Why should I join as an OFFICIAL member?

[seech]

I think this is the key question isn't it? If we can answer this well enough with overwhelming reasons and benefits and demonstrate the tremendous value of becoming an 'official' member of BMW Club Malaysia then we probably won't have enough registration forms to go around and the majority of us will sign up.As one of the persons who has contributed to this 'controversy' in other posts please allow me an opportunity to prove that I'm not just a person who complains but one who is concerned about where this forum is heading and contribute some ideas of how we can work things out so everyone is happy.In any sales transaction (getting people to sign up as 'official' members can also be viewed as a sales transaction) there are a few critical factors. The first and most important in any sales process is reaching as many qualified prospects as possible. How do you reach the most qualified prospects to inform them of the product which you are trying to sell which in this case is the 'official' membership? That question is easy to answer, the members of this forum can certainly be considered qualified prospects. Most are passionate about BMW's so most would be open to hear about the benefits of joining as an 'official' member. Any sales professional will tell you securing a steady stream of new prospects is one of the more important parts of the sales process. If I'm not mistaken according to the site statistics there are Members: 6,685, Active Members: 2,669 and because of the lively and vibrant forum this number keeps growing. But for the sake of simplicity lets just take only the active members and round it off to 2,500.So we now have 2,500 potential customers for our product. Now we need to approach all these prospects and demonstrate the benefits and overwhelming value of what we are trying to sell. Do a good enough job of this and you may get a 10% conversion rate. Even at that rate you would have 250 'official' members. Improve that conversion rate and you could easily have 500 'official' members. Demonstrate to those who have not signed up how many benefits the 'official' members have enjoyed and those fence sitters will also be compelled to join as well. Do this well enough and you could easily have 1,000 'official' members.So what's my point? My point is that if you demonstrate to the forum members overwhelming value then I'm certain you will have quite a few members signing up as 'official' members. Even so, you will still have those who don't sign up. Does that mean that they even though they have no interest in becoming 'official' members right now that they will never want to join as an 'official' member in the future? For some of those like me, this just isn't the right time as they may have other more pressing matters in their lives. Still, these members should not be given up as no hope and shut out as things may change in the future.From what I have read so far, there seems to be two issues at hand. The desire to set up a 'real' club on planet earth as opposed to a cyber club and the need to fund the club activities including this website.Getting people to sign up as 'official' members just to set up an official real world club as recognized by the ROS isn't all that compelling. Getting them to sign up to get a goodie bag may not interest everyone either. From what I can see, one of the main reasons given for getting people to sign up is to allow them unrestricted us of this forum. I am not an expert and I may be wrong but I think that this may not work out as planned. The very reason you have so many qualified prospects is because of this forum. Closing the forum to non 'official' members will not compel them to join as what is the point of a forum when there are only a few 'official' members around? Imagine if all the non official member posts were deleted and only the 'official' member posts were left, there wouldn't be very much going on. Most of the activity and new posts are from unofficial members who are registered forum members. We all know there are other local sites out there to cater for a similar crowd but the reason we have so many people here is that this forum is seen as the official forum and hence 2,500+ active members. Cutting these people off will just kill this site and with the death of this site you will no longer have a ready supply of prospects to sign up as 'official' members.So what can we do to satisfy everyone? For one thing, I think it would be best to separate the two issues and not link them together. BMW Club Malaysia and bmwclubmalaysia.com should be considered the same but separate. What