Lots of travelling, meeting lot's of people and I always ask! And you know what? It's amazing how many people have never heard of MotorhomeFun!

[starquake]

Most of the above motorhome owners are members of either camc or ccc or both and perhaps don't want to keep joing different clubs.

I think this is it, for me the price per year is easily worth the information recieved, but for others "paying" for something they get "free" on facebook/meta may be the issue preventing larger growth...

Jim is there any financial trickery where you can give "free" members more ads (maybe video ones as I understand these pay well) to "pay" their way, so the £20 is well spent on ad removal for the regulars and the discounts and the other great mechnisms.

I do wonder if above model is actually stoppping more "members" joining/staying and migration from Free to Subscriber happens. I havn't been here long enough to know if this has been tried in past.

 

[Jim]

I think this is it, for me the price per year is easily worth the information recieved, but for others "paying" for something they get "free" on facebook/meta may be the issue preventing larger growth...

Jim is there any financial trickery where you can give "free" members more ads (maybe video ones as I understand these pay well) to "pay" their way, so the £20 is well spent on ad removal for the regulars and the discounts and the other great mechnisms.

I do wonder if above model is actually stoppping more "members" joining/staying and migration from Free to Subscriber happens. I havn't been here long enough to know if this has been tried in past.

It's the people who have never heard of motorhomefun, I want to reach, if they have already found us and don't see the value, I'm OK with that, its not for everyone. The whole premise of the thread is letting people know we are here, as you meet so many who have never heard of us.

Converting free members to paid is a whole other topic and an interesting one. Free members already see a lot of ads, so they pay their way too

 

[Lenny HB]

I too was thinking of creating a small 5 pitch aire style stopover on a peice of land I own, nice location 4 nice pubs, 3 shops and a garage all within 3 miles, nice views over open country side with more excellent walks then you could shake a stick at directly off site. When I was pricing up things like installing fresh water and black waste I would need to be charging £20+ per night, that’s before insurance etc. As much as I’d like to do it, unfortunately with all the hassle and cost, it just doesn’t stack up. So it’ll probably be left for the kids to develop it long after I’ve gone.

A lot of us would be quite happy for a place to stop without facilities, hundreds of Aires in Mainland Europe without facilities.

 

[chaser]

It's the people who have never heard of motorhomefun, I want to reach, if they have already found us and don't see the value, I'm OK with that, its not for everyone. The whole premise of the thread is letting people know we are here, as you meet so many who have never heard of us.

Converting free members to paid is a whole other topic and an interesting one. Free members already see a lot of ads, so they pay their way too

I think it's not so much they have never heard of it more not wanting to admit to it for various reasons.
You only have to ask something about motorhomes on Google and you can almost guarantee fun will come up.

 

[chaser]

A lot of us would be quite happy for a place to stop without facilities, hundreds of Aires in Mainland Europe without facilities.

Yes but if I let you park in my field which I would be quite happy to for free, and you get stuck and you ask us to pull you out and it causes some damage who are you going to blame?
Just a straight question, not suggesting anything else.

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[TheBig1]

Speaking with friends, many have heard of Fun but refuse to join because there is a charge. They can't understand that there are high costs in running a forum with all the server side stuff. But as soon as they have a technical issue they are straight on google to try and find a solution. As mentioned, fun comes in the top few answers, but they would rather leach off the answers than join in and contribute. That's just the way people are unfortunately. Small groups on facebook seem to wobble along because there is nearly no physical part other than occasional meet ups.

Speaking to land owners on behalf of the c&cc many say they have had other groups rent their site/field but so disrespectful they don't anymore. Lots of the youngsters with converted vans etc just want to live free off grid and see what they do as a right. So they are proud of the fact that they pay for nothing and dump their toilet waste behind bushes. I can foresee there being new legislation sometime soon because of the careless attitude of a growing minority. We already have major issues with sites near SSSI places.

How is this relevant you ask? because that is the way that youngsters seem to think. Attracting them is an uphill challenge because they see organised clubs and commercially available motorhomes as being elite and not for them but old fogies instead.

 

[starquake]

A lot of us would be quite happy for a place to stop without facilities, hundreds of Aires in Mainland Europe without facilities.

Indeed, no electricity, no waste dump, nothing except some level hardstanding please! Water tap if possible though, as only if it's available already it would be handy to top-up if we were off grid the night before. (but not essential, could be on side of house!).

Electrical infrastructure for 6 months of year is a waste of time for us.

 

[Tombola]

Indeed, no electricity, no waste dump, nothing except some level hardstanding please! Water tap if possible though, as only if it's available already it would be handy to top-up if we were off grid the night before. (but not essential, could be on side of house!).

Electrical infrastructure for 6 months of year is a waste of time for us.

