How much would you pay to use Indiamike for a period of 3 MONTHS?

I thought of asking this questions out of curiosity. Indiamike is a free forum. Imagine a situation where it would have been a paid membership forum. I mean moderately. How many of us would have been using it still.

I feel there are broadly two types of people using this forum.

The majority I think are those doing pre tour/ on the tour preparation and need specific details, information, suggestions, guidance etc. Both those ask and silently ‘spy’ the happenings fall in this group.

The others, doing it for the heck of it. All the India enthusiasts fall under this category. Those who want to cud the India tour memory also I think visit regularly.

Anyway the question is if you need to pay to use this site how much would you prepare the pay.


How much would you pay to use Indiamike for a period of 3 MONTHS?


I’ll use only if it’s FREE !!!
USD 3
USD 5
USD 10
USD 15
USD 25

I feel so cheap Oh your talking about the website.

I feel kinda awkward about questions like this but for fun I will do the math. Keeping in mind that three months is kind of a short time.

Okay at the time of writing if I had 2,555 people paying the top amount $25 for three months (gets out calculator)...err...let me see....that's like 191,625 USD every three months. I would have to get a dedicated server and provide a bit more for the money, maybe throw in a bumper sticker or something and start taking new email accounts again. Do some giveaways like free airline tickets or something.

Would have to put the forum leaders and Steven on the payroll.

Also could hire people to go out and get the hotel reviews and write articles.


Hmmmm......that would be pretty nice. I know a little place in the Bahamas that I wouldn't mind living in and coordinating the whole site from.

Okay I can dream a bit also.

Mike
ps...please note I did not start this topic and have no immediate plans on charging for membership

I wouldn't mind paying US25/- for three months' use.


Indiamike,

If one dosen't dream, one cannot achieve !

I already pay Verizon (US) $29.99 per month for DSL.
I'm being charged $10 a month by MCI (the thieves!)/UUNet, for dialup access, which I have tried to stop for 7 months now and they still won't stop charging my credit card (I think they hear the word CANCEL as CONTINUE)
I pay $25 a year for my email account.
I pay yahoo $2.95 a month to host my photos (I can't kill this stupid charge - I even lost my credit card but they have started billing my new card. HOW?).
I just paid Norton Antivirus $39.99 for an internet subscription.
I pay $25/3 months for a certain internet dating website (which seems to be frequented by a lot of weirdos).
I'm afraid I can only afford to pay Indiamike in bananas.

Jeez, who said the internet is FREE?

Wow talk about deja vu.... Was just thinking a couple
days ago that it would be an idea to send Mike something
towards the site. My thought was that 1000 rupees sounded about right. This translates to about $22 in yanqui money.
Some what appropriate considering my signature. Got the
foreign exchange yesterday, so as soon as I find a stamp it's
on its way.

Thanks Mike! This site is a lot more fun than I would get out
of another guide book.

Wanderer22


PS.... Stephen mentioned something about posting a photo
of himself in dhoti. What would IM members pay to see
Mike in a dhoti? Better yet ashes and trident! $$$$$$

Well Mike ????????

I subscribe to two other forums at $30 a year. Subscription is voluntary, you just get to upload images onto their server, and you get a subscription number you can display in your signature.

$ 25 for three months seems hign, $30 a year seems all right. Perhaps a proper subscriptions page will persuade many of the regular contributors to subscribe.

The sites I subscribe too are fairly clear in stating that your subscription does not give you any say in policies/editorial content, it just gives you the right to upload images onto their server. Perhaps Indiamike could offer an e-mail to subscribers?

Apana

You guys are made of dough. You mustn't have kids. Tuition alone at CalTech is 25 grand. Us peasants have to pinch those coppers..

hi everyone,

i have been reading this forum for about a week now and it's been a lot of fun so far.for me getting prepared for a trip is an exciting part of it.
i also bought a LP and a rough guide and they contain a lot of info i would not want to miss, but getting first hand reports from fellow travellers and indian residants is much better.
reading threads that went on and on for weeks or months was much fun and i got insight fews i wouldn't have found anywere else, since i know no one who has already been to india jet.
you even can ask questions and get answers from someone who knows what he/she is talking about.

so, i think paying 25.- usd for the first 3 month is not a bad idea at all and would be well spent money.
but after this periode it should be less, maybe about 20.- for a whole jear.
and some shouldn't have to pay for at all because they are providing the infos.
thanks anyway to everyone who answered my questions so far and has brought in his/her valuable knowledge!

looking forward to india and can't wait

have a good time
martin

Great idea. This site is providing a wealth of information the books cannot give. Not to mention quick answers to questions from very knowledgeable travellers to India. For those of us who do not have charge cards and do not want one, is there another way we can send a donation in by way of a money order or a bank draft etc?

Good question beach but I doubt the answers will influence what Mike decides to do. In other words yes there will be many of us who would be happy to pay a small subscription but there will be many potential new members who would not. And that would mean dwindling membership numbers.

