Making ICMag self-sufficient.....

[Guest]

gypsy- you have made tons of money over the years from this site and we both know it. and as long as you continue shipping seeds, you will continue to make way more than the 2500EURO per month it may cost to run this site.
2500/30=83.33. Assuming you double your money on seeds you only need to have this site generate approximately 165 EURO per day for your business in order to keep it running. Now I dont think there is anyway in hell you can convince me or anyone else for that matter that this site does not bring in at least a few orders per day.

 

[Guest]

Hey ya H og,who are you that anyone has to convince you of anything.What GN makes is his own bizz,and the man has other bills and expenses and has to eat,get a grip.I dont believe how people think GN owes them to keep this site up just for them and then make no money for himself or not to make a living. And speaking of ass uming, yer an idiot,wait, thats not assuming though.Nice troll,i can tell youve been here before under a diff nic i bet and i hope whatever you expected to gain by this stupid post has been achieved and youre now done with the hatin.

 

[necromunger]

if ya let us know the space requirements and traffic estimates perhaps we could do better searching for you. i know xs4all.nl offers that same 5gigabit connection with 72GB space and 1000GB traffic for 650euro a month.

What's 5gigabit refer too, is that 5gigabit per second transfer rate?

Also, this surely is a business, and should make money. I would appear to me bringing down the cost at the server is the way to go, and have banners covering the cost for that server usage should be the goal.

And of course making money is important too, such as fees for added perks, as KingRalph indicated. All/most forums are free for the initial access, but if you want XYZ perk then you should have to pay for it. It costs plenty to upkeep and maintain the site, and make it better for the folks, so they keep coming back, so the goal of making money and paying for those upgrades should also be figured in as well.

 

[Guest]

FullyMeltedDome: While this is a resource for the community there is no doubt in my mind that this site(and overgrow) has served as a huge building block for gypsy's business. This site has always been linked to Seedbay and other profitable ventures. While I fully support this site and understand things in the seed business might not be so well, I think its pretty crazy for Gypsy to all of a sudden be asking for donations. This site has always been partially about commercial gain and anyone who thinks otherwise is blind. Now that being said, if this site were owned and run independently and Seeds Direct/Seed Boutique were just another set of advertisers I would surely send a $100 donation. After all, thats about 2 joints of diesel here in NYC.

 

[Guest]

Let me add that I am not hating on Gypsy or this site at all. I have been a loyal seed customer and proponet of Gypsy for years. I am simply stating my mind. Those who know me know I am no troll.

 

[gaiusmarius]

Hey pig,

i think you'll find that the whole point of this exercise is to make IC-Mag.com self sufficient. if this site becomes/remains totally dependent on seed sales, in this day and age, we might very well face problems of one kind or another. advertising is one thing but subsidizing is another. at least that's how i understand things.....

p.s. why do you call yourself a pig?

 

[justforfun]

Get a life or get lost.

If you have nothing to offer, then do just that.

Pay up or go somewhere else.

Stupid is as stupid does, that covers your comments.

JFF

Let me add that I am not hating on Gypsy or this site at all. I have been a loyal seed customer and proponet of Gypsy for years. I am simply stating my mind. Those who know me know I am no troll.

 

[ndnguy]

Heaven forbid that you state something here that is so obvious, then you get get the fuck out of here ,your a troll. Let people state what they feel not everyone is in the ICMAG way of thinking . I like the idea if something doesn't look quite right you get to state that. Called freedom of speech or does that not apply here?? I kiss no ones ass and expect the same I am here to see friends and make more , try to keep the politics to the Inner Circle.

 

[ezozo]

Heaven forbid that you state something here that is so obvious, then you get get the fuck out of here ,your a troll. Let people state what they feel not everyone is in the ICMAG way of thinking.

Hhhhh... exectly what you do ...

Called freedom of speech or does that not apply here?? I kiss no ones ass and expect the same

The what did you kiss...

I have my freedom of speech and you can kiss my ass !

peace
zozo

 

[ndnguy]

Hhhhh... exectly what you do ...




The what did you kiss...

I have my freedom of speech and you can kiss my ass !

peace
zozo

ezozo ,your one of the biggest ass kissers around here. You know what I mean. One of the biggest Koolaid drinkers too.

