[binary visions]

Monkeys -

Just thought you might like some updates on what is going on around here and some changes that are coming down the pipe.

Let's get one thing out of the way first: Ridemonkey is a business. We're not just a community. We've always been a business, but back when we were privately owned, breaking even on the monthly hosting bills was the primary goal and additional income wasn't necessarily the difference between staying around or the forum going up in smoke.

Now, we're owned by a management company. That brings with it some positives and some negatives. The negative is, we need to be profitable now. Not just breaking even - businesses expect profit, and they expect growth. Of course, there is a big benefit, too - we now have resources. We have a PHP guy who can help fix problems. We have an ad sales guy who is going to work to get contests back and gear for reviews during the next riding season. We have people writing content for us. We also have some financial backing for the new Ridemonkey gear we want to roll out this season. Tons of great stuff and I'm pretty freakin' excited about where Ridemonkey has the capability to go in the next year.

So what does that all mean? It means changes. All for the better, in my opinion.

 

[binary visions]

Gear Section

You may have noticed our new "Gear" tab up top. This is a cool feature that we're hard at work on but is still very much in the beta stages. It's a product comparison guide that will let you sort for best prices on the gear you want to buy. The great thing is that it's ours to control so we're not looking at massive numbers of bait-and-switch stores like Google might return you, or sketchy places that get bad reviews. They're our product partners and we're hoping to bring great prices to you and bring business to great bike companies.

We need feedback on this. I know, I know, there are only like two stores in there now. Give that time, it's growing. As it grows, please let us know if you're using it or if you like it or what would make you use it. If you know shops that would like to participate, send them our way. This could be awesome, so please try it, and try it again in a few months. It's going to be growing and evolving but we need your participation and this could be incredible given some time and work.

 

[binary visions]

Advertising

The necessary evil. We are working to make the ads non-intrusive while still making them desirable to advertisers. Please bear with us. Don't get angry, just talk about it. Say something. If something really whacked out happens like yesterday's full-page-ad debacle, chances are it was an accident or something went wrong. Post up, send a PM, send an email, whatever.

While we still have a lot of ad-network based advertisers, we're really trying to make the ads more bike-related. Direct sales are a slow process but we'll get there. If the ads are targeted at bike stuff, the advertisers are going to get more click-throughs and you'll see more bike gear instead of random other ads you don't care about. Give us time and keep in mind that it keeps the site in business. No ads and no income means Ridemonkey gets deleted, not handed back to the community like charity.

 

[binary visions]

New Ridemonkey Gear

That's right, this season it's coming. It got put on the back burner for a lot of reasons but it's here. Look for contests in the next couple days and the community can contribute to gear designs, vote on what they think is the best, and we'll get the stuff made. You can pimp Ridemonkey all over the place!

 

[binary visions]

News

Did you guys even know we did news? Well, we do. Coverage is going to ramp up this season so check out the news section or the article ticker on top of the forum for the latest news. We're going to do event coverage, product reviews, even live threads from events with coverage as it unfolds and live discussion. Want to contribute? Send me an email or a PM!

 

[binary visions]

The Community

Lastly, lest you think Ridemonkey is going in a direction you may not be interested in, I want to emphasize that we've always been primarily a community. And despite the jokes, despite the kidding, despite the occasional problems it is worth recognizing that we have what is one of the more discerning, intelligent biking communities. We have a ton of people from all walks of life, a higher percentage of adults than most other communities, and some people very accomplished in their own fields. Be proud of that. This is a great community and I'm not forgetting it - there will be forum changes coming in a couple months, with the goal of implementing a forum software upgrade, a mobile skin, and other small improvements that will make the community a better place.

This is all for you guys. I'm not doing it for money. I'm doing it because I've been part of this community for 8 years now and I think it's a great place. I want to see it succeed. I hope you guys can see these changes for what they are - a better, growing website, and be happy for the direction we're headed. Keep up the feedback.

 

[jimmydean]

Did you fix the Classified search?

Just kidding, sounds cool.

 

[I Are Baboon]

I've worked really hard on all this, guys.

 

[amishmatt]

...we have what is one of the more discerning, intelligent biking communities.

Damn straight.

No mention of paid memberships. Guess that's not in the works?

Keep up the great work, BV!

