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The Z Club relies on the support of it's paid members - join the club or renew your membership here.
Non-paid up member shut-out !
- Thread starter SeanDezart
- Start date
Steve I will try and answer as best I can and hopefully it will be of use to you:
1. What brings me back to the website is the fact that it is one of the few places where I can learn more about Datsun's. The fact it is a British site makes it that more appealing. The club should be proud of its website and the people who contribute to it.
2. At the moment I don't think there is much that you could really restrict that would make me think I was missing out. However if there more technical papers and advice then that would be a different matter. If you look at some of the American sites these seem to have more information on them and I think that if the zclub started issuing more of this information on it's website for members then it might help people join. There should be information such as mechanics recommended by the z-club (surely you would negotiate some sort of commission for the club on that one). Information of members in each area just so that new members know they are not alone. I think you need to let people come on the site and have a look around but by offering this information once they become a member then it might be a hook to get more people on. Perhaps this is all in your magazine if so then it might be worth transferring it over to your website as well.
3. It is an appealing website because it is well laid out and whoever looks after the website does a first class job.
I don't know how the club promotes itself or generates cash but has anyone ever though about offering people who have just bought a Datsun on e-bay a reduced membership for a year?
It might also be time to have the ability to take payments online because to be honest this is the biggest reason I have not joined. The fee is not an issue but remembering to find the time to post a cheque during the day is. If you want to take advantage of getting people from the internet to join then make sure that you cater for these people by having payments online.
I guess it is easy for me to say things since I am looking at it with fresh eyes but I think the club could do quite a lot to improve its situation regarding revenue generated and perhaps boost the membership a little. If people like the magazine keep it, just find other ways to make a little extra cash, it can be done if it is approached correctly.
1. What brings me back to the website is the fact that it is one of the few places where I can learn more about Datsun's. The fact it is a British site makes it that more appealing. The club should be proud of its website and the people who contribute to it.
2. At the moment I don't think there is much that you could really restrict that would make me think I was missing out. However if there more technical papers and advice then that would be a different matter. If you look at some of the American sites these seem to have more information on them and I think that if the zclub started issuing more of this information on it's website for members then it might help people join. There should be information such as mechanics recommended by the z-club (surely you would negotiate some sort of commission for the club on that one). Information of members in each area just so that new members know they are not alone. I think you need to let people come on the site and have a look around but by offering this information once they become a member then it might be a hook to get more people on. Perhaps this is all in your magazine if so then it might be worth transferring it over to your website as well.
3. It is an appealing website because it is well laid out and whoever looks after the website does a first class job.
I don't know how the club promotes itself or generates cash but has anyone ever though about offering people who have just bought a Datsun on e-bay a reduced membership for a year?
It might also be time to have the ability to take payments online because to be honest this is the biggest reason I have not joined. The fee is not an issue but remembering to find the time to post a cheque during the day is. If you want to take advantage of getting people from the internet to join then make sure that you cater for these people by having payments online.
I guess it is easy for me to say things since I am looking at it with fresh eyes but I think the club could do quite a lot to improve its situation regarding revenue generated and perhaps boost the membership a little. If people like the magazine keep it, just find other ways to make a little extra cash, it can be done if it is approached correctly.
Wyn
Club Member
Non-paid up member shut-out !
ok I will
Still complaining about falling members I see
Why not do something to encourage new members
Like reply to new applications !!
Almost 2 months and counting, still nothing
2 pm's later aswell I might add
Maybe I just smell
So is it right that I/we get locked out when you won't let us in in the 1st place !!
No wonder this place is struggling
ok I will
Still complaining about falling members I see
Why not do something to encourage new members
Like reply to new applications !!
Almost 2 months and counting, still nothing
2 pm's later aswell I might add
Maybe I just smell
So is it right that I/we get locked out when you won't let us in in the 1st place !!
No wonder this place is struggling
Mr.F
Inactive
The regular contributors to this site often lose their perspective of which group is the majority - regular web users who are also members of the Z Club and Z Club members who don't know one end of a keyboard from another for whom the magazine is their major link to what the Club is and does. Loss of magazine would, I think, have a greater impact on membership than restricting access to this site.
What we are trying to encourage is for regular and occasional users of this great resource who are NOT Z Club members already, to become members. Excuse #1 appears to be "I can get all I need from this Club for free by regularly accessing this site". Excuse #2 appears to be "I can't be bothered to ask for a form or download a form, fill it in, find an envelope, go to a Post Office, queue up to buy a stamp and then wait another few days or a week to be told I am a member".
