Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Opportunity for Board

I certainly think it would do no harm, and I, for one, would really enjoy reading it. I have so much to learn


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I have sent an Email to Bob about this thread and the idea. I havent heard back from him as of yet. Once I do I will post here. It may not hurt to have a few others try to get this over to Bob as well, if people feel this would be a good thing to do.

I was also wondering if there would be a way to sort out members or look for members bacsed on location. This would help other find other local folks who do not post as much and maybe get more of a local perspective as well.

Sunil I like the Roll call thing just to see how many lurkers are there and to get them started in chatting. The hard part will be to keep all of us loudmouths quiet!!!

Guys,
I think Eric has a great idea. I'm a bit puzzled about 'how' to do it. I don't know if we should put together a volunteer team to search the existing forum for fundamental Q&A, or if several of us should write a short article for each basic question, or.....
Plus, I have to keep in mind some capitalistic things, too. We do sell books, video, cd's etc. with this kind of information.
To me, it makes sense to offer a bit of 'primer' type information, but don't give away the bank. Believe it or not, less than half the members who post on the site subscribe to the magazine.
As much fun as this family has together on the discussion forum, I am challenged with the responsibility to create a profit for the magazine, so I have to figure out a solid way to offer information to people who frequent the site without compromising the business side of Pond Boss.
So, if we can figure out how to help beginners with fundamental information while pursuading them to buy a sub and a book, we're onto to something solid.
As you guys think about this, let's figure out how to put together a beginner package on the forum.
I'll ask our webmaster to read this thread and offer up some ideas.
Good stuff, guys.

Lusk says "Believe it or not, less than half the members who post on the site subscribe to the magazine."

This is just a damn shame. Truly, the site does not exist without the magazine.

On one level, I feel we need to "out" these non-subscribing infidels and publically shame them into subscribing. No public burnings, mind you, just some solid good natured ridicule where it's needed.

Bob, I was thinking of that and it is a delicate balance of giving away the farm and teasing some good information to draw people in. WHat you may want to do is put some basics from the books in there and when you go to tell the details refer to your book and either the people have to ask things on here or better yet buy the books to find the answer. It is sort of a marketing tool as well as a way to start the discussions.

Another thought I had for this forum is to have you archive it off yearly and seel the CD on here and start the forum off yearly with a clean slate except for the Basics that tease your book and the CD's from the previous year. ( Can you tell that I am developing businesses in my current job and have been dealing with marketing waaaayyyyyy too much )

By the way there are approximately 700-850 unique users daily. The number is probably less than that, because several of us log on several times a day. And, there are between 1,200-2,000 lurkers daily, most of which are regular visitors. The site has taken a life of its own.

As I ponder the situation, no answer seems to have clear advantages regarding give and take when considering subscriptions vs. forum membership/lurking.

Because you can get all the free information you want from the forum, it reduces a persons need to buy the books or subscribe to the magazine. And we have to remember that the info. we get from the forum is not info-mercial type stuff where you only get a teaser of the facts; it's hard-tack pertinent info. usually customized to the individual requester's situation.

In a way, the forum "de-nuts" the magazine and books.

A few months back, we all had a discussion about how you use the internet to help build your brick & morter business. Bob mentioned how he really had no way easy way to compare forum membership to subscriptions; this was in part due to people not using their actual names for the forum (not blaming anyone).

Can I make a suggestion? I'm going to put a comment in my signature that I'm a subscriber and have the books.

If we all do this, maybe it will highlight the non-subscribers. If those non-subscribers can be converted, then Bob may have less of an issue with giving some of the farm away in a FAQ section.

Maybe I don't know how to create a signature??!!

