Ning:

We have a new land of milk and honey~ Its endless and good to build and grow food on. Come join us FREE and build your home and plant your fields~! Enjoy the fruits of your labors~ We have investors who will watch you develop our land and make it into a big city and they will pay us to watch and to sell their ads alongside your homes. Everybody wins~!

 

So you move in, build your home, plant your fields, raise your family and all is well.

 

Until Ning comes back years later and says, well times are tough, nothing is free anymore, now you will have to pay for all the free land we gave you OR you have to leave.

 

So to leave would mean demolishing your house, leaving your neighbors, missing the harvest of your fields and so you ask 'How much will I have to pay you o great Ning, in order to remain in my house and tend my fields?'

Ning says wait til May 4th and I will tell you.. So you wait and hope that what the great Ning demands of you, that you can keep your home and fields.

 

The day arrives and the great Ning makes his demands known.

 

Now for little homes with less neighbors, the price seems reasonable at $2.95 but some of the services and bus lines will be cut off and you will have to haul your own water and not be part of the overall community as you once were since now you are limited to 150 friends or less.

 

"But o great Ning, I have 275 friends, whom shall I cut off in order to remain here on my land? "

 

Well the great Ning said , you can pay me $19.95 a month and keep your friends, BUT you will have to sacrifice some of your current benefits and trim your home - you will have to pay for any other services our Ning city provides which you have received freely for years, you will have less modules and less pages and whatever else I decide later on....

 

 

"Well o Great Ning, what if my fields are full and I need those pages and modules?"

 

"Well then", the great Ning said, "then you can pay me $49.95 a month and keep most of what you now have until I can decide what next I want to charge you extra for~!! [like more bandwidth and whatever else I later decide on..]"

 

 

"But great Ning, I can not afford $49.95 a month to pay you in order to keep my home and fields and friends~!!"

 

 

"What will I do since many of my friends rely on me to provide them with food and shelter~!"

 

O Great Ning replied,"Charge them memberships, like I am now charging you"

 

 

What a great idea,{??}

 

I can spread out the costs of the great Ning's new decree over all my friends and each of us will have only a little to pay but at least we can then remain here in our homes and cultivate our fields~!! A solution with merit~!!!! {??}

 

BUT WAIT A MINUTE, THE GREAT NING THOUGHT.... HMMM ... ANOTHER WAY TO TAX THE PEOPLE AND MAKE ME RICHER......

 

New Ning decree:

 

For every person you get to help pay you for remaining on ning lands, you will have to give a % to the great Ning for making this a workable solution , since the great Ning is in control~!

 

 

And the people groaned~!!

Taxation on taxation... we may be left with less than we started out with!!!

 

So many of the people, saddened and disheartened by the greedy great Ning, began to pack their belongings and dismantle their homes and burn their fields and thus the Exodus has begun~!!!

 

For those who choose to remain and pay the great Ning, [so they dont have to pack up their homes and leave what they already worked so hard to achieve] they now have to live in fear of wondering what will be the next hardship the great Ning will put upon their shoulders~!! How long will this Ningdom stand?

 

The Ningdom will indeed shrink as neighboring networks, appalled at the new great Ning's dictates are coming forward offering safe haven and shelter to Ningite owners choosing to pack uo and are moving away.

 

 

Some of these networks [UPDATE JULY 2011: started out offering Ning site owners, free passage to their networks, but now as a year has passed, we have seen they also began asking for money much like Ning yet their networks have proven for the most part to be inferior to Ningh!]