#1 requires that the site has restricted access. If you are already a member, then this shouldn't worry you at all as nothing will change. #2 requires that the site has enough content on display to get a prospective member interested in coming back and a great big "Join Here with Paypal" button prominently displayed (which is coming).
What we are trying to encourage is for regular and occasional users of this great resource who are NOT Z Club members already, to become members. Excuse #1 appears to be "I can get all I need from this Club for free by regularly accessing this site". Excuse #2 appears to be "I can't be bothered to ask for a form or download a form, fill it in, find an envelope, go to a Post Office, queue up to buy a stamp and then wait another few days or a week to be told I am a member".
#1 requires that the site has restricted access. If you are already a member, then this shouldn't worry you at all as nothing will change. #2 requires that the site has enough content on display to get a prospective member interested in coming back and a great big "Join Here with Paypal" button prominently displayed (which is coming).
Arkwright
Inactive
Iain, you have hit on one of my pet grumps, In para 3 of your first post you say you want to see what the club is like before you join.
In para 2 of your second post you want information of members in the new members area so they don't feel alone.
WHERE ARE YOU? If you give us a little more detail in your personal profile it would help people respond to your needs. As the organiser of Swapmeet I would say come and have a look at us but you may live on the next street or out of UK, no-one here knows. but come anyway it'll be worth the trip.
In para 2 of your second post you want information of members in the new members area so they don't feel alone.
WHERE ARE YOU? If you give us a little more detail in your personal profile it would help people respond to your needs. As the organiser of Swapmeet I would say come and have a look at us but you may live on the next street or out of UK, no-one here knows. but come anyway it'll be worth the trip.
SeanDezart
Well-Known Forum User
"However if there more technical papers and advice then that would be a different matter. If you look at some of the American sites these seem to have more information on them and I think that if the zclub started issuing more of this information on it's website for members then it might help people join. There should be information such as mechanics recommended by the z-club"
Thanks Iain - I agree on the tech stuff but this is available to paid up members and the encouragement is to meet up and discuss these things face to face - what this club was always about and that is the downside of just chatting via a site !
On the second point, the club does not get involved in reccomending traders - if you want advice, you talk to people about where they got this part, where they had that work done and look at the result and hear wat those members have to say !
Perhaps shutting out people is TOO drastic but this club has to do something - the issue has lain dormant for far too long, heads up and shake the sand out !
Thanks Iain - I agree on the tech stuff but this is available to paid up members and the encouragement is to meet up and discuss these things face to face - what this club was always about and that is the downside of just chatting via a site !
On the second point, the club does not get involved in reccomending traders - if you want advice, you talk to people about where they got this part, where they had that work done and look at the result and hear wat those members have to say !
Perhaps shutting out people is TOO drastic but this club has to do something - the issue has lain dormant for far too long, heads up and shake the sand out !
ZHead
Well-Known Forum User
I have to say that conceptually I agree with Sean, however, I wanted to buy a V8 Chevrolet engine and went to the CCCUK site (Classic Chevrolet Corvette UK) and could not post because I was not a member.
I emailed the moderators and said all I wanted was to post and ask if anyone had an engine for sale and I was treated most indignantly because I did not want to spend money on membership. This put me off the site, made me think "F**K the lot of you" and left me with a very sour impression of "elitist and pompous" Corvette owners.
Of course they are not all like that but being blocked out of the site because I was not a member made me react quite badly and feel that they were.
Why not have a members only section but leave some of the forums as public domain ?
I emailed the moderators and said all I wanted was to post and ask if anyone had an engine for sale and I was treated most indignantly because I did not want to spend money on membership. This put me off the site, made me think "F**K the lot of you" and left me with a very sour impression of "elitist and pompous" Corvette owners.
Of course they are not all like that but being blocked out of the site because I was not a member made me react quite badly and feel that they were.
Why not have a members only section but leave some of the forums as public domain ?
Mr.G
Club Member
The way of increasing membership to the Z club is by adding value to it.
I do think that certain parts of the site should be made public access and others should be reserved for payed up members of the club..
But before we do this I belive that certain things have to be put in place, Paypal for starters, we all agree on that one but we also need to think how we can add value to the web site and thus to the club.
For instance..
We dont have a technical section on here, other sites do and we have forgotten a big something... The mag has been out for years, right? In the mag is countless technical articles.
I feel that it would be a good idea to dig out the back issues and scan the technical articles to a PC and then OCR them to convert them into Word files, which then can be easily placed on this web site in a Technical Section. Therefore adding value to the site.. and encouraging more people to pay up and join. (I am prepared to do the scanning if need be)
Also, the main benefit for me is the financial one, the discount we get from insurance companies by being a member of the club. Could the Z club try and secure deals with Z businesses who are willing to co-operate in a scheme to give members of the Z club a club discount? A list of companies who have entered into this scheme could be placed onto a "public access" page of the site, thus giving the companies in the scheme free advertising and the zclub potential new members.
