BensGigs.com sunset

[Ben Allfree]

Friends, 

I have canceled everyone's PayPal subscriptions to BensGigs.com. There was not enough interest to justify continuing the service.

It may come back in a future version, probably a Kickstarter chrome app, but the current web-based version isn't getting any traction.

Thanks for your support! The service will continue to run for the next 30 days, then out :)

b

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BensGigs.com

skype: benallfree

[Juan Treminio]

Ben,

Would you consider open-sourcing the code? It has been very useful to me.

Juan

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[Shannon Warren]

Depending on amount or resources required, I could possible continue this service is Ben did not mind. 

On Wed, May 1, 2013 at 10:32 AM, Ben Allfree <b...@bensgigs.com> wrote:

[Ben Allfree]

The main workhorse of BensGigs is the OPML file of all the RSS feeds that it indexes. Well, that, and keyword scanning.

I would be interested in making a Chrome plugin for this instead of a hosted version. Would anyone like to contribute to that effort?

b

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BensGigs.com

skype: benallfree

[Shannon Warren]

I already have finances tied up into other ventures, but I have coding resources I can contribute to the cause. 

[Ben Allfree]

Thanks! Yeah I didn't mean to solicit this group for kickstarter backing, I was just thinking out loud about ways to get this up to critical mass to the point that it is worth supporting, marketing, and growing. I feel like 500 paying users would do it, but right now we're about 495 short of that goal.

b

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BensGigs.com

skype: benallfree

[cometlinear]

I've come to rely on this service. Let's plan on saving it, in one
form or another. Perhaps we can pool money for a dedicated server.


-j

[Shannon Warren]

Well depending on the server resources we need, I have server resources.. 

[cometlinear]

I just chatted with Ben. One point that I want get across to everyone
is that if many more people join the service, then it will be less
effective for us. It will mean more competition.

The best thing for our small group would be to keep it small and pay
more money for the resources.

[Shannon Warren]

I agree completely, this is not a service that is more beneficial to the subscribers the bigger it become. Only the person(s) that might gain financial benefits from the sells of the service. The first thing that has to be decided is A. is this a service valuable for a small group of people or B. does the originator want to make lots of money.

I know Ben is a musician and all musicians are broke but I think Ben does like the service to be valuable. So how do we keep it around but valuable for a small set of subscribers? 

[Robert Tracy]

Well I think it's fairly simple that for Ben the profit has to outweigh the cost. I would consider at this point maybe losing the free version altogether and perhaps instead of charging a monthly fee perhaps a small yearly fee with tiered options. Like the free option now costs $20 a year and the all inclusive option costs $40 or something like that. 

This will decrease the server costs and increase revenue from people like myself who were in the beta, migrated to the free version and only used the service casually (deleting most of the e-mails mainly because I've been in school this entire time just occasionally looking for small freelance gigs that are juuuust right for my circumstance). I'm sure not all the free users will migrate. But some will (I know I will at least if it isn't too much) and the ones that don't won't be a load on the service (or competition) anymore. 

Thoughts?

--

Rob Tracy
Remedial Comics
http://www.remedialcomics.com/
http://www.webcomicscommunity.com/

http://www.wix.com/rob77/robertctracy

[mantra2]

Is there any way we can get this open sourced? I really do love and use this tool every day.

[Ben Allfree]

For me, it needs to be a business with a solid growth curve or cut it loose. This goes beyond equipment costs for me; there is personal time and the general distraction of knowing it exists and that responsibility ultimately falls to me if something goes haywire :)

It isn't a system that can be easily open sourced. It requires extensive setup.

Another direction I'm contemplating is a kickstarter campaign.

For the people who think the value is diluted with more users, I offer these two thoughts:

1. The information is already publicly available. You may have a first responder advantage, but that's about it.

2. If a first responder advantage is important to you and worth money to you, there are a variety of approaches that would separate you from the crowd: text message alerts, autoresponding, keyword bidding, etc.

b

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BensGigs.com

skype: benallfree

[Ben Allfree]

It's not feasible to open source this one, too much server setup and dependencies.

b

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BensGigs.com

skype: benallfree

[Ben Allfree]

More users means more options for growth and improvement. I think I disagree that a small user base is in your best interests. Off the top of my head, with enough users bensgigs could become:

1. A hub for job posters. More leads to you.

2. A directory for service providers. More leads to you.

3. A location-aware service. Local leads to you.

4. etc etc

b

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BensGigs.com

skype: benallfree

[Ben Allfree]

What do you call a musician without a girlfriend? Homeless! *rim shot*

(Currently have girlfriend)

b

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BensGigs.com

skype: benallfree

On Wed, May 1, 2013 at 9:13 AM, Shannon Warren <scout...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Robert Tracy]

Well I don't think any of us have the power to bring enough customers to you to make this a business. So that's out. It's not going to happen. Not only that the majority of us do believe that the value is diluted the more people are brought in. I don't think you're going to change minds on that point. That said while the advantage may be worth some money to me (or us though I don't feel like I can speak for all users) for me the real advantage is not just the timing but also the volume and specificity of what I'm getting. It saves me time. Not so much that I couldn't do the searches myself if the cost was beyond my means. But anything that saves time these days is helpful.

And since you're not interested in sharing the code it looks like this is the end of things (I know you mentioned Kickstarter but honestly I'm in the Webcomics business and I've seen Kickstarter used a lot... I know it's a real indie project buzzword these days but unless you have a large existing audience or a truly innovative idea with broad appeal it doesn't usually work out and since your time is a factor, you couldn't get any traction on Reddit and it hasn't spread word of mouth yet I doubt it's suddenly going to take off and doubt even more that you would raise significant capital through Kickstarter). 

It's a shame because in six months this could be a lot more useful to me but I understand. This is your creation and if you can't make a go of it that brings value to you (and when I mentioned cost in my last post I was also thinking of your time I never discount someone's time) then handing it over to others for free just so you don't have to invest the time and risk them making it more successful is unpalatable. It's easier to take the ball and go home ha ha. 

Best wishes to you man. I appreciate what I got from it while it lasted. Very cool. 

Rob