As one of many things I am "resolving" to do with the new year, I finally sent in my resident payment of $50.
I have no right to be preaching about paying our dues as I have put it off for over a year. However, it's worth considering that if you frequent this site and find some usefull info that saves you at least $50 or makes at least $50(same thing I guess), then why not support Steve and Barb for their work in keeping this site up to date? If that doesn't inspire you, then do it for $150 of quality fonts that are included
Thanks again to Steve and Barb, as well as all the Letterheads who've given of their time and shared their knowledge on the Bullboard and by email!!! There's many people associated with this board that I owe thanks to, and I hope to correct this before another month goes by.
By the way Steve, I couldn't get my registration fax to go through, so I emailed it in.
Posted by Rob Larkham (Member # 2105) on :
For me it has nothing to do with making or not making $50. This is just the place to hang out if you are a sign guy or gal. Simple!
Posted by goddinfla (Member # 1502) on :
For me it's a place to listen to people with whom I share a lot of experiences. I also find new sources for materials. The main thing that makes it worth it is the entertainment value. Mike's Lenny stories alone are worth the price of admission.
Posted by Harris Kohen (Member # 2139) on :
If you dont get $50.00 worth of information and entertainment in the first week on here then your either dead or a know it all. Besides most of the people here are very freindly and I like to consider most of them a part of my cyber family.
Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
I became a resident because Barb is cute!
Posted by Bill Dirkes (Member # 1000) on :
Y'all know how easy it is to blow 50 bucks. I can't think of a better value for me or my business than the $50 I spend on residence taxes here! Along with the information & inspiration there is the entertainment value. And yer right Si, Barb is cute!
Posted by AdrienneMorgan (Member # 1046) on :
$50 bucks is nothin' for what I get from this site.
I can honestly say, the support and encouragement of the people here and the experiences I've had as a result of the meets I've gone to has truly changed my life.
My thanks to Barb and Steve as well
Adrienne
Posted by Jillbeans (Member # 1912) on :
Hell, it's cheaper than therapy.....Love- JILL ps I think Steve is cute, too!
Posted by AdrienneMorgan (Member # 1046) on :
Jill.....I think you need more therapy, dear
A
Posted by cheryl nordby (Member # 1100) on :
LOL Adrienne! Well Steve and Barb are both cute. Nice people. When I first stumbled into Letterville I was so happy. It took a couple months before I actually dared to post, but when I did....I was hooked. I WAS a paid resident for two years. And intend to be one again real soon. Just have to pay off those root canals first. This is a great place. Interesting people for sure.
Posted by pierre (Member # 1462) on :
I became a Merchnat because Si is cute!
Truth be told.....Pelucid sales on this board have not yet covered the first years Merchant fee let alone the second. My sales are primarily to shops in Montana that know what it is and truckers. .....so for us it's been a dead loss, except for the Lettervillian Social Life. Later this year I'll be a member, not a Merchant.
Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :
Been a resident here for a little while and intend to continue being one in the future. This site has saved, taught and entertained me way more than any other $50/yr I have ever spent. Only Signcraft magazine comes anywhere close.
And it is a tax writeoff too!!!
Posted by John Martin Robson (Member # 1686) on :
It took about 1 week and 10 posts for me to realize that a $50.00 residence fee was a pittance compared to the potential that lay in store for me with such a resource as this.
It’s beyond me why so many who choose to spend so much time here don’t support this forum with a small fee of only 0.14 cents a day, 0.21 (CND)……(I know I sound like Sally Struthers)
I'd like for anyone here who has logged more than 50 posts to explain why they would not support this site with their $50.00 contribution per year………Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in judgement of anyone who chooses not to,………. that’s your prerogative ………..I’m just curious to know why. It's obvious it's free, but are we not compelled to support that which supports us.
Perhaps you’re just really ugly and afraid to post your picture………no?
Like to hear any feed back
[ January 02, 2002: Message edited by: John Martin Robson ]
Posted by John Deaton III (Member # 925) on :
IF every time I spent 50 dollars, I got what I did from this site, I'd be very rich in many ways. The friendships alone are worth millions. I've met people I would have never ever known had it not been for this site. You think you know everything and you come here and find out you dont know as much as you thought. Shoot, 50 bucks is one heckuva bargain. Course, I think Si is cute too. Posted by Kathy Joiner (Member # 1814) on :
I think that if I couldn't afford resident taxes here I would drop my cable TV instead. Don't watch it much any more since I found Letterville. I could do without television but never without the BB. I have received much more than 50 bucks worth in knowledge and met some really great folks. We should all be greatful to Steve & Barb for maintaining this site for us. I've looked at some of the free sign BBs and well...you get what you pay for.
