i dont think a subscription price has really been mentioned but i reckon £20 for a years subscription is not excessive for what we get on this site i.e. legal advice ,maps to companies,job vacancies by word of mouth and we must not forget the HANDBAGS AT DAWN postings.
i would willingly send a chq to RIKKI or put into a bank a/c set up by rikki or however it is done £20 is less than 50p a week which to me is a small price to pay if it means we keep rikki and lucy running the thing.
cmon guys and girls its about the cost of a daily paper
I too have voted No, for the reasons already stated and some new ones.
It seems the problem is that there is no income for Rikki and Lucy, For many years Google and Last Minute . com lost money as did many others.
If it needs a Salesman to sell advertising space than that is one way forward. However if the site was sponsored by Scania or another manufacturer, would they allow their products to be slagged off?
Another suggestion was a magazine publisher, well imagine Commercial Motor sponsoring the site, they would go out of business as a publisher very quickly, as people would stop buying the printed version.
Im afraid I dont know the answer but I think a membership subscibtion is not one of them, it would put new members off,
And the knowledge base would diminish from that, as we are we get many posts from one off posts who know something about a particular field, they may not have any more useful knowledge at the time so i doubt they would want to pay a one off fee to show how clever they are.
I suppose if 2500 members gave £6 a year, then that would give the Chequers their extra 15k, somehow I dont think that the other sharehokders would accept this.
shocked is what i am.said it a year or more ago, you will need to think about subscriptions. when i say you i mean TRUCKNET U/K.
the size tn has now become, sureley £20.00 per year is not a lot to ask, if it keeps the site going.
without babbling on to much about finance cos its not my forte. how about sending via post or email, some subscription type forms, to judge if it would be a go…er?..
should it come to the stage where RIKKI &LUCY do give up there hard worked last 5 years, then i for one think it will be a very sad day indeed. (theres a PISHUP in there)
HERE,S HOPING SUMMIK WILL COME UP. BUT MY SUBS ARE READY AND WAITING.
neil46:
i dont think a subscription price has really been mentioned but i reckon £20 for a years subscription is not excessive for what we get on this site i.e. legal advice ,maps to companies,job vacancies by word of mouth and we must not forget the HANDBAGS AT DAWN postings.
Thats the sort of figure i had in mind, if half the 2300 members paid it,it would be £23000 per anum and doesnt stop the fact that the membership would probably still increase. I pay the URTU £124,80 a year, and i get more info from this site, than wheels mag, or officials, ok they pay my fines from time to time but it is’nt beyond the realms of possibilties to set up that sort of thing here as an association, and that could include legal assistance all of which can be bought in through insurance. Ok may be thats a bit far fetched and would reguire subscription levels a kin to trade unions, but i know where my money would go if those sort of services were available elsewhere, the union proudly tells me that they are lobbying government on my behalf, but i dont agree with what they are lobbying for, I just want legal assistance incase of industrial injury /employment tribunal /work related motoring offences. and if that was wrapped in a package that included a certain forum that i enjoy using, we’d be talking
I haven’t voted because I need a ‘Don’t Know’ button!
There are many good reasons being aired on this thread for why the site should remain free, BUT…
…the thought of not having this site to turn to for all sorts of reasons, is not a good one.
As for the poll, my head says ‘no’ but my heart says ‘yes’.
What I do wish, is that I was in a position to offer the help that might make a difference. Sales and marketing?? Not my thing, i’m afraid but if there was any other way of helping, let me know.
neil46:
i dont think a subscription price has really been mentioned but i reckon £20 for a years subscription is not excessive for what we get on this site i.e. legal advice ,maps to companies,job vacancies by word of mouth and we must not forget the HANDBAGS AT DAWN postings.
Thats the sort of figure i had in mind, if half the 2300 members paid it,it would be £23000 per anum and doesnt stop the fact that the membership would probably still increase. I pay the URTU £124,80 a year, and i get more info from this site, than wheels mag, or officials, ok they pay my fines from time to time but it is’nt beyond the realms of possibilties to set up that sort of thing here as an association, and that could include legal assistance all of which can be bought in through insurance. Ok may be thats a bit far fetched and would reguire subscription levels a kin to trade unions, but i know where my money would go if those sort of services were available elsewhere, the union proudly tells me that they are lobbying government on my behalf, but i dont agree with what they are lobbying for, I just want legal assistance incase of industrial injury /employment tribunal /work related motoring offences. and if that was wrapped in a package that included a certain forum that i enjoy using, we’d be talking
thats the spirit E S. SURE RIKKI N LUCY have said in previous threads, that this isnt the way they want t/net to go or be run, but it gets my vote.
ohterry:
thats the spirit E S. SURE RIKKI N LUCY have said in previous threads, that this isnt the way they want t/net to go or be run, but it gets my vote.
