Articles on Fishing Magic

[Kirsty Hewitt]

We hope you have been enjoying the articles from our writers, John Bailey, Dave Coster, and Robbie Northman. These have been sponsored by our fishing tackle partner Thomas Turner to date.

We are now considering how we can continue to provide this content in the future. One way is to find new sponsors or co-sponsors, so please do get in touch if you have, or know of, a business who may like to sponsor the forum and its content. Any sponsor would of course have a say in the content and the articles could be used to promote goods and services.

Alternatively, would members be prepared to assist with the costs by payment of a modest monthly fee? I know we have discussed this before but any helpful comments would be very much appreciated as we consider the way forward with these very informative articles.

 

[Kirsty Hewitt]

Bumping - are there really no opinions about this?

 

[mikench]

I will give the matter some thought and am not totally averse to the idea as I don't expect the forum to be provided for free. However, and without wishing to sound perjorative in any way, any contribution we make is in essence a payment to the writers of the articles as opposed to the costs of maintaining the site and thus some who are , shall we say not real fans of the writers, may not be in agreement. I do read them , appreciate and enjoy them. I also enjoy the interaction members have with , by way of example, Dave Coster who is always willing to respond and comment.

If i can come up with any more positive suggestions , i will.

 

[john step]

I am still thinking about a suitable reply. I think others will be too.

 

[bullet]

I know some have enjoyed the articles, but I struggle to see what they have added to the forum.
There are a lot of very experienced Anglers on here, and I would rather read content by them at no charge than have to subsidise "professionals" , who apart from posting their piece and getting their fee, contribute very little.

 

[Ray Roberts]

Are Thomas Turner pulling out? I would have thought that the forum actually attracted interest in the site and would be regarded as an asset to it. I’ve personally enjoyed the new articles, particularly those of Dave Coster, but my main reason for using the site is to interact with other anglers, some of whom I have known for years and others who I have yet to meet or may never end up meeting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Kirsty Hewitt]

Thanks everyone. Just to clarify, I'm not just talking about a fee to pay the writers, but more generally to cover the running costs of the site. Thomas Turner aren't pulling out, but we do need some more support so we're just trying to work out how best to do that.

 

[peter crabtree]

At this moment there are 187 guests and 10 members on this site. I believe guests can read a. the said articles and b. the forum, on both the home page and, barring the bait box forum, the forum itself (correct me if I’m mistaken ). Whilst I personally would not mind paying a small amount to help with the cost of the forum etc, some may be averse to subsidising something that is free to others.

 

[markcw]

Simon, it is the same members each time contributing to the forum ,
It may show 10 members but out of that 10 maybe 7 are regular contributors.
Guests get the benefit of knowledge without contributing.
If a site support fee was charged ,
maybe one way would be to have a set number of free views for guests then they either join or get locked out.

 

[Kirsty Hewitt]

At this moment there are 187 guests and 10 members on this site. I believe guests can read a. the said articles and b. the forum, on both the home page and, barring the bait box forum, the forum itself (correct me if I’m mistaken ). Whilst I personally would not mind paying a small amount to help with the cost of the forum etc, some may be averse to subsidising something that is free to others.

Yes, that's how it's set up at the moment. Guests do however see a lot of ads and logged-in members don't. If we did go down the route of a fee for members, we would obviously change this so that various aspects were exclusive to members. There are a few different options, it's really useful to see what people think so thanks all.

 

[peter crabtree]

Mark, I’m not sure what you mean re guests and members in your reply? I clicked on Forums and it shows members and guests currently online.

FishingMagic Forums - sponsored by Thomas Turner

FishingMagic Fishing forums

fishingmagic.com

 

[markcw]

I meant at the moment it is the same members posting on here,week in week out, so basically if a site support fee came in ,it would be us paying for everyone else, Never mind Kirsty saying guests see the ads, we see some as well.
They still get to see what is posted , and some good info gets posted on here.
That's why I said give guests a few free views on here, then either lock them out or they join.

 

[markcw]

Yes, that's how it's set up at the moment. Guests do however see a lot of ads and logged-in members don't. If we did go down the route of a fee for members, we would obviously change this so that various aspects were exclusive to members. There are a few different options, it's really useful to see what people think so thanks all.

