Somewhere else I raised this issue:

Talking about "non-enthusiast" Skoda drivers - I thought Holland was festered with it, but now I see Ian complaining about the UK as well, just as I was about to wonder out loud why the UK seems to harbour so many Skoda enthusiasts! I mean, look at how BriSkoda.net is thriving compared to its Dutch counterpart. I'd almost ask: how did you guys pull it off?

I thought I'd give Colin and his gang an opportunity to deservedly boast on their accomplishments

So, all your trade secrets here, please. Maybe there's a thing or two the overseas folk can learn...

I think a certain amount of it is just right place right time, the other is the many many late nights Colin puts into the maintenance of the site.

Back in the Vortex days we became increasingly aware that we were pulling together disparate information, and that we needed a forum of our own.

Soon after Colin purchased his octy, we bounced around ideas for an "all in one" skoda resource, with healthy FAQ info for newbies, and an active forum. There are quite a few other things we'd like to do also, that we can't announce at the moment but are working on in the background. We just think what we (as "enthusiasts") would like and then work to create it for our (and hopefully other's) benefit.

Even we are a little surprised by it's growth, over 360 members in just under 5 months is pretty good going, hopefully that means that the brand and not just the site is growing, and will continue to.

I guess it's "secret" is Colin, who puts his own time and money into the site to make it what it is.

:cheers:

When I found this site, I was wondering how it was financed, as I know to run a free membership site isn't cheap. It may sound like selling out, but would sponsorship help in Briskoda's development? I don't know who from though, perhaps some tuning people, or Skoda themselves? Much respect has to be passed on to Colin though. He's helped create a resource that I have not yet seen for any other car brand in the UK... I hope there isn't currently a www.novaSR.co.uk in existence - I shudder at the thought.

For the moment, we are trying to stay away from "selling out" and having advertising banners on the site. So far the stickers have been the only source of income, and even they do not cover all the costs so far.

Future funding is something very much under discussion, there are far more options than advertising, as we only want to bring money in as a direct result of a good service to members, not have you wading through adverts.

And you are to be applauded for that.

I will readily believe the success of the site is mostly, if not completely due to the sheer effort put into it, but somewhere, sometime, there must have been a defining moment where everyone decided to move over from Vortex to here. What caused that?

(In comparison, the webmaster of Briskoda's Dutch equivalent no doubt puts in a similar amount of energy, yet he doesn't succeed in wooing over Dutch Skoda drivers from an awkward, outdated, non-moderated bulletin board that everyone seems happy with but that can also be a real pain when people get at each other's throats - which, I'm afraid, did happen in the short time I checked it out. It's not something you would expect from Skoda owners... )

I'd like to think we provided a service and said "feel free to use it" rather than any aggressive tactics.

I've seen many people come onto forums and say "hey, this is ace, all come use it now!" and people (myself included) just shy away, maybe we are sceptical of someone giving the hard sell, we wonder what the catch is, is there someone trying to make money behind it all? All too often that is the case. I don't like advertising being forced down my throat, whether it's blatent or subtle, in fact I'm more suspicous of someone trying subtle tactics (sending members PM's etc) than someone with a huge advert!

I think it's all about "live and let live" rather than any proclaiming that we are offering a better site than anyone else.

Originally posted by Tavia4x4 in this post

For the moment, we are trying to stay away from "selling out" and having advertising banners on the site. So far the stickers have been the only source of income, and even they do not cover all the costs so far.

You could always add a standard "donate" button like loads of other sites - at least you're providing a useful service (which is more than can be said for a lot of other sites!)

BTW - I posted off my cheque for a sticker last week but I have a suspicion I forgot to add my address.....

Ian is right. We are looking at ways to fund the site. Any ideas gratefully rec'd. I don't think any of the moderators want ads, we seem to have a similar feeling on them.

Having talked to Colin, I know what the site costs to run. OK, its not a massive amount, but Colin is paying it out of his own money. I think if every one of our members gave

Stimps, I think you did, as I'm sure yours was one of the ones I did last night (it was late ).

re donate buttons, if I can quote myself from earlier:

"we only want to bring money in as a direct result of a good service to members"

- as a "user" of the site myself, I would only want to pay if I was getting something in return, and would not expect any different from you guys!

Originally posted by TaviaRS in this post

I think if every one of our members gave

Tavia - ideosyncracies? Thats such a big word I'm not even sure what it means (kidding). I bought my Skoda whilst still at University, having read up on it, I felt it was worth buying without a test-drive. Looking back thats one decision I never regret and I feel pleased to have been "born" (bad metaphor) into the Skoda family. I hope that doesn't sound too slushy, but its true! On a personal note if this site saved me a serious amount of cash by helping me find good sources of supplies (which I feel will happen in the next year or so) then I'd be all too happy to donate

Originally posted by Tavia4x4

re donate buttons, if I can quote myself from earlier:

"we only want to bring money in as a direct result of a good service to members"

I wasn't suggesting you 'force' members to donate in order to gain access to the forums or any special content... even just a run-of-the-mill paypal donate type button to give users the chance to give something back, etc...

The lack of banner ads, etc, is refreshing and welcomed though - and I think you're doing yourself and the site a disservice if you don't acknowledge that you're already providing a good service to members!

:cheers:

That was a rather ar*e-backwards way of saying you're all doing a great job btw...! :-)

Look at it this way, with the discounts we have:

You buy a set of wheels from Eric@AAT, you save 10%.