do I mean? Have a two tier membership structure. One for the real world and one for cyberspace. I'm sure there are many more forummers who are willing to contribute a small amount to join as 'official' forum members who have full access to the site as this amount shouldn't be that big anyway. Of course real world 'official' members would also enjoy this benefit. I don't know how much it cost to host this forum but lets just say we charge just $1 per member to gain full access. If all 2,500+ active members sign up you already have $2,500+ a year to cover the cost of running this site. I'm sure you will have many, many more people willing to pay $1 vs. $300.Of course, the real world BMW club members will have their own benefits that virtual members will not enjoy. If virtual members want to enjoy the same benefits then they are always welcome to sign up as 'official' members.If the benefits of joining the real world portion of the club demonstrates overwhelming value I'm sure many virtual members will sign up as well to enjoy the same benefits.Some ideas on how to make it more compelling for fellow forummers to sign up as 'official' members. Just my random ideas so some may or may not be workable:- Get special access to events for 'official' members only. This does not have to be only for big events like F1. What about a special preview of the latest models of BMW's by Auto Bavaria? I'm sure most of the members would be keen to see the latest models in a special preview organized by AB. This shouldn't be too difficult to arrange as this is the 'official' BMW club and I'm sure AB would also like to reach existing BMW enthusiast? How about access to any BMW sanctioned events? Motorshows etc. anything to do with BMW's. How about invites to previews of the latest products and accessories for BMW's from any of the vendors or tuners? - Dyno days for members only at special member rates? Free diagnostic checks for all members by AB or other specialty workshops? Trackdays for members only.- Educational events for 'official' members only. Maybe invite a paint manufacturer to explain to our members how to choose better paint for their cars. Visit to automotive product manufacturers. Goodyear factory visit? AB factory? What about car detailing events like those organized by Meguiar's Malaysia for official car clubs. They are free but you do have to be a member of a car club.- Access to official BMW merchandise. Only 'official' members will be allowed to purchase these products. Group purchases. Only 'official' members can participate in group purchases (which logically should be better value vs. individual purchase). I'm sure this alone might compel some of us to join. Join as a real member and save money!!!- Because we have a lot of BMW owners as members, I'm sure our demographics are appealing to certain companies. Maybe a special event at the LV boutique or a golf shop or anything else that may interest a BMW owner. (I know not everyone drives a new bimmer but I'm sure we have enough who may be interested in such things.) Previews to new housing projects????? Investment talks??? - Discounts for official members at various car outlets. Maybe tie up with an official tire shop/workshop/paint shop/etc.? They would welcome the exposure and we would welcome the discounts.Anyway, I'm sure some of the ideas I've listed above may or may not be workable but if some of them could be implemented I'm sure many more of us would join as 'official' members.My point is that if you want more people to join as 'official' members then make it so irresistible that those who haven't joined will feel stupid for not joining and will sign up immediately. Closing the forum to those who do not sign up may not work that well. People generally react negatively to being threatened. Join or else.....Ok. I've said all that I have wanted to say. I am not an 'official' member and currently have no plans to join due to other commitments in my life right now.I AM however a keen forummer and enjoy posting and keeping involved in this forum. I'm realistic and understand that everything has a cost. I would gladly contribute to pay for the cost of keeping this forum up and running. I may be wrong but I'm sure there are others who feel the same. It would be a shame to see this all this gone. I am not here to cause anyone any trouble but I felt strongly enough about this to explain my reasons above. I do hope those in charge will take all our views into account but the final decision still lies with them.This will be my last post on this issue as it is out of my hands anyway and I have said all I have to say on this issue.Thank you.