 

[mandown]

Thanks to the powers that be for giving me a place to salvage my sanity through the work day and ask the important questions... like, "how much louder does one need to talk when you are wearing a towel?"

 

[TN]

I will give you content (in the form of my benevolent posts) for more stickers. And thank you IRB for all you do. You are GRADE A++ in my book.

 

[jonKranked]

This is how I picture the ridemonkey boss:

WARNING: NSWF!!!

 

[AngryMetalsmith]

While I understand that RM needs to make some cash to pay the bills and growth is expected, do you have to insert a " suggested products " box in the thread posts ?


Thank's for all the effort you guys put out building and maintaining the site.

 

[jonKranked]

Now, we're owned by a management company. That brings with it some positives and some negatives. The negative is, we need to be profitable now. Not just breaking even - businesses expect profit, and they expect growth.

money and greed fvcks everything up

 

[binary visions]

money and greed fvcks everything up

Maybe, but the reality is that sites can't stay this size forever without money.

I've not been asked to do anything or participate in anything akin to greed. If I see we're in a position where money is the overwhelming driving force behind every decision the site makes, I will be the first to walk away.

 

[loco-gringo]

I've worked really hard on all this, guys.

I think you should be Prime Minister. That sounds cooler than President.

 

[Westy]

Just throwing this out there but I would be willing to pay a reasonable fee for an ad free RM membership. I'd pay even more for random mod powers or even just to get Mmike banned.

 

[Pesqueeb]

we have what is one of the more discerning, intelligent biking communities. We have a ton of people from all walks of life, a higher percentage of adults than most other communities

Are we still talking about Ridemonkey?




















Seriously though. Great job. This is a fantastic community.
Are there going to be pint glasses?

 

[sstalder5]

Are there going to be pint glasses?

I'd buy like 10. I'll need some for college this fall. shot glasses would be cool too. And bottle openers would be good. Either something like this: http://www.wholesale-carabiners.com/keychain-bottle-opener.html with the RM logo or like the upside down monkey head logo in anodized aluminum would make a sick bottle opener.

 

[jonKranked]

i want a ridemonkey crack pipe

 

[Pesqueeb]

I'd buy like 10. I'll need some for college this fall. shot glasses would be cool too. And bottle openers would be good. Either something like this: http://www.wholesale-carabiners.com/keychain-bottle-opener.html with the RM logo or like the upside down monkey head logo in anodized aluminum would make a sick bottle opener.

i want a ridemonkey crack pipe

I would buy all of these. Ridemonkey hookah?

 

[iandude94]

Can you take away the "you must spread reputation around before giving it to jonKranked again"? Only for him, his posts amuse me too much. You guys do a great job running this place and I love it. I would love to see more rm products!

 

[Westy]

The Community
it is worth recognizing that we have what is one of the more discerning, intelligent biking communities. We have a ton of people from all walks of life, a higher percentage of adults than most other communities, and some people very accomplished in their own fields. Be proud of that...

RM is also probably the biggest sausage party on the internet. I bet Star Trek forums have more women members. We even have managed to scare off all of the lesbians.

 

[loco-gringo]

RM is also probably the biggest sausage party on the internet. I bet Star Trek forums have more women members. We even have managed to scare off all of the lesbians.

and stinkyboy.

 

[jonKranked]

bring back l'opie!

 

[Westy]

and stinkyboy.

Yeah, what happened there? Bunch of locked threads asking about him.

 

[Westy]

bring back l'opie!

I almost missed n8 once. But that was only right after suffering a massive head injury.

 

[moff_quigley]

bring back l'opie!

Yeah, what happened there? Bunch of locked threads asking about him.

Secret Santa did him in.

 

[H8R]

My squeegees are sharp and the ink is stirred. Just sayin.

 

[binary visions]

While I understand that RM needs to make some cash to pay the bills and growth is expected, do you have to insert a " suggested products " box in the thread posts ?

Yes. Sorry. It's one post after the first post in every thread; it's not that intrusive.

We're going to try to get this Gear section to be a serious part of the site. I really want Ridemonkey's revenue to be bike-related, because that's much less intrusive and can actually be useful to you guys. If we can develop this tool into something that delivers good prices to the community, provides a useful starting point for shopping, and gives us a revenue stream at the same time - everyone wins.

Just throwing this out there but I would be willing to pay a reasonable fee for an ad free RM membership.