EDIT: There, it showed up after I made this last post

I've tried to do my part in getting readers to look at the magazine. I think the annual magazine article contents/index gives people an idea of what is in each issue of the magazine. And maybe what they missed or did not miss. Maybe the article index should be more visible. Most readers probably do not know it even exists.
I think if members more often referred to the magazine articles on the forum without giving all the details of the article then those interested in that topic might make it a point to get the magazine. If the magazine offered something that is not available on the forum then more might subscribe.? With this concept in mind, I often wonder if some of my detailed information pieces might be put to better use if I reserved it for the magazine.

Speaking of the PBoss magazine, look for upcoming PBoss magazine articles about 1. largemouth bass catchability, 2. selecting bluegills to grow trophy behemoth bluegills, 3. managing behemoth bluegills, 4 What good is CPUE in pond fisheries?.

Cody says "With this concept in mind I often wonder if some on my detailed information might be put to better use if I reserved it for the magazine."

The fine lines of this topic continue to take shape and outline consequences.

The dealer is going to cut off the supply.....

then we all suffer.

I'm commenting too much. I'll back off it for a while.

Out

From a marketing point of view maybe if you had a teaser section that people could get teasers from the books and magazine and then refer them to the pages in the book or the articles in the magazie that would cause people to talk more about both and create a buzz and as such more buss usually relates to more purchases and also would relate to more input on the site

Cody's Annual Index of the PB magazine would make excellent "sticky" post material permanantly at the top of a section, not only from the viewpoint of us users who might like to find it easily, but also as a plug for the mag.

Perhaps they should go in a FAQ section along with VERY BASIC FAQ items as well as intentional teasers for the Mag/Books. Example:

Q. How do I do XXXXXXX?

A. Start with YYYYY. Full details can't be fit in here, see the ZZZZ section of "Basic Pond Management - The Manual" with a link to the purchase page.


For Bob Lusk or J.P. Greeson - Does this version of bulletin board S/W running the PB forum support "sticky" posts?

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Pond Boss Subcriber & Who-Cares-About-Catfish-Mouths Author

Sunil, Good suggestion!

Theo, Did you read my offline note to Bob? That is almost word for word what I had talked to him about earlier today.

If you do not get the mag. you are missing a lot . You should try the books also.

I think Theo hit it on the head, and maybe limit it to the top ten FAQ's. After the tenth explain that the book goes into more detail, and have a link right there to go to the order page.

I have read this forum extensively since finding it while working in Honolulu and now retired to my new lake in Alabama. I normally don't log in to read as I'm interested mainly ion learning. I would log in if I had significant input or needed to ask a major question. I do subscribe to Pond Boss and got a few of the books that my friends bought me for a retirement gift.

My $0.01 worth on this topic is to set up a sign in code so that only magazine subscribers have access to asking the boss questions. Everyone else could read the forum but not have access to communicating with other members. When folks have questions...they should be able to get answers NOW as it might be very important. Teasers would cost them BUCKS and loss of precious pond criters and FISH!!!
Thanks for this forum to all of you. May God bless you all.

It is always nice when I can identify ONE of the voices in my head.
Is there a number I can call when I want it to shut up? :p

Theo I am afraid there isnt a number to call to shut this one up. This one never seems to know when to shut up !!! At least that is what my wife tells me

How about subscribers get the fish logo?
Maybe in the header along with the links?

Now that is a good idea!!! What about under the " Member Rated" location. There would be room to place it and it would be easy to see. The good thing is it would add a little "color" to our posts.

JP likes the idea, so do I. He and I will discuss how to get it done next week, then we will get the beginner's section. I'll ask JP how we can alter the logo.

I agree that there is so much info here on the forum that a person really doesn't need to read the magazine. All of us want Bob to make money at this for providing us with this great forum.

So, here's my suggestion. Let anyone read the forum but only let PB subscribers post. If someone wants to ask a question and get all of this expert advise, let them subscribe to the magazine first. Start with this and see if it increases subscriptions without hurting the forum.

Just wanted to add, that because of finding the forum, and how useful it was, it led us to subscribe to the magazine. It is a great marketing tool and compliments the magazine well.
laurelew