 

[anxious]

I visit this website almost everyday. I 've been doing so for quite some time. It is almost instinctive when i turn on the PC.

Being in Penang and with my committmentsI dont really see myself participating in the Official club itself.

If eventually I am barred from visiting the forum bcos I'm not an officilal member , I would be very sad but that itself is not going to make me sign up as an Official Member.

I personally think that for this forum to be alive,access to the forums should remain open to all. If not the reality is that the forum itself will eventually suffer a slow and painful death.

The forum should be used as a tool to attract the public to the Official Club and once the a person is interested he can always regiter as an official member.

A lot of foreign clubs are like that. Even BMW club uk forum is free.

The whole idea of the forum should be to share the joy of owning the UDM with as many people as possible.

As for the cost of upkeep of the website I'm sure with the publicity the forum gets there will me more hits and more sponsorship.

If there still is a shortage of funds, a donation drive can be launched and I for one am willing to donate towards such a fund.

Guys the important thing is dont kill the forum. If you restrict access it is eventually going to kill the forum and this inviariably will affect the club itself.

So pls keep the forum open to all.

Thanks

 

[thsaw99]

seech and anxious i have no doubt you guys are truly passionate about bmw and also about this site...and i agree with most of your arguments here.

what we face here now, all the discontents and frustrations, i'm sure will be sorted out and a solution will come our way soon so that most if not all are happy.

i ask for understanding from everyone to allow the committee some time to digest and analyse the latest developments here so that they could come out with something.

to keep all 2600 plus active members here happy all the time is no easy feat plus this site is not driven by profits nor is it commercially intended, so let us give some thought to the ppl behind the scene to keep this great site like it has always been

 

[David Yong]

I am 100% agreeable with seech!

The CLUB should do more or create more interesting thing or value first to entice people to join them officially. Like the saying, make yourself important, popular and valuable then only you start to ask people to follow or join you. People will then see the value in you.

As of now, what value can we see or get from joining as an official member ? Can we show BMW Member Club to Parkson Grand, Metrojaya, shops in KLCC, LV, Montblanc, Cortina Watch, etc etc to get discount ? Or even get special discount repairing cars at AB ?? If not, then what's the point paying RM 150.00 per annum. Some of us even want the bank to waive our credit card annual fee which is almost the same amount. We just refuse to pay the credit card annual fee but here we just pay RM 150.00 per annum for the sake of "feeling" prestigious, get a t-shirt, sticker, bag, number plate holder.

Come on, the CLUB should make itself valuable and attractive first so that people see value in it. Then I’m sure there will many more people would love to join in officially.

That's my opinion and sorry if I offended anyone.

 

[XXX]

Ok very good views and very relevant .

All things mentioned above are part of what this clubs vision is but we have to start some where, as such we are hoping for your faith to be part of this club. At this moment we have zero funds, until recently that is, from collection of membership fees by members who have paid up...so how are we going to do all those things expected of us at this moment in time with limited funds. We dont have the numbers to talk to Parkson, AB or anybody to get them to be part of this whole thing...unless we lie and use this sites figures but is that ethical? but all this has been in the pipeline.

Also the constitution that was drawn by the founding members cannot be change at this moment in time and in this constitution there are alot of things that what you want done cannot be done until that constitution is changed.
eg. lower fees , leaving website open to non paying members and so on...
believe it or not we cant even offer a special offer price to the 1st 100 to join bcos it was not in the constitution.
So until we have enough members to hold an AGM and vote for New Office Bearers and to change the constitution...Im sad to say we are asking for your faith to make this club what you want it to be, but to be fair we have already created a great site, so that is one of the proof of what can be done if we put our hearts and faith into it.
Its like investing in a new company you can only have faith that your investment works out as you cant be 100% sure bcos if you have this gift of knowing which company is definetely goin to make money, I dont think you would be in this club as you would probably be a member of The Official Lamborghini or Ferrari Club.

So Come All Ye Faithful and be part of history in the making....The making of a wonderful Club called BMW Club Malaysia.


Ps: And I thought I was long winded, Seech you beat me to it. hats off to you.

 

[Lee36328]

Seech,

Thank you sincerely for your most constructive feedback. I find your analysis logical and the ideas proffered thoughtfully derived, and refreshingly helpful.

I believe good ideas such as yours will rise above the random noise level, and some will most surely be acted upon.

It would be sad to lose a potential member such as yourself.

Hopefully at some point in the near future when circumstances permit, you will join the club, and make a difference, giving the club the benefit of your insight.

 

[anxious]

Many other foreign forums are open to the public

see http://www.xxxxxx/forums/


This will be the 1st warning to you, will you please stop spamming.

 

[tamade7]

From what I observed the value of Tech and Performance is going straight down the drain. There is hardly any new posts there so why pay to be there? This is what seech and other concern members afraid of; the forum losing its value and thus its members.

