Can a BBS be an industry leader?

[newlook 265]

Simple question ~ Can a bullentin board like TGS or the many others out there work towards positioning and equipping themselves to actually become an industry leader ~ meaning industry direction/policy being derived through a particular BBS or a combination of several BBS's?

If so, how and if not, why? Think out of the box on this one folks.

[dpaull 80]

I don't know if I'd say an industry leader...but yeah...a BBS could definitely be in complete control of an industry. It can make and break distributors. A BBS also has the power to help create well-informed contractors.

Word of mouth goes a long, long way in most all industries, and especially so in ours. If someone got bad service from a distributor or bad results with a product that was used properly and according to directions, and a distributor failed to make good...their customer service will always be tainted and a lot of new contractors will be turned off immediately. It could take months or even years to undo what a few unhappy customers can do in a week's time.

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Now with that being said, you could certainly thrive in the industry (whether a contractor or a distributor) without access to all the big BBS's out there. But they certainly make it a lot easier to get ahead.

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Heck, think of it this way. How much time and money do you put into marketing? Not just making an ad, but actually getting that ad infront of the prospective customers that you want that ad infront of? Here, at this BBS alone, distributors have DIRECT access to a very large handful of us...exactly who they're trying to market to. Distributors definitely have that advantage over the contractors who struggle to get their customer base firmly laid out.

[HotShot 34]

The Grease Police is taking over the world of grease. In the future if a kitchen exhaust cleaner isn't a licensed GP contractor, they will be mud in the eye of customers and the industry in general.

[James 625]

I could be as long as it not controlled by the people marketing products .

[Russ Johnson 141]

Nah...way too much discord...

[ezelder 14]

I think a well marketed BBS could definately position themselves to impact the industry. This could be positively or negatively, depending on your view or posistion.

Impact on contractors: Possible convince the would be customer that certifications X Y & Z have to be maintained, certain "group" memberships and associations values could be falsely over inflated. They could convince the customer that certain credentials are mandatory.

Impact on chemical industry: Again, by pushing chems and over hyping methodologies, contractors who chose other methods or chemicals could potentially lose business.

There are so many ways that this could be done. And its all about one thing, money. The successful industry BBS make money off advertising. So if company A offers a BBS owner better incentives over company B, then they are going to push Company A. Its simple business savy.

That is why so many boards ave rules about talking about brand names and supply companies. If they are a competing company with a board sponsor, then it is against the board owners best interest to let members openly discuss alternatives.

BBSs often become advertising grounds for the supply chain. I have seen it happen to many many good BBS throughout the years. A BBS that is trly dedicated to an industry (any industry) has closed membership and non-searchable threads. (Search engine searchable) There is no "lurking" because in order to read you hav to be a member. Again, its all about incentives, kickbacks and cold hard cash. BBS are searchable for one reason, it benefits the sponsor. . .just just happens to be putting cash into the pockets of the owner.

Let's look at Microsoft. They are by FAR NOT the best operating system on the market. Infact, they are ridden with security flaws, instability and bugs. THey are not the most stable. They are the industry leader because they have marketed themselves to be where they are. A BBS with a great marketing plan could potentially affect an industry in the same way.

This is why many many contractors do not openly discuss their trade "secrets" anymore. They are tired of sharing their secrets with the world. This includes customers as well as competition. There is nothing that we use that average Joe cannot go get himself.

Supply companies will never protect us, they only want to move product. They don't care who you are, only if you have cash.

Most BBS won't protect us, because they wan to be well known and to be able to go to sponsors and say "we have 10000 visitors a day and 20000 members who posts 5000 messages a day" They larger the numbers the larger the rewards.

So yes, a BBS could easily lead an industry if marketed correctly.

I am sorry if I offended anyone. But these are the facts. This is the cold hard truth. Its all about economics. For less than $10 a month you can register a domain name, host a BBS (vBulletin can be set up by anyone with minor skills) and start positioning yourself to do so. The only hard part is attracting members and convincing the general public you are the leading authority in your industry. It takes no certifications or license to do so. The overhead to run a boards is monetarily nothing, but the time investment could be grueling. So if you are blessed with a silver tongue, you have half the battle complete.

[John T 744]

I think a well marketed BBS could definately position themselves to impact the industry. This could be positively or negatively, depending on your view or posistion.

