New Tool Review Forum - Food For Thought ?

[CalgaryPT]

This isn't so much a request as a feeler for other members.... Looking at the site earlier today it occurs to me that we are almost getting to a size that can benefit from a devoted Tool Review section. This can (and usually does) lead down the path to advertising (which has its pros and cons). But there are benefits to both members and site admins in terms of revenue to help grow and sustain the site into the future.

Not sure how I feel about this personally. I enjoy the feeling that many of us all know each other here and I like the "family feel" of the site. However, I also know growth creates its own demands.

So...at this time I am just posing the question for other members for future consideration--maybe something we can discuss at a meet-up or in an annual survey at year end: Should we look at (new) tool reviews?

Having thrown this out there I am also aware that everything means more work for administrators. I am not an admin and do not want to be one at this time. Nonetheless, I have had some experience with these strategies and know that key components to the success of a tool review forum are admin vetting, a standardized template and a writer's manual. If members want to look at a devoted forum for this, I would volunteer to coordinate and write a template/manual. I do have a background in technical writing and have seen sites succeed and fail at this.

We may not be ready for this yet. Or we may not never want to go down this path. That is up to the admins to consider and decide. But at some point we should at least think about advertising and product placements if we want to grow. Reviews are a first step. As I look at the experience level of members on this site, and our willingness to share, I see a benefit for new tool reviews.

I am not looking for anyone to snap into action here (especially me...I don't snap much anymore). This post is just food for thought and discussion. But if there is value, and interest, it is worth consideration at a future date.

 

[Jwest7788]

This should be a good discussion. I'm going to chew on the topic in private for a bit before I chime in with my thoughts.

(P.s. Late night @CalgaryPT ? )

JW

 

[Janger]

I would like to see the forum grow into a new area. A subscriber type of member which has the benefits of using group purchased tools aka maker tools. Tools I can't justify buying but wish I had access too. Like these:

• Heat treating oven with computer controlled temperature ramp up and ramp down
• Parts tumbler
• CNC Cutter:
  • CNC Plasma Table
  • Water Jet ($5K USD now)
  • A Laser cutter
• Big oven for powder coating. Like a bread oven you see at Subway.

I'm sure people could come up with more...

Maybe a $25/month per member. Sign up for a year. Easy commitment. You have to host one of the tools as a member in your shop and provide access (on your schedule of course).

We also get advertising. not annoying amounts but some. 5 retailers ads at $25/month. 10 members at $25 a month. That's 375 a month. $4500 a year to buy some equipment. ....

 

[Jwest7788]

John, I'll leave the decision to you, but this conversation might be better for the Premium Members section for discussion.

Paging @Alexander for participation too.

Alex and I pitched forum sponsorship to a couple of potential sponsors a little prior to Christmas, soo that seems relevant too.

With regard to forum costs, I haven't really tried to drum up more supporting members, and the ones we have (both monthly regular, and periodic cash donations) are covering most of my costs on the forum into the foreseeable future. ( Haven't done the math in a few months, but hosting and software licencing etc. is covered till into 2019.) Anything that comes from this initiative, ads, sponsorship, or otherwise would be good to go 100% to group investment.

You're thinking along the same lines as the tool lending library in the premium section, but monitized, which would allow for future growth.
Right now all we have to be a benefit is really the CNC plasma though, everything else is privately owned.
--> Could we set criteria for needed tools. Allowing access to subscribed members waives your respective membership fee?

 

[Jwest7788]

Speaking to @CalgaryPT 's original comment.

April 7th meetup, we should discuss this too.

I like the idea of a tool review section, Peter, you're right though that there are potential issues with the process, standardization and management.

I'm the first to admit that in recent memory I haven't been the most responsive admin. The house move process is terrible. (Mark my words, the next time my house is moved I will be either rich enough to pay someone or it will be after a long fulfilling life when I am 6 feet underground so someone else can do it. lol)

Oh, I haven't told anyone here that my wife and I are expecting our first child too. (It's very exciting, but also means she can't lift anything so moving has been slower than expected, lol)

Anyways, life's been busy the last couple of months. So I instinctively recoil at the thought of more "to-do" items of any type, but I know that life should be back to normal soon, and we should plan this all out. It feels to me like an important discussion to have.
(Soon, until the fall I guess... You guys know anything about parenting in a metal shop? lol)

I've always liked the idea that we're a group that makes decisions together, and am happy to do my part with regard to the technical forum related stuff, or whatever else I can do to help see our group progress.

Appreciate @CalgaryPT for opening this topic for discussion. Ideas from our members are hugely important to our overall growth.
--> Shout out to @Dabbler and the scraping education project that's being organized, He's doing much of the legwork on our behalf. More details on that soon too, and @Alexander for finding and helping introduce our group potential sponsors, @Janger for today's ideas, and every other contributing member, their thoughts and ideas. Too many to name you all, haha.

Our group is pretty kick-ass.

JW

 

[CalgaryPT]

Congrats Josh to you and your wife. That's great news.

 

[DPittman]

Hey congrats Josh on your latest creation!!! ( I guess its an ongoing project haha, I've got a couple of ongoing projects myself and they are a great and rewarding challenge!)

Don

 

[Janger]

Congrats Josh. And spouse!

 

[Bofobo]

Congrats to you both! Safety starts early so should exposure IMO, nurture interest.

