The FUTURE of YE Forums????

**iGROWyourBiz** · 08-01-2006 04:08 PM

As Most of us are aware - change is a-comin.... But there seems to be several groups of opinion.

What do you think is the MOST needed feature of our community here at YE.

Please take the time to take this anonymous poll. This is IMPORTANT - your VOICE COUNTS!

If you voted in a similar thread - PLEASE VOTE AGAIN as that thread was deleted due to people putting unnecessary postings.

Comments are welcomed!

**F360** · 08-01-2006 04:16 PM

Someone enlighten me...what the F__K is a podcast?? Im guessing I listen to it on my ipod..?

**iGROWyourBiz** · 08-01-2006 04:21 PM

its a prerecorded internet radio broadcast. You have to download it, then listen at your leisure on your computer or portable mp3 player.

**Wowzerz** · 08-01-2006 04:42 PM

You said change is coming...who's gonna change it? Seems it's like pulling teeth to get anything done 'round here.

I personally think a live chat room is a crap feature (no offense if you like the idea of it). The best part about a forum is being able to dig up old topics and have a huge resouce of information that continues to play off of itself as time goes on. Not to mention it helps make the site popular with search engines. You'll never get everyone in the chat room at the same time so you'll get a much smaller response than you already do.

Honestly? This site needs a lot of other things before it goes adding features. Maybe it can stop deleting posts from users w/out giving explination. That's a good one. Or maybe a re-design...this is getting mighty stale, don't you think? Before getting into some new goodies, the fundamentals need to be addressed, wouldn't you agree?

**iGROWyourBiz** · 08-01-2006 05:08 PM

Originally Posted by Wowzerz

You said change is coming...who's gonna change it? Seems it's like pulling teeth to get anything done 'round here.

I personally think a live chat room is a crap feature (no offense if you like the idea of it). The best part about a forum is being able to dig up old topics and have a huge resouce of information that continues to play off of itself as time goes on. Not to mention it helps make the site popular with search engines. You'll never get everyone in the chat room at the same time so you'll get a much smaller response than you already do.

Honestly? This site needs a lot of other things before it goes adding features. Maybe it can stop deleting posts from users w/out giving explination. That's a good one. Or maybe a re-design...this is getting mighty stale, don't you think? Before getting into some new goodies, the fundamentals need to be addressed, wouldn't you agree?

Thanks for such a great reply!

As far as whose doin the changing, well you have to talk to YE staff about that. I have no control. I just know what I have been told (and many others). Change is coming...when -I do not know. But there are other alternatives if enough people are involved. I am just the guy taking some "initiative"

Archives are great - but remember - there are 4 distinct personality types. So for TWO of the types (I'm guessing your not one of them) archives are only useful if it has some info they need right now, otherwise they only want whats FRESH and NEW!

Chats, podcasts, radiocasts, and social networking (ALL EXCEPT IMS) have the ability to be archived. So for those that like to find history, as well as for SERP purposes - it would be the same.

We are talking about CONNECTING beyond the ancient - I post, then you post, they I post again, then you post. US Postal mail is sometimes faster than a FORUM!

If you have ever been to other communities that have a live chat or instant messaging, you will know that you NEVER have everyone there, but there is usually a good 30-40 people who are like minded that are interested in your services, or offering theres, or can answer a question, on the spot. So yes, you get a smaller response, but its an INSTANT repsonse, and it's interactive. So i can clarify a question, or give direct links, and it can go until a satisfactory answer is given.

Unlike one popular thread we have, where its gone on for days, still unknown, because the original poster has not come back, when it could easily have been resolved a LOT quicker.

You will find that IMs and Chat are very popular on other boards and just helps the community overall. Like Charity Auctions, Guest Speakers and other events that take place -etc.

Its kinda like - would we rather meet over the net or the phone, on the phone or in person. Well the more interactive we can be, the more PERSONAL we can be, the more gets accomplished due to the comfort of 'warm fuzzies' that MOST people want.

Some think the forum is fine, if most feel that way, then great, NOTHING needs to change. But if most feel its NOT ok how it is, we need to know that also.

Again, this is to see how the majority of the YE commmunity feels. So thank you for your feedback --

KEEP IT COMING GUYS!

The point is there is no right or wrong answer - LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD! No matter what you feel, its how you feel, and your opinion counts.

**F360** · 08-01-2006 05:09 PM

Wowzers - Like I said in the chat, the chatroom won't compete with the board, but they will complement each other. I've been spending a bit of time in the chatrooms as they come and go and we have had good discussions about business, that would otherwise not have taken place on the forum. But more importantly, Ive got to know and talk to my fellow YE chatters. Dwaltwin, Chem, iGROWyourBiz, DJ-Sound etc are all people I wouldn't have had the chance to get to know if members didn't kindly make the chat features for us.

