Electricians Forums is not-for-profit and we are allowing subscribers and high esteemed members to have a 48% of the share of forum profits available.

Okay been thinking about this for ages. TEF are really trying to make their forum make profit for the 8 owners lol. Won't ever work. They don't get enough traffic even now they've gone over the line using a domain so close to ours it still won't work.

So, thought I'd do something they won't ever be able to do now.

I'm going to allow my business to take 52% share of profits. And 48% are them up for grabs.

People who are highly esteemed badge wearers, "broke internet" badge wearers will have a share allocated to them collectively. I'll need to work out the percentages.

And then a share of the 48% can be purchased if you want buy subscribing. The rates have gone up.

I will post quarterly earnings to those who sign an NDA and have access to a forum. You forgo your shares if you disclose any information anywhere else about this. This is my earnings being aired so please don't do that.

Forums should be made for forum members.

I will take a small fair wage. And there are costs involved (I won't list them just a total else I give to much IP information away and I'm not going to do that.)

But the company with more investors who are contributors hopefully them ramp up their advice as they are getting paid to post.

You will need to subscribe lifetime to get the lions share of profits. The price has gone up to much more than TEF as we are worth a lot lot more.

Work out their lifetime cost per posts they have and then do that with ours we are still cheaper.

Thoughts please people? I'm doing this with www.diytalk.net and www.contractortalk.net and www.tilersforums.com and www.plumberstalk.net too.

So you can help and invest in other forums too where their lifetime subscriptions will be a lot less as two are new. Tilers has as much content as here. Plumbers is less than tilers as plumbers has the least content.

Been thinking if doing this for ages and now think it's time.

 

[littlespark]

Wait. What?

You’ll pay us to talk drivel on here? Where do I sign up?


(All in jest, mon capitan)

 

[Dan]

https://www.electriciansforums.net/account/upgrades

Lifetime subscribers or "Broke the Internet" badge (smaller share for this but it is free to get).

Lifetime sub is now: £750. Well worth it.

https://www.electriciansforums.net/account/upgrades

It's an investment, people will need to ramp up input and help us grow profits by doing so. So not quick return but I'll show all my costs and turnover every quarter and you should all see your share of profits pay you back within a couple of years and make money from then on for life.

I needed to differentiate us from other forums. No forum does this. As first once again in the industry. Which is massive still and was the first industry using the Internet. Forums were first to use the first Stamford uni forums. Then medical ones. Then the boom.

 

[Dan]

Sent a mass email about it. Will change the prices of lifetime subscriptions on the other forums and work out the full terms and conditions needed and things before I get those forums on the same scheme and setup. So will aim for after Q1 2025 to give us time work out any kinks in the chain.

But I think this could be really good for a lot of members. And even former members are welcome to join in and get a piece of the internet that they probably did once contribute to a lot. So its only fair they get a share too.

Would really need to ramp up contrbiutions though. I can see a lot of members holding back for one reason or another. Often the ads system annoying them. But it's just the way the cookie crumbles. Google are changing the Cookie Consent again one 1st December 2024 so they're STILL working on it and haven't got it right. So we can't quite go back to just 5 ads per page just yet but I hope to god it isn't long before we are able to.

The forum turns over 12k a month for 6 months in the winter for 12 years in a row except 2023/2024 winter where google screwed things up.

Best annual turnover was 260k in about 2016. Just 3 forums that was.

Been offered to be bought out for 3.4m but said well it'll take me 10 years build it up to that point again so even selling it for that doesn't mean I'll earn any more for the next 10 years. So told them sod off.

The costs are high.

We dont pay a penny to advertise but I do spend a lot on side-blogs.

So food for thought.

The £750 rate will be £1500 before the end of Q1 2025.

 

[James]

It has to be said, that as a subscriber, I see very little in the way of ad's.
there is a list of the forum sponsors down the right hand side of the page but otherwise I don't get bothered by them.

I do spend at least an hour if not 2 per day going through the posts and contributing to the ones where i feel it would be helpful.

Presumably @Dan you are hoping to share 48% of the profits but are also wanting to increase the profits by a similar amount to keep your income similar or even increase it.

I like the idea, similar to a co-op.

you have created and maintain the canvas for us to apply our art to and make an income from doing so.

by sharing some of the income with the creators, presumably the idea is to encourage investment, both financially and intellectually.
I have personally found a place where I feel welcome, valued and at times challenged.

I like the fact that people will question what they feel to be incorrect or even bad advice in a structured and reasonable way without generally turning to statements like he is an idiot or other words that are unlikely to pass the filters.

We have all come across such people but in the most part, criticism of other is in a technical form not a personal one.

I hope that this endeavour proves to be the right choice for both dan and the forum as a whole.

Sign me up boss, I will continue to do what I do, but maybe put a little more effort in to it !!

p.s. I think that the "broke the internet badge" could maybe be awarded to the person with the best performance over the last month or quarter year. could stimulate people to try and get it? at the moment (i think) it is something that could take months or years to achieve.

 

[littlespark]

Well said James.

I’m actually thinking about it myself.


I think we’ve sorted out the “less than helpful” responders, the unfair criticism of diyers… If we could only sort out the ones that ask a question, don’t take heed of advice and go ahead anyway…. We’de be laughing.

 

[Dan]

Aww nice one mate I think given the fact you were the first person to lifetime subscribe I was going to sort you out with something.

I need to crunch some numbers but basically if we had about 20 at first we would all be committed much more if people knew the figures they're helping boost by posting loads and helping members etc.

I'd like to get a bunch of people who may be interested and make a forum for us to discuss things and ask questions. Might register a limited company and literally let us all be shareholders.

It wouldn't be being done to get rich but we may find it really boosts the forum input and that always means more income from Google.

I've been paid by Google monthly since about 2004 with a car forum pre-tile forum even. And I can see the busier years and how much more. It can triple at winter over summer but its because more people are online then, less on holiday, so imagine if 100 people were always on here answering. That'd be about 1000 reading unregistered with a % clicking on ads in the content the 100 keep creating.

You could become sort of journalists making content for the forum and get your own following.

I need more copy's of me. But I've tried I can't do it no matter how much I squeeze with my eyes shut. Another just doesn't pop out.

So if there were 100 people with an invested interest then it'd really take the pressure off me so I can concentrate on the rankings which alone is a full time job.

If I could do this with all forums it'd be brilliant I think.

A co-op forum network.

 

[Dan]

Wonder if it would be easiest to say there are 48 shares at £1000 each, but people could buy 250 minimum. .25 of a share. But some could buy two. So that'd be a good 50 people who post daily, that's a massive boost. If we all did a thread a week each about something that's going on that week (hard to do I've tried ha) maybe locally or something.

Could even be some sort of business network too perhaps where we create some websites with ideas you've had along the way too and we can even just discuss those in public forums and they'd increase revenue even.

The more I think about it the more it seems obvious to do. It's a true member-owned business then. A couple of steps above a hobby forum then!

You want see AVForums.com accounts he makes millions and 3 run it, they pay all sorts of writers and things there though too so maybe those who are articulate can write about something they're passionate about.

Could split up into teams and make sure all trade shows are coveted or even filmed on a stand and we interview the traders / manufacturers who have stands at the shows.

We would be starting a business with a lot of owners and some will do more than others but as long as we have a few things going on all the time we have should have content being created easily.

I'd even be fine bringing former staff back into it and whatnot as they've all done a stint here and all deserve a bit of it really.