The times they are a changin'!

Like the new logo!

Are you able to share who you get your ads through and how you earn? Is the fact that I've clicked the past 2 ads that have come up likely to help you at all?

Reefcap even gets a mention!

doctorj said:

Like the new logo!

Are you able to share who you get your ads through and how you earn? Is the fact that I've clicked the past 2 ads that have come up likely to help you at all?

Reefcap even gets a mention!

Click to expand...

doc,

Glad you like the new logo!

Advertisers are buying blocks of banner impressions rather than clicks so your click won't directly benefit ASF, but clicking through is half the battle... I appreciate you having a look at what the advertisers have to offer.

If you see anything that interests you feel free to click through and investigate further!

I wander why page hast to refresh on a way back?

Used to be instant response, now takes time.
Can it be fixed? Or part of the ad-deal?

Happy said:

I wander why page hast to refresh on a way back?

Used to be instant response, now takes time.
Can it be fixed? Or part of the ad-deal?

Click to expand...

Happy, are you experiencing some site performance issues?

Please let me know the details if you do as I am determined to keep the site running fast and efficiently.

Joe,
I am pretty sure this is ad causing delay, so part of the deal.

Before if I went 5 or 10 pages deep, I could flick forward and backward through visited pages, now it appears to hesitate, and it appears that every time new ad is loaded, and since I am on dial-up connection it makes the difference.

What I have to do now is open “Back” box and jump as many pages as I want or 10 at the time maximum.

No major drama; just have to change the technique.

Happy said:

We could also take into consideration browsing Sponsor’s sites and considering purchase of their goods and services.
This way 2 or 3 birds can be trapped with several gold coins:

1. Give sponsors justification for Sponsorship costs
2. Make this site attractive to Sponsors
3. Give us an excuse to purchase goods for good cause (even fee avoiders could help, especially if products are discounted, giving win-win outcome )

Click to expand...

As a 'commercial' member of ASF, I post here for one purpose. I have a product to sell. (Shock horror, someone trying to make money? Golly gosh, say it isnt so.....we are all communists here arent we? : )

Unfortunately, this membership base appears to have the mentality of "lets get rich off others without paying anyone a cent!" I have posted on other forums and had a much higher sales rate.

When I was a member of a popular property forum, I sold 30 courses in 2 months.

As a recent member of Jasons forum (synapse) I sold 4 or 5 courses in a month.

Despite my being here for a few years, I have only sold 3-4 courses.
I am seriously considering leaving this forum as my posting seems to be a waste of time. There are too many people here leeching off others. Either people here dont have any money to invest, or are just too tight to spend money on getting educated. I know that many of the members are quite young and this may be a factor.

As an advertiser, I dont see any reason to be a sponsor to this site. People here need to stop thinking they can get everything for nothing. I paid $6,000 for my education, and Im glad I did.

Joe, if this site is to remain viable, something must be done.

money tree said:

As a 'commercial' member of ASF, I post here for one purpose. I have a product to sell. (Shock horror, someone trying to make money? Golly gosh, say it isnt so.....we are all communists here arent we? : )

Unfortunately, this membership base appears to have the mentality of "lets get rich off others without paying anyone a cent!" I have posted on other forums and had a much higher sales rate.

When I was a member of a popular property forum, I sold 30 courses in 2 months.

As a recent member of Jasons forum (synapse) I sold 4 or 5 courses in a month.

Despite my being here for a few years, I have only sold 3-4 courses.
I am seriously considering leaving this forum as my posting seems to be a waste of time. There are too many people here leeching off others. Either people here dont have any money to invest, or are just too tight to spend money on getting educated. I know that many of the members are quite young and this may be a factor.

As an advertiser, I dont see any reason to be a sponsor to this site. People here need to stop thinking they can get everything for nothing. I paid $6,000 for my education, and Im glad I did.

Joe, if this site is to remain viable, something must be done.

Click to expand...