I can understand why, but i would’ve thought that it only requirered an insurance package sold through T/net linked to sub’s. If there are larger more complicated reasons then fine, i’am only a trucker and it might be to complicated for me to understand
URTU says its run by driver’s for driver’s, and i know that there are driver’s on the excecutive comitee, but it dont float my boat anymore, and i only joined for reasons previously stated, so if they were available elsewhere i be intrested, and i bet i’m not alone
Well truckyboy is looking for a job, and he has suggested starting his own union I just think that the money needed might be a bit more than we can afford.
2500 members is hardly going to worry the captains of industry though. This membership is made up of many people who are interested in trucks and transport, and do not just class it as a job that they are glad to get away from at 5pm
My two pennorth… yes im prepared to pay either a donation or a subscription. But it needs to be done very carefully... im not alone in knowing another site which charges for the privelige… look at the trouble they`ve had. The problem i see (as has already been mentioned) is you create an exclusive club… people just dont want to pay
a very awkward problem not easily solved
The problem we have at the minute is that the directors cannot devote the time it takes to run and maintain this site; they are doing everything…sales, marketing and accounting as well as helping out with Admin & Mods. All of this is difficult when only one person is earning an income and there is a baby to provide for.
What we need are people who can volunteer and take some of the burden off the directors’ shoulders. Being based in the USA means Laura and I can only do so much, we can’t make contacts, meet with potential advertisers, etc… In order for the directors to continue their present roles they need help from others.
We desperately need people who are involved in sales and marketing. We are the number one trucking website in the UK and that has to be worth something. We want someone
who can promote the website and make it BIGGER & BETTER than it is today. We need someone who has the knowledge and contacts to make this site financially self sufficient.
Although donations are preferable, we may have no choice, but to ask for a subscription fee. We do not wish to pass this burden onto the members…we wish to keep this site free for all, but unless the right sales and marketing team is in place then the only way for this site to continue will be via Trucknet (USA) and be strictly forum based.
Maybe the time has come for a fresh face; an objective opinion with a business background.
My apologies for not responding sooner to this thread, but I’m afraid Rikki and I have both been in floods of tears over the whole thing all night…we truly are touched by you support and good wishes.
I’ll post properly when I recover. I’m off to do some therapeutic container driving.
Bully:
The problem we have at the minute is that the directors cannot devote the time it takes to run and maintain this site; they are doing everything…sales, marketing and accounting as well as helping out with Admin & Mods. All of this is difficult when only one person is earning an income and there is a baby to provide for.
What we need are people who can volunteer and take some of the burden off the directors’ shoulders. Being based in the USA means Laura and I can only do so much, we can’t make contacts, meet with potential advertisers, etc… In order for the directors to continue their present roles they need help from others.
We desperately need people who are involved in sales and marketing. We are the number one trucking website in the UK and that has to be worth something. We want someone
who can promote the website and make it BIGGER & BETTER than it is today. We need someone who has the knowledge and contacts to make this site financially self sufficient.
Although donations are preferable, we may have no choice, but to ask for a subscription fee. We do not wish to pass this burden onto the members…we wish to keep this site free for all, but unless the right sales and marketing team is in place then the only way for this site to continue will be via Trucknet (USA) and be strictly forum based.
Maybe the time has come for a fresh face; an objective opinion with a business background.
Bully
I do not see why it has to be a profit making site ? Unless I’m missing something major, the only income you “share holders” have is split between from the sponsors/ads. What is the problem with a free and ad-free site, that is a non-profit making organisation? Why does it have to be a business?
As an example, the owners of Online Truckers and Truckersworld are simply bulletin boards, there are no ads. Why can’t Trucknet be just the same, or is it that the “share holders” want the site to be profit making and not actually care what the membership wants? As far as I can see, the membership couldn’t give a toss about the ads, sponsors and the rest of it, they (we) just want somewhere to talk, discuss, argue, share thoughts etc, free of charge.
I could quite easily host and run the site from a financial point of view without needing to pass on the costs to anyone else, ie. the membership. The only problem I can see are the “share holders”. Correct me if I’m wrong ?
I just think that the money needed might be a bit more than we can afford.