 

[XXX]

Dear tamade

what members are you talking about, we are now only starting on the membership drive and are recruiting members. You are not paying to use the forum you are paying to join the CLUB. This site will be used to communicate with the clubs members or should i say a 'club house'. As for this forum it will still be open but with limited access to non members. We thank you all out there for the concern of the well being of this forum but if you guys are sincere please join BMW Club and with your passion and dedication we can make this club to be better than the forum.
We are still taking all views and suggestions and are taking them into consideration so please bear with us as we fine tune the whole thing.

You see the mistake we made was to open up this forum first before the Club, the intentions was to build a Club not a forum if its just the forum why do we want to register ourselves with ROS.....infact if we are really out to make money, this forum is the way to make it why bother abt creating a CLUB where we are subjected to audits.

 

[Jerman]

Whether one see any VALUE of joining the club depends solely on youself! Just like a glass of water, some see it half full while others half empty!
From my personal experience, there are lots of resources and contacts which offer "real value" related to our cars and socially!


I have appended the Club's President note below just in case some of you may have missed it...........

Dear members,
We have previously announced in the forum that we had finally received the green light from the Registrar of Society as the official BMW Club Malaysia. After going through due process to get the official bank account activated, we can now move on to the next stage to officially start BMW Club Malaysia Membership Recruitment Drive.

The membership fees are:
1) Registration Fees (One Time) : RM150
2) Annual fees : RM75 (Pro-rated from June 2007 to Dec 2007)

Membership would be valid till 31 Dec 2007 from the date of approval. With effect from Jan 2008, acceptance and approval of new members will only be facilitated from Jan - March 2008. Those who miss the boat are still welcomed to participate in official events at non-subsidized rates. Priority will be given to official members for exclusive events (limited attendance).

Members who sign up would be entitled the following items and benefits:-
1) Starter pack worth more than RM150
- Official BMW Club Membership Card
- Official BMW Club Shirt - new design (for Members only)
- Official BMW Club Cap
- Official BMW Club Key Chain
- Official BMW Club Number Plate Holder
- Official BMW Club Car Sticker
- Exclusive PA insurance (coverage RM75,000)
2) Member Privilege Price for participation fees for future club events.
3) Unrestricted access to the BMW Club Malaysia website. In 3 weeks' time, the administrator will be doing some major spring cleaning to this forum where restrictive access will be implemented.

At the moment, there are other arrangements being negotiated with various parties to benefit the club members ie club member discounts, strategic alliances with relevant sponsors/merchants.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is what we've been waiting for. Membership forms and cheques have already started pouring in. Come be a part of the only officially recognised and sanctioned BMW CLUB in Malaysia. United We Stand, Divided We Fall!
Further information and details would be announced in due time.

Regards,
Daredevil
President 2006/07
BMW CLUB MALAYSIA

 

[XXX]

ah! a wise one has spoken. Thank you

 

[anxious]

Many other foreign forums are open to the public

see http://www.xxxxxx/forums/


This will be the 1st warning to you, will you please stop spamming.

Dear XXX

I wasnt spamming. I only put up the url address to the Singapore BMW site which you have deleted.( you can do a google to find this site)

My point is that many BMW clubs around the world have forums which are open to the public.

Of course if you choose to join the club and participate in the activities then you have to pay.

The forums are open to all to encourage free flow of info amongst all who visit.

Of course you can have private or members only areas but what i'm afraid is that there is a possibility that the reverse might happen here wherein the most of the site is closed to the public and there only is a small non members area.

Pls dont get me wrong, i appreciate the hard work who guys hv put in but somtimes one can’t see the forest for the trees.


If you do go through with closing down most of the forum to the public, you will find that this forum will lose its following and invariably the club its source of membership. Therefore I do hope you see the bigger picture.

Personally I have nothing to gain. Money is certainly not the issue here as Idont mind paying to access the forum but I doubt that there will be a forum alive if you continue to close down public access to this forum.