Out of interest how many members do fishing Magic actually have ? And if site support is involved how are they contacted ?
I know it shows over 100,000 members but does that include Fish and Fly and other parts of the set up ,?
And would site support cover the other aspects of the set up .?;

 

[mikench]

The articles by Messrs Coster, Northam and Bailey should not be available to guests. Guests need to be persuaded to join or they only get limited content. I suggested moons ago that there should be a joining fee of say £10 for the benefits of the full site. I would happily have paid this when I joined. Similarly an annual fee of say £5 would be perfectly acceptable to me.

 

[Mark Wintle]

Sadly I think the world has moved on. I brought this up in a forum post recently. It's no longer necessary to have to have a written journal or website to be published, just make a video, and the world may or may not take notice. Whether you get paid is another matter.

Nearly 20 years ago I discovered FM and Graham Marsden encouraged me with guidance and the occasional freebie to provide what ended up as 200 articles (not all under my own name!). That led to three books jointly put together with Graham, plus three under my own name, as well as magazine and newspaper articles.

The telling difference from 15 to 20 years ago is that my FM articles got 1,000 reads in very short order (or so GM told me). FM was buzzing with a lot of active members. Eventually GM retired and others tried to fill the giant's (!) boots but it has proved a very hard act to follow, and as others have already pointed out FM is a sad shell of its former glory, something mentioned recently on Maggot Drowners (which does seem to be thriving). Back to the case in hand; would I pay for content on here? I don't think so, much as I respect JB and DC and recognise that they're trying to find someone willing to pay for their content. Monetorising Youtube content seems the way forward.

 

[steve2]

Aren't guests also members that have not signed in. I quite often look but don't sign in therefore show up on the stats as a guest.
I would love to know who the 100000 members are it looks good to the advertisers but just how true are they. There must be many 1000's that never sign in or view. Can't see them paying to view.

 

[no-one in particular]

I did not reply because I did not really understand what was required. If it is a fee to use the forum it would depend on how much it is. However, I have never come across a fee paying angling forum yet. One does ask contributions from their sales page, you sell something you donate a bit of it. Perhaps that would be a way to go. I wouldn't mind paying a small amount per year like 5 quid maybe but I don't spend much on fishing anyway and would that be enough. It would help if an amount was stated so we knew. I don't think the Thomas Turner was the best sponsor, vintage gear is not the rage on this forum. I maybe one of the few that dabble in that but Thomas Turner is a few leagues above where I am at so I never bother to look. I am not that keen on the professional articles either. I got a bit fed up with the John Bailey ones as he never replies and I have asked a couple of questions directly and he has not bothered and I don't think he is interested in others views. Dave Coster seems very good but It is not my type of fishing but for those that it is, very good but, personally not interested enough to pay for them. Paying for the site, that is something different. Suggest a price?
I think it was a shame that so many took against the flurry of advertising, maybe it is something we should have put up with if it was helping to keep the site going.
Whatever you do, it will not please anyone, the old adage, you cannot please all the people ....... da de da. Maybe you should decide what you need to do and just take the plunge.

 

[nottskev]

There is indeed a world of angling stuff on youtube, but - maybe others find it different - it doesn't entail any of the social connection that a forum offers. I think I've been on FM for around 4 or 5 years, and in that time I've met up and fished, individually, with half a dozen members, some on several occasions, and on an FM outing with a further half dozen. With that, I keep in touch, via PM or outside FM, with a few others. People chuck the word "community" around carelessly these days - the cheese-eating community, the left-handed community - but there is a kind of community connected to a forum. For all the youtube videos I've watched, I've never contacted, much less met a single er "content creator". A forum is not just a publication method.

 

[mikench]

I have only recently viewed MD just to see what I was missing . I concluded it was not a lot. The bleatings of ex fm members , particularly those of very dubious authenticity , did not attract me one jot and the expression there of abhorrent views persuaded me to click off never to return.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

Personally I would agree with Kev over the benefits of the written word over You Tube content and would also agree on the "community" aspect and spirit of a forum that does not exist on You Tube.

I would also associate myself with Mike's comments regarding MD . . .