DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post

**fuslkdhfma** · 12-02-2010, 07:55 PM

I think there is a way to make a commercial site that is also honest. Take Top Gear for example (that's a car show in the UK for you Americans). They do incredibly well, yet they still are able to give honest reviews of the cars, often trashing the same brands that have major ad buys in thier TV show and magazine. Yet the makers still continue to give them cars to test.

How can they do it? A) because the show is great fun B) because the production values and information is top quality, equally tested and fair and C) because this has lead to huge viewership. The result is that even if they get trashed, the makers can't afford not to have an add or a presence with the audiance.

The problem with some "golf magazines" is that they have dropped almost everything critical. Everyone is a winner. You will never read that the new FW model is worse than the old one. You will never see a really bad review. This year they even took out most of the details on the clubs and the result is really more of an extended add than a review. Interesting, but in the end not really helpful. That's why people turn to forums like this, and that is what I would fear about loosing if THP is going commercial.

I can see why the companies want in- but if you let them in I think you have to be transparent about what they can expect- and that means if they fail the tests or you feel a particular model is not worth the money you will say so.

For your audiance you will need to provide assurances- maybe make the standard terms (maybe even the amounts?) public. Give each company a spot on the forum- as well as the magazine- to give feedback to potential customers so there are no stealth members. Continue to offer testing to all companies with no priorities, and publish the list of who was invited to take part. If a company does not respond or refuses let the audiance know and then, invite them again the next year or test them anyway with a demo from a shop.

It can be done and it has the potential to be a big winner. But you will have to give up some of the small town feeling. And it sure won't be any less work!

But as someone else said earlier, this is obviously a labour of love, so make sure what ever you do you still love it and you are still happy with it.

12-02-2010, 07:55 PM	#20
fuslkdhfma Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 429 Senior Member	I think there is a way to make a commercial site that is also honest. Take Top Gear for example (that's a car show in the UK for you Americans). They do incredibly well, yet they still are able to give honest reviews of the cars, often trashing the same brands that have major ad buys in thier TV show and magazine. Yet the makers still continue to give them cars to test. How can they do it? A) because the show is great fun B) because the production values and information is top quality, equally tested and fair and C) because this has lead to huge viewership. The result is that even if they get trashed, the makers can't afford not to have an add or a presence with the audiance. The problem with some "golf magazines" is that they have dropped almost everything critical. Everyone is a winner. You will never read that the new FW model is worse than the old one. You will never see a really bad review. This year they even took out most of the details on the clubs and the result is really more of an extended add than a review. Interesting, but in the end not really helpful. That's why people turn to forums like this, and that is what I would fear about loosing if THP is going commercial. I can see why the companies want in- but if you let them in I think you have to be transparent about what they can expect- and that means if they fail the tests or you feel a particular model is not worth the money you will say so. For your audiance you will need to provide assurances- maybe make the standard terms (maybe even the amounts?) public. Give each company a spot on the forum- as well as the magazine- to give feedback to potential customers so there are no stealth members. Continue to offer testing to all companies with no priorities, and publish the list of who was invited to take part. If a company does not respond or refuses let the audiance know and then, invite them again the next year or test them anyway with a demo from a shop. It can be done and it has the potential to be a big winner. But you will have to give up some of the small town feeling. And it sure won't be any less work! But as someone else said earlier, this is obviously a labour of love, so make sure what ever you do you still love it and you are still happy with it.
	Quote