And a waste of time for more and more people as lithium gets more popular and affordable.
Vans will soon become fitted at a comparable price. (Price versus benefit)
Can't remember the last time I plugged in.
I think this opens the way for plenty authorities and land owners to open up parking spaces without the cost of waste, and any other infrastructure, so earning potential is easier.


All myself and many others want is just permission to park in relative safety with our self contained units.

I keep telling my mate that has a large funfair and other entertainment in Wales that he should.open up the barriers on his large pay and display car park to motorhomers for the night and make a few extra quid, but it's like pulling teeth.

I've just been to IKEA at murcia and although quieter than it was there are still around 100 vans there. All looking after themselves mostly.

 

[starquake]

Can't remember the last time I plugged in.
I think this opens the way for plenty authorities and land owners to open up parking spaces without the cost of waste, and any other infrastructure, so earning potential is easier.

On topic -> and maybe future -> We could be the motorhome og 's (off gridders).

Thats a fun and maybe "cooler" to the kids. Maybe a motorhomeog's forum pointing to a offgrid Forum on here as it should be the same forum!

But I agree the amount of facilities for this are very limited, theres maybe 10 good aires in UK (and most also offer waste dump) ie, like Canterbury, Lythan St Anns. I think Campra has it wrong in this regard, with wanting the black and grey waste. I just want parking I can pay for, sleep overnight, maybe with permission to put my steps and a camp chair out, but no awning! Ideally with a nice view in the morning. Bury St Edmunds setup is ideal for us, but with more space between vans as the diesel heating of other vans parked nextdoor in winter kept my wife awake last time.

 

[Just smiffy]

What about the members that I have seen sometimes that have paid their membership for the last 10 years but sometimes only have 3 posts… yes they contribute money wise by keeping their subs going but what are they actually contributing to the forum..? Are they freeloaders..? Do they take all the information they can get and not give..?

I myself don’t give much technical information as certain subjects I’m not sufficient in knowledge especially electrics but I give plenty of humour and support to lots of people in many forms of my experience…

I would like to see more members contributing posts to the forum so we get more views and aspects of life in general, variety is the spice so to speak…

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[chaser]

What about the members that I have seen sometimes that have paid their membership for the last 10 years but sometimes only have 3 posts… yes they contribute money wise by keeping their subs going but what are they actually contributing to the forum..? Are they freeloaders..? Do they take all the information they can get and not give..?

I myself don’t give much technical information as certain subjects I’m not sufficient in knowledge especially electrics but I give plenty of humour and support to lots of people in many forms of my experience…

I would like to see more members contributing posts to the forum so we get more views and aspects of life in general, variety is the spice so to speak…

Totally agree but with some on here you can't comment with humour or something they don't agree with before they are reporting or ignoring you and I think that's what hold a lot from joining as they don't want to come on here to be told you can't do this or you can't go there or you can't let your grey out on grass or all sorts of stuff that folks on here think are the rules, pretty much like the caravan clubs which young ones wouldn't be seen dead at.

 

[starquake]

Pretty much like the caravan clubs which young ones wouldn't be seen dead at.

I think you tarring both clubs with the same brush there. Only one club have I seen kids told off for playing with balls outside of a designated area by officious wardens, and seen people forced to move vans after parking between the pegs and being blamed for moving them (which they didn't)..., and I think that club is the overpriced one of the two..

The friendlier club does tend to be filled with young, and teenage age kids in summer at least. Less so in winter as it's mostly adult couples going away for winter breaks.

 

[Just smiffy]

I think you tarring both clubs with the same brush there. Only one club have I seen kids told off for playing with balls outside of a designated area by officious wardens, and seen people forced to move vans after parking between the pegs and being blamed for moving them (which they didn't)..., and I think that club is the overpriced one of the two..

The friendlier club does tend to be filled with young, and teenage age kids in summer at least. Less so in winter as it's mostly adult couples going away for winter breaks.

Where did you get my post from..? It doesn’t relate to the quoted post..??

 

[Just smiffy]

I think you tarring both clubs with the same brush there. Only one club have I seen kids told off for playing with balls outside of a designated area by officious wardens, and seen people forced to move vans after parking between the pegs and being blamed for moving them (which they didn't)..., and I think that club is the overpriced one of the two..

The friendlier club does tend to be filled with young, and teenage age kids in summer at least. Less so in winter as it's mostly adult couples going away for winter breaks.

This is chasers quote not mine…

 

[hja]

What about the members that I have seen sometimes that have paid their membership for the last 10 years but sometimes only have 3 posts… yes they contribute money wise by keeping their subs going but what are they actually contributing to the forum..? Are they freeloaders..? Do they take all the information they can get and not give..?

