Help keep our services free

Jewelry Discussion
1

Greetings al!

As you may know, Ganoksin.com is a large site that receives a great
deal of regular traffic. It is a focused site that is open to the
public, free of charge. In spite of Ganoksin.com’s high traffic
volume [Over 1,500,000 hits/month accomodating more than 90,000
Unique visitors] it has remained entirely without advertising until
recently.

Ganoksin.com provides a variety of quality services for the gem and
jewelry community. We work hard to maintain the high standards of
our
services for the benefit of our visitors. All our services are
provided free of charge, many of which cannot be found anywhere else
on the Internet. You are welcome to advertise on Ganoksin.com as a
way to help keep our services free for the public.

Most visitors to Ganoksin.com are jewelers, jewelry manufacturers,
craftsmen, artists, hobbyists, gemologists, students, and faculty
members, seeking gem jewelry related Unlike Yahoo,
Lycos, or Infoseek, where you reach a broad range of users, of which
most will not be interested in your products or services, the
visitors to Ganoksin.com all have a mutual interest in gems and
jewelry. In fact, most of them are jewelers, either professional or
hobbyist. As such, we offer you an opportunity to reach a specific
market group with a direct interest in tools, machinery, books,
publications, gemstones (both loose and rough), jewelry-related
software, and various services of import to the profession

As from the 1st of January 2001, a special 2 promotions package is
available:

1 Promotional Offer r#1 - $ 350.00

Your Banner shows up randomly on every pages of Ganoksin.com

for one
year

1 Promotional Offer #2 - $ 450.00

Your Banner shows up randomly on every pages of Ganoksin.com for
one
year and additional text add on 30 Issues of the Orchid Digest which
distributed daily to over 3,500 subscribers

More Information can be found at http://www.ganoksin.com/kosana

Should you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact
me directly at @Service

Truly Yours;
Hanuman

2

Dear, generous, Hanuman, and fellow Orchidians,

I’m not a fan of advertising. I know that it is a matter of pride
that Ganoksin.com is free. However, as we say here in the states,
“there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” :slight_smile: What were your thoughts
about charging for membership?

My first thoughts were that the charge could be an annual, prorated,
suggested fee, and honor-based. Perhaps we could suggest that all
members register and then, after three months, they would receive a
message asking for the membership fee. Perhaps the proration could be
determined as a percentage of income? 1% or 1 tenth of 1 percent? An
automatic, small monthly charge to the members charge card, if they
have one?

Just some thoughts, early in the morning.

Christine, in looks like sunny but I know it’s darn cold, Littleton,
Massachusetts, USA.

** Hanuman’s Response **

Dear Christine; Thank you for your post, Actually I got many private
posts suggesting charging some kind of yearly fees to support the
Ganoksin Project. I am afraid that this kind of action, although
reasonable is against the Ganoksin Project concept. We are here to
serve the needs of the worlds jewelers, to educate, make
life easier, improve working conditions and facilitate sharing between
goldsmiths globally. To improve access to in order to
improve the productivity, safety, skills and education of the
jewelers, professionals and hobbyists who need To harness
‘world-mind’ regarding jewelers problems and issues in the form of the
Orchid list and its archive.

All FREE of charge and open to the public.

The costs of running the project are extremely high (Currently over
2,000 US$ per month). There is no Organization or Company supporting
the project, there is no team of programmers or support team, I am
doing all the work by myself, working a full time job as an employee
to cover the running costs of the project. I choose the way of
offering advertizing services in order to keep the mission idea.

Thanks for understanding
Hanuman

3

Hanuman -

To help keep orchid free, I will use the services of the people who
advertise here.

4

I have no problem with advertising on the site. As a matter of fact
I’d welcome learning about suppliers I’ve not heard of before.
Jerry in Kodiak

5

Re the above:

For what it is worth I “study” :wink: the adds in Ornament and
Metalsmith. Ads can be a good thing. They provide I just
hope that the advertisers focus on product and service information
rather on attention-getting devices.

David Popham
Victoria, BC, Canada

6

Dear Hanuman, Since it might be difficult for a single person to
afford the advertising fee,how about a group such as a guild etc.to
get together and subscribe that way. Your thoughts please as so many
of us want to contribute. Thank you for everything. Louise Gerstenblatt
@LGOriginal

** Hanuman’s Response **

Good idea, any leads?