Impact on contractors: Possible convince the would be customer that certifications X Y & Z have to be maintained, certain "group" memberships and associations values could be falsely over inflated. They could convince the customer that certain credentials are mandatory.

Impact on chemical industry: Again, by pushing chems and over hyping methodologies, contractors who chose other methods or chemicals could potentially lose business.

There are so many ways that this could be done. And its all about one thing, money. The successful industry BBS make money off advertising. So if company A offers a BBS owner better incentives over company B, then they are going to push Company A. Its simple business savy.

That is why so many boards ave rules about talking about brand names and supply companies. If they are a competing company with a board sponsor, then it is against the board owners best interest to let members openly discuss alternatives.

BBSs often become advertising grounds for the supply chain. I have seen it happen to many many good BBS throughout the years. A BBS that is trly dedicated to an industry (any industry) has closed membership and non-searchable threads. (Search engine searchable) There is no "lurking" because in order to read you hav to be a member. Again, its all about incentives, kickbacks and cold hard cash. BBS are searchable for one reason, it benefits the sponsor. . .just just happens to be putting cash into the pockets of the owner.

Let's look at Microsoft. They are by FAR NOT the best operating system on the market. Infact, they are ridden with security flaws, instability and bugs. THey are not the most stable. They are the industry leader because they have marketed themselves to be where they are. A BBS with a great marketing plan could potentially affect an industry in the same way.

This is why many many contractors do not openly discuss their trade "secrets" anymore. They are tired of sharing their secrets with the world. This includes customers as well as competition. There is nothing that we use that average Joe cannot go get himself.

Supply companies will never protect us, they only want to move product. They don't care who you are, only if you have cash.

Most BBS won't protect us, because they wan to be well known and to be able to go to sponsors and say "we have 10000 visitors a day and 20000 members who posts 5000 messages a day" They larger the numbers the larger the rewards.

So yes, a BBS could easily lead an industry if marketed correctly.

I am sorry if I offended anyone. But these are the facts. This is the cold hard truth. Its all about economics. For less than $10 a month you can register a domain name, host a BBS (vBulletin can be set up by anyone with minor skills) and start positioning yourself to do so. The only hard part is attracting members and convincing the general public you are the leading authority in your industry. It takes no certifications or license to do so. The overhead to run a boards is monetarily nothing, but the time investment could be grueling. So if you are blessed with a silver tongue, you have half the battle complete.

Well said. The time factor alone to do this might be mind boggling. There are so many companies to please and we all know you just can not please all of them all of the time. Making money will be a huge factor and if that can be done along with keeping a decent reputation along the way then I say YES. The questions that need to be answered is can the site generate $$$$ and can they find the people that are willing to put in the time to make the site work. Money there can be a great motivator or maybe just incentives alone can help.

A business Plan would need to be explored thoroughly by a few to see if its even worth the potential effort that this would take.

[Grass Roots Events 14]

Certainly it could be. The Grime Scene emulates many attributes that would faciltate success for this to happen.

For this truely to occur in its purest form, It would need to be transparent in that it had no affiliation or received no compensation from distributers or advertisers that could be considered a conflict.

[Ron Musgraves 240]

For less than $10 a month you can register a domain name, host a BBS (vBulletin can be set up by anyone with minor skills) and start positioning yourself to do so.

I would say everything but that is the truth. It takes a little more time and support to maintain a busy BBS. Yes a website is nothing but Admin a BBS is alittle different. Band width is not cheap and space over the years when the bbs becomes busy. Updating and managing is and ongoing cost.

I dont complain about it and its free to anyone that want to join. *** does not run for 10 a month. its has a paid admin and a non-paid admin. Time is money.

[newlook 265]

Eric - great points!

So, if money was not a deciding reason to move forward on something like this....where do we start.

Do we feel that the industry could benefit from having a BBS and/or a combination of them moving an agenda that "taps into" the role of an industry leader?

[PressurePros 249]

Carlos, what are your thoughts on, and definition of, leadership?

This may be a cynical standpoint but when grouped and organized into hierchy, groups are highly subject to corruption and personalized agendas. My feeling is that individual leaders will always rise to the top. I have a pretty good idea of whom on these boards is capable of leadership (ie whom I would follow).

Do I feel that a message board can be an industry leader? That would depend upon its ownership and again the definition of what constitutes a "leader". I don't think a BBS can, in and of itself, be a leader but its owners may be the type that can move forward with a unified goal of advancing an industry. A BBS may at best be a gathering place of present and future leaders.