 

[PeterT]

Congrats Josh.
I hear TIG welded stainless cribs are the 'in' thing! Steampunk jolly jumpers. Arduino diaper monitors.... The mind reels!

 

[John Conroy]

My congrats to you and your wife Josh. My wife and i are now enjoying time with gràndkids, having children will add a new dimension to your life.

 

[Janger]

Reviews are a good idea @CalgaryPT peter. I will participate. Perhaps project plans are another area we could explore. Some of the things people are making could have general interest. Eg @PeterT matching chuck handles, those nifty wire clamp makers....

 

[Bofobo]

i would also like to participate

 

[Alexander]

I don't know how I missed this conversation on Friday. I apologize for being so late to respond. I'm going to think about the tool review idea some. Also wow Josh that is really great news that your family will be growing.

 

[Janger]

I've got another idea for the group. Group purchases to leverage shipping and larger quantities. I'll post in the questions thread.

 

[CalgaryPT]

If we do go down the path of tool reviews, perhaps some forum points for submitters is warranted (if these can be automated) as more effort on their part is required to write these ??????

Once this issue as a whole has been mulled over, and if the decision is made by the Admins to look at tool reviews in the months/year to come, I'll volunteer to draft an initial writing template/guideline for everyone to read over and kick around. One of lessons I learned from other forums is that even if we don't have advertising now...it is important to have standards for reviews. Otherwise, future advertisers who look at any old posts or reviews and find them peppered with dramatic language / product slamming / exaggerated claims (good and bad), will get skittish. It makes them think twice about advertising, We need to look objective, experienced, critical, and have a consistent grading scale if we are to be taken seriously. Even if we never have advertising, this is still a good principle all members will appreciate. The great work done by Admins to date will pay dividends here; shutting down petty disagreements and flaming goes a long way towards be taking seriously and making us more credible to future members and advertisers if we venture down this path.

As much as I like the Amazon model due to its 5 Star simplicity, I think some consideration to a Price/Performance/Build Quality scale merits consideration. I say this because Amazon seems to be turning into "Arbitrage Central." Not that this is bad for bargain hunters—but many of our members seem interested in quality and performance and not just price. I think simple is better, otherwise only insomniacs like me will stay up at night writing reviews. No one wants to read (or write) a 10 page review about a Drift Punch. OK...maybe I do....but that's just between me and a qualified medical professional. Most normal people just want simplicity.

All food for thought in the months to come....

Nice thread

 

[jmottle]

If you guys decide to solicit advertisers, I'd be happy to offer my insights into doing this. I own and have been running an online magazine and user community in high end architectural 3d computer graphics since 2001. The site has around 90K subscriber and 1.3M unique visits a year. Over the last 17 years advertising revenue has grown from four figure to mid six figure. Also have a fair bit of experience on the editorial/advertorial/product review end too.

 

[Janger]

Wow Jeff. When Josh @Jwest7788 gets a break in his schedule a chat would be most interesting.

 

[jmottle]

Wow Jeff. When Josh @Jwest7788 gets a break in his schedule a chat would be most interesting.

Would be my pleasure. Happy that there is a local group like this. I travel a fair bit on business, but whenever I'm home totally up to meet up if you like and tell you what the school of hard knocks has taught me.

 

[Jwest7788]

Firstly, Thanks for the well wishes everyone!

If we do go down the path of tool reviews, perhaps some forum points for submitters is warranted (if these can be automated) as more effort on their part is required to write these ??????

For clarity, "Forum points" can kind of go two directions the way I see it. There's "Trophy Points" which are basically for credibility:


The software our forum operates on has bunch of options for how to award Trophy Points, but none jump out as being a method for managing review generation, it's all quite focused on number of posts, messages, etc.
One way I think I can make it work is by creating extra user "types" (e.g. Forum supporter, user, moderator, etc.) for "Reviewer" "Over 5 Reviews" etc.
This is because Trophy points can be tied to the user type, but other then that, I don't see how we can make it work. This also isn't automatic but is easy enough for anyone with moderator ability to manage.
--> We can almost certainly queue new submissions to a Review forum as needing approval before it goes live, that approval step should be a simple reminder for the rest of the process.

Also to be considered is "Forum brownie points" --> Other ways we can incentivise creating positive crafted reviews/content.
Not sure how it would shape up in the end, but things like free forum supporter membership extensions come to mind. (Crafting content is supporting the forum, after all.)

No one wants to read (or write) a 10 page review about a Drift Punch. OK...maybe I do....but that's just between me and a qualified medical professional. Most normal people just want simplicity.

As my dad says in one of his keynotes: "No one goes home at the end of a long week to look at pretty websites. The internet is a repository of content, people do read the content we put online."

Admittedly 10 pages on a Drift Punch would warrant a skim read from most though, haha.

If you guys decide to solicit advertisers, I'd be happy to offer my insights into doing this. I own and have been running an online magazine and user community in high end architectural 3d computer graphics since 2001. The site has around 90K subscriber and 1.3M unique visits a year. Over the last 17 years advertising revenue has grown from four figure to mid six figure. Also have a fair bit of experience on the editorial/advertorial/product review end too.

Would be my pleasure. Happy that there is a local group like this. I travel a fair bit on business, but whenever I'm home totally up to meet up if you like and tell you what the school of hard knocks has taught me.

Would definitely be open to taking you out for lunch, you have obviously had to overcome a lot of the hurdles we're now looking at.

JW