 

[Alex-F]

 

[justforfun]

gET LOST

gET LOST

Your a no grower, talk big and offer nothing.

Send money to support the cause, or go somewhere else.

Mommy doesn't have any money to give you?

Post to the gallery or go somewhere else.

This is not a childrens playground.

You can say what you want, but have some cash to back it up.

Sorry I get tired of reading baby posts.

JFF

Heaven forbid that you state something here that is so obvious, then you get get the fuck out of here ,your a troll. Let people state what they feel not everyone is in the ICMAG way of thinking . I like the idea if something doesn't look quite right you get to state that. Called freedom of speech or does that not apply here?? I kiss no ones ass and expect the same I am here to see friends and make more , try to keep the politics to the Inner Circle.

 

[Alex-F]

I love getting negative rep for posts like that

Makes me wonder whether these kids actually have a life

 

[Ron Bennett]

As the former owner of cannabis.com (I still own and operate the now defacto non-profit Marihemp Network; marihemp.com), I'll throw in my dimes worth...

If bandwidth is all you need, then 2500 Euros (~$3000+ USD) is overly pricey.

However, if that 2500 Euros includes hardware, such as dedicated servers, etc then it may be a reasonable amount to pay; quality of dedicated webhosting varies considerably when it comes to hardware / support.

Memberships won't cover even a fraction of the costs ... I'm not aware of any cannabis related site that has done much with memberships - it just doesn't work for these type of sites.

Advertisers are few and far between...

Among the largest advertisers on cannabis related sites tend to be "legal herbs" retailers. Drug test companies and pipe sellers also advertise somewhat, but nowhere near the level they used to due to current legal / political environment...

And ultimately, the legal / political environment is going to be the biggest stumbling block, and it's getting worse ...

Most advertisers (includes google / yahoo text ad affiliate programs) who have lots of money to spend will not advertise on cannabis related sites ... they are leery of being accused of promoting / condoning "drug" use by the public at-large; political pressures.

So basically that leaves few viable advertising prospects beyond "legal herbs", drug testing, and pipes, etc.

To make matters worse, sites that focus on "cultivation" tend to have higher visitor transaction costs; "growers" as a group tend to view many more pages / upload much data, etc than "social" users. Cannabis.com is more of a "social" site, and that's by design - I recognized years ago that a cannabis related site that mostly focuses on growing isn't economically viable; I've posted this observation publicly here and elsewhere over the years.

Anyways, in a nutshell, if ICMag can get its operating costs down to around 1000 Euro or so per month, then it may be possible to price advertising low enough (ie. deep discounts pricing based on around $0.50 to $1.00 USD per thousand impressions [CPM]) to get some reliable advertisers on board while generating enough revenues to cover costs.

Another option to consider to generate revenues is recruit about a dozen or so benefactors with a decent amount of money to spare to chip in and cover the monthly operating costs ... ie. 10 benefactors (only a few people per 1000 active users may be willing to do this, but that may enough given the size of the user base here), each paying 250 Euros per month would cover the costs.

Good luck!

Ron

 

[Gypsy Nirvana]

Thanks Ron.......and all of you who have given me some ideas.......I want to keep the site up and running as best I can at the moment......and into the future.....as a place where we can all learn and laugh.......and will be looking into many of the possibilities mentioned here......

...Grow On!

 

[cabanetforester]

my 2C..

my 2C..

I think this place is great. Nice and green and full of useful information.

I would think you could talk to those 10 benefactors and ask them if they would be willing to help by supplying the site with some of their knowledge. Maybe these would be a different group of people?

-That was a great post BTW RB. Another site owner helping out GN, thats class IMO and probably somewhat of a testament as to GN's character. Good luck with the challenges ahead GN. Hope you can hang on to this place you and the crew built.

Maybe some polls here about possible payment options/rates for the new site. I belong to another site where I pay 5$ a month and thats fine with me.

I'm just speculating, but I think a knowledge base such as this has some value of course how much I have no idea.

Wondering if there might be a way to have a repore with more mainstream horticultural buisnesses maybe through another site that was not cannabis related? I have no idea. I'm not at all suggesting to give up on the cannabis site. Maybe an addditional site or something?

I'm sure word would spread fast and you probebly plan on doing it anyway,but just incase..

Maybe create the new site, however basic in the beginning, and use this tool youve built to help get the word out.

