2008...

[CtrlAltDelete]

I will be little help. I don't even know what a Fanzine is...

 

As a foreigner I don't really have anywhere to go when it comes to getting a ticket. I have to buy a package deal. IF you could sell the tickets and perhaps accommodations (make a deal with a hotel) I think you might have a product you could make a fair deal of money with!

 

The way it is these days from my perspective: I'm looking at 700/800 pounds if I want to go to Anfield. That covers the flight, Hotel and the ticket.

 

I would GLADLY pay 150 just for a ticket and take care of flight/accommodations myself. That's what I did when I went to anfield Now 2001 for the Scum game.

 

If you wantethink about it your website could be the perfect platform to push precisely that product.

 

Get a deal with a hotel. Surely you have access to tickets, right?

 

Happy newyear, Mate

[hamstrung]

Yeah - ticket tout for overseas fans. Great idea.

 

Did you buy the 2001 ticket for £150 from Fat Dunc?

[cochcaer]

What do you mean by there's money in the content?

 

You've a lively forum with a lot of diverse topics (including the GF), this will draw a lot of people to the site and wise ad placement will yield revenue. The byword is 'content is king', if the more content the more likely visitors are to stay and have a look around. Your post count is 8x mine so there's a lot to draw people to the site.

 

Also, ask Will about creating a CREloaded shop (http://www.creloaded.com/) for selling your wares.

 

If I'm honest I think it's the net that's nearly killed printed fanzines, now long articles and funnies can be posted online and receive an immediate response from Liverpool fans (ala Tomkins).

[Stouffer]

I don't mind helping out with the MyFace thingy.

 

Spib-bee!

[Spy Bee]

I don't mind helping out with the MyFace thingy.

 

Spib-bee!

 

I feel that I am linked to this somehow. How?

[Paul]

Dave, this might sound cheeky, but 50 hours a week doesn't seem like nearly enough to me if you want to really make something of your business. Like I said, if you were running a shop you'd have to do going on double that - certainly while you are establishing the business.

[Spy Bee]

Dave, this might sound cheeky, but 50 hours a week doesn't seem like nearly enough to me if you want to really make something of your business. Like I said, if you were running a shop you'd have to do going on double that - certainly while you are establishing the business.

 

I think it's more than enough. You've got to have a balance, especially when you have a young child.

 

Only in the UK in Europe do people work such stupid hours.

[hamstrung]

I am sure many on here would offer you a percentage of their monthly salary, if you ban Rashid again. Be more than enough to live on.

[Thants]

I am sure many on here would offer you a percentage of their monthly salary, if you ban Rashid again. Be more than enough to live on.

Ooo you are awful . . . .

 

 

 

 

 

but I like you

[dave u]

I think it's more than enough. You've got to have a balance, especially when you have a young child.

 

Only in the UK in Europe do people work such stupid hours.

 

Exactly. How many girlfriends would put up with their fella working constantly and not spending any time with her, and not helping out with the baby? I want the business to make money so I can provide for my family, not at the cost of losing them.

 

50 hours a week is plenty.

[Thants]

That laptop will make a hell of a difference though Dave. Before I had a laptop, any time spent on a PC, for business or pleasure, was met with little grumbles.

 

Once I had a laptop I was able to sit in the same room as the other half and utter the usual, "Yes love," and "No love," replies to her stories about some other child's mum, the bitch on some soap she was watching, or about whether her hair looked nice or not.

 

So the 50 hours isn't too bad if you'll be doing some of those hours when sitting with the Mrs, and as the little girl gets older she'll be happy to play with her toys on the floor and watch telly as you sit there on the laptop too. Until she discovers X Factor, when she'll expect you to spend 20 minutes here and there looking at X Factor videos with her.

 

Ah marrital bliss . . . . hehe

[JMARKH]

is make or break for TLW.

 

Basically, unless things really pick up financially I'm not going to be able to carry on much longer. I'm sick of constantly worrying about money and bills and shit, and unless I can start making this work I'm going to have to pack it in and look for a steady job with a regular pay cheque at the end of every month. The thought of that scares the shit out of me, as I've been doing this for so long I can't imagine doing anything else. But I see no alternative the way things are going.

