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It's available publicly right there in the link that they're soliciting advertisement opportunities. All we've done is basic math to come up with monthly and yearly figures.
The figure is incorrect anyhow as the ad spots were previously $50/mo, not $100/mo, etc.
But still, not chump change by any means.
What would everyone here like to see that $100k spent on?
By the way, to anybody who uses the ads on here, do you get good conversions?
Actually, being a public forum - it is our business to judge the owner (notice, no plural).
As for "everyone overall enjoys this community" clearly, people don't. The "community" has an afk owner raking in a huge amount of dosh, and shows no care in the world for what happens here.
del
Spend the $100K on a LEB/LET Bus, just for the shits'n gigs. ;-)
A theme park with blackjack and hookers.
And to insure your ventures, go to shoveinsurance.com.
Honestly? I'd like to see the amount of ads (and as such the revenue coming from it) being decreased. I can't see a valid use of $100,000 for a community like LEB/LET.
I've not got any actual numbers to share on ad's, but being on the front page of LEB gives us about 200 customers per day while we're on the front.
Question outstanding as to what the site cost to buy/acquire from the prior owner...
As much jingle dingle cashola the site brings in, it's still vastly under what it should be bringing in. By my estimate... 21k a month and that's a number I cooked up back when the sites were seeking new owner(s).
Heck, that amount was just for one of the sites. Today with ballooned traffic.... 30-50k a month. Even in this economic hell, north of 25k a month combined confidently.
It's a serious question. You have to think about the alternative before you criticise someone's actions.
As a hypothetical example - who would be interested if I set up a community where members are given advertising and moderation powers based on the quality and quantity of their contribution to the community? (A little like StackExchange). This would also solve another key problem the site has - a handful of idiotic members
This this this this.
http://xkcd.com/810/
Seriously though, like Google+ and Dvorak keyboards, even if it's better, inertia will keep us here.
Kind of makes me want to pull an @shovenose and develop one of the domains that I've had for a year already that I originally intended to make a site like LEB.
Nah.
Just forget the theme park. :P
Umm, without us advertisers....
It's a circle of life deal, no one class is important or to be discounted.
Now, this $100k is being tossed about alot, but nobody has brought up the fact that BuySellAds takes a 25% cut off the top, and not everyone is paying full rate either, some have old rates that have not been increased. I keep close attention to ad inventory, and since the last rate increase I have never seen 100% space sold, so I would say @Chief has found the proper pricing for the space, or a tad on the high side.
Do we know if @Chief paid @LowEndAdmin? No we don't, nor do I care, but I recall a $10k price tag if LEA couldn't find a worthy person to take over or something, and I feel Chief has done a better than fair job, while it may not seem his role is very public, I have spoken with him enough to know he is not propping his feet on the couch while counting his cash.
Feels wrong to be jealous of someone for commercial success. Go do it yourself if you have a better mouse trap to capture my advertising dollar, and I have found equally good yet totally different areas for my advertising dollar, so this is not the be all end all for hosts.
This this this this.
I think the first version of LET long time ago was like this (it used OSQA) but was eventually evolved into what it looks like now due to people abusing the power of community voting and so on.
The issue is not about the income nor is it about speculating on "what we would like it spent on". The sites belong to @chief and what he does with the income is entirely down to him.
We don't of course know what the outgoing are, I am pretty sure if any of the mods see some of it that they are certainly not going to tell anyone here (if they have sense).
So really, put the whole cash thing to one side, it's not relevant. All the things mentioned so far don't require cash, they need someone to put in the time.
I think personally the answer is that he gives @liam a higher cheque even if that means more than zero currently and allows him to do more on the site.
But I find myself jumping off the fence thinking that @chief can't let go any more due to some possibly shady goings on in the background. Speculation of course, yet I am always the one to brush the kind of thing away and here I am raising the suspicions..
What about the taxes he has to pay from the revenue on the site?
Also, I just want to add that if we are talking about a VPS host X who is "incompetent" and should sell his company to someone else, then I am sure the owner in X would jump out and start a crusade against the rest of the forum.
I think @Chief has done quite some work here, and obviously LET is just a hobby to him rather than a serious business site he depends his livelihood on. People with regular jobs get busy at times and you obviously have your own choice to start a community and try to make it more active than LEB/LET if you can and then you'll know how much trouble it is to run a community of this size.
Even if @Chief is doing stuff behind the scenes, he's not doing a great job. Witness the EOR ban.
I think another thing you guys are missing is that he is actually away right now; should be back after easter. LEB/LET was never meant to be a full time job for anyone, it was always a hobby, even for LEA, which is why he sold it as he could no longer manage it (for various reasons).
And honestly, with all due respect to the other members/advertisers/hosts, I found it is funny how some LET/LEB hosts keep saying: oh, you can't expect the whole world for 7 bucks when it comes to VPS and yet demand top-of-the-line services from LET/LEB when they are paying nothing (since I assume the advertising cost would be covered by the sales they generated from those ads).
This site isn't very hard to "manage". Not like features are being developed. The sites are about as basic as you can get out of box install experience.
Where's the time? Approving new accounts and banning folks? Approving new LEB ads and writing smarmy copy up top? It isn't real necessary or always value-added. Enough of the offers get team head copy that is a kick in the scrotum. Where there is moderation and doubt expressed, the ad shouldn't ever appear, but they often do. That's the shady WTF is going on type broken logic employed around here.
Cry me a river.
If someone can't chip in 10 hours a week, then they don't deserve squat for income, at least for very long.
Where's the time? Approving new accounts and banning folks? Approving new LEB ads and writing smarmy copy up top? It isn't real necessary or always value-added. Enough of the offers get team head copy that is a kick in the scrotum. Where there is moderation and doubt expressed, the ad shouldn't ever appear, but they often do. That's the shady WTF is going on type broken logic employed around here.
Why not try to run a forum site yourself and see how long it will last/how many hours you'll need to invest in and keep that site going and without any rant for a few years yourself?
Obviously I have never run LET/LEB or a site of this scale myself, so indeed I might be over-estimating the work, but I always think to start anything is easy, but to keep the commitments, that's tough (I am sure members who are married here have a lot of stories to share on this topic
)
+1 It's not as easy as some people think, @Liam and even @Chief do a lot more than meets the eye.
@Infinity What's with the avatar?
I like a change of avatars every now and again, that's my name in Arabic, because my name is Arabic. ;-)
It isn't hard. The moderation and touch points on things are few. Most interaction is when the @ tag happens. Rest is spot checking flare ups and the flagged items. Very finite number of data inputs to babysit.
What is hard is maintaining a community and keeping the momentum/growth without dissing the community and getting shoved back.
Aside from the many providers who post here, are folks noticing long time members who packed up and left? See lots of absent old time posters? I am sure you do. It's indicative of the site sliding the wrong way.
RIght now is good for mass consumption popularity. Low cost is in vogue due to global recession.
See where LEB/LET is most popular. You might be surprised. Aren't countries with best ad dollar value or high purchase type customers.
So yeah, LEB/LET is rolling with lots of eyeballs. But, they aren't the valuable ones.