Switching the forum to be international - Your thoughts

[Aster]

Hello all,

I've been thinking about this for a while and would like to know members thought on it.

At the moment we're basically an "Australian only" site in terms of members and traffic set from search engines.

That's fine in itself, but does limit our membership and conversation to some extent. We initially went with the Australian option to fill a niche instead of compete with the many existing US or other international forums.

We've grown a lot since the site launched though and now I'm going over the idea of switching the forum over to a generic international targeting.

This would potentially mean more members and conversation but would bring in elements (particularly around politics and laws) that aren't relevant here.

Personally I don't use any international or mixed forums so don't have a good enough feel for it at this stage as to whether it's the best idea or not.

Any feedback or thoughts would be appreciated.

[Chronos]

Sounds like a good idea as far as gaining members from like minded shooting communities like NZ, Sth Africa, Nth America and Sth East Asia but how much increase would we see from scamers and bots?

Another forum had a huge problem with bots posting advertising

Is is possible to start expansion to a small market like NZ first and assess how it goes?

Chronos

[Jack V]

I would like to see more international input as it may bring in some new ideas.

[bigfellascott]

Nah I don't like the idea personally. but she's your forum so do what is best for you guys.

[tom604]

i like it as it is but it may help with advertising and its no good having a forum that you like if the forum goes broke

[Warrigul]

As far as international goes that is where I spend most of my time(collecting) but wonder how much relevence an Australian forum would have to the US.

[Oldbloke]

Not interested in the yanks, sorry boys, no offence intended, but if I was interested in that area I would join one of the hundred or so forums they must already have. However might be of interest to include NZ or UK . I think Their culture is a bit more like ours. Is it possible to split the forum in to local and overseas? Or just create another overseas one? What is the benifit to the forum owners?

[Oldbloke]

Mmmm, we aleady have a couple of yank members dont we?

[Chronos]

Mmmm, we aleady have a couple of yank members dont we?

I thought so too OB, and one from Sth Africa maybe?

Chronos

[Warrigul]

Mmmm, we aleady have a couple of yank members dont we?

If a forum is based on a specific theme it will do well regardless of the audience, suck it and see. If you look at their posts some are okay others head off at a tangent and have no meaning.

But you have to let things grow sometimes.

[wrenchman]

lol im here oldbloke but i can see your point i am not a fan of many of the forums here in the states.
i like to come here and i have found things out by comeing here and just reading posts.
it does seem lots of guys go to the forums just to argue and call each other names.

[Aster]

Another forum had a huge problem with bots posting advertising

Is is possible to start expansion to a small market like NZ first and assess how it goes?

About the bot spam. Without going into it (and telling them how it's prevented so they can go around it) there are measures in place to stop that. We don't have a problem with bot spam here.

It's not really an option to go into one extra country as such. Basically a single website can be targeted to a specific country, or not.

We could do a .com.au and a .co.nz site targeted at each respectively but it's two separate sites which defeats the purposes mostly.

[Aster]

i like it as it is but it may help with advertising and its no good having a forum that you like if the forum goes broke

That's an element of it. As it is advertising on the forum pays to keep it running and breaks about even so doesn't cost anything in terms of dollars, but takes up a lot of my time (for free). To be blunt, due to other priorities it's becoming a bit unsustainable for me in that respect. If international growth would improve the return significantly that could change things.

However might be of interest to include NZ or UK . I think Their culture is a bit more like ours. Is it possible to split the forum in to local and overseas? Or just create another overseas one? What is the benifit to the forum owners?

As above you can't really pick and choose countries for an entire site. It's all or one. I'm definitely not looking to start another forum or two.

You can write and imply across the forum the intended audience is the US, Australia, UK, NZ etc. to make it clear to visitors they're in a suitable place but search engines will send visitors from more than that.

-

At this point I'm leaning towards it but it's kind of a no-going-back move so I'm not rushing into it. I'll leave this sticky for a few days at least to get as much feedback as is forthcoming.

[Aster]

I thought so too OB, and one from Sth Africa maybe?

Yeah a dozen yanks and a couple from SA.

All good members I note.

[on_one_wheel]

I think the more the merrier, but it might be a good idea to start a new section for semi-auto and fully - auto or I might get sick of hearing about how pathetic my bolt action rifles and double barrel shotguns are for home defence.

[Aster]

but it might be a good idea to start a new section for semi-auto and fully - auto

I agree.

[Chronos]

but it might be a good idea to start a new section for semi-auto and fully - auto

I agree.

Might it also be an idea to split the rifles, shotguns, pistols into three separate sections then have semi auto's under rifles?