The high-use users, the ones who are most likely to buy an RM membership, generate a whole lot of page views. If you think about it (and we've measured it), the serious daily visitors are probably seeing an average of 15-20 pages per day. Not that hard when you click on several threads, on a few pages in each, and a couple different forums. Times 365, then times 2-3 ads per page and you're talking about tens of thousands of page views per year. So, even at the low dollar rate that crappy ad networks serve (and we want to move away from those so we can serve fewer, higher quality ads), we're still talking about a big chunk of money. I doubt most would cough up $150/year for a membership.

So, if we do implement premium memberships eventually (we've talked about it a lot), it would be strictly some kind of reward-based system where we're giving them away or selling them cheaply to benefit people who are, say, contributing news articles or helping out in the community. Because it's literally a money losing proposition.

Yeah, what happened there? Bunch of locked threads asking about him.

Stinkyboy generated more ill-will among more members than anyone since N8 posted in the PAWN forum. It's too bad because I genuinely liked the guy but I fought the good fight to keep him here (asked him to lay off, tried to settle arguments) and in the end, there were too many people that were frustrated and angry at his often unpleasant and nasty, often very personal attacks.

He's banned now.

 

[jonKranked]

The high-use users, the ones who are most likely to buy an RM membership, generate a whole lot of page views. If you think about it (and we've measured it), the serious daily visitors are probably seeing an average of 15-20 pages per day. Not that hard when you click on several threads, on a few pages in each, and a couple different forums. Times 365, then times 2-3 ads per page and you're talking about tens of thousands of page views per year. So, even at the low dollar rate that crappy ad networks serve (and we want to move away from those so we can serve fewer, higher quality ads), we're still talking about a big chunk of money. I doubt most would cough up $150/year for a membership.

SO do you guys have a list of the most ad revenue generating monkies?

 

[Toshi]

SO do you guys have a list of the most ad revenue generating monkies?

My harbl thread should put me in the lead

 

[TreeSaw]

Just throwing this out there but I would be willing to pay a reasonable fee for an ad free RM membership. I'd pay even more for random mod powers or even just to get Mmike banned.

psst....there are those that could be bribed

 

[TreeSaw]

I think you should be Prime Minister. That sounds cooler than President.

Or the King of Hearts

 

[TreeSaw]

RM Gear suggestions:

I like the idea of a bottle opener too! I have many, but there is always room for another. The small one suggested above is nice and portable, but I'd also like to see a wall (read--bike rack) mounted one too.

Stem caps would be great.

Women's hoodie.

Wicking T-shirt
Wicking LS Shirt

Patches - to put on a camelbak or gear bag (NOTE: I do have the monkey logo all digitized and could easily have these made quickly by my mother-in-law with her embroidery machine).

 

[jonKranked]

RM Gear suggestions:

I like the idea of a bottle opener too! I have many, but there is always room for another. The small one suggested above is nice and portable, but I'd also like to see a wall (read--bike rack) mounted one too.

Stem caps would be great.

Women's hoodie.

Wicking T-shirt
Wicking LS Shirt

Patches - to put on a camelbak or gear bag (NOTE: I do have the monkey logo all digitized and could easily have these made quickly by my mother-in-law with her embroidery machine).

ridemonkey waterbottles.


Treesaw, if you do make patches lemme know, I'd take a few. Sew them on gear/helmet bags.

 

[TreeSaw]

ridemonkey waterbottles.


Treesaw, if you do make patches lemme know, I'd take a few. Sew them on gear/helmet bags.

Will do!

I can't believe I forgot waterbottles

 

[Pesqueeb]

RM jerseys (I've seen pictures, I know they existed once).

 

[jonKranked]

My harbl thread should put me in the lead

I've got more posts than you despite that you have been a member 4 years longer than me.

And I don't think it works that way. My understanding of ad impressions is that it has nothing to do with how many views your thread has, but how many actual pages (php, html, etc) YOU load in YOUR browser; ie total requests (parent page + child files, ads in this case) from your machine to the server.

Anyways, I'm just trying to figure out if there's a point at which high use members become to financially viable/profitable to get banned

 

[jonKranked]

Will do!

I can't believe I forgot waterbottles

seriously, I would probably order a dozen waterbottles. My supply has slowly been dwindling as the bottles I acquired as a mechanic in college have either disappeared or gotten too gross to use.