I think the Premium Member option could be made more valuable to DP and the forum as a whole by making a few changes. In essence, I think it could be profitable to Shawn, while being a better value to the Premium Members. These are based upon some ideas I've had about DP, comparisons of other sites (you may know which ones I mean), and the ol "imitation is the highest form of flattery" type of thing. Suggestions: Move Area 51 up to the top of the forum (for more visibility). Promote Area 51 (like WF does with the War room) or make another area for Premium Members. Make the Premium Member logo clickable and point it to http://forums.digitalpoint.com/payments.php. Make the Premium Member a one time fee (and a little less than the current annual fee). Have a link at the top. Have a link from a "Create New Blog" button, when someone goes into the blogging section (for non-Premium Members), which triggers info about becoming a Premium Member. Give older, longstanding forum members a discounted rate to becoming a Premium Member, as you may be able to bring back some of the experienced veterans. Add a Click-exchange (like Namepros). Add a Chat feature (like above mentioned). Have a Premium Membership drive, in which people can earn points toward something, for new Premium Members (thus there is an incentive to get others to join, by promoting Area 51 stuff). Have another tier of Premium Members, for those consistently selling things, which would include a really cool option (such as free advertising, no fees for listing, etc). Waddya think?
1. No, area 51 isn't one of the valuable things with premium membership. 2. No. 3. No, too spammy. 4. Absolutely not. 5. No, too spammy. 6. Possibly, but not a huge priority. Having a blog also isn't one of the valuable things. 7. No, sorry. 8. No idea what that is. 9. http://forums.digitalpoint.com/chat.php 10. Probably not worth the time/effort to be honest. 11. Not sure what you mean? Users already get free advertising and have no listing fees (doesn't matter if they are premium or not).
Definitely No to most proposals . Especially the lifetime fee and the clickable badge . We don't need noobs in Area 51 .
I actually like the idea about making the premium membership badge clickable. I tried clicking it a few times when I first joined but found that it didn't lead anywhere. 7 and 10 are fantastic ideas but both will require time to iron out the full details, however I will still support them 100%.
Instead of making it better for premium members, we should first look on how we can improve the free member userbase, especially with newbies. How could we reduce SPAM? How could we disallow fake signatures? Reporting is one option, but I'm sure much more can be done.