[MMI Enterprises 289]

I not doubt the corps have their ear to the background chatter but know their numbers to the point of knowing where they stand...

If they aint throwin money at ya to buy ya out then that tells me the answer is no not this decade.

[seymore 90]

I would say YES a BBS can be an industry leader for the reason that of the members on the BBS.Who makes up our industry other than the contractors who are members of the BBS..

The BBS will be only as good as the qualified members that help answer or trouble shoot the problems and questions asked.Who wants a BBS that has stupid people who give stupid answers.Cause there are never stupid questons only stupid people that ask them.... nahhh just kidding.. :lol: :D

We all talk about diff products and the BBS's biggest asset to everybody is the "trial and error" info we give the newbies that saves them the PITA times we had toe learn the hard way.Who needs to take calsses with al the valuable info here pics vids included.No wood class will teach you as much as on the job training huh ? :cool:

I don't see a problem with a BBS to favor products as long they are worth the time and $$.Then there needs to be threads that also talk about product B that you are able to compare to.If product A is so good there is no need to worry about the competion right?

I know everybody has their specific products that they use and that's should be enough real world testing to decide what works for your company in whatever region you are in.Not the testing in a excellerated chamber like you will read about in product testing etc. Those test i don't see them to be as tried and TRUE like everyday contractors.

I will not be shy about the products i use and how those products were used to buld our 15 yr old company "no advertising by the way".Now will that work for your comapny maby not?

That's all i gotta say bout that :lglolly: :lgwave:

[PRESSURE PACKED 14]

If You Start A Bbs With The Idea Of Becoming A "leader" In The Industry, It Will Happen..as An Administrator You Would Have Access To Most Of The Industies Best Owners/operators...think Of It As Picking The Brain Of The Best In The Biz..if You Have A Weak Spot,,,like Say (marketing) Guess What Make It A Forum And Now You Can Be An Expert. Oh And Did I Mention You Could Wine And Dine The Industry Leaders In Equipment/products To Get Space On Your Site

[MMI Enterprises 289]

I'll point out that the topic hasn't defined a specific industry persay. I mean feedback to stain manufactures or pressure washer manufactures is one thing but really no matter how big we think we may be we are such a tiny drop compared to the retail world or the commercial world that pays hardly a hair of attention on their scalp to these internet happenings.

The manufacture and R&D industry make the products based on sales and feedback from everyone. Yes, if all internet bbs people were on same page then it would be what?..a drop in the bucket compared to industry,retail, goobermint buys and feedback..

So I guess I saying we aint all that and a bag of chips..we but users of products already made and pushed to us. Is like TV compared to the computer. One is mush pushed but invited and luved by the masses and the other interactive and informative for those that care to take an active role.

...sorry, I am rambling on...carry on :)

[ezelder 14]

I would say everything but that is the truth. It takes a little more time and support to maintain a busy BBS. Yes a website is nothing but Admin a BBS is alittle different. Band width is not cheap and space over the years when the bbs becomes busy. Updating and managing is and ongoing cost.

I dont complain about it and its free to anyone that want to join. *** does not run for 10 a month. its has a paid admin and a non-paid admin. Time is money.

Taken out of context, you are correct. You cannot run a site on $10 a month. My reference was to setting up the site itself. The time contribution was to be understood from previous points.

While you can put a price per hour on your time, your real cash outlay is zero, which was my point. So the admin side has no cost, except in cases like yours where you pay a third party to admin for you. Then yes, there is a REAL dollar value on that service.

You can calculate a price for your time investment based on what you feel your time is worth. Which I am sure, all of us, myself included, would price that at a much higher rate than industry standards.

In startup mode (read: pre-sponsorship) you can start a site for the hosting costs alone. Now of course if management of the site is pulling you away from 50-100 and hour (which in your case I am certain it would) then simple economics tells you its much cheaper to pay an admin 20-25 bucks and hour.

There are lots of variables to consider. For every single one we solve, another one will trump it.

[Ron Musgraves 240]

My time is more valuable than my admin or the guy who does my brakes. I could do both but i make more doing what i do and letting them do what they do.

I was taught this by my father at and early age. Thanks poPs.

This is off topic, can a bbs be a leader in the industry? YES!!!!

[mbryan 48]

In my years of being on different BBS's, I would say that the knowledge gained and experience overall would lead me to believe that a BBS could become and industry leader.