Just some thoughts from someone with absolutley no practical experience whatsoever in these things..

I didn't read the whole thread so my appologies for repeating anything alreay mentioned. CF

 

[Guest]

I hope things pan out for you Gypsy.

Magazine subscriptions? You have this article section and submissions accepted - never! You are not utilising the personal vanity of your userbase. We want glory! Well, some of us need more hugs than others....

I say use us, USE us, and make it known to the cannabis world that EVERY magazine has something new. ICmag has completely underestimated the wealth and worth of information it is given freely each day. This is an information age? Sell it.

Now, most cannabis mags are boring. Is yours? Budshots, another grower saying the same old same old, the same legal issues, another bust, outrage... 100 pages of schwag, and occasionally a nugget.

Why would people buy budshots anymore. We have the internet.

Let's see a step by step how to Bio Bucket issue - and Bigtoke gets a big cheque and lots of us would BUY IT.

Let's see a step by step illustrated guide in every issue.

Lets see contentious issues thrashed out honestly - Organics vs - Flouro vs - Does cannabis cause schizophrtenia? etc. A monthly cannabis myth buster would be gold.

Good stoner short stories, run a competition here keep em at 2000 words. Humour is always welcome to stoners get Dopegirl to do a column, there are loads of comedian stoners many of them activists or more than left wing enough to want to write for icmag.

And lots of other ideas about magazines... I used to run a paper and doubled the circulation in 6 months.

Tell me why this line of thinking wont work, or where I'm wrong, and I'll continue to think it over and try help.

 

[sttb]

charge for membership i'll pay to help keep it going to cool of a site to just disappear

 

[Payaso]

Reply to THSeek

Reply to THSeek

Greetings and thanks for you impassioned thoughts about getting out another magazine...

We agree with all of your points. The magazine can and will be a remarkable piece that will stand up through time because of the input from its readers and contributors.

This is why the submissions forum was started. As to why the accepted articles section is empty, well why would we tell you which articles are accepted, and let you read them online BEFORE it gets printed>> ?

Would you then buy the magazine if you had already read it online?

I like all your ideas for articles... so submit some if you haven't already. I'll go back to the submitted articles and look for you.

With your experience you could be a valuable member of this team, particularly if you have any experience selling print advertising.

With many thanks,
Payaso



Eddy Lepp and Linda Senti - HEROES

 

[Guest]

Thank You Payaso for your prompt reply.

Now I understand the articles column. I mean, you got rez dog, shipperke, big toke - no articles???? I was completely nonplussed!

I started an article for you last year. I never submitted it I lost heart when I saw no one ever got published hahaha.

Hey I'm building a 4 x 4 metre Aquaponic Greenhouse at present, too busy for articles but... I'll be done in 2-3 weeks and will try my hand at writing again. Bit rusty.

Now, the best thing I ever did for my paper was lose advertisers and take on sponsors. Why? Sponsors pay more money for less real estate. They are generally someone who has a vested interest in your business line, not just themselves. People you work with, not for.

Now, what are you advertising inadvertently here? a lot more than meets the eye.

Ferts, ferts, ferts, snake oils, lighting, timers, soil types, mediums galore, containers and buckets, plumbing goods, fans, carbon scrubbers, bubblers and stones, rooting powders and gels, oasis cubes, rockwool, coconut fibre, loupes, microscopes, PLUS freedom of speech, community spirit, and vast collective knowledge. There will be much more I'm sure.

Sponsorship is not neccessarily a public thing. There are silent contributors to many causes. You need to find these folk in the above industries. A form letter explaining who you are, what your goals are, and how folk (business) could help. If you refrain from sending these letters to anyone who sells rubbish you'll never have to lie to them or us to keep interests protected.

Tell potential sponsors WHO you are, WHAT you do, WHERE you and your clientele are from, WHY you want sponsorship, and HOW you can benefit the sponsors for their participation. (tax breaks, magazine subscriptions, product features and reviews, warm fuzzies, etc).

This letter will get a strike rate. And that's how I get meetings with potential sponsors.

Also, the Cannabis Cup and other high profile community events. You should be actively hunting potential sponsors amongst the visitors to these events.

A "We want you on our team" approach could be very attractive at this type of event the atmosphere is already provided.

Off to build, and spray some powdery mildew with skim milk - got to love this place!