I myself don’t give much technical information as certain subjects I’m not sufficient in knowledge especially electrics but I give plenty of humour and support to lots of people in many forms of my experience…

I would like to see more members contributing posts to the forum so we get more views and aspects of life in general, variety is the spice so to speak…

I lurked for some time before paying and then sometime before contributing. We had been long term caravanners but new to motorhomes. So, essentially gleaning info. Decided there was a lot of good stuff here so maybe I ought to cough up my £20. I do think there are always going to be the listeners and watchers and personally I think that is fine.
I suspect the avid Facebook users are not really clear about the difference between Facebook and forums so can’t really understand why you might need to pay.

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[nicholsong]

I think you tarring both clubs with the same brush there. Only one club have I seen kids told off for playing with balls outside of a designated area by officious wardens, and seen people forced to move vans after parking between the pegs and being blamed for moving them (which they didn't)..., and I think that club is the overpriced one of the two..

The friendlier club does tend to be filled with young, and teenage age kids in summer at least. Less so in winter as it's mostly adult couples going away for winter breaks.

I would hope wardens did tick off kids for kicking a ball, which might have grit embedded, anywhere near my MH's powder coating.

One of many reasons to keep off campsites.

 

[tinkertaylor]

Speaking with friends, many have heard of Fun but refuse to join because there is a charge. They can't understand that there are high costs in running a forum with all the server side stuff. But as soon as they have a technical issue they are straight on google to try and find a solution. As mentioned, fun comes in the top few answers, but they would rather leach off the answers than join in and contribute. That's just the way people are unfortunately. Small groups on facebook seem to wobble along because there is nearly no physical part other than occasional meet ups.

Speaking to land owners on behalf of the c&cc many say they have had other groups rent their site/field but so disrespectful they don't anymore. Lots of the youngsters with converted vans etc just want to live free off grid and see what they do as a right. So they are proud of the fact that they pay for nothing and dump their toilet waste behind bushes. I can foresee there being new legislation sometime soon because of the careless attitude of a growing minority. We already have major issues with sites near SSSI places.

How is this relevant you ask? because that is the way that youngsters seem to think. Attracting them is an uphill challenge because they see organised clubs and commercially available motorhomes as being elite and not for them but old fogies instead.

It's not just youngsters who let the side down, in fact the videos I have seen of idiots dumping waste have been well past middle aged.

 

[starquake]

This is chasers quote not mine…

Oh sorry the stupid reply button on my PC gets mixed up sometimes -> I've still not figured out why smiffy -> it's like it gets mixed up between replies.

 

[TheMachMan]

The only way to expand is to go subscription free, but yiu would then need to generate revenue through advertising. The more members, the more attractive you are to advertisers.
It’s often the advice given on Dragons Den. There are so many good online services that are free to use these days, that it’s hard for people to see the value of paying.
Alternatively you give first year free…….

 

[Bern8]

Too late for that, it even has City fans posting from their ivory towers.

Count me in . Loud and proud

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[meanders]

The only way to expand is to go subscription free,

That's a bit of an assumption. As others have found out to their cost, going subscription free results only in you giving way all your assets as all the shared knowledge is just devalued, stripped out by others out to exploit the situation and disseminated across all manner of platforms. Any concept of a community is therefore lost, and frankly, while probably not Jim 's highest priority, it is that which makes this place so special. Make it free and you immediately devalue it in every members sub conscious.

Apart from the above, how on earth could Jim make it free without offering something back to everyone who has already subscribed? What then pays for the servers etc? More advertising would put me, and plenty of others right off, and my ad blocker would block most.

There are many ways to extend the reach, many having been discussed here. Jim has reiterated several times that it's not Google searches that need improvement, it's not the help and advice from members, it's the non-web advertising and reach that's the concern.

Fun is probably the biggest motorhome forum in the world but there are still a large number of UK based motorhome owners that have never heard of it. Why? Making it free does not help with that question. Folks can browse it to their hearts content for nothing anyway.

@Jiim and Sian have attended shows as far back as I can remember, and I know he was doing so before we found Fun.

Sadly my brain this far has not been able to answer the opening question in this thread, but taking things off at a tangent hardly helps him, or indeed this community.

Just my five penneth worth.

 

[Jim]

The only way to expand is to go subscription free,

I've run subscription free forums and I don't think that would be a way to expand. When people can be banned and rejoin again and again for free, the place dies rather than expands. It becomes a spam fest too. The only way to counter this is to have lots of moderators, but they can kill a forum stone dead too. Twitter and Meta are now having to look at subscriptions to fight that very thing.

We do expand, this year by around 750 members a month. I'll say again, it's letting people know we are here that I want to do. Once they have found us, converting them to paying or read only members is another thread .

 

[suavecarve]

Speaking with friends, many have heard of Fun but refuse to join because there is a charge. They can't understand that there are high costs in running a forum with all the server side stuff. But as soon as they have a technical issue they are straight on google to try and find a solution. As mentioned, fun comes in the top few answers, but they would rather leach off the answers than join in and contribute.

