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.