Posted by Doug Allan (Member # 2247) on :
Yep. I've seen those "get what you pay for" free sites too. And I think in some ways thats true here. You get out of it what you put into it. A lot of visitors contribute lots of information & inspiration and I am sure reap their rewards as well. As a new resident, I think it's great to feel like a local when you find a place you really want to be. I think I have found ways to contribute far more then my $50, and without a doubt have recieved more.
I have, however, lost thousands in production time, but I always said I should get a life instead of working dawn till dusk & then some.
Posted by roger bailey (Member # 556) on :
Pierre, sometimes its hard to determine how effective your advertising is.
Cause someone from this board may tell someone else about your product, which results in a sale for you that you may not connect to this site !! Its all about "presence" !!
Roger
Posted by Gregory (Member # 900) on :
To answer John Martin Robson,
Is it fair to ask why someone with more than 10 posts hasn't joined? I was here a good while before I joined. For a struggling company or family $50 will pay a phone bill or buy a roll of vinyl or whatever. Making issue of paying only makes someone new less comfortable here, I think most people will pay when they feel at home here and are able to pay. There will always be people taking a free ride at anything they can. Just my opinion. Happy New Year!
Posted by Dave Draper (Member # 102) on :
Hi Heads,
We have saved $1000's of dollars by asking for help when we needed advice on buying equipment, and advice on how to proceed with certain projects.
When you have hundreds of talented and skilled sign professionals to help you in certain areas that are new to you, its worth much more than a token $50.00.
This board led me to a free lance writting career contributing articles on a regular basis to Sign Builder Illustrated Magazine. Last year I was able to place 16 articles in just 10 issues. SBI magazine "discovered" me as a direct result of this board.
And when I write an article about a certain topic, you bet I get well rounded input from all these wonderful sign folk who know far more about that specialty than I do.
Times are tough for everybody, and coming up with 50 bucks may seem like you are taking food out of the mouth of your kids and family. So do this:
Put a cup by the computer and throw a quater or the loose change you have in your pockets into that cup everytime you log into this website. At the end of 2 months you will have enough in that cup to become a resident. Keep doing that and you can spend the rest of the money that collects in that cup on your family. You will be surprised at the end of a year how much loose change accumulates. It will even finance your trip to a Letterhead meet.
Posted by Ron Percell (Member # 399) on :
I thought the fifty bucks was to keep Steve from wearing that Red Thong.
Saucy!
Posted by Kissymatina (Member # 2028) on :
John, I like your theory a lot.
I'm with Greg on this one. I was here for about 6 months before I came up with my tax $. I knew it was a great place and felt right at home before I moved in. But trying to start a shop and loosing my job, that $50 for taxes was more needed elsewhere.
I read this thread when it was first posted, but it's taken me this long to respond. I've been thinking about all that I've gotten from this place and the people here. Is it worth $50? HELL YES! The step-by-steps, the advice and assistance, the suppliers and materials and don't get me started on the friendships.
Posted by pierre (Member # 1462) on :
Ok, Roger. I'm ready. When are you sending the Presents?? Should I email a list? There are a few things I didn't get for Christmas.
Posted by John Martin Robson (Member # 1686) on :
Gregory
Read the post again, very carefully this time. It’s a question, and yes it’s a fair one in my mind. If you have sat and typed in 50 posts but can’t afford $50.00 bucks, then maybe one is spending to much time typing and not enough time producing (now thats just my opinion). But my question is not an insinuation, its a question. If people don’t feel they can afford it right now. Well then that’s an answer to my question, and that’s all I expect………….do not read between the lines, just read the lines.
Posted by cheryl nordby (Member # 1100) on :
John....in answer to your question....there are all kinds of people. Think of all the lurkers who just take and never give to this site. There are plenty who give great advice and plenty who take. I feel it is very important to give back. But stuff like leaky roofs and root canals happen. And we need to take care of those first. No 50.00 isn't alot of money....but 2500.00 for root canals is! It all adds up. I think this site makes most people feel pretty welcome. However I did notice in the begining before becoming a resident..there is sometimes a bit of snobbery towards those who are 'only' visitors. Doesn't matter to me anymore, but to some I think it might. .........Oh I also wanted to add. I don't know about you...but when my plotter is cutting...I am reading the BB and other sites. It is not always that we are spending too much time surfing the web. I am a fast worker...and inbetween cutting and weeding....I have time to read and reply. Everything is all on one computer.
[ January 03, 2002: Message edited by: cheryl nordby ]
Posted by pierre (Member # 1462) on :
Roger, actually this deserves a better answer. I know exactly what you mean.....however. If we really amde anything to speak of on Pelucid I'd agree, but we don't. It began as something we wanted to share with other sign shops and turned into being "cornered", so to speak, in the Merchant thing. If you pay $5 more than we charge plus the shipping, you can buy it at a local store. The "profit" we make on it barely justifies the time it takes to pack it. It ends up being a simple "courtesy" product when we do ship it. Does the sales return justify a "presence" for the product on the board after two years? No. Definitely not. Our money is going to be better spent in trade journal advertising.