Tree you have to be kidding.
Your shifting the inability to sell courses to the reader.

Try a few dozen trades live---as you start accumulating positive results the course enquiry will go sky high.
Have a look at your marketing---employ pro people to set up your site with dynamic "wiffms"
Give something to get something.
Go spend another $6000 on a Business management course. Most Uni's have one.
If your not selling 100+ a month then YOUR not marketing your product well enough and when your selling 100 and your not selling 200 then your not marketing your product well enough.
Learn the power of referals.Show some humility being in the financial sector or being dux of an options course doesnt guarentee success.
Look outside the square of the financial sector youll find better advice.
What makes you different?
Show real value--what do you guarentee?

I'd be happy to help you out for NOTHING but your so pretentious you'd take the offer as a sign of weakness and of no value.

Why should people stop investigating ways to find gems of wisdom for nothing?
You know the more I give out the luckier I get.
OH and not everyone is interested in options trading yet on Jasons site I'd be suprised if there was an interest in anything else.

Finally if your looking for business from forum postings then you seriously need marketing help. (Certaintly if nothing else to work on content--- might be on Jasons site but Ive never seen it here).

money tree,

Thanks for your feedback. It has been taken on board and I only have a few comments to make.

money tree said:

Despite my being here for a few years, I have only sold 3-4 courses.

Click to expand...

Aussie Stock Forums has only existed for around 17 months. You first registered around 13 months ago. Also, congratulations on the sales, you have made much more out of ASF than I have!

money tree said:

I am seriously considering leaving this forum as my posting seems to be a waste of time. There are too many people here leeching off others. Either people here dont have any money to invest, or are just too tight to spend money on getting educated.

Click to expand...

I don't see a lot of people leeching off others, I see a lot of people contributing. I think ASF has more useful content than most stockmarket forums, many of which are filled with endless ramping and playground insults. I think we have a lot of friendly, knowledgeable people here and yes, that attracts 'leechers', but the good news is that it also attracts more friendly, knowledgable people.

moneytree said:

I know that many of the members are quite young and this may be a factor.

Click to expand...

I think you would be suprised at the median age of members of this forum.

money tree said:

As an advertiser, I dont see any reason to be a sponsor to this site. People here need to stop thinking they can get everything for nothing. I paid $6,000 for my education, and Im glad I did.

Click to expand...

Fair enough. Perhaps advertising on ASF just isn't for you. However, I have been putting advertisers off for over a year now, not sure exactly how and when I was going to introduce advertising. Unfortunately for me, ASF has always been about the challenge rather than the money. As long as costs were within what I was willing to bear, I covered them myself. I was a little too interested in community building than I was in turning a profit.

money tree said:

Joe, if this site is to remain viable, something must be done.

Click to expand...

I think ASF will become viable. I think a lot of members value the site and enjoy their time here and will support ASF given the chance. I have had many emails from members thanking me for ASF and telling me how much they enjoy their visits. Anyway, as with all things, time will tell. On the whole, I've enjoyed the experience so far and I think ASF has a bright future. This has always been a long term project for me and I have confidence that ASF will be still be around for many years to come.

Happy said:

Joe,
I am pretty sure this is ad causing delay, so part of the deal.

Before if I went 5 or 10 pages deep, I could flick forward and backward through visited pages, now it appears to hesitate, and it appears that every time new ad is loaded, and since I am on dial-up connection it makes the difference.

What I have to do now is open “Back” box and jump as many pages as I want or 10 at the time maximum.

No major drama; just have to change the technique.

Click to expand...

Happy, I will see what I can do about improving site performance.

The fact that you are on a dial-up connection may play a big part in this. I would be interested in any feedback from others accessing ASF via a dial-up connection.

Joe,

I'm on cable and notice the slight "delay" in the loading (especially the first time visiting the site on the day) and the back/forth process. However as I have Norton Internet Security I don't see any advertisements at all. So I’m unsure if the delay is caused by the blocking of the add, or the generation itself.