That in turn would mean less of a knowledge base and a weaker site altogether - and there would also be less posts like "Young F travelling alone" - a good thread which unfortunately ground to a bit of a halt yesterday - more of that elsewhere I am sure soon btw.

It could end up like that appalling Australia travel site http://australian.travel-information.org/ and its sister India travel site which is so bad Mike will not mind me mentioning. No members, no debate and a pathetic forum leader asking patronising questions almost having to beg for replies.

I probably feel that the best way forward would be more indirect means, for example:-

- web hosting / web space
- web design
- email hosting / forwarding
- merchandising
- active advertising e.g. banners, and (yuk!) pop-ups
- passive advertising e.g. signature URLs etc
- franchising / rights sales e.g. international migration - how about newzealandmaree.com, UKAlanD.com, czechjeroen.com, Londonsteven_ber.com and of course Australiarich.com!!!!
- upload / download fees
- hotels section referrals commission (good luck Mike!)
- increased donation requests
- other sponsorship (what about the Indian government or international companies with new operations in India?)

There are loads of ways to make money with such a good resource as Indiamike.com, and I am not sure that direct subscriptions would be a good move.

rab


P.S.
Yes just to answer your question peter there is a postal address and other info here.

I though we were talking about Mike himself.....oh well.

Charging for use: It would certain prohibit Indians from using the site. So just decide if that is good or bad.

I agree with rab that membership sites don't thrive. New people don't join, etc.

But I would hate to see all sorts of pop-ups (banners bother me less), and the inevitable Spyware that comes with the whole business. Some of your other suggestions sound good, rab.

I thought of yet another possibility: members and "sustaining members". The latter pay, and get rights to certain things that regular members don't: maybe e-mail, access to archives older than X months, gallery of pinups of Ash, mike, rab, etc., maybe a special section or messenger and chat room, a more elite shout-box, etc. Just a little perk, but something to pat their back. Those who can't pay can apply to mike directly for a "scholarship" to become a sustaining member after they have contributed a certain number of useful posts.

I think that the difference between the two types of members should then be kept subtle and out of the forum entries, except for maybe a list of donors somewhere.

Tomi,That's a brilliant idea!
I feel bad knowing that Mike's out of pocket cos of the site
If I wasn't pemanently skint i would definately pay top price as this is the bestest site ever,with great folks too! If it ever came to it i would certainly be willing to pay something for it's upkeep.
All hail St. Mike!

I think all the perils of going pay have been covered by the previous posts on this subject. As someone who got into consulting start ups in the early days and got out before they discovered I was an unwanted accessory I would have to agree with all the views against compulsory membership to view or participate on this forum.
I also reckon it wouldn't be sensible to expect potential travellers to pay or expecting them to donate after having used the forum extensively during their time in india simply because $25 translates to Rs.1000 plus change and most travellers by then would view it as one day's decent lodging+travel+food in India. More importantly most of them would have been unemployed for a good 6 months and probably more before they could land up a decent job again.
I feel indiamike could be branded and packaged with a lot of help from regulars who have the time. I am talking t-shirts, maps, ie. useful ones like say one that indicates lodgings with rates of places that tourists go to etc. Hence, someone visiting Mumbai, Varanasi, Goa could get a info booklet/map on each place and a t-shirt for say $50. Of course only Goa could be just $20. I think this would really work since people are getting something in return and not just donating to a "website" as a first time visitor would always view it.
Sponsorships from tested hotels/lodgings could be a great source of funding for the upkeep of the site, it could in fact lead to profit.
Of course the list of possibilities is endless and I could go on and on but going pay will bring about the forewarned here by rab, tomi and a few others.
I reckon Mike is not very comfortable with disclosing what it costs him to maintain this site but i do think if we were given an idea the majority would contribute financially.

Yes I agree. When the going get tough…everyone disperses.

But why I said about pay is that it is EXPENSIVE to give something FREE. The main charm of IM is that it is not littered with all the popups and all. I understand that Mike is doing (spending big money!) all these owing his passion for the forum.

Any way the concept of FREE cannot survive (it’s possible if Mike is a very rich ).

I’m sure there are many ‘rich & generous’ people visiting Indiamike who don’t mind contributing a small sum. I’m generous but not rich .

Tomi, good luck with the Indiamike auction!!!

The T-Shirt idea suggested by pooch sound great. It is a win-win idea. Imagine someone wearing the Indiamike T-shirt attracts another IM mate either at London or Agra. Also a good publicity for IM. But here again the cost may be a bit decisive factor.

It is mentioned at a corner of the site requesting donations. This will be the last thing people see when they are on a hunt for info. What about adding the paypal links to a few of our signatures also.

Will it be embarrassing? I’ll volunteer as a test case and may be others also can join if effective.

(By the way can we hear from people who’ve used PAYPAL. Any hassles or hidden problems. Comments from those used it for such transactions will be highly appreciated)