7

Dear Dr. Aspler, Reading your answer to Christine, how i wish i were
in the position to underwrite your whole operation. You cannot know
the depth of value each and every one of us gets from this site.

Yes there is data, methods, solutions, but the one thing
that infiltrates every pore of this site is HEART, it cannot be
bought, sold, manufactured, fabricated or cast. It is just there.

The Orchid of Eden.

Thank you Hanuman, and everyone, you are the soul of this site.

From the bottom of my heart, Teresa

8

Dear Hanuman – to me, a few discrete ads would not be such an
objectionable thing – (it might even help us with some of the “where
can I get what?” sort of questions --), given that most web sites
them, and they are reasonably easily ignored. However, — and I’m
sure I must be misunderstanding the phrasing of your proposal – it
sounds like, if, say, 50 people sent in their ads, there would then be
50 ads per page!!! on everything we get. I’m sure that’s not what you
meant – it’s just what it sounds like to me! Perhaps a little further
explanation??

Margaret

** Hanuman’s Response **

To make things clear. Nothing in the format of the Ganoksin site is
going to change. Banners have been on the site for almost 2 years.
The same format will accommodate this funds rasing rush. Thanks for
all who all ready showed interest. I will put up a page soon listing
all the contributors (names only) hope this clarify the issue.

hanuman

9

i wouldn’t mind paying . way better info here than in some
seminars/courses i’ve been to and paid for!!! :slight_smile: after all
is priceless and one good answer could be the difference
between saved work (Re: contaminated pickle) and a piece lost to
damage because the wasn’t known. i could use the anology
of advertising. you pay to advertise to increase business - the
business increases because of the greater exposure - the advertising
then has paid for itself. the knowledge here is the same thing - you
pay for service - service provides answers to tough problem through a
member- work is made easier or quicker - save time maybe money since
you don’t have to learn by trial and error. i have to say in the week
i’ve read the threads i’ve learned alot of detail i might never have
had .also i’ve been out of the field for many years and at first was
a little lost with some of the slang. now i’m not that alone has
value. i don’t know though ,this is just my opinion. Talk to you later
Dave

10

Perhaps some of the major suppliers to the trade could be invited to
advertise, with links to their web pages. Gem dealers, tool suppliers,
findings houses, casters, and other businesses that have an
advertising budget.

Rick Hamilton

11

Dear Dr. Aspler:

Even though I have been a member of Orchid for less than a week I have
learnt so much…Thank you very much!! I think small companies like
ours can benefit a lot from advertisers on this site. I thank you
once again for taking the initiative and helping other and continuing
to stick to your mission statement.

Best regards,

Vinit.

12

i get very much and pleasure being in this forum… if
you asked every member to contribute $1, i would think you would well
be able to cover your expenses… you could even hire a guru and
take some load off… put a credit card security system in and i
would think you would not have much problem…after all what’s a
buck??? just my two cents…john Henry…AKA ringman

13

David Popham, Hanuman, et al:

I’m so used to being bombarded by adverts for things I don’t want and
don’t need, so used to insulating myself from the persuasive
influences of same, and fighting against the cultural imperative to
"buy, buy , buy," that I’d forgotten that "ads can be a good thing."
I, too, study the ads in various trade magazines.

Christine in Littleton, MA, USA, where the ice dams are building up
on the roof.

14

Hello Orchidians, I like the idea of relevant ads on the website. It
would be much more efficient as a buyer, to have a group of suppliers
already grouped for ready comparison. Rather like going to Tucson (G
& M Show) on the web. The most impressive thing about Orchid is the
genuine, sincere helpfulness of its members. Their unbiased exchange
of has influenced my own acquisions. Personally, I have
bought (or intend to purchase) the following items as a direct result
of postings on Orchid: a digital camera, rolling mill, citric acid
pickle, non-tarnish sterling wire and sheet, ionic cleaner, repair of
equipment, and drusy quartz. It is safe to say that very few of
these items would have been in my awareness, let alone easily
available without Orchid. Many thanks to Hanuman/Dr. Aspler for the
excellent efforts in maintaining this fine forum. As someone (I wish
I could give the name) has said, Orchid Rules! Judy in Kansas Judy M.
Willingham, R.S. Extension Associate 221 Call Hall Kansas State
Univerisity Manhattan KS 66506 (785) 532-1213 FAX (785) 532-5681