No issue just some feedback.

Keep up the great work

Joe Blow said:

Happy, I will see what I can do about improving site performance.

The fact that you are on a dial-up connection may play a big part in this. I would be interested in any feedback from others accessing ASF via a dial-up connection.

Click to expand...

I'm on dialup and have not noticed any difference at all. All OK.

That said, I do have the feeling that my dialup might be working a bit better than some. I have heard many people say that Google Earth doesn't work with dialup - works fine for me. My actual connection speed is typically 44K on a 56K modem.

money tree said:

As a 'commercial' member of ASF, I post here for one purpose. I have a product to sell. (Shock horror, someone trying to make money? Golly gosh, say it isnt so.....we are all communists here arent we? : )

Unfortunately, this membership base appears to have the mentality of "lets get rich off others without paying anyone a cent!" I have posted on other forums and had a much higher sales rate.

When I was a member of a popular property forum, I sold 30 courses in 2 months.

As a recent member of Jasons forum (synapse) I sold 4 or 5 courses in a month.

Despite my being here for a few years, I have only sold 3-4 courses.
I am seriously considering leaving this forum as my posting seems to be a waste of time. There are too many people here leeching off others. Either people here dont have any money to invest, or are just too tight to spend money on getting educated. I know that many of the members are quite young and this may be a factor.

As an advertiser, I dont see any reason to be a sponsor to this site. People here need to stop thinking they can get everything for nothing. I paid $6,000 for my education, and Im glad I did.

Joe, if this site is to remain viable, something must be done.

Click to expand...

Moneytree:

Your comments have surprised me, probably because I had imagined most other forum members were - like myself - here because we value the free exchange of ideas and information. I really had not thought about ASF as primarily a site where members derive profits from one another in their various private enterprises, but rather a place where there is a sense of community fostering the give and take which is possible from a membership base of such varied ages, experience and interests.

That's not to say, of course, that what you are looking for is wrong. I wish you luck in attracting business. However, ASF is not the venue I would go to if I were looking to buy anything.

Julia

At the moment ASF is the venue in transition stage and if members do not come here to buy something, venue might disappear, unfortunately.

money tree said:

As a 'commercial' member of ASF, I post here for one purpose. I have a product to sell. (Shock horror, someone trying to make money? Golly gosh, say it isnt so.....we are all communists here arent we? : )

Unfortunately, this membership base appears to have the mentality of "lets get rich off others without paying anyone a cent!" I have posted on other forums and had a much higher sales rate.

When I was a member of a popular property forum, I sold 30 courses in 2 months.

As a recent member of Jasons forum (synapse) I sold 4 or 5 courses in a month.

Despite my being here for a few years, I have only sold 3-4 courses.
I am seriously considering leaving this forum as my posting seems to be a waste of time. There are too many people here leeching off others. Either people here dont have any money to invest, or are just too tight to spend money on getting educated. I know that many of the members are quite young and this may be a factor.

As an advertiser, I dont see any reason to be a sponsor to this site. People here need to stop thinking they can get everything for nothing. I paid $6,000 for my education, and Im glad I did.

Joe, if this site is to remain viable, something must be done.

Click to expand...

Money tree,

I am really surprised by your comments. You've insulted the users of this forum because you haven't sold any courses. That's loser material mate!

Snake

Happy said:

At the moment ASF is the venue in transition stage and if members do not come here to buy something, venue might disappear, unfortunately.

Click to expand...

Indeed Happy. Advertisers will be looking for a return on their investment. They will move on if they do not. So I hope people will take a look at what they have to offer.

I am looking for ways to make it possible for ASF members and visitors to buy financial books/software through ASF and support the site in the process. I'm hoping to introduce this early next year.

Joe Blow said:

Indeed Happy. Advertisers will be looking for a return on their investment. They will move on if they do not. So I hope people will take a look at what they have to offer.