So I seriously hope you rethink your strategy as this actually is for the benefit of the club itself as without the forum there really is not much of a club left.

Dear Anxious

You were posting the same thread all over the place, that is spamming.

XXX

 

[kevster30]

An active forum does not equate an active club and vice versa. Here's the thing, if there are 'potential' members who are disgruntled, to you I say, be pro-active, become a member and become a voice that can insight the changes that can propel this club to greater heights. If you are not happy about status quo, the power to illicit change is in your hands.

This club belongs to it's members. Good or bad, it is up to you. Not happy with the fees? Call for a open discussion. Not happy with the committee? Call for an EGM. Stop whining as no resolution will come from it.

As for the decision to keep the forum open or closed to just members, that decision is yours to make as well.

There are no omnipotent powers at work here........get involved, illicit change and stop griping!

However none of this is applicable is you are not a member. Life's like that unfortunately.....alway putting us between a rock and a hard place.

Cheers..........

 

[Msport-525i]

hmmm....again? same issue...

just do what you feel its right ....to both the committee and the fellow official or unofficial members :

a) Do what you think its right....and may god bless you...
b) Just let it be..... u guys have already mentioned there are many othr clubs that offers it for free...so why worry abt this club, since u guys feel u will be majority, dont want to pay the membership fees, just be it and join the freee club also a BMW enthusiats right?......
c) The difference, the human themselve and we cannot change the fact on how ppl think...so no point talking abt it.. just go for a nice TT and shake hands as good friends.. all of you owns a BMW or perhaps a few BMWs... u dont want to join, no one is forcing us... and the committee here hav the rights to post membership drive on what soever cos its their decision...w respect that....


Cheers.

 

[thsaw99]

just proved how a slight change in human environment will trigger much reactions...

fellas, we are now going thru a phase of 'change' within the club..it will now evolve to become what all of us hope will be the ultimate automobile club in the country, if not region..like the ultimate driving machines we all love..

so why don't we all put our faith together and give the committee a chance, heck, give us a chance...and ONLY with 150...what have we got to lose..?

 

[Bond007]

Hi, have been lurking around for a while......here's my opinion.

I believe that the committee should be more involved in discussions of this nature. I understand that there will be merchandise and some other perks thrown in as part of the membership. These, however hold very little value in the grand scheme of things.

The real question is this: What are we paying to be members of? A club or a forum? It seems that shutting down the forum in stages is similar to desperate guerilla tactics to recruit members. My apologies for this assumption to the relevant parties.

A club is a gathering of people with common passions and interests. Up till now, I have read several discussions about this club and other 'splinter' groups that have been rather 'heated'. Perhaps we as members of this 'gathering' ask ourselves is the club and the forum the same thing?

The relevance and importance of this forum to BMW enthusiast is unquestionable. The club, however, is questionable. There isn't enough structured info about the club IMHO.

What is the club's direction? What is its' vision? These basic info should be clearly outlined so that interested individuals can arrive at a clear decision. An events calendar would be nice for a start. If I were to pay an annual subscription fee, I would like to know what to look forward to in that year that I am subscribing to.

I do not mean to start any fires in this forum, but I believe this to be simple and basic facts that we need to clarify in any organization, society, club etc.

Peace

 

[anxious]

Dear XXX

If that was my offence then I apologise but why then did you selectively choose to only delete the url to the Singapore Bimmers club. Shouldnt you have deleted the entire posting in the thread which I repeated myself and left the original post and url so others could see what I was referring to.

Anyway to those who want to see how other bmwclubs function , just do a google search on BMW Club UK and BMW.SG.

In fact the Singapore website slogan is "Bringing The BMW Community Together".

Anyway I repeated my post becos the issue seemed to be discussed in various threads. Am i not entitled to express myself in the various different threads even if I have the same thing to say?

Anyway warning me for spamming is really uncalled for. But that is my opinion.