http://grou.ps    HAS BEEN HARD TO NAVIGATE AND TO SEPARATE PHOTO GALLERIES, THEY GET MIXED UP - BUT HAS SOME NICE FEATURES, YET NOT AS EASY TO NAVIGATE AS NING IS. ~ NING IS BETTER ~!
http://spruz.com SEEMED THE MOST SIMILAR TO NING, MIGRATION WAS EASY , SOME PAGES NOT TOO DIFFICULT TO USE, BUT SIGN UP HAD GLITCHES AND IT HAS BEEN DIFFICULT FOR MEMBERS TO SET UP THEIR PAGES AND ALBUMS. SPRUZ ALSO BEGAN TO ASK FOR MONEY AFTER OFFERING THE SITES FREE, MANY NING OWNERS WHO DELETED THEIR NING ACCTS WERE VERY DISAPPOINTED AFTER SO MUCH EFFORT & MIGRATION ONLY TO BE FORCED TO PAY SPRUZ AND HAVE LESS BENEFITS THAN NING OFFERS!
http://yahoogroups.comTHIS IS A GOOD PROMOTIONAL SITE SYSTEM, REMAINS FREE BUT HAS LIMITED OPTIONS THAT PROVIDE VENUE FOR ARTISTS TO SELL .ITS A BIT 'ROUGH' AROUND THE EDGES BUT ONE OF THE ORIGINAL SOCIAL SITE NETWORKS ONLINE.
http://www.facebook.comFACEBOOK IS STILL A VIABLE SITE TO USE BUT IS MORE SLANTED TOWARDS SOCIAL THAN BUSINESS, YET YOU CAN DEVELOP PAGES AND GROUPS THERE TO REACH OUT TO OTHERS.
http://www.myspace.comSTILL FREE AND GOOD TO KEEP A PAGE UP AT TO RECEIVE YOUR TWITTER UPDATES AND TO ADVERTISE.
http://www.webs.comVERY PROMISING SITE SOLUTION FOR SELLING ART.CAN HAVE MEMBERSHIPS, HAS LIMITED FREE USAGE WITH CAPABILITIES OF UPGRADING. A BIT COMPLICATED TO NAVIGATE, BUT I USE IT TO PROMOTE MY NING SITE~

http://microsoftofficelive.com[UPDATE JULY 2011: THIS NETWORK IS MORE FOR THE DEVELOPER THAT HAS 'MORE KNOW' HOW ON WEBSITE DESIGN AND OPERATIONS. TOO COMPLICATED FOR AVERAGE SITE OWNERS BUT WORTH PLAYING AROUND WITH TO DEVELOP AS A SUPPORTIVE SITE TO NING. I THINK IT CAN INCUR FEES BUT I ONLY WENT TO THE EXTENT OF FREE SERVICES

 

and many more!!!! Easily find them in any search engine~!! BUT LABOR INTENSIVE & CAN BE DIFFICULT FOR MEMBERS, SO THEY MAY LOSE INTEREST AND PARTICIPATE LESS~

Look under 'free social websites'..

 

UPDATE JULY 2011: UNLIKE MANY OWNERS, I KEPT AND STILL OPERATE MY NING. WHILE I SPEND 100'S OF HOURS SETTING UP AND OPENING OTHER SUPPORTIVE SITES, I FOUND THEN DIFFICULT TO ANNOYING TO WORK ON, DESPITE SOME BEING FREE AND OTHERS LURING PEOPLE IN AS FREE AND THEN CHARGING [ LIKE SPRUZ~ WHICH KEEPS MY SITE UP AS IS WITHOUT ME BEING IN CONTROL AND ALLOWS SPAMMERS TO JOIN THAT HARRASS MY MEMBERSHIP WITHOUT ME BEING ABLE TO STOP THEM, AS I CAN DO ON NING~! MY SPRUZ SITE IS BASICALLY EXISTING WITH ME LOCKED OUR SO IT IS AN AD SITE HOLDING A FEW MEMBERS ARTWORK AND LINKS BACK TO MY NINGSITE ~

 

Other Webhosts including http://GoDaddy.com are also ready to help provide lowcost domain names as well as also hosting for up to 2 yrs for about $150 [ less than $8 a month~!] [ also have monthly plans]

 

So there are alternatives to having to pay the great Ning a % of your membership fees~!!!!!!!!!

 

[UPDATE JULY 2011: THE NING DEVELOPERS HAVE GIVEN MORE BENEFITS OVER THE LAST YEAR AND HAVE REMAINED MORE THAN REASONABLE COMPARED TO OTHER NETWORKS I HAVE TESTED.I STILL PREFER NING OVER OTHER NETWORKS. CONTRARY TO RUMORS HEARD LAST YEAR, NING IS THRIVING AND GROWING IN DEVELOPMENT. NOW THAT THEIR PRICES ARE ONCE AGAIN INCREASING, I WILL PAY THEIR PRICE AS I FIND NING TO BE ABOUT THE BEST NETWORK I EVER OWNED~!!]