I do think that certain parts of the site should be made public access and others should be reserved for payed up members of the club..
But before we do this I belive that certain things have to be put in place, Paypal for starters, we all agree on that one but we also need to think how we can add value to the web site and thus to the club.
For instance..
We dont have a technical section on here, other sites do and we have forgotten a big something... The mag has been out for years, right? In the mag is countless technical articles.
I feel that it would be a good idea to dig out the back issues and scan the technical articles to a PC and then OCR them to convert them into Word files, which then can be easily placed on this web site in a Technical Section. Therefore adding value to the site.. and encouraging more people to pay up and join. (I am prepared to do the scanning if need be)
Also, the main benefit for me is the financial one, the discount we get from insurance companies by being a member of the club. Could the Z club try and secure deals with Z businesses who are willing to co-operate in a scheme to give members of the Z club a club discount? A list of companies who have entered into this scheme could be placed onto a "public access" page of the site, thus giving the companies in the scheme free advertising and the zclub potential new members.
SeanDezart
Well-Known Forum User
Public access to the for sale / wanted sections would cater for those who want to buy / sell cars/parts who are not paid up members - benefit works both ways as we, the paid up members would be offered more cars/parts than otherwise and we would have a larger market than otherwise to sell our cars/parts to !
Getting tech articles/advice up onto the site along with book revisions (yes Steve I know) and popular conversions would be a great step in the right direction !
As I've said for a while, the club needs to evolve, continuously, something lacking for some time ! All these ideas are constructive, agreed that simply shutting out the site (as it stands) is a bit self-defeating ! So the site must be added to, have added value !
Getting tech articles/advice up onto the site along with book revisions (yes Steve I know) and popular conversions would be a great step in the right direction !
As I've said for a while, the club needs to evolve, continuously, something lacking for some time ! All these ideas are constructive, agreed that simply shutting out the site (as it stands) is a bit self-defeating ! So the site must be added to, have added value !
rocketrob
Active Forum User
Not been a member round here long but I am a member of a lot of other forums. This is a club which has been around a long time which now has a forum. Most clubs arise from a forum. All clubs start when a group of people get together with a shared interest. I think that to close the forum to non members is a bad move but to restrict priviledges like avatars, signatures etc is the way to go. A members only area is a good idea and works well on other forums.
mick daniels
Well-Known Forum User
rocketrob said:
I agree. I don't have the history, but i would imagine the Z club was started by a few friends a long time ago. Please people, keep that freindliness here for everyone to see.
This is a website, a new era of communication no-one could have foreseen 20 years ago. If some of you guys had of been standing by your cars all that time ago, and someone walked by , asked enthusiastic questions about you're car, what would you have said........."f*uck off and pay the membership first!"
No, you would've been delighted to take your time and bore the guy for an hour or so!
I guess it is very hard for the hard working people of the club to keep trying to get in the cash and keep everything running.
Please don't put people off by trying to make it some sort of "elite" club for members only. Theres just too many z's in the world!!!
JEZ 280ZX
Well-Known Forum User
Hi,
They've been having a similar discussion over on the GTO Forum and this was the outcome over there....
To encourage more membership and provide more value to full members who have made the effort to join the club, it was agreed at the 2005 AGM that the following restrictions would be put in place from 1st June 2005:
1) Non-members who register on the forums will be entitled to make 20 posts. After 20 posts have been made, no further posts will be possible. In order to allow more posts, non-members will have to join the club, whereupon access will be restored. NOTE THAT THIS RESTRICTION WILL BE APPLIED RETROSPECTIVELY, e.g. if you have been registered for x years and made 600+ posts but have never joined the club, your ability to post will be removed on 1st June 2005. If you wish to maintain posting rights, you have until 1st June to join the club.
Full members will be unaffected by this change provided you supplied your correct forum name on your application form. This can be checked by seeing if you have "Full Member 05/06" in your profile, under your avatar. If you do not see this but are sure you are a full member, then you need to contact the membership secretary with your correct forum name so that your account can be updated (please read the post in the membership enquiries section).
2) The sections that non-members get access to will be restricted. For instance, the technical section contains lots of useful information contributed by full members and it has been decided that this information should only be made available to full members. Non-members will not be able to access the technical sections at all. This change will also occur on 1st June 2005. Full members will not be affected (provided we have your correct forum name - see above). Certain sections will still be available to non-members to aid those looking to buy a car (e.g. the buyers guides and several other sections).
