Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Changes coming to Pond Boss....

Greetings All!
For the better part of two years, we've been talking about improving the website.
All of you are vital members...and to that end, I want your input.
We have several missions.
1) Increase paid subscriptions to the magazine. In order to get where we need to go, we need to add 750-1,000 subscribers each year for the next 3-5 years.
2) Organize the information that people seek. Right now, we offer the magazine and a few books and videos. We want to add selected articles, podcasts and videos. We are thinking some of this stuff should be free, some of it should be e-books, e-articles, etc. for pay.
3) Increase the profitability of the website for the owners. Right now, we are thinking of offering a mix of free articles, free videos, podcasts, etc. But, we are also thinking we should offer paid memberships that include a subscription to the magazine and access to the e-products.
4) I don't intend to change this forum. There are so many things I like and a handful of things I don't like. I love the fact that we are all family. I love the fact the forum is completely warm and family friendly and chock full of great information. The things I don't like are: the forum isn't 'search friendly', especially for newcomers looking for specific information; I don't like the fact that too many threads are hijacked. I also don't like it that we don't have a good form of social media where members can build their own page...right now posting photos is a royal pain. (That's the main reason I don't blog often.).

So, here's where I'm going.

I want feedback. The website will improve over the next two or three months. We plan to add some exciting things, especially content. We plan to improve our search engine optimization.

Sunil has suggested many times that we offer a "donation" tab for people who want to support the site. I've been on the verge of doing this several times. But, I would rather have members who pay a little and receive something of more value.

My specific questions are:

A) What are your opinions of paying a nominal annual fee to be a member of the forum?

B) Would you rather have a copy of the magazine in the mail, or an e-magazine?

C) If you got the e-magazine, would you stop subscribing to the printed copy?

D) How to you feel about having a free membership that has limited access to content? This may be a "read only" version of the forum. It may mean being able to access some articles, podcasts, videos, but having to pay for selected e-information.

E) Then, a "small" membership fee that has access to all the content, some of which is 'pay as you go', such as some of the e-information? This includes all privileges of the forum, including posting.

EE)Or, a "gold" membership, where you can have access to all the website, along with a "members only" forum where you get specific advice to specific problems from the top pros in the industry? This membership also includes a subscription to the magazine.

F) Finally, how much is this stuff worth? What should someone pay for a "medium" membership and what would you expect to receive. And, same question for the "gold" membership.

Feeback please!