Participation too keep membership

Whilst only being new to the forum i have contributed to a few topics and wrote ars to add to the knowledge of the site and recieve knowledge aswell.
When you look at the forum from ipad/iphone (do not own a computer) it shows you all the forums with users online, total members and active members.
Since i have joined up the figure for active members is around the two thousand mark across all forums with thirty thousand members registered.
Now i know thirty thousand members is good for the shops to see as they look at reaching thirty thousand potential clients,what these figure tell me is there is twenty eight thousand odd lurkers gleaming information and not sharing any information themselves on experiences and good/great wls/mls out there plus you get the google search lurkers aswell.
One way i can think of keeping your forum membership current is the member needs to actively participate a certain amount of times over a period of time to keep membership current and to encourage this the forum could be changed to members only (other forums i am not punting related do this) that way new knowledge/experiences can be brought forward for everyone to benefit from.
I expect to be howled down or abused for this topic but it is only a suggestion for discussion and peoples different points of veiw on keeping the forum active and entertaining.
Happyas

I don't think the shop owners care that much. Sure they want 30k active users but the next best thing is a few posters here and there and 28k people lurking. I think to them that's way better than a private forum of several thousand.

Plus can you imagine how many "posting to keep my membership" posts you would get?

What you say has a lot of merit and I agree with you.

However the only way this forum makes money is by having a large data base as this is what they use to sell to the shops.

Most of the shops are Asian owned and they don't understand the finer points of these forums in most cases so a good sales man can say we have 30 thousand members the opposition only has what ever but something less so join us etc.

So we are governed by the dollar and yes that dollar is made by us few no lurkers but sold by Members numbers including non contributers.

Lets face it those that contribute are the once making money no contribution or ars no one on the site nothing to sell.

So in short nothing will change.

It is all about the advertisers happyas, as you commented on. And the advertisers are all about the number of eyeballs seeing their publicity, whatever form it comes in. It doesn't matter to them if viewers are active or silent.

The active posters are the only reason anyone at all tunes in though. Otherwise this would be the Yellow Pages.

On that note I think the shop owners that post here should have the prices in their signature, along with addresses and open hours. There's just so many shops its hard to remember and after a while its all a blur...

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Originally Posted by Skepti10

On that note I think the shop owners that post here should have the prices in their signature, along with addresses and open hours. There's just so many shops its hard to remember and after a while its all a blur...

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That's a top idea and they should link to their roster...

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Originally Posted by Sextus

The active posters are the only reason anyone at all tunes in though. Otherwise this would be the Yellow Pages.

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Nicely put!

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Originally Posted by Sextus

The active posters are the only reason anyone at all tunes in though. Otherwise this would be the Yellow Pages.

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Hit it on the nail brother!

If we take away the top 20 posters! What would this forum become then ??

Cheers

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Originally Posted by AHLUNGOR

Hit it on the nail brother!

If we take away the top 20 posters! What would this forum become then ??

Cheers

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A forum without the top 20 posters!

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Originally Posted by CunningLinguist

A forum without the top 20 posters!

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Genius ! ;) ;) ;)

The smart shops offer a small incentive to encourage punters to post. So Taren Point offers half hour FS for the winning entry, yes, I won it twice in the last couple of weeks. This means they get lots of reviews, especially good reviews because I don't think a bad review would win a prize no matter how brilliantly written. So lets look at the economics of this strategy, the cost is 2 prizes every two weeks $170, this is less than the price of one ad in the local rag. In addition personal recommendation, even on a blog, is far more effective than a static ad by the shop in the local newspaper. Just think, if you are looking for a restaurant, I am not talking DATY, is a half page ad in the paper more persuasive than visiting a blog such as urbanspoon.com or eatability.com.au with multiple positive results? Obviously you tend to go to the venue with positive feedback.

Taren Point is always very busy compared to the other 3 shops near by, is this because their ladies are much better? Possibly. Is it because it is better run? Possibly. The big difference is their marketing and using forums such as this to promote their business in an effective way.

This is an unashamed promotion, paid for by the generosity of 64 Alexander, Taren Point, total cost so far $170.

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Originally Posted by Boney

The smart shops offer a small incentive to encourage punters to post. So Taren Point offers half hour FS for the winning entry, yes, I won it twice in the last couple of weeks. This means they get lots of reviews, especially good reviews because I don't think a bad review would win a prize no matter how brilliantly written. So lets look at the economics of this strategy, the cost is 2 prizes every two weeks $170, this is less than the price of one ad in the local rag. In addition personal recommendation, even on a blog, is far more effective than a static ad by the shop in the local newspaper. Just think, if you are looking for a restaurant, I am not talking DATY, is a half page ad in the paper more persuasive than visiting a blog such as urbanspoon.com or eatability.com.au with multiple positive results? Obviously you tend to go to the venue with positive feedback.

Taren Point is always very busy compared to the other 3 shops near by, is this because their ladies are much better? Possibly. Is it because it is better run? Possibly. The big difference is their marketing and using forums such as this to promote their business in an effective way.

This is an unashamed promotion, paid for by the generosity of 64 Alexander, Taren Point, total cost so far $170.

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hahaha, didn't you read you were the only entry in the second win? rofl

Seems there is few different people posting since i put this out there.

Imagine the info and tips that are lying within the lurkers ranks, hidden gems galore. But i suppose not all lurkers are punters. But I'm loving these new threads being started by new guys, its also bringing some of the lurkers out from the forum wilderness. Keep up the good work guys.