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Makale Foreman Grad Transfer

rochclone said:
The premium lounge is a very good investment for those of you that can afford it. I know not everyone can, but the recruiting information and insight that CW has been able to provide has been well worth the monetary commitment.
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Is the cheapest option for it $20 a month?
 
TheHelgo said:
All, I get the point of the premium boards and the need to fund CF. However, I hope CW and the crew are able to tread that fine line carefully. For those of us who came to CF several years ago when Jeremy started it, we can remember how CF really got its start and became the juggernaut that it is now. Sites like Cyclone Report and Cyclone Nation were moving further and further towards premium to the point that the free boards died. It became a situation where premium members would go on the free boards simply to pull the 'I know something you don't know' crap. Not saying that is happening here now, but posts like the one quoted are certainly a beginning.

Again, I love CF and hope that the premium / free can be navigated better than other sites have done it because it is a great community of Cyclone fans.

I honestly thought that when CW started the premium it was going to be additional podcast content, event invitations and gear. Not a place solely to share the nuggets - in fact I thought that was explicitly stated would not change. This isn't a have or have not comment, but there are folks who either can't, or can't justify, the additional $ per month.
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Nothing has changed.

We aren't putting any content behind a paywall. Cyclone coverage is still free. Always will be. You vastly misunderstood our new initiative. There are always pieces of info that I have but can't share for the masses. This allows me to do that for those who want to pay for it. And it is literally going to save the site.

With all due respect, I have worked for every one of the sites you mentioned. I know this business far too well. Frankly, I should have gotten out of it years ago. But had we stayed status quo, the CF you know would have been dead by September.

Evolve or die. This business is a hell of a lot different than it was in 2005. Unless you are up on CPMs and ad servers and all of that crap that I absolutely despise, it is impossible to understand.

Even when it hurts, sometimes you have to swallow your pride and pivot.
 
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Sigmapolis said:
This might be a larger conversation to have about the boards, but I think the era of having high-quality and tightly-tailored content available for free on the Internet is coming to a close. I am not sure the "passive income" from online advertisements and more active advertising revenues from local sponsors is going to be able to support something like Cyclone Fanatic, which products great and focused content (which comes at a price to produce) narrowed tailored for an audience of Iowa State superfans. Just because a business model worked throughout the 2010s does not mean it will work throughout the 2020s, and so I think some things about that original philosophy are going to have to change.

Unless you are producing low-quality content at huge volumes (and think all those obnoxious "listicle" click-bait shops), then you need more money and dependable revenue streams to stay alive and to keep paying talent. The COVID pandemic is only going to make it more evident than we cannot keep expecting high-quality content available without a price. Most major media publications are starting to put things behind paywalls (e.g., all the streaming services, and I pay for a Washington Post subscription and for a few print magazines on other niche interests, etc.), and that trend is going to continue.

I do not want to put any words in the staff or ownership's mouths, but I would imagine CF is going to become more and more of a paid product from here on out. I do not mind that and do not judge those who might bemoan the end of the "content is free" ethos that started this place, but I am not sure it is viable as a business model in 2020+.
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This is a fantastic post. Very on point.

Again, we are going to keep the content we have always done here free. I want to be the internet's go-to place for Cyclone content. I think opening it up to large audiences is the way to go about that.

BUT, I have to shift our business model to not only stay open, but ultimately grow. If I'm not spending all of my time on the business and chasing ad dollars, I can provide much better content for our users.

With that, I don't view our premium as anything more than this: When you go to a football game, you have a choice of seats. Upper deck. Lower deck. End zone. Suites. Take your pick. I'm providing a "suite" experience for those who want to upgrade. Simple as that.

The goal here is not to shut out the "free" crowd of our coverage of the Cyclones.

Evolve or die.
 
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I see the Premium Boards on here no different than the one over at 247. They have their free boards and they have their pay board. Everyone knows you're no supposed to go and tell the free board everything you read on the pay board. It's common sense.
 
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I recommend the premium board.

It’s cheap, just about ISU sports, and has the information that drives me to check this board 24/7.


Given how often I’m here at the expense of being more productive, it would be illogical to think I’m not willing to pay a couple beers per month to keep CF going. The extra board with some filter-free CW is just a bonus
 
TheHelgo said:
..... It became a situation where premium members would go on the free boards simply to pull the 'I know something you don't know' crap. Not saying that is happening here now, but posts like the one quoted are certainly a beginning.....
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If this isn't happening, it's sure picking up steam. It was fun while it lasted.

Signed,
'The "free" crowd'
 
CTTB78 said:
If this isn't happening, it's sure picking up steam. It was fun while it lasted.

Signed,
'The "free" crowd'
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To be fair, posters with inside info were pulling that crap before the premium forum existed.

I’m thoroughly enjoying the subscription benefits, but I’d like to avoid turning it into the “elites vs the plebes” mentality that killed CR.
 
Paywalls are coming up on most, if not all sites. Omaha World Herald is $100 a year for the internet version of print newspaper. I switched to that when the annual print version went to $350...yep, $30 a month. Price for CF paywall is basically $10 a month, including all the free forums...dang cheap if you think about it. For the folks that don't or can't pay, almost everything makes it way to free forums...obviously delayed, but you do get it.
 
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