 

Ning reminds me a bit like organized crime~ or even the government!! LAST YEAR, BUT HAS PROVEN TO BE MORE RELIABLE COMPARED TO THE NETWORKS I HAVE SINCE TESTED.

 

First Ning lets you come in and settle down, doing most of the labor yourself and than starts demanding money or taxing the heck out of you for whatever you have accomplished~

SO IT SEEMED, BUT IN TODAY'S ECONOMY WE ARE ALL STRUGGLING TO SOME EXTENT AND NING HAS BEEN CONSIDERATE IN THEIR CONCESSIONS AND THEIR DEMANDS.

 

If Ning wants a share of any potential membership fees I could get from my members, then Ning should be a partner and provide the site platform without any separate costs!!!

[UPDATE JULY 2011- I BELIEVE NOW THAT NING HAS BEEN DEVELOPING THESE PAY OPTIONS TO HELP SITE OWNERS. WITH VARIOUS METHODS I HAVE FOR MEMBERS TO PAY ON MY SITE, LESS THAN A DOZEN HAVE COME FORWARD TO PAY OR DONATE OVER THE PAST YEAR!!

 

Maybe Ning should make a "parntership membership" where they can make a membership join button, collect and split the fees with the site creators... that might be a bit more fair.

[TIME HAS SHOWN THAT MOST SITE MEMBERS 'VISIT' AND REMAIN UNCOMMITTED TO ASSIST IN OFFSETTING SITE COSTS]

 

BUT to charge for the site and then charge a % of the membership fees on top is more like an organized crime trick to me~ great godfather Ning, wants their cut and part of your cut too~ double dipping anyone???

[UPDATE: ALTHOUGH IT SEEMED THIS WAY INITIALLY IN 2010, IT HAS NOT TURNED OUT LIKE THAT!]

 

 

Maybe Ning should pay site creators a salary and just let Ning collect all the membership fees~!!!

WOULDNT IT BE NICE IF WE ALL COULD DEMAND SOME SORT OF PAYDAY FROM THIS ALL, BUT ITS FREE ENTERPRISE AND NOTHING IN LIFE IS FREE~

 

[hmmmm I dont think that would ever 'fly']

 

Come on , what Ning is doing to and for all the site owners who have labored for years at their supposedly secure ning sites and build relationships with 1000's of members, promoting and advertising and blogging online, helping to build the very Ning dynasty and now it is all about to be tipped upside down and dumped off the Ning platforms by end of July~!!

 

WHILE WE AS SITE OWNERS MAY HAVE WORKED NUMEROUS HOURS , NING HAS ALSO BEEN WORKING HARD ON THE BIGGER PICTURE TO PROVIDE A NETWORK PLATFORM THAT IS EASILY NAVIGATED FOR US.

 

If Ning [for example] has 3 Million sites and 2 million are free sites, what will the advertisers do with the reduced coverage they will receive when all the free sites are deleted? Ning will also lose advertising revenues and drop on the market as a social & e-commerce venue~!

 WITH ALL THE OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKS OUT THERE, EACH WITH THEIR OWN PROBLEMS AND UNDERDEVELOPED PLATFORMS, NING IS STILL AHEAD OF THE GAME AND A FORE RUNNER FOR THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL/ECOMMERCE NETWORK SITES.

It looks like Ning will be heading for more downtime in the near future and this whole new business model is too flawed~

UPDATE 2011 - I AM GLAD TO SEE AND REPORT THAT NING HAS BEEN ON TOP OF THEIR GAME AND THEIR BUSINESS PRACTICE HAS NOT INTERFERED WITH HOW I RUN MY SITE, SO HATS OFF TO NING~!

 

Even if we all paid the $19.95 a month for the mid range site -

[which is like the Bandzoogle site and other sites that host both social and ecommerce~]

THIS PROVES TO BE ADEQUATE FOR THE MAJORITY OF SITE OWNERS~! 

Ning just re-organizing & getting started so that means it is going to that level price wise but will have alot of glitches to work out and that would mean paying even the $19.95 month fees, there wont be any guarantee of smooth sailing for anyone and we will never again be secure in trusting the Ning leadership or their continued viability as a hosting company after the way they handle these current issues~!