These restrictions are subject to further discussion by the committee and may change.
We just need to follow a similar route, but have to bear in mind that our site traffic is relatively low!
Cheerz,
JEZ
They've been having a similar discussion over on the GTO Forum and this was the outcome over there....
To encourage more membership and provide more value to full members who have made the effort to join the club, it was agreed at the 2005 AGM that the following restrictions would be put in place from 1st June 2005:
1) Non-members who register on the forums will be entitled to make 20 posts. After 20 posts have been made, no further posts will be possible. In order to allow more posts, non-members will have to join the club, whereupon access will be restored. NOTE THAT THIS RESTRICTION WILL BE APPLIED RETROSPECTIVELY, e.g. if you have been registered for x years and made 600+ posts but have never joined the club, your ability to post will be removed on 1st June 2005. If you wish to maintain posting rights, you have until 1st June to join the club.
Full members will be unaffected by this change provided you supplied your correct forum name on your application form. This can be checked by seeing if you have "Full Member 05/06" in your profile, under your avatar. If you do not see this but are sure you are a full member, then you need to contact the membership secretary with your correct forum name so that your account can be updated (please read the post in the membership enquiries section).
2) The sections that non-members get access to will be restricted. For instance, the technical section contains lots of useful information contributed by full members and it has been decided that this information should only be made available to full members. Non-members will not be able to access the technical sections at all. This change will also occur on 1st June 2005. Full members will not be affected (provided we have your correct forum name - see above). Certain sections will still be available to non-members to aid those looking to buy a car (e.g. the buyers guides and several other sections).
These restrictions are subject to further discussion by the committee and may change.
We just need to follow a similar route, but have to bear in mind that our site traffic is relatively low!
Cheerz,
JEZ
JEZ 280ZX
Well-Known Forum User
mick daniels said:This is a website, a new era of communication no-one could have foreseen 20 years ago. If some of you guys had of been standing by your cars all that time ago, and someone walked by , asked enthusiastic questions about you're car, what would you have said........."f*uck off and pay the membership first!"
No, you would've been delighted to take your time and bore the guy for an hour or so!
Well put!.....That's why we don't want to exclude non members from the site, but rather encourage them to join, through limited access.
If you have a conversation with someone interested in your car in the local pub car park, generally the Z Club does get mentioned at some point!...I know I do!
Cheerz,
JEZ
SeanDezart
Well-Known Forum User
Mick, I don't follow your last sentence - "Theres just too many z's in the world!!!" there aren't many in Europe !
Don't confuse a casual, one-off street meeting with non-members being on this site for months, imagine the same street meeting person who keeps ringing you for advice, and can you find them this piece and that....eventually you'll say, join the club and you'll find these parts/advice !
Don't confuse a casual, one-off street meeting with non-members being on this site for months, imagine the same street meeting person who keeps ringing you for advice, and can you find them this piece and that....eventually you'll say, join the club and you'll find these parts/advice !
mick daniels
Well-Known Forum User
SeanDezart said:
Hi Sean,
when i said "too many Z's in the world" , it meant it's a global thing, there might be 5 z's in Ireland, 20 in France, 5000 in Canada , and so on.
When they log on here, It could be seen as an unfriendly place. In the 6 months or so i've been on here (5 of them as that annoying ringing up person , by the way!), There's nearly always a thread about locking down the site, freeloaders, non-subscribed members . I really do agree with the basic principle in this.
But c'mon, as a website, even I have noticed a downfall of activity in the past few months, i don't see to many of these 'freeloaders' about.
Basically i'm just saying it's very negative and offputting to keep seeing this debate over and over, Because you do seem like a freindly bunch of guys, just getting a bit ticked off about paying you're hard earned cash every year for others to benefit from.
I think the six month/ 20 threads allowed is a good idea. If someone decides after this period they are not interested in paying the subscription then so be It, It's obviously not that appealing to them anyway. But it would give possible future paying members a chance to get around the site and make their own choice.
Mick
By the way, how's the weather over there?
SeanDezart
Well-Known Forum User
How do you spot a 'free-loader' Mick ? Not every paid up member advertises their m:ship no. !
I do agree that it's not constructive to see this thread all the time - at least we discuss, it is a 'democratic' club But the decision should come from above and be acted upon quickly - there's the problem - some action now but still slow (not Burns' fault, so calm down Steve) !
Reasons for lack of activity compared to other sites ?
I do agree that it's not constructive to see this thread all the time - at least we discuss, it is a 'democratic' club
But the decision should come from above and be acted upon quickly - there's the problem - some action now but still slow (not Burns' fault, so calm down Steve) !Reasons for lack of activity compared to other sites ?