Chronos

[Aster]

I'll work out the fine details if/when the time comes but yes, I expect something along those lines will happen.

Categories were set up as they are initially while the forum was growing to concentrate content. We have more than enough to segment it now, and with the additional audience and subject matter it would make sense to separate them.

[Chronos]

I'll work out the fine details if/when the time comes but yes, I expect something along those lines will happen.

Categories were set up as they are initially while the forum was growing to concentrate content. We have more than enough to segment it now, and with the additional audience and subject matter it would make sense to separate them.

Chronos

[Mick280]

Good Idea!
Don't worry about the Yanks , Was there for a month last June and got to know a lot of like minded people.
Very committed and passionate about their sport / pastime (I Think we could benefit greatly from this).
But as the old saying goes, There are D---Heads in every camp (even in our own backyard)
Do it !!!
Mick

[brett1868]

I like this forum as it contains almost all local content so I know that virtually anything posted will be relevant to Australia. By going international there will be more and more foreign content which may eventually make the forum irrelevant to Australians. Sure we will get some interesting posts on the latest H&K machine pistols or AR15 assault rifle accessories and while interesting has no real value to Australians.
I understand this is a commercial enterprise with commercial costs that need to be covered so maybe implement a tiered membership system with various levels available for a small fee. This has worked on other forums I'm on and also helps with member behaviour issues.

[RoginaJack]

The amount of time spent managing this site would be huge and growing, so to see if opening it up to the Yanks etc may increase the advertising revenue you'll have try it and see.
Cheers,

[cruze82]

not to sure about it, I like the fact that its all Australian content
Iv visited us forums before and found the content not relevant to what we do here, but if it needs to be done for financial reasons id rather see the forum survive

[headspace]

I'm on a couple of US forums and after trying a few found two that I like. Most of these blokes are keen on what they do and have a lot more in common with us than you might think. One forum even has a "Hunting in Australia" section. Wrenchman's on the money here, we run a nice clean forum with no silly elements in it. If you want to give it a try Aster, I say go for it. After all you're the bloke doing all the work. Alternatively search around and see if there's any other blokes who can help you run it. Nice to have back up.
JD

[David Brown]

lol im here oldbloke but i can see your point i am not a fan of many of the forums here in the states.
i like to come here and i have found things out by comeing here and just reading posts.
it does seem lots of guys go to the forums just to argue and call each other names.

That is a very valid point.

I am a member of Beechtalk, this is a Beechcraft focussed (not exclusive) aviation forum and EVERYONE must use their real name. The discussion even when robust is still relatively civil and very rarely is anyone ejected. However ejected they are if they cross the line. My suggestion is using your real name helps with this.

And before anyone has any wise cracks…..yep this is my real name. Besides how many David Browns can there be?

As for international, the Aussie focus is what attracted me just because we have to live in a different legislative world here.

[Oldbloke]

lol im here oldbloke .
it does seem lots of guys go to the forums just to argue and call each other names.

I agree, a bit too much of that. Other wise its really grouse. Lol

[brett1868]

And before anyone has any wise cracks…..yep this is my real name. Besides how many David Browns can there be?

A valid point which would improve behaviour as there's no hiding behind a nickname. I use my real name on non-shooting related sites as I'm too lazy to think of something witty.

The drawback of real names here is that many of us own both expensive and desirable firearms so using a nickname provides an additional level of security. I'm sure I could locate a few members here easy enough if they used their real names just by piecing together little bits of information in their posts over time.

For most parts it's fairly civil here, the mods have mastered the level of intervention required by them.

[Die Judicii]

And before anyone has any wise cracks…..yep this is my real name. Besides how many David Browns can there be?

A valid point which would improve behaviour as there's no hiding behind a nickname. I use my real name on non-shooting related sites as I'm too lazy to think of something witty.

The drawback of real names here is that many of us own both expensive and desirable firearms so using a nickname provides an additional level of security. I'm sure I could locate a few members here easy enough if they used their real names just by piecing together little bits of information in their posts over time.

For most parts it's fairly civil here, the mods have mastered the level of intervention required by them.

I agree whole heartedly with Brett in what he is saying.

As for the International suggestion, I would be dead against the proposal.

Keep it Aussie if at all possible.

[yoshie]

Another vote for keeping it Aussie, but I think we should welcome anyone from around the would to join the forum. I quite like reading about hunting in other countries and the toys they get to play with, but don't want to be told our laws are backwards and we should all just get semi autos and conceal carry... we all know our laws are backwards!

[Oldbloke]

Brett is spot on. Using real names is a security issue. Anyhow, how could you police it, close to impossible.