Low Traffic On FreeiPod

Hello everyone, just trying to find out why this forum has lower traffic than other forums. When I was a trader I use to get more referrals from here. It seems when I become a site owner I saw alot less traffic here. Can anyone tell me why?

Cuz there's more supply than demand.

I still blame PPD

[quoteaa39af5526="ESMcCready"]I still blame PPD[/quoteaa39af5526]


Yeah....F PPD.

Then why do sites likes like flr get so much more traffic. Even their discussions have more traffic.

I heard FLR bans you for being horny.

That's the word around the water cooler

We've said many many times before that we have ideas for the site, things to do or change to make it a better place for everyone, but we just don't have the manpower/time to get it done.

The only person on our staff who can do the things we want done is David, and if he had the time to do them he would, but we're all busy with our own things.

I guess (if it hasn't already) that we're just going to become a site with a handful of regulars who are just here to shoot the shit with other people on the forum, and then eventually Admin might just cut it loose.

It sucks, but it's the reality of it.

[quoteb147f64442="theysayjump"]We've said many many times before that we have ideas for the site, things to do or change to make it a better place for everyone, but we just don't have the manpower/time to get it done.

The only person on our staff who can do the things we want done is David, and if he had the time to do them he would, but we're all busy with our own things.

I guess (if it hasn't already) that we're just going to become a site with a handful of regulars who are just here to shoot the shit with other people on the forum, and then eventually Admin might just cut it loose.

It sucks, but it's the reality of it.[/quoteb147f64442]

does this place cost money to run? I know there are no advertisements on the site, but alternately, I also know it's a huge site, so I can't figure out what it actually costs to run.

I know that if it came down to what TSJ said, I would be willing to throw down a few bucks every month to keep it going if it came down to it. I think a lot of us have done a good deal of bonding and it would be sad to see all that gone if it came down to a money thing that we could all share equally.

I'd pay just to keep dmorris's knowledge accessible.

Also, don't forget that FLR has a bunch of stay at home moms while most of us have jobs or classes to go to and don't have as much time to chit chat. I've heard even they have less trading going on now so a lot of traffic doesn't necessarily mean they have a lot of trading going on.

This industry has always been cyclical and fickle, we've gone through dry spells before. I think with the economy and other issues going on, and the fact FiPG has more "competition" than we used to, it's inevitable that the tides shift. But as far as I know, we're not going anywhere.

Cost to run the forum? Yes, there are server/hosting costs, but the FiPG server is an old server in the same rack as the FusionCash servers, so it's not as expensive as it would be if it were hosted on its own somewhere. If FC were to take a dive and Admin pulled that plug, he might shut us down or he might allow us scramble to become self-supporting if the membership and staff wanted to keep it alive. And of course the staff spends a lot of their own time keeping the place going, so that "cost" is also to be considered.

Speaking of, yes, I've been involved in a lot of other stuff lately, so I've not been able to follow through on implementing a lot of the ideas we have. Sorry. I've not written things off entirely, they're just postponed until I can devote the time again. I still check in and post most every day, but just haven't had the opportunity to sit down and focus on FiPG stuff for hours on end. I'm not walking away from things, I've just got to get through some other things that are going on, and when I do have free time, I've got other hobbies and interests that I try to enjoy.

So bear with us. It's a tough time for almost any business right now, so I'm not surprised that traffic is down across the board. Things are cyclical though, and will most likely bounce back over the next year.

How does everyone think the economy will effect the freebie business?

I can see a lot of people getting involved with it as a way of making some extra cash, but at the same time I assume most businesses are going to be cutting marketing costs and won't be as likely to pay for offers completed.

Thats not 100% truth. With people needing to sell more they might be more open to pay per action marketing. If they are going to spend $50,000, why not do it while getting new clients instead of hoping someone signs up.

This website is not the website you should count on for new users. In fact, none of the forums are. Forum users = the worst users.

If that is true what do you think is the best place to get newbies. I have great success with forums; both when I was a trader and now as an owner.

[quote88f4400d7b="TryinToGetPaid"]This website is not the website you should count on for new users. In fact, none of the forums are. Forum users = the worst users.[/quote88f4400d7b]

[quote31f2edb0fb="Jobstane"]If that is true what do you think is the best place to get newbies. I have great success with forums; both when I was a trader and now as an owner.

[quote31f2edb0fb="TryinToGetPaid"]This website is not the website you should count on for new users. In fact, none of the forums are. Forum users = the worst users.[/quote31f2edb0fb][/quote31f2edb0fb]

You need to advertise outside of the forums and possibly even the internet.

So what I'm trying to figure out is a good way of advertising outside of forums. Most of my business comes from within the forums.

Google AdWords.

[quoted563c254b2="TFOAF"]Google AdWords.[/quoted563c254b2]

- Pay college kids thru Craigslist to flier their schools, laundromats, etc.
- Cheapo ads in the back of local newspapers
- Youtube vids...but be careful not to walk anybody through
- Start a blog or a newsletter
- Run contests and promotions in partnership with blogs and newsletters (but not ones focused on gaming the freebie system)

The economy is affecting the incentivized business. I know some advertisers are less willing to pay for leads from incentivized websites due to the risk nature, especially in the economy we are in now.