I'll return as a resident for sure, but not as a Merchant.
Posted by John Martin Robson (Member # 1686) on :
cheryl
Now that’s an answer to a valid question……..thank you.
Again….. I must emphasize that I don’t sit here in judgement of visitors or members……….visitors & members alike contribute valuable information. I assure you……………I make no distinction.
Posted by Bill Preston (Member # 1314) on :
Just to add to the confusion, or , whatever-- Rob L called it right, this is a place to hang out with other folks with similar interests.
To John Martin Robson, look slightly to the left, and tell me if that isn't the picture of the ugliest human being you've ever seen. It doesn't keep me off the BB, tho' it has slowed me down some.
Posted by kevinlandry (Member # 1352) on :
It is a great site and well worth the $50.00. I have saved myself at least $50.00 and even made some money this year. How about that???
Posted by John Martin Robson (Member # 1686) on :
Bill
you look great.......you're what... 45, 46 max.
Posted by Bill Preston (Member # 1314) on :
JMR, You lie like the well-known rug, but, I like your style.
65 last Halloween.
Posted by Linda Silver Eagle (Member # 274) on :
John Martin Robson,
In answer to your question, I am ugly and got tired of demands regarding my pic so I just went back to visitor status. The only way to avoid the pic issue...hehehe!
Maybe when I'm not bald anymore, I can renter as a resident.
Posted by pierre (Member # 1462) on :
Does JMR look like a young Jimmy Dean??
Posted by John Martin Robson (Member # 1686) on :
Pierre
That’s a real old picture of me, I look way better today………..Kinda like Bill.
Ok……… maybe not.
Posted by John Martin Robson (Member # 1686) on :
Pierre
By the way, you look great too.......love that dress you're wearing...........oops.
Posted by Rosemary (Member # 1926) on :
Hey Mister!! That dress is from Saks 5th Avenue! You'd better be nice! :^)
Posted by Gregory (Member # 900) on :
John, My post was not meant as anything but an answer of why, and a question of should we ask. I think Cheryl ans Chris gave examples of exactly what I meant. Everybody has different circumstances, I just didn't go into any details. I will help by paying when I can, when my residence expires in a few days, I will not be able to renew and it has nothing to do with how long I spend here typing not producing. To answer the original question of the thread yes this site is worth $50 a year.
Posted by John Martin Robson (Member # 1686) on :
Gregory
I think it boils down to priories……….personally, I made it a priority. I never asked myself if I could afford it or not. I have no qualms with your choices or anyone’s for that matter. I was only curious about what people might have to say. I’m sure you have much to contribute either way.
Rosemary
That must be you in the dress…………where are my manners..........I’ll behave.
Posted by Dana Bowers (Member # 780) on :
Just ask Bruce how much being a member of this place COST him!!
[ January 04, 2002: Message edited by: Dana Bowers ]
Posted by Glenn Taylor (Member # 162) on :
Poor Bruce
Like we should feel sorry for him.
Posted by Bruce Bowers (Member # 892) on :
You know....
...a little over a year ago, I was a miserable middle aged man with no one here at home,no one to tell how and when to spend my money, eating what and when I wanted, played on my computer as much as I wanted, belch and suffer from other bodily emmissions as i deemed fit....
... now I come home to 2 cats and a dog that just circle their food bowls like sharks, a woman standing there with a rolling pin in one hand with the other outstretched to receive any and all dollars that may have graced my path, eating hot dish and jello salads at 6:00 PM everday, fight like a badger for any time at all on the computer, and get dirty looks if I even mention any kind of bodily emmissions at all....
Seriously.... life is good here. I couldn't ask for any more. If I did, I would just be being greedy.
Worth the $50? Heck, we joined on the family plan! and the dog and cats are just tooooo cool!
But the coolest addition to my life...
Boy, life sure is different, in a real good way, around here these days! Best darn investment I make every renewal time!
Have a great one!
[ January 05, 2002: Message edited by: Bruce Bowers ]
Posted by David Wright (Member # 111) on :
Bruce, sounds like you were saved at just the right time. Pretty good deal for $50. Just curious, did we have resident photos back then? Was Dana forewarned? All things are possible in letterville Great story.
Posted by Bruce Bowers (Member # 892) on :
Yes, Dave....
She was forewarned! LOL! You wouldn't believe how great the house looks, either. it is no longer a storage barn for all my stuff. I can actually see the hardwood floors now. I also have to pick my socks up now.
A
