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| Moderated by: Tony Provencher, Richard Hefner |
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| I'm a bit upset | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Fri Jul 24th, 2009 12:35 am |
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1st Post |
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theBlackman Approved 
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I'm disappointed, ticked off and, sadly resigned There are over eight thousand members signed up for EZ. We all have taken advantage of Richard's generosity and tenacity in setting this site up and in fighting to keep it up and a going concern. The changes in the tax codes of some states have caused the advertisers who actually funded EZ to pull out and the result will be the closing of this excellent site. As is common on forums (I moderate some 4 or 5) the members will concentrate on only the specifics of their interest. The Uke players in the Uke forum, the Banjo players in theirs. As a result the ANNOUNCEMENTS seldom get looked at. Richard very carefully explained the problem and offered a subscription service. For a mere $5.00 a month you could support the site and have use of it. That is less than the daily cost of Two Latte's at Starbucks, or a meal at any of the fast food restaurants. Less than 1% of the membership responded. So EZ is up for sale. I realize that few will read this as the front page that used to show every blog has changed, so in effect I'm screaming or preaching to the choir. But it really irks me no end that so few recognize the value of this site, and are unwilling to spend the pittance needed to keep it up. Forty-Five dollars a year is less than they would spend for a night out with the kids, wife or mistress, and something they will do many times in a year, but can't afford to do to keep this great asset afloat. My thanks to Richard for his courtesy and graciousness over the years, my wishes for his best health and pleasure, and my BRONX CHEER to those too cheap to help out, and whose willingness to take the free ride but bailout when it gets to the cost of pennies a day for them. My thanks to those who have provided me with great music, good company, and justly deserved criticism. All of which has made my life richer and better. Last edited on Fri Jul 24th, 2009 12:38 am by theBlackman ____________________ Let each day start as a blank page for life to write upon. http://ezfolk.com/audio/dusty http://cdbaby.com/all/theblackman http://youtube.com/DustinFLeer |
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| Posted: Fri Jul 24th, 2009 12:53 am |
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2nd Post |
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ednull Approved 
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People have lots of reasons not to spend money on something they can get for free. Maybe this'll be a lesson on letting the other guy foot the bill.
____________________ Edward Null EZ Folk Soundclick CD Baby |
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| Posted: Fri Jul 24th, 2009 01:12 am |
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3rd Post |
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Tony Provencher Administrator 
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Well-said, Dusty!  Dan's idea of a coöperative sounds very appealing to me, but, in essence, that's what Richard tried to do, and at a VERY reasonable price. 27 of us signed up, but that wouldn't carry the site for much more than a month. If the rest of you are as broke as I am, I don't think that 27 of us could afford to run the site. Does anyone know any wealthy patrons of the folk music arts?
____________________  My ezFolk Page My Other Websites
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| Posted: Fri Jul 24th, 2009 01:28 am |
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4th Post |
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Richard Hefner Administrator 
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Dusty, I appreciate the support but I'm encouraged that ezFolk will continue and I have a feeling it'll be better in the future than it is now. I'm really limited in my knowledge of how to do everything, and worse than that, my job keeps me too busy to do much to the site these days. There was a time a couple years ago that I made about half my income from ezFolk and hoped to make it full time although that never happened. Back then I was able to devote maybe 30 or 40 hours a week to making things better but as things slowed down for the economy it affected sales on ezFolk pretty much like other businesses. I had to devote less time to the website because I needed to make more money on my job, and now I'm back to working a lot of hours and not having a lot of time to devote to the site. Up until about a week ago I really thought that closing it down was the best option, but since I've considered selling it and have been talking to some people who know about that sort of thing, I'm encouraged that it will be a good option for me and I believe the website should become better as a result. Somebody who really knows what they're doing could do wonders with the site, and as long as they're not in North Carolina or one of the 3 states affected by the "Amazon Law" they can use the site as an affiliate site, which I'm no longer able to do. If one of the big retailers who sell a lot of folk instruments would take it over there's no doubt they could run it better than me. I'm talking about somebody such as Elderly Instruments or Janet Davis Music or somebody like that. After some thinking about and discussions I've had, it might take as long as a year to sell the site, which will be fine, and in the meantime I'll be trying to make some small improvements as I'm able to, but I think ultimately things will work out. Any don't be too hard on the people who won't pay the $5 a month. Many of them have legitimate reasons and a lot of them don't even know about it. I'm sure part of the fault is mine for not getting the word out as well as I should and also for me being kind of wishy washy about what's going to happen to ezFolk, because as you know, I've been back and forth on it myself. I really do like the idea of selling it though, and I believe there's somebody good who will get it and there's somebody who can make it profitable to own as well as keeping it a good place for the artists and listeners. 
____________________ Richard Hefner MP3 Page: http://www.ezfolk.com/audio/richardhefner Running Blog: http://old-runner.com |
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| Posted: Fri Jul 24th, 2009 07:09 am |
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5th Post |
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theBlackman Approved
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Agreed, some do have legitimate, and strong economic reasons. In fact, I could be considered one of them. But if all I have to sacrifice is a pack of cigarettes a month, it's no contest. I know that there are "free" sites, but most of them are "Hey look at me!" sites and don't have the community feeling EZ does. How-some-ever, having shot my mouth off. I'll just fade into the woodwork and let the Gods handle it.
____________________ Let each day start as a blank page for life to write upon. http://ezfolk.com/audio/dusty http://cdbaby.com/all/theblackman http://youtube.com/DustinFLeer |
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| Posted: Sat Jul 25th, 2009 03:52 am |
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6th Post |
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mikelewis Approved 
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Hey Dusty, you just said what we were all feeling. We still love ya man!
____________________ Michael David Lewis - ezFolk.com site Michael David Lewis - Official Website Michael David Lewis on MySpace |
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