Yea, recesssion = baddest. Even companies like Wal-Mart have backed off from spending too much. My local 24/7 only hired 15 new people for the holiday season...last year...they hired 50+ people to keep things running.

EVERYONE is going to get hit hard but I don't think the freebie area will get hit as hard as others. In fact, I predict a slight surge of new users looking for that extra cash but you aren't going to find them on the forums.

Advertising in new papers and through search engines and stuff is the way to be right now...always has been really.

I think it's a bunch of possible reasons added together but it's not as dead as some other freebie forums that I've seen.

The industry is not as vibrant as it once was. Before Project PayDay, it thrived with low-cost referrals and people who actually followed the TR rule (you know, like if I had more TR you would have to pay first? Nobody follows that anymore). Ever since the boom that Project PayDay started we've seen an influx of individuals who, if it weren't for PPD, wouldn't have discovered this before.

At first, it was a huge rush of people who were eager to do sites for PayPal. Now, everyone is attempting to finish every single last damn site they started and the price of referrals has inflated to a mere $10-15 profit margin that it's no longer worth it.

As far as I'm concerned, DIY is the only way to go now. Low cost, high maintenance, long timeline but huge results.

[quoteb0f3b7cad5="unknown uchiha"]The industry is not as vibrant as it once was. Before Project PayDay, it thrived with low-cost referrals and people who actually followed the TR rule (you know, like if I had more TR you would have to pay first? Nobody follows that anymore). Ever since the boom that Project PayDay started we've seen an influx of individuals who, if it weren't for PPD, wouldn't have discovered this before.

At first, it was a huge rush of people who were eager to do sites for PayPal. Now, everyone is attempting to finish every single last damn site they started and the price of referrals has inflated to a mere $10-15 profit margin that it's no longer worth it.

As far as I'm concerned, DIY is the only way to go now. Low cost, high maintenance, long timeline but huge results.[/quoteb0f3b7cad5]

It used to be really fun trading

Well the thing is if we can see what the problem is we can reverse it. Truthfully if there is a way to regulate it and have these things reversed it could help the industry.

A free market regulates itself. People charge what they charge because they can get people to pay it.

I still get trades, not as many, but I'm about to finish another site in the next week.

I wish it were better but, its all a bonus anyway.

I actually just frequent this for the off-topic and tech discussions. I used to try to trade, but its become far to much of a chore and I would rather just pay the money instead of wasting hours after hours of my life trying to find reliable people to trade with.

The offers have even diminished in value, and the referral requirements are ridiculous. It's so hard nowadays, maybe that's why so many people aren't into it anymore.

I'm just throwing this out there, but if it ever gets to the point where admin doesn't want to deal with whatever expense it costs to run this joint, would you guys ever consider advertising?

I mean, even on sites like Myspace, I don't find banner ads to be all that obtrusive and they have to pay pretty decent for being posted on a reasonably high traffic site such as this, no?

I'm sure you've already discussed this, but I was just curious what you thought about it.

Small sites thrive on forums. Without the forums, most of these sites wouldnt be around.

[quote11f0a91318="Requiem"]The offers have even diminished in value, and the referral requirements are ridiculous. It's so hard nowadays, maybe that's why so many people aren't into it anymore.[/quote11f0a91318]

Yep cry

I've seen many sites now offering full credit and 1 offer only at $30 bucks a ref, most of the offers are at least 5 bucks, half of the offers are PWW and most people are paying 20 bucks, so they only make 10 bucks....

and have to go through all that work.

Trading just ain't worth it,

[quote1c82ff3cac="TravMan162"]I'm just throwing this out there, but if it ever gets to the point where admin doesn't want to deal with whatever expense it costs to run this joint, would you guys ever consider advertising?

I mean, even on sites like Myspace, I don't find banner ads to be all that obtrusive and they have to pay pretty decent for being posted on a reasonably high traffic site such as this, no?

I'm sure you've already discussed this, but I was just curious what you thought about it.[/quote1c82ff3cac]

because fipg is old and patched up code, and not particularly efficient, it needs a fair amount of resources to run. when i had it on a (rather powerful) shared server, i was asked to move because of resource hogging. so fipg lives on its own dedicated amd 2000+ 1U scsi system that used to be the home of fusioncash. the cost of colocating that box is unlikely to be covered by any amount of traditional advertising, although the fusioncash banner above usually makes that much for me.

the other problem is that i'm getting a pretty good deal, as well as a big multi-server discount, for having fusioncash colocated with the same company. if something happened and y'all had to move it, you would probably have to find a new colo host because mine isn't signing new customers anymore.

so in short, you guys better hope that i don't have to pull the plug, because that'd probably be the end of it )

Please don't pull the plug.

I was going to photoshop a Terry Schiavo picture and add a "FreeiPodGuide" label to it but was too lazy.

EDIT But if FIG goes down we can always go to TravMan162.blogspot.com.

[quote21c87f5fa2="ilanbg"]TravMan162.blogspot.com.[/quote21c87f5fa2]bookmarked