**Wowzerz** · 08-01-2006 06:15 PM

Originally Posted by F360

Wowzers - Like I said in the chat, the chatroom won't compete with the board, but they will complement each other. I've been spending a bit of time in the chatrooms as they come and go and we have had good discussions about business, that would otherwise not have taken place on the forum. But more importantly, Ive got to know and talk to my fellow YE chatters. Dwaltwin, Chem, iGROWyourBiz, DJ-Sound etc are all people I wouldn't have had the chance to get to know if members didn't kindly make the chat features for us.

Good points. You know what? I guess I'm all for some type of chat. I think I'd rather have something that's more of a quick way to login and have some interactive chat for a minute...like an IM system sort of. Easy/fast to download, painless login, etc.

**Matt.Dean** · 08-01-2006 06:18 PM

What might be nice is having scheduled conferences/chats with YE. Perhaps we can get an expert on a particular topic who would be willing to spend some time on chat/conference with the group. Members could then ask questions of the expert. This would be moderated, of course (questions go to the moderator and the moderator submits the good questions to the expert).

As a YE moderator, I'd be willing to help get this idea up and running if there's interest...

**jimmiejo** · 08-01-2006 06:31 PM

I just gave an app called Gabbly a try on YGG and it worked great. You can test it out at www.YoungGoGetter.com and click on the chat tab in the forum section at the bottom of the site.

It could work as a temp fix for YE too. Here's a link for you guys to give it a try on YE as well:

http://gabbly.com/youngentrepreneur.com

For people that are looking for a quick chat solution to meet others, say hello, or just real-time discussions it might do the job.

**F360** · 08-01-2006 08:32 PM

Originally Posted by Matt.Dean

What might be nice is having scheduled conferences/chats with YE. Perhaps we can get an expert on a particular topic who would be willing to spend some time on chat/conference with the group. Members could then ask questions of the expert. This would be moderated, of course (questions go to the moderator and the moderator submits the good questions to the expert).

As a YE moderator, I'd be willing to help get this idea up and running if there's interest...

You have been reading iGROWyourBizs mind. I'll leave it to him to explain what he is planning....

**iGROWyourBiz** · 08-01-2006 10:27 PM

well 1st off, let me say the chat i set up is NOT A FORUM, or designed in anyway to COMPETE with YE.

it is a place to as F360 said, meet others, and have real candid talk in real time.

no plugins to download and registration is 30 seconds of picking a user name/password and email address. No activation required.

But it is PROFESSIONAL and MODERATED- No profanity, no nonsense, no BS - just business

I have already put the word out to a couple of successful business people in various niches who are willing to share hints and tips and answer questions...IF WE get enough people to come.

Again, this is being done at my own expense and I am not charging people to come. Ultimately I would probably pay a major speaker to come and motivate/educate people.

The goal is to GROW people as entrepreneurs and answer questions like

How to raise capital/get investors
Where to find wholesale manufacturers (mainland and overseas)
How to start a business (I spoke in detail yesterday with someone starting a talent agency)
How to get incorporated
How to build a website
How to make money from affiliate programs/adsense/YPN
How to Advertise
How to Market
How to Optimize for Search Engines

And this is stuff thats not just for SPECIAL events, but i mean constant chatter about these techniques from other business people who just hang in the room.

Dont expect 2000 people to be in the room talking business.
But how often does a thread pull only 4-10 answers or responses?
How many are valuable?
How long does it take?

Since the topic is chat... the benefits of chat are instant relationship and communication with other entrepreneurs.

**Wowzerz** · 08-01-2006 10:35 PM

Having to register kinda sucks

**Wowzerz** · 08-01-2006 10:36 PM

By the way, nice use of keywords in your above post, "how to do this, how to do that" - I read ya

**iGROWyourBiz** · 08-01-2006 10:38 PM

Originally Posted by Wowzerz

Having to register kinda sucks

not really - its not something you have to wait to validate, 4 fields and your in, and people are used to it. It helps us keep the knuckleheads out. A serious entrepreneur wont mind. A kid looking to start trouble will hate it

**iGROWyourBiz** · 08-01-2006 10:41 PM

Originally Posted by Wowzerz

By the way, nice use of keywords in your above post, "how to do this, how to do that" - I read ya

Isnt that the reason why most current and future biz owners would come to a forum like this (or chat)?

To find out How To (whatever)???

Either that or they come to Sell (x)

or they come to Buy (x)

either way, thats what chat allows. I frequent a forum for those in the domain name business - and people buy, sell, and get questions answered almost hourly.

The problem with that chat is...its unmoderated. I mean there are mods who will kick you if you spam the room or if you curse too much. But overall its nonsense talk, and anyone over 14 will get annoyed pretty quick when there is not biz talk going on.