• Posted 12/19/2024.
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    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

    =====================
    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
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    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

I need help and Advice.

TrulyRare

TrulyRare

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Ok, well I'm going to start a herp club here in my area. There isn't anything like this in my area, So I'm going to start the first one. I have a ton of people who want to join and be part of it. And it's nothing to gain a profit from, just bring people with herps together. Since I jumped into my rescue to soon, I'm now needing the advice of anyone, who can give it to me. I need any make shift advice on how to start, run, and make this successful. I plan on making this free, no fee's but if we end up meeting at like a non profit place like Iams nature center or something I'll have the members donate to them, making it a good reason for us to meet there. Neways let me know what you guys think, any advice, I also have the local news station who wants to do a story with us after were up and running. thanks in advance!
 
Hi Sonnie!
Let me begin by saying that I don't have any personal experience with starting a herp club. I've thought about starting one for my area, too, so maybe the two of us can kinda bounce some ideas off of each other while waiting for someone with real experience to chime in.

Here are some things that I've considered, not in any specific order:
  • Free membership, to begin with, at least - I don't want anything to hinder that 13yr old upcoming Bill Haast or Steve Irwin from coming & learning.
  • A free "general meeting" location - I want to keep overhead costs down to a minimum and don't want any members, or prospective members, to have to dish out anything but their time. Once I get it established and I feel there's enough members willing & able to help bear the costs, maybe then I'll consider asking them to chip in to pay for a special meeting place once in awhile or.

While the thought of meeting at the Iams Nature Center and having members donate to a worthy cause sounds good, it's a two-way street. What I mean is, Iams should recognize the potential benefits of a herp club and gladly do what they can to help out. However, it may be hard to get your foot in their door until you're able to get somewhat established.

I think that planning, coordinating & dedication are going to be the keys to success. Before we can charge anything for membership or meeting places, we have to have something worthwhile to offer. It's hard to do on a budget of nothing but passion. I don't have the money to dish out to attempt to get a club started.

Something else I've considered: I'm in pretty good with the owners of two pet shops in my area. One doesn't have the room to hold a meeting but the other one does. It could be a rotational meeting place. I also considered seeing if maybe they couldn't provide some door prizes from time & time to promote their business.

Best wishes!
HH
 
One other thing - Have a clear agenda of each meeting and stick to that agenda as much as possible. Just winging it doesn't always fly. You want it to be more than just a "sit around & yap" session.

Later!
HH
 
Sonnie and Mike,

I am not familiar with starting a herp club, but my advice would be to contact the other herp club presidents and see how/where they started. I have personal contacts with both the Lancaster (PA) Herp Society and the New York Metro Herp Society (Long Island, NY) that might be willing to help you guys out. Let me know if you would like their contact info, and I will get it right over to you!

Kelly
 
GottaLuvHerps said:
I have personal contacts with both the Lancaster (PA) Herp Society and the New York Metro Herp Society (Long Island, NY) that might be willing to help you guys out. Let me know if you would like their contact info, and I will get it right over to you!

Kelly
Click to expand...
Thanks for the offer, Kelly! I'll pass for now since I've got way too much goin' on from now till June. Oh, wait a minute......., June is hatchling season for me.

Thanks just the same, though!
Mike
 
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