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[emilyjw]

I think the free model may work better.

[vInTaGe VioLeT]

i don't know it's only £1.50 now - it's less than the price of a sandwich!

[BigBlueBed]

Ah but a highly seasoned, attractive seaded bread type of sandwich!



It is only £1.50 but you know there is something about parting with cash even if it is only that small. Free is much better.


On the blog thing, I don't think you understood what I meant and now I have confused myself.  Really what I said about blogging and tutorials was nothing to do with the magazine. So please ignore it for now.

[emilyjw]

I think the thing with Free is you can access it straight from a blog button, whereas at the moment people have to make the commitment of joining the forum, then paying etc. I think if you did the button blog spot idea, then had it so people could directly access it the readership would instantly get a lot bigger. Then perhaps have some sew-a-longs where the first part is featured in the magazine, with the rest on the forum.

Not sure if you can easily track numbers downloaded from what i'm suggesting though x

[Very Berry Handmade]

I think the thing with Free is you can access it straight from a blog button, whereas at the moment people have to make the commitment of joining the forum, then paying etc. I think if you did the button blog spot idea, then had it so people could directly access it the readership would instantly get a lot bigger. Then perhaps have some sew-a-longs where the first part is featured in the magazine, with the rest on the forum.

Not sure if you can easily track numbers downloaded from what i'm suggesting though x

I'm wondering if Google Analytics would keep track on numbers for us? 

I know what you mean vV, it doesn't seem very expensive, but like Emily says, it's getting people to take that step (especially when we have free competition in other online mags) and do all the fiddly stuff of being forum members etc.

[vInTaGe VioLeT]

but the point of the magazine was to
 a. raise funds for the forum
 b. bring new members to the forum

i totally understand about people{including me} wanting freebies though . . . . . hmmm it's a puzzler isn't it?

i personally like the idea of a paypal donate button but i wonder how many people would donate?
i also like to know how many people are buying/viewing the magazine.

as you all know though PennyDog is the technical brains behind the magazine and in fact the forum - so i am happy to let her decide how we progress 

[pennydog]

NO I don't do decisions...

As vV said, the aim was to pay for promotion and upkeep costs for the forum which it is doing. It really all depends on if people will actually buy adverts and fill the void left by not charging to read it. Are people really going to pay £10 for a quarter page advert, or £25 for a full page?

it will take a lot of steps out of the process of accessing it though which removes a lot of obstacles.

[emilyjw]

As i missed the beginning of the set up, to make sure I'm understanding... the main aim of the magazine is to encourage people to the forum and cover the running costs. This is currently coming from a mixture of advertising and payments.
If you go for the free option:

I think to keep people still coming to the forum you host the magazine on the forum, just in an accessible bit. What about then having a specific chat thread for that magazine where people can chat, ask questions about the tutorials, post up their pics etc. It may take a while for people to use it and it might be more of an idea to have a discussion topic in the magazine that can then be continued. Like I said before a sew-a-long etc.

Could you sell more advertising space on the forum itself - e.g on the homepage under the magazine button. You would hope that if we can get an increase in the number of readers that companies would be happy to pay for some advertising still.

Really have no idea of the exact costs so it's difficult to decide what is best. On some of the forums I use they run competitions to cover the costs of the forum hosting but not sure that is viable here.

[Kitty Ballistic]

As vV said, the aim was to pay for promotion and upkeep costs for the forum which it is doing. It really all depends on if people will actually buy adverts and fill the void left by not charging to read it. Are people really going to pay £10 for a quarter page advert, or £25 for a full page?

I think you'd need to be able to provide the stats for potential advertisers (not talking about other crafters necessarily, but more companies that sell craft supplies or courses).

Another option is to put a donate button on the forum for folks to use generally, not just for access to the magazine. If not a Paypal donate button, then what about something like Flattr? Or is Flattr only for blogs?

[chickadee cards]

Kerry - I am not working now so can help with anything you need. I would be glad to. Just tell me what to do.

[pennydog]

Thanks Chick, would you be willing to assist Claire? That's the only unassigned thing we have right now I think- but spreading the word is also welcome!


I should probably note here that I had a separate meeting at work because they've decided somehow I'm indispensable unlike everyone else(!) so for now I have to lie to everyone and pretend I'm doing a four day week but really I'm not changing- for now. I told them that I would have taken the redundancy if they hadn't made that decision.

Oh and we have just enough funds to cover the competition prizes (which entries end midnight tomorrow by the way!)

[vInTaGe VioLeT]

phew that's a relief PD , is it a case of saved for now?

[pennydog]

Well they're being crazy optimistic and they're not thinking what if like I am, so I'd say nothing is set in stone...

[chickadee cards]

What does Claire need doing?

[emilyjw]

I still need to write my new articles, you could do the one on tricks for getting your mojo back if you want Chickadee. I was just going to use the tips that were put on a thread on the forum as a basis.