Anyway I have said what I wanted to say. I really dont need any response from you.

I am sorry if any of any of you have felt offended by my remarks but I feel very strongly about it and just wanted to share my thoughts. If the same is not appreciated I'll keep it to myself.

But this issue is not about myself or you but this forum. If you guys think the forum is private property thenm so be it. You can do as you please.

I still think the forum should be treated separately and remain open to all. In fact I am willing to put my money where my mouth is and donate RM150 pa to the upkeep of the forum. As for the freebies, I dont really need them.

All I ask is consider this altenative, keep the forum open. You can try to fund it from donations as I'm sure many members out there are willing to contribute to keep the forum open to the public and as the Singapore slogan goes,"Bringing The BMW Community Together".

Instead your actions have caused various splinter groups to form.

It should be made known that I am not alligned to any of these groups as I have absolutely no interest in what i consider petty politics.

As you may have realised by now I have a genuine interest in BMWs and am very passionate about it. The forum provides an oppurtunity for me and many like me to acquire knowledge and learn about this wonderful machine.

The reason I am taking the time to make this post is that I feel there should be one strong forum rather than many little forums. There should ideally be one forum open to all and cathering for all and it should be free, so everyone new to the world of bimmers knows where to go to for help and advise.

If the BMWCLUBMALAYSIA could do this then it would really bring meaning to the club.

How many of us have the time to socialise. For those who want to participate in such activities then by all means go ahead but what about the silent majority who only wish to participate in the forum.

Aiyah I can go on and on but if you havent got the point by now what is the use.

As I've said my RM150 is yours , just keep the forum open to the public!

 

[XXX]

thank you for your views Mr. Bond , things in here must be really hot to have got yourself registered to post what you have posted and the first post too
We know that we have started on a wrong footing by letting this site run too long that everybody has assumed the forum is the club,we are not denying that fact, what you have said is very true abt structured info and what one is sucbsribing to, so what has happened here is we are giving it a kickstart by doing a recruitment drive with the hope that you all, the BMW enthusiast who have enjoyed and gained from this forum will subscribe to it. We have mentioned in other threads abt the vision of the club and its plans but with yet any members or enough of it we are holding that back for the new committee thats to be elected when this club is up and running to hold an AGM, as such we have not done a calendar of events in a sense that it might not be fulfilled as it may not be carried over by the new committee, for the moment the club merchandise and the access to the forum is the only thing we have as leverage for the membership fees charged. Thats the reason why we want to close the forum to the public not bcos of desperate guerilla tactics but to be fair to those who have paid to be members. Unfortunately by doing this we have also open up the floodgates to hell so we are now taking into serious consideration the views of those who have given their 2 cents worth and will also get views of members who have paid up to see what we should do, but another stumbling block will be the Constitution of this club that was submitted to the ROS as such to change things now is not possible wihout the show of hands by paid up members of which we do not have enough yet to set a quorum.

So believe it or not we are asking for your faith to help get this Club started and move forward from there as at the end of the day its not my club its yours, so how this club and its forum succeed is all basically down to you guys.
We are just here to get the ball rolling....so that BMW Club Malaysia will become a reality.

 

[XXX]

Anxious

we do not condone the linking of other clubs website, thats the reason why I edited the link. Sorry if it offended you but i guess you didnt know, thats why we only gave you a warning.

I know that youre very passionate abt this website and is willing to pay just not to close it, but like I said earlier it hard to please everybody but dont worry we will try to work something out thats a win win situation for all. So if you all out there have any suggestions to get to this situation pls feel free to give your 2 cents.

 

[XXX]

Seriously, im still wondering why most here who seems so passionate abt the brand questioning abt why this club should come to past.
When in actual fact we should all be supporting its cause and with the numbers, BMW Malaysia, Auto Bavaria, Sapura Auto will have to bow to us..muahahahaha.
So you see, indirectly we are creating a union for BMW owners so that we can be heard... like what our club president likes to quote 'United We Stand Divided We Fall'