I think this is a fair to reasonable point well made (Thats a compliment !)

I have no idea of the system but I know I cant get some Washington Post and Telegraph posts because they are behind a paywall. Is that an option where they can see the answer is there but not read it therefore enticing them to join?

Another thing that irks me slightly is to do with the journals. I put up all my information up for the benefit of members (who have paid) and again I have no idea how the views are being counted. But I get somewhere between 200 and 1,000 views per entry with perhaps 5 likes per entry. It does make me wonder if there are a load of non members or lurkers are my readers and that makes me consider the worth of doing any. Jim ? Which is quite a surprising attitude from a non paid up member of the FLT club

 

[Barclaybasher]

The 5 free posts are often used to just address 1 problem or to get a ferry code - once answered often never even a response.
Why not offer the 5 free posts with a view only of the rest of the forum free for a month then a £10 introductory sub for the rest of the year.
Once the newby gets to see the rest of the forum they are likely to want to stay.
Quite a few on here no longer have motorhomes but stay as part of the community.

 

[Jim]

The 5 free posts are often used to just address 1 problem or to get a ferry code - once answered often never even a response.
Why not offer the 5 free posts with a view only of the rest of the forum free for a month then a £10 introductory sub for the rest of the year.

When they are using their free posts they have already found us. Finding us is what the thread is about.

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[suavecarve]

When they are using their free posts they have already found us. Finding us is what the thread is about.

Contacting Channel 5 saying that you have some candidates for their next attempt at light entertainment in the motorhome department

When will the graffiti badges be coming out ? A badge photo of the day thread ?

Could the badges have little tag lines ? "More members than Wembley" "More replies than 3 ex wives" "More bad jokes than Bob Monkhouse" "More tips than a bookie/strip joint" "More knowledge than a taxi driver" "more bad ideas than a badge tag line"

 

[meanders]

Thinking about this for a few days now a couple of thoughts. I have always dealt with this sort of problem with structured brainstorming type sessions. That's difficult on-line as you can't build off others throwaway remarks, but here goes anyway.

In my opinion there are potentially two categories that you need to capture:

Existing motorhomers and new motorhomers. These would probably benefit from two distinct approaches.

Taking new people first as that's possibly the easier to deal with. The vast majority of these will be buying from dealers I would have thought, but some will be private sales. Is it worth giving dealers a special deal to be on the forum? We know a number use it. the payback is that they give every purchaser a free month on Fun. Every sign up they make earns them something, possibly a free month, quarter, half year or year?

Of those buying from an existing Funster, then offer the Funsters something to sign them up. This may be an extension of the existing scheme but may be something more tangible such as priority booking to Fun rallies, A free Fun goody, Mug, Flag, Bear etc. Perhaps something unique not available to the masses. I have had people envy our Fun mugs, and they were available to all.

Difficult to see how you get to those buying privately off our radar. However, would the insurers who advertise with Fun leaflet out to new clients?

Looking at existing motorhome owners, the insurance option may also reap rewards if they would leaflet as part of renewals?
Other than that, would Funsters be prepared to leaflet any motorhomes they come across whether on sites, car parks etc.? I know at least one person here signed up because we were on a then Caravan Club rally and were chatting to the only other motorhome occupants who asked what our Fun flag was about. I suspect you would need to run it as an annual campaign for say a week or a fortnight, with Funsters having enough leaflets/cards to continue if they wanted.

Now I may be talking out of my backside, but come on other Funsters, can any of you build on this please to help Jim ?

 

[chaser]

When they are using their free posts they have already found us. Finding us is what the thread is about.

I don't think finding fun is the problem, ALL
the folks I know personally who have a motorhome know about fun but just have no interest in joining.
Now why this is many fold , they know what they want to know, no interest in spending 20 quid just to read about old foggies on about toilets and tyres and stickers.
Now they all know about park4night and they all use that because that is what they want to know and it's free.
What's the difference I don't know but I suppose it's free and no one is telling them anything about etiquette and what they can and can't do.
What's the answer I don't know but I don't think it's because they don't know about fun, they are just not interested.
There is an excellent website that was written by a funsters Keith that includes a map of nearly all the pubstops you can stop for free, couldn't that be incorporated into fun, or has the copyright gone now.
That is certainly something the young ones are interested in.

 

[Jim]

I don't think finding fun is the problem, ALL

What problem are you talking about? Read the first post. Finding fun is what the thread is about. Once they are here, we have no problem getting plenty to sign up. It's not for everyone but 19 people have signed up today already and its only midday. Nice problem to have.

 

[chaser]

What problem are you talking about? Read the first post. Finding fun is what the thread is about. Once they are here, we have no problem getting plenty to sign up. It's not for everyone but 19 people have signed up today already and its only midday. Nice problem to have.

So what's the point of this thread then, I thought you was asking for ideas.

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