NING HAS RISEN TO THE CHALLENGE AND IS STILL PROVIDING THE BEST SERVICE FOR THE COSTS CHARGED :)

 

After working over 5,000 hours developing my site, I would be foolish to consider working another 5,000 the coming year and have no guaranties of viability since Ning can pull the rug out from under any of us at any time~!

UPDATE 2011~ I HAVE CONFIDENCE NOW IN NING AS THEY HAVE BEEN WORKING HARD TO PROVIDE A SERVICE THAT I HAVE SEEN OTHER NETWORKS NOT BE ABLE TO SUPPLY AS READILY

 

I now make my own paypal buttons free on paypal, copy the code and put it into text modules.

Now Ning will be removing many text modules soon and also limiting what can be placed into a text module ~

UPDATE 2011 - RUMORS PROVED FALSE : NING NOW OFFERS MORE TEXT MODULES AND FEATURES THAN IT HAD BEFORE~!!

 

SO I now use the free permalink alternatives at :
http://wen2k.com to build html pages that are permalinks online and get listed into the search engines.

I STILL USE PERMALINKS AS GOOD PROMOTIONAL SOURCES TO LEAD PEOPLE BACK TO MY NETWORK SITE.

 

My paypal buttons are secure there and I only have to link my ning site by tab to my permalink pages, so Ning has no control over what I charge or dont charge for items I sell or memberships I offer my members.
I developed this solution and business relationship with my members and while I used the ning platform to host my developments, they are mine, Ning didnt help me with them and they dont prevent people from donating, so I dont have to pay Ning any extra for my labors.

 

Lets face it, how many of our site members can really afford to pay for memberships when many people online 10 or more hours a day are either retired or unemployed to begin with or looking for work so they too can make a few bucks online ??

UPDATE: FEWER THAN 12 HAVE HELPED OFFSET MY SITE OVER THE LAST YEAR, SO MOST MEMBERS WONT PAY WHEN ASKED. MY DECISION TO KEEP MY MEMBERS IS NOW MY OWN EXPENSE, BUT WORTH IT TO ME TO KEEP THE MEMBERS.

 

I dont want to lose my free members nor force them to pay like Ning is forcing me or kicking them out as Ning will be doing in July to free site owners~

THERE IS NO WAY TO FORCE ANYONE TO PAY, THEY WOULD JUST LEAVE INSTEAD, SO TO KEEP MY SITE GROWING I KEEP THE FREE MEMBERSHIPS WITH LIMITED ACCESS BUT ENOUGH ACCESS TO KEEP THEM COMING BACK. 

I want to provide options, even if it means some cutbacks, I am looking for ways online to help free members remain free and whatever paid members I do have, I dont want to have to raise any fees on them as these are economic hard times for everyone so lets lighten one another's burdens, not add to them, o great Ning~!!

 

I bought my domain name through GoDaddy auctions~ I can transfer it to any site I set up. I am now setting up several sites and when I see which works easiest for my members, I will then transfer my domain name to the best site. It is currently parked on my ning site, at least til July as I do pay for that premium service.

 

Since my site utilizes the Groups function for Categories & Directories and the Albums feature for Galleries, my site does use alot of bandwidth I would suppose, but on Ning I dont even know how many MB's I currently do use but I see on the new sites, most do let you know how many you are using.

 

So change is good in a way as it is making me explore and test out new sites that while some may be a bit confusing for me to set up, initially, they are definitely providing more than Ning, even with migration services and most allow you to export your own content , unlike Ning, where it is more complicated and so far the only easy part is exporting your members list!

 

As I build new sites, I go to http://bannerfans.com and make buttons with the new site URLs in them & then paste them on the front page of my ning site so that my members can click onto the new sites and choose to join whichever and all of them they want to join. I am interlinking all my sites so cross promotions and continuity can be maintained.Developing these several sites at once will ensure the continuity of ArtRave in the future so no one host can pull out the rug as Ning is now doing to so many~

UPDATE 2011: NIGN HAS NOT PULLED OUT THE RUG AND I SEE A YEAR LATER THAT MANY OF THE FEARS AND RUMORS LAST YEAR HAVE PROVEN TO BE UNFOUNDED AND I AM STAYING WITH NING AS MY PRIMARY PROVIDER SITE.

 

 

Ave

www.ArtRave.com

aka

http://avehurleyillustrations.ning.com