thought I was supposed to have 50 limit PM box still 20?
i have 200:dunno:
did you donate?
you are registered but not a donating member.
dont be cheap. donate. so you can see this:
http://pittspeed.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=15
and especially this:
http://pittspeed.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=44
now I am in now way trying to start up any flames…but I was reading an article on easy ways to make money and starting an internet forum was one of them. To sum it up it said startup cost are a few hundred dollars and cost per month is roughly $35. Then you have sponsors have to pay a rate you determine pay. So I have no idea how accurate this is. But I would like to see the total $$ coming in and going out not including the $$ from donating members.
how much you think it cost to swap servers last month? how much you think it cost to pay some place to maintain those servers?
and do you complain at wal-mart when you buy your under roo’s about the fact that they paid 1.00 for the five pack and you need to pay 4.99??
who cares what comes in, its pittspeed, not bicspeed. and if it was wouldnt you defend its expensis.?
i’ll bet you alot less is coming in from what you think.
and i’ll bet there is little to no profit involved.
I only bring this up since I am a member of a quite a few boards where a few are smaller and some the same size as pittspeed and there is nothing at all about being a donating member. Also keep in mind I am a financial analyst and for a living I look at cost associated with running a business so it is somewhat in my nature to wonder about things like this. I am in no way trying to offend anyone…and in no way want to start up some kind of lame debate. Just curious thats all…also no need for the “bicspeed” comment.
I wouldn’t go that far, Im sure he’s not pulling money out of his own pocket every month to keep this place running. Maybe at first, but not now.
hehehe :kekegay:
the hosting for the size of this site is definately not cheap. evenmore so because it is deticated hosting, meaning pittspeed is on its own server. yes the software for the forum may be a few hundred bucks initially, but the time spent programming it to how you want it, upkeep and hosting fees are the things that hit you.
Im was just wondering it says I am suppossed to have 50 as my limit, and I still only have 20???
As you may know, being a financial analyst, there are different costs associated with running different types of businesses. In no way is Whitey out to make a fortune on this project. It is a product of his passion for cars, computers, photography and social interaction. Generally speaking, you know for a fact that the initial startup fees for a business are much greater than the annual income for the first few years, especially when its a non-profit. Pittspeed.com being non-profit means that Whitey, having no investors or equity partners, no government assitance(aside from tax breaks?) fronted all the money for costs related to a brand new DELL 1u rack mount server, licensing for the latest and greatest software(server OS, vBulletin) . Also, if you know anything about the IT industry, high bandwith usage, even at a discounted rate is a monthly big ticket item in his budget. On top of operating costs, there is the apperal such as t-shirts, hoodies, license plate frames, etc.
His only source of income specifically for pittspeed.com is from advertising and member donations. Im not sure that the DVD sales were a success but none the less, this isn’t his livelyhood we’re talking about here, just a hobby. The small budget advertising from local shops and the few annual donations he recieves may have covered the startup costs by now but then what about the monthly operationg costs?
The target market here is broad range of local Pgh people with different interests and different cars. You can’t compare Pittspeed to say…a dedicated Subaru website. We can’t really funnel the number of world-wide users and application specific business advertising as they can…its based more on the local population of Pgh.
Does that make sense?
as a newer small business man, Nicly stated Be_Rad :bigok:
yep i am so rich from pittspeed that i wipe my ass with 100s… this has been discussed before, and its more then you think.
Ive sat sidestall with Whitey before, its true he does wipe his ass with hundie’s :boink:
then i stick my arm down the shitter and pick em out hahaha
Does it make sense…well sort of…but with out #'s it is hard for me to get the full picture. I do realize there are other costs associated but I am not in the IT field and do not know what the amount of those costs are. I mostly based my comment on other boards that are similar size based on total members, #posts, #members online, ect there is no option to become a donating member…nor is there a very low limit on PM’s and special access to certain forums. The comment about the apparel …come on I am not saying the prices are out of line but I am sure there is a decent mark up on the cost to produce them. I just want to make this straight i never once said he is making “fortune” or is “wiping his ass with 100 $ bills”. Just w/o #‘s it is hard for me to make sense of the whole donating member thing. I would think that purchasing the apparel/products would be enough to become a "donating memeber’ consider there is a mark up on it and it is advertising for the site. Like I said b4 I in no way am trying to start a lame debate or calling whitey out for wiping his ass with $100 bills…I am just curious about the financial end of things b4 I would donate to get “special” privileges. Just the way I am, I have always looked into things a ton and have always been curious about the financial ends of everything.
I am not really sure what sites you are comparing pittspeed too. Its pretty much out of the norm of most other message forums. Tons of places do subscription based access levels for there members, hell I copied the idea from other forums!
Pittspeed’s financial situation is really no ones business but mine. If I was making a shit load of money off pittspeed I would be pretty damn excited, but I realize that it will probably never happen. Right now I think pittspeed is still about 5k in hole. Yeah thats 5k that has come out of my pocket, or is sitting on my credit card. I probably have about another 1000 tied up into merchandise that has yet to sell. So i got some debt to recover from, but nothing that will shut the board down.
I am not sure how often you deal with screen printers, but there is pretty much little to no markup on the merchandise I sell. Its quite expensive when you buy it in small quantitys like I do. Also I make sure I get quality shirts, instead of the ones you can see through after one wash.
I honestly could care less if you donate or not, I can not make you do anything you don’t want to do. But it really does help me out and every cent goes to making the board better. Last year when donations were high I gave the money right back to the Members by providing Water at Flash Light Drag events. I did not have to do that, but I never take the money for myself and I figured people would appreciate it.
in still of my persuing ?, its says that reg users have a limit of 50, and donating users 200, mine is still 20,???
Same here Monte, 20 at the moment. :rant: