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Just read the Newsletter, and a thought occurred to me.
You say you’re behind on reading your email and replying on the forum.
It’s a GOOD thing that your popularity has gotten you to that point!
Here then is a suggestion for you…
Consider stepping back from the regular forums. Sure, you can come by and reply to things that interest you or that you feel strongly about… but make that the exception and not necessarily the rule.
Having the Big Guy (You, in this case) reply is always a neat thing. But it’s also a MARKETABLE thing… and you’ve said in your videos in the past that you’d not mind a bigger paycheck. You’ve also said that you would like to find special things to do for the Premium members… as they do pay for things, yes?
Even though I’m not a premium member… yet… I would actually respectfully suggest that YOU are your own biggest asset here.. the biggest draw. If folks want your direct attention, then perhaps they might want to pony up a bit for your time. I know I would.
That is NOT to say that you’d abandon the non-Premium members! You’d stop by now and then, sure, say hello, and comment here and there. But maybe the time has come for you to take the next step in ETCG and make access to you directly a Premium thing.
Honestly, that’d drive me RIGHT to the Premium membership. A faster response time from you? More direct access to you? Oh, HECK yes.. that’s worth it to me.
Just a thought, because… honestly.. you’re worth it, Eric.
Cheers!
-Hinoki
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It’s an interesting idea and one that has been brought up in the past. In fact I’ve been approached by websites that do this very thing. They sell your time and you do something like a ‘webanar’ and people pay to attend. It’s an interesting prospect but it makes me a bit uncomfortable. It’s hard seeing myself as someone that you need to pay to access. To you I’m EricTheCarGuy, but to me and the people that know me, I’m just a guy that happens to make good repair videos. I’m not writing myself off here but the reality of who I am as a person and what I’ve become as a YouTube personality, are two very different things. I’m still working on this. In time I’m sure I’ll grow into what ETCG was always meant to be, I just don’t feel like I’m quite there yet.
That said, if I did what you suggest via the Premium Memberships I would create a situation where I would be obligated to answer questions. This does not address the core issue which is the amount of time I have in a given day. If people started expecting me to answer their questions because they were Premium Members it would create the same situation that I’m in now except people would have money on the line. As it is now if I don’t have time to answer everyones questions it’s like, “well, what did they pay for this information?”. I then remind myself that they didn’t pay anything, and I sleep pretty good at night. I also feel that I’ve put a lot of information into the videos I’ve made. Many of the questions I get asked are actually answered in those videos OR available via the search function on this site for those that take the time to use it.
My solution IS the new website. I’ve come up with what I believe will be accommodating to everyone. The articles I’m writing won’t answer everyones questions but they will answer a LOT of them. The search function will handle many of the others (if they use it), and the forum should handle the rest. If I’m able to jump on the forum and answer a few questions, great. If not, it won’t be due to a lack of effort on my part because I’ve done what I can to answer them via other avenues. In the mean time while I’m writing these articles I’m thinking back to all the questions I’ve answered over the years and putting those answers right into the text. If someone is really looking for an answer it should be there for them to find almost instantly. It’s also free to anyone who visits the site. Remember that most people come to me because they don’t have money in the first place.
I’m going to try this approach for a while and see where it goes. I do appreciate your suggestion as it is a good one. I just feel it would make the core problem worse because people would expect me to respond when I may not be able to. I can’t in good conscience take someones money and not give them what they pay for. It’s just not how ETCG does business.
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