I am looking for ways to make it possible for ASF members and visitors to buy financial books/software through ASF and support the site in the process. I'm hoping to introduce this early next year.

Click to expand...

Think of interviews too Joe in the financial mags, they should pay you, you can send them a small general profile of the site and I'm sure the big investor mags would be interested in doing pieces on us. That'll attract more publicity too, and hence more members for advertisers to target. The stock comp would be an added attraction. We could emphasise our higher standards and quality of material as setting us apart from the rest of the crowd.

tech/a said:

Try a few dozen trades live---as you start accumulating positive results the course enquiry will go sky high.

Click to expand...

Trades? I actively DISCOURAGE trading remember. 97% of people fail.

tech/a said:

Learn the power of referals.

Click to expand...

Silly assumption. A lot of my sales are by referal.

tech/a said:

Show some humility being in the financial sector or being dux of an options course doesnt guarentee success.

Click to expand...

If you had ever bothered to listen to anything I say or at least read my site, you would know it is not an "options course". Options are a risk-limiting tool and my course focuses on reducing risk and increasing returns, so they are an important part. Primarily I want to show people that the crappy returns the finance sector puts out can be easily beaten by getting creative. I want to teach people that there are other ways of making money in the market apart from "buy for $1 and sell for $2" A lot of my course is about tax minimisation. Which is better, $2 made on a trade, or $1 saved in tax without risk?

tech/a said:

Look outside the square of the financial sector youll find better advice.

Click to expand...

LOL. meaning we should all worship you?

tech/a said:

What makes you different?

Click to expand...

Put it this way. A financial advisor knows about 10% of what is in my course. That is to say, I managed to fill a book on what your financial advisor DOESNT KNOW. Scary huh? Well it wouldnt shock you. You think they are all beneath you. Also, I wanted to share all the important info all the other trading books neglect to tell you. The truth. Things like "hey pal, want a margin call?" or "hey buddy, you have a 3% chance of success doing this"

tech/a said:

Show real value--what do you guarentee?

Click to expand...

real value. Well, saving $5k in tax every year for the rest of your life, for a $590 outlay is real value. Im sorry, but if you cant see that as a good investment then you have no business being in the stock market.

tech/a said:

I'd be happy to help you out for NOTHING but your so pretentious you'd take the offer as a sign of weakness and of no value.

Click to expand...

Thats rich. Mr "I'm smarter than all the financial experts out there". All you have to do to help me is to take your foot off my head. I mean seriously, you kick me in the guts every chance you get. Its obvious that you feel threatened by me. You want to be the king here, fine, be my guest. I have never sought that role and dont want it. often you have hinted that you know more than all the experts and that we should all listen to you instead.
So Im going to call you on your bluff. What is it you can do to help me? Seriously. Was that an empty gesture or are you for real?

tech/a said:

Why should people stop investigating ways to find gems of wisdom for nothing?

Click to expand...

Well, if they want to waste 5 years and lose a heap of money learning from their own mistakes, let em. But if they want to save time and money, invest in my experience.

tech/a said:

You know the more I give out the luckier I get.

Click to expand...

Just today I got an email from someone who bought my course a year ago. He thanked me for what I taught him and announced that he has just retired. I can put you in touch if you dont believe me.

tech/a said:

OH and not everyone is interested in options trading yet on Jasons site I'd be suprised if there was an interest in anything else.

Click to expand...

Again, there is far more to my course than just options.

tech/a said:

Finally if your looking for business from forum postings then you seriously need marketing help.

Click to expand...

Well thats just your opinion. On many other forums people make a good living from forum post referals.

Julia said:

Moneytree:

Your comments have surprised me, probably because I had imagined most other forum members were - like myself - here because we value the free exchange of ideas and information. I really had not thought about ASF as primarily a site where members derive profits from one another in their various private enterprises, but rather a place where there is a sense of community fostering the give and take which is possible from a membership base of such varied ages, experience and interests.