I have already gotten input from distributors about the impact that certain BBS's have had on their sales.

If members are given a safe haven and a forward direction to enhance their business, then the value of the BBS far exceeds any dues that one must pay to garner the information. The impact this can have on in industry as a whole, would be far more substantial that meetings or round tables that occur much more infrequently.

Our industry in particular has seen dramatic changes in the last year due to information shared on BBS's. Back this up with people that really do care about the industry, wanting to see it improve and move forward, and you have a group that is strong, in and of itself, on making a true difference in the industry as a whole.

[Ron Musgraves 240]

In my years of being on different BBS's, I would say that the knowledge gained and experience overall would lead me to believe that a BBS could become and industry leader.

I have already gotten input from distributors about the impact that certain BBS's have had on their sales.

If members are given a safe haven and a forward direction to enhance their business, then the value of the BBS far exceeds any dues that one must pay to garner the information. The impact this can have on in industry as a whole, would be far more substantial that meetings or round tables that occur much more infrequently.

Our industry in particular has seen dramatic changes in the last year due to information shared on BBS's. Back this up with people that really do care about the industry, wanting to see it improve and move forward, and you have a group that is strong, in and of itself, on making a true difference in the industry as a whole.

Matt, Did you get a puplicist?

Thanks Matt for sharing that statment. If TGP ever gets off the ground I truly wish you no hard feelings since the ground breaking for TGP happned on ***.

Very professional writing and truly good luck in the future.

[newlook 265]

Interesting points on all fronts. I know that there was some questions directed to me a couple posts up on page 1. of this thread. Been meaning to get to it.

[John T 744]

In my years of being on different BBS's, I would say that the knowledge gained and experience overall would lead me to believe that a BBS could become and industry leader.

I have already gotten input from distributors about the impact that certain BBS's have had on their sales.

If members are given a safe haven and a forward direction to enhance their business, then the value of the BBS far exceeds any dues that one must pay to garner the information. The impact this can have on in industry as a whole, would be far more substantial that meetings or round tables that occur much more infrequently.

Our industry in particular has seen dramatic changes in the last year due to information shared on BBS's. Back this up with people that really do care about the industry, wanting to see it improve and move forward, and you have a group that is strong, in and of itself, on making a true difference in the industry as a whole.

My opinion exactly except to add a few more things to it such as letting it morph into an Org. and also look to do a yearly Convention thats done with style and class to get more people to go and to bring the bb up to another level.... Good answer Matt

[mbryan 48]

Thanks John. On the same subject, I feel that an organization would greatly benefit from a well run BBS. I think PWNA is the only one I have seen try it, but from what I remember it wasn't around long.

As for seeing a BBS's morph in to an organization, who knows? There are so many great contractors and businessmen on these boards, guys that started with almost nothing and built great lives for themselves in the different cleaning industries. You would think that there are a few that have the foresight to come together and start an organization that can truly make a difference.

[John T 744]

Thanks John. On the same subject, I feel that an organization would greatly benefit from a well run BBS. I think PWNA is the only one I have seen try it, but from what I remember it wasn't around long.

As for seeing a BBS's morph in to an organization, who knows? There are so many great contractors and businessmen on these boards, guys that started with almost nothing and built great lives for themselves in the different cleaning industries. You would think that there are a few that have the foresight to come together and start an organization that can truly make a difference.

Matt once again I agree completely with that. I talked to Bryan Penny tonight about a few things and one of them was this post how I thought you nailed it... He had nothing but nice things to say about you and that your one smart guy.. Its evident just from reading these post.

[newlook 265]

Ditto on that as well. Great post Matt. I certainly think it would be possible and probably logical if a BBS took a stab at this. With the right folks behind the wheel I could so alot of postive coming from it.

I started this thread for a reason way back and have meant to be more involved with it but as luck would have it ~ I am just very busy these days but do plan on trying to "tap" into some of our industry talent and really see if this would be possible.

[mbryan 48]

Thanks guys.

Its becoming more evident that some sort of internet based organization would be viable. Several nation wide service companies operate their companies this way, you do the job then email the information and pictures to "headquarters".

I don't see why something like this couldn't be set up as an org. It would be much easier to stay on top of your members if there were constant communication in the form of a BBS.

It's nice to talk to guys over the phone, but the BBS allows you to state your peace and walk away if need be. I just think it is a more efficient form of communication, and the power it has could be endless.