd party provider. Having spent two years in IT, I can appreciate what hardware and software cost! Once again, your time and dedication are certainly appreciated.

[joee5]

Re: Inflation ... the cost of supporting member will be raised to $19.99

Tom, you are doing an excellent job and I felt that no explanation was necessary. However after all that, now I'm gonna sign up. I thought the fee was monthly not yearly. Keep up the great job. God Bless, Joe