That's not to say, of course, that what you are looking for is wrong. I wish you luck in attracting business. However, ASF is not the venue I would go to if I were looking to buy anything.

Julia

Click to expand...

I expected this sort of reaction. Rather than someone who is here to get you to buy something you dont want, I prefer to think of myself as HELPING people here for a fee. What they get out of the deal is often 10x or 20x what I get. So its a win-win situation.

Unfortunately the utopia that this site began as is not sustainable. people need to face reality. Good advice costs.....usually. If tech wants to do it all for free thats his business. But if someone wants me to help them make an extra $5k and they dont think I deserve a reward, then stuff em. We are all here because we want to make money.

money tree said:

Trades? I actively DISCOURAGE trading remember. 97% of people fail.



Silly assumption. A lot of my sales are by referal.



If you had ever bothered to listen to anything I say or at least read my site, you would know it is not an "options course". Options are a risk-limiting tool and my course focuses on reducing risk and increasing returns, so they are an important part. Primarily I want to show people that the crappy returns the finance sector puts out can be easily beaten by getting creative. I want to teach people that there are other ways of making money in the market apart from "buy for $1 and sell for $2" A lot of my course is about tax minimisation. Which is better, $2 made on a trade, or $1 saved in tax without risk?



LOL. meaning we should all worship you?



Put it this way. A financial advisor knows about 10% of what is in my course. That is to say, I managed to fill a book on what your financial advisor DOESNT KNOW. Scary huh? Well it wouldnt shock you. You think they are all beneath you. Also, I wanted to share all the important info all the other trading books neglect to tell you. The truth. Things like "hey pal, want a margin call?" or "hey buddy, you have a 3% chance of success doing this"



real value. Well, saving $5k in tax every year for the rest of your life, for a $590 outlay is real value. Im sorry, but if you cant see that as a good investment then you have no business being in the stock market.



Thats rich. Mr "I'm smarter than all the financial experts out there". All you have to do to help me is to take your foot off my head. I mean seriously, you kick me in the guts every chance you get. Its obvious that you feel threatened by me. You want to be the king here, fine, be my guest. I have never sought that role and dont want it. often you have hinted that you know more than all the experts and that we should all listen to you instead.
So Im going to call you on your bluff. What is it you can do to help me? Seriously. Was that an empty gesture or are you for real?



Well, if they want to waste 5 years and lose a heap of money learning from their own mistakes, let em. But if they want to save time and money, invest in my experience.



Just today I got an email from someone who bought my course a year ago. He thanked me for what I taught him and announced that he has just retired. I can put you in touch if you dont believe me.



Again, there is far more to my course than just options.



Well thats just your opinion. On many other forums people make a good living from forum post referals.

Click to expand...

Hey Tech,

Do you have any courses for sale? I'm interested in learning all about the big wide and difficult world of the markets and equities.

I once read something to this effect: "If they have such wonderful systems, blackboxes, courses etc. Why aren't they in the bahamas instead of trying to sell their....."

Snake

RichKid said:

Think of interviews too Joe in the financial mags, they should pay you, you can send them a small general profile of the site and I'm sure the big investor mags would be interested in doing pieces on us. That'll attract more publicity too, and hence more members for advertisers to target. The stock comp would be an added attraction. We could emphasise our higher standards and quality of material as setting us apart from the rest of the crowd.

Click to expand...

Hi RK... I somehow missed your post until this thread was bumped. Thanks for your suggestions!

Yes, I am looking at all kinds of ways of promoting ASF to keep new visitors arriving but most will have to wait until I get back from my break during December. I need some time and space to plan ASF's direction for 2006... but most of all I need some time away from the computer.

But in terms of traffic ASF keeps going from strength to strength. Here is a graph of daily traffic and page impressions from April 1 this year until today. Higher highs and higher lows... things are looking up.