15

dear dr. a - ads wouldn’t work for my designs, BUT what i would find
as an easy & conscience calming solution is to have orchid set up an
account with a secured online service such as PayPal, etc. so
orchidites can charge an annual membership fee. every day you bring a
multitude of services with your site: - news source,

  • employment referral, wage revelation,

  • jewelry related material & service provider resource,

  • think tank for ideas, work procedures, brainstorming, &
    instruction,

  • substitute for the dog who would be kicked otherwise,

  • psychiatrist, mother, dutch uncle, best friend, referee, &
    frequently, sole contact in a world of ‘anyone out there?’ for a lot
    of us,

  • confidence instiller (& the wee small voice/email off of the thread
    who knew when to bring a smile to a discouraged orchidite who needed
    one). you have become an integral trinity with pbs & npr (for non-usa:
    public broadcasting system & national public radio) in my life - if
    it works for pbs why shouldn’t it work for orchid?

in short, your efforts have placed orchid smack in the middle of our
lives in such a way that we would all be less without it & you. so
please, consider charging an annual fee - even on an 'honor system’
basis you should realize enough from most of us to partially balance
the outgo against the benefit we derive from you & your work. one X
vote for membership - ive

16

I would like to second Vinit Dhariwal. I am a new member too and I
am flattered by the responses that I received on my postings. This is
definitely a cozy, helping professional community. Thanks for
keeping it.

Kayce Chidambaram Ph.D.
Principal R&D Chemical Engineer
The Bell Group
7500 Bluewater Road NW
Albuquerque NM 87121-1962
Tel: (505) 839-3523
Fax: (505) 839-3525

17

I have made a commitment to Hanuman to send him $250 at the end of
this month. I would like to challenge all of you to make a similar
donation that reflects your current income level.

18

Dear Mr. Hanuman:

Though I am not personnally against the idea of paying subscription
dues as a matter of course to offset the huge amount of monies
required to keep this forum going. I do believe this would definitly
end up being one big pain, not only for you but also to the other
subscribers as a whole!! How would one go about figuring the amount
due in US$, Lira, centavos, pounds sterling, Rubles, Yen, Deuschmarks,
Canadian, New Zeland, Australian, Egyption and the other one hound and
sixty six sme odd national monies??? It my sole opinian that this would
cause you more headache than it’s worth. No, it is better and by far
easier on the ownwr and all concerned to sell a few banners and
descreat advertising!!! I believe you said in your original letter
that you will keep these in such a manner that it would not be
intrusive and would be kept within the mission statement of “Orchid” ,
I believe that we all can deal with a little bit of advertisement
space so we can keep receiving the benifits of this open forum.

Thank You s much for all your hard work in keeping this up and runnng
for all to see and participate in, even those that just sit back and
enjoy learn quite a lot!! Thanks again,

Richard Blahnik Lufkin, Texas USA

19

I agree with both sides. . . hahaha. . . Actually, I do. I think
Hanuman could do a little advertising without spoiling the character
of the site, and we could have voluntary contributions as well. I
think dues would discourage a lot of novice subscribers who may not
have gotten to the point where this forum is helping them enough that
they see it as an investment to keep it going. My business can
afford to make a donation, perhaps not as generous at this time as
Mr. Spirer’s. I’m going to move forward with that.

David L. Huffman

20

I can’t match your generous contribution, but I’ll send $75 at this
time. Perhaps Hanuman will post an address to send to, and describe
a form that’s secure and easily converted. Cashier’s check?
Traveler’s check? Made out to who?

David L. Huffman

** Hanuman’s response **

Thank you all for your kind support. I truly appreciate it!
Contributions can be send over to me as personal checks or Cashier’s
checks payable to dr. e. aspler. my address is:

								Dr. E. Aspler
								BS Building #4 
								14-16 Soi Intamara 42
							      Sutisarn Rd, Huay Kwang, Bangkok
								Thailand 10320