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Selling TF and The Future

Thread title: Selling TF and The Future
     
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10-23-2009, 09:26 AM
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Big Zee is offline Big Zee
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  Old  Selling TF and The Future

Hi Guys,

To end lots of speculation and to provide a solution for the movement of TF, I have decided to sell the forum and I thought I thought I'd give you an insite into my decision, where we go from here and foum sale plans etc.

Reason I bought TF in the first place
I initially bought TF as I wanted to gain access to a good sized webmaster related forum as I was setting up a new SEO system which would:

A/. Need a forum to discuss the system
B/. Have access to a large number of webmasters who may want to use the system.

In hindsight TF was the wrong forum to buy as its member base, although close, was not ideally suited to those really into SEO and is much more a design and obviously freelance related forum! However at the time there were very few webmaster related site of decent size available and any that were, were just priced at a rediculously inflated price. At the time TF seemed like a good option.

As a lot of IT projects do, there were numerous delays in the SEO systems launch and it went from a relatively smallish project into a giant. On top of that there has been about 5 changes in developer, a complete re-write in .NET from php, and a few period where it lay dormant.

It has been back in fully time development since the start of this year but is still about 3 months away from launch.

All this time I was reluctant to sell TF as I had bought it for the reason (at considerable cost) above and the project was still being worked on, so I always thought that when it launched it would provide a massive boost to TF - DP was basically built on its provision of tools such as the coop etc, and my system was going to look like rocket science compared to that.

So basically I didn't really see a way out. I wanted to keep the forum and its user base for the system, thinking when it launched this would be the huge boost TF needed, but at the same time the system kept getting delayed. If I sold TF I would loose the user base that the system needed for launch. At the same time I didn't have time to input into TF as I am also the MD of a big company that has grown and grown in those years and makes me work 12 hours a day just on that alone!


A possible solution:

The whole vision thing and the loads of people contacting me about selling TF, kicked me into gear, that I needed to find a solution to these problems:

- TF needed a boost give it the dedication it deserves, and I couldn't give.
- I didn't want to just loose the userbase of TF members who may be interested in the SEO system

Therefore I hit upon and idea.

I would launch a new forum that was completely dedicated to the audience I wanted for the SEO system - IE people that loved SEO/SEM and making money on the net (rather than TF's more design orientated audience).

To keep any members in the TF database that are really interested in SEO and maybe the lauch of the new SEO system, I would start the forum by importing TF's userbase.

This would be the starting point of the new forum, and from there TF and the new forum would go their seperate ways - I re-iterate that this forum is NOT a replacement for TF! There is only a small overlap in interests, but there are enough userss of TF that are interested in SEO to make this worthwhile for me to do.

I could then sell TF, and keep my database of users.

So, last week that what I set about doing, and created : http://www.semseosalad.com - you can login as under you current TF details, and if you are into SEO then you are welcome on the forum. For those not interested, then you can again just login and unsubscribe, and thats the last you will hear from it.

What's SEMSEOSALAD going to be like?
Well purely and simply its dedicated to SEO/SEM and making money on the internet, and when the SEO system launches, there will be a dedicated section for that. It's not going to be "fun" or very social forum like TF - its really just about doing SEO and making good web business. Don't expect any competitions etc, this is purely just going to be hardcore talk on SEO etc. If that sounds of interest, then your welcome, but if its not your think then I wouldn't recommend it.


How come you can spent time on SSS when you couldn't on TF?
Well to put it simply I'm not - I just don't have time. When the SEO system launches I'll be around the forum for that, but generally not much day to day. I have mods etc already in place to handle all the work and promotion will be funded from the TF sale.


How the sale will work
I plan to advertise the forum in as many places as possible as well as email all members of TF. This should have several benifits.

A/. I obviously get the sale in front of as many potential buyes as possible and there get the best price.

B/. The amount of noise this will create - and I am guessing a lot as a webmaster forum of this size hardly ever comes up for sale - will create a lot of activity on TF itself and hopefully provide a significant boost to everyone wants.

C/. A new owner is going to have a awful lot more time and dedication to TF than me, so they will hopefully provide extra boost that TF so wants.

So thats going to be the plan of action.

Please NOTE:
- This is NOT the sales thread as that will be created later, so DO NOT reply in this thread with offers etc, this is just for general discussion on the sale.
- Please do NOT PM me with loads of questions etc, I have loads to do with the sale etc and will not have time to answer them - any bids will only be answered in the correct thread!
- There will be NO BIN - the highest offer will be accepted after a specific period.

As per private PM's I have had with a few people, I will try to find the best person to take TF forward, and will do all I can to advise they should maintain the current staff struture etc.

An Apology
I aplogies that I have not been the dedicated owner that you all wanted and TF deserved, and I don't doubt that most of you will be glad I am going. I would just like to say that i wholeheartedly apologise for letting you down, and wish you and TF all the best for the future.


Thanks

Zee

     


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