The Rumors Are True...

[lynette]

Argh! I was so focused on other things and joined too late. Will wait patiently (drums fingers)

[angienewton]

Alyssa,
I'm not sure what you're asking. Elite membership is closed right now so no one is able to join right now.

Lynette, sorry you missed joining. Elite will open up again but not sure when.

Hope this helps!

[zahadoom]

Interesting. After reading the blog post a few things caught my eye and caused some concern though.

The public areas of the forum may also close temporarily while I update the community structure. I have not yet decided if I’ll continue to run a public forum, or if that will close so that I can devote 100% of my time to Elite Members in the Private Brainstorming Group.

The SSWT Community is made up of a wide range of men and women, of all ages, newbies and seasoned marketers alike.

This is not a rah-rah club, and I reserve the right to boot any dead weight in the group to maintain the integrity of the community.

For people that are doing well and want to do even better, good for them. For those that are just starting out, doing a lot of reading / lurking this could be a bit off-putting. There might be a pressure to "contribute" and furthermore, have your membership revoked (and your money lost) if you don't.

I hope the elite membership part doesn't overshadow what this place is all about. It's a lot more newbie friendly than other forums. Now I'm getting the vibe that it's trying to be more elitist. I hope this doesn't end up putting off the very people that it was meant to help at the start.

[adavant]

Oops guess I stayed away too long. Darn it.

[cindybidar]

Zahadoom, there's no pressure to contribute on the elite side. We have members who are very active, and those - like me - who are not. Every member is encouraged to post about what he or she is doing, and to get feedback from the group about the project. That is what's most valuable about elite membership. Lynn herself is always offering up great advice and helping brainstorm keywords, domain names, info products, whatever your business needs. Overall, the group is very supportive of one another.

There are members who are really new, and some that are very successful. Everyone has something of value to contribute, even if it's just to say, "Hey, I think the colors on your website aren't working for you." So you don't have to worry that just because you're new you won't be able to "pull your weight." The group really isn't like that.

[Lynn Terry]

We'll be open again soon

Interesting. After reading the blog post a few things caught my eye and caused some concern though.

For people that are doing well and want to do even better, good for them. For those that are just starting out, doing a lot of reading / lurking this could be a bit off-putting. There might be a pressure to "contribute" and furthermore, have your membership revoked (and your money lost) if you don't.

I hope the elite membership part doesn't overshadow what this place is all about. It's a lot more newbie friendly than other forums. Now I'm getting the vibe that it's trying to be more elitist. I hope this doesn't end up putting off the very people that it was meant to help at the start.

This may just be a simple misunderstanding of who I meant to help from the start, and who/where I intend to focus my personal attention. I probably could have made that more clear, but I was trying to say a lot in a post of suitable length.

I blog tons of free tips & tutorials at ClickNewz.com, and there is a free weekly newsletter on the main page here at this site. I also do a lot of free interviews and webinars, including my own free webinar every week on Tuesday. There's no shortage of free valuable content for anyone to lurk & learn from.

Where I spend my time personally helping invidual people and answering specific questions is another story. I definitely want to invest in the action-takers, not just the tire-kickers. That's not meant as a negative. I've been doing this for more than a decade and I know that there are a lot of people interested but not really ready to take definitive action yet. For them, I publish tons of free how-to information as I mentioned above. But when it comes to one-on-one interaction, I know my place is to help people who are actively working on setting up & growing their business.

I hope that clears that up for you some

Also, there is no pressure to contribute other than to get help on YOUR business. Negativity, rudeness, etc - that's "dead weight" that drags the whole group down. I intend to maintain integrity within the community, and give our members a place where they can grow and work together. Anything that gets in the way of that has to be removed. Nothing to do with how much you participate or contribute, so much as being a team player when you do.

[zahadoom]

What you said makes sense. You explained everything very well and point by point. I appreciate that.

If your view of dead weight is negativity and rudeness etc then I doubt anyone would want that in a community. However, to me dead weight is like someone dragging their heels, making others fall behind and when I read that along with the being booted and "private brainstorming group" part I just got the wrong idea. It's interesting how a simple word or phrase can do that. I could be the only one that took it that way but rather than make an assumption and move on I wanted to have that clarified.

I understand your reasons and I can also understand people that pay for a premium service want to get their monies worth and their share of the time you offer. It seems like something has changed since my last visit though. Last time the open IM forum seemed a lot more active and now it feels empty by comparison.

Have the vast majority of active members upgraded and moved onto the private forums or is it just me?

[Lynn Terry]

We're having a bit of a quiet spell at the moment, but the Private Forum is actually hopping with activity. I usually participate more in the public area and keep things rolling... but I'm spending my spare time on the upgrades at the moment. Things will be back in full swing soon

I appreciate your questions and comments, because they really helped me see how others might perceive the way I worded things. Thank you!

[zahadoom]

No worries. I guess I'll see how things pan how here with all the new changes. I'm curious to see what is going to happen with both the public forum and the paid service.

[nar321]

For the 7 things I've Learned in Seven Years.