 

Sales of the fanzine have been pretty consistent overall, I sell roughly the same now as I did when I started. That's not bad, considering how many fanzines across the country have come and gone in that time. The internet has killed a lot of fanzines, and although I'm sure it's had an effect on TLW, it's also helped in a way as the site has really helped promote the magazine across the world.

 

But when I started I lived with my parents, and didn't have any bills to pay or any family to support. It was fine then, money wasn't an issue. It's different now though. The cost of living has gone up a fair bit since 1999 too, but in that time there's only been the one price increase to £2.50. I've no plans to put it up again though, as I don't think that's the issue.

 

It's not about getting more money from the people who are already buying TLW, I need to either get more people buying it or find another way to get money in. I do the ressies reports for the Post and Echo, and even though the money is crap, without that extra cash I'd have had to pack TLW in a year or two ago.

 

Sales at the match are shit, and getting worse. I sell less than half what I did when I started, but the number of subscribers I have has helped to soften the blow a bit. I hit an all time low at the Pompey game though, when me and my dad sold 24 between us. A crowd of 45,000 and we sold twenty fucking four. Just what I needed before Christmas.

 

The fanzine is how I make my living, and the website is how I promote the fanzine. In an ideal world it would be the other way round. I'd make enough off the site to live on, and the fanzine would be extra cash rather than my only real source of income. I don't think that's possible though, even though the site generally gets around 50,000 visitors a month.

 

I'm not saying this to get people to make 'donations' to the site, as that side of things is actually ok. Between donations, the bonus ball and atk's ridiculous bets the hosting fees are being taken care of, and I can honestly say I don't touch any of that money myself. It's a seperate bank account that is only used for the running of the site. Dipping into that would be like stealing from the church plate!

 

On that subject by the way, I know I'm well behind on the bonus ball payments, but I've got a list of names who I need to send cheques out to and I will be doing that in the next couple of days.

 

I'm just fed up of relying on family helping me out. I drive a car that my dad bought for me and my mum insured, and I'm living in a house that my missus has more or less paid for with money she got from selling her own house. We furnished it with money from my parents. It's unacceptable really, I've got a little girl to support and I need to get my act together financially.

 

I either need to sell more fanzines, make money from the site, get more freelance work, or pack it all in and get a 'proper' job. I don't know how to do the first three, and I don't want to do the fourth, but I think I'm going to have to.

 

Sorry to be putting all my troubles on you in the festive season and all that, but I need ideas, or Steve Kelly won't be the only Liverpool Fanzine editor hanging up his keyboard this season.

 

Good Luck to ya mate hope you can make more money, I'll continue to buy the fanzine either from yourself on match days or from W H Smiths

[goatboy59]

Dave

 

Sales at Pompey were shite right across the board mate. I had £12 in my pocket at twenty to three though it perked up slightly after that. And ours was only a week old! It was a funny old crowd, you get that sometimes.

 

Saw your dad at the Anny later on and he looked well hacked off too. Obviously I can't persuade you to carry on if I'm finishing, but I'd agree with everyone on here by saying you're too good a writer to quit.

 

I'll happily send all TTW&R readers your way, but you'll have to do something about the small print - we're all arlarses over there! :lol:

[Ronnie]

Hang on, Dave. I have been on here for a couple of years and really like this place. The articles and reports are ace.

 

Whan can I do to help? Maybe I'll start with subscribing to the fanzine.

 

I'll agree to pay membership fees to use this website. (Of course if it's appropriate fee. Remember I live with a Baht which is 70 Baht to 1 GBP and a meal here costs about 35 Baht or 50 P.)

 

Best of luck to you, mate.

[TommyW]

perhaps a stupid question but where do you actually sell it from?

 

when im at the match i always keep an eye out for it (without looking that hard to be fair), I always see/hear the fellas selling RAOTL and TTWAR but not TLW

 

that said im half asleep at the best of times so I've probably walked straight past you on countless occasions...

[dave u]

That laptop will make a hell of a difference though Dave. Before I had a laptop, any time spent on a PC, for business or pleasure, was met with little grumbles.

 

Once I had a laptop I was able to sit in the same room as the other half and utter the usual, "Yes love," and "No love," replies to her stories about some other child's mum, the bitch on some soap she was watching, or about whether her hair looked nice or not.

 

So the 50 hours isn't too bad if you'll be doing some of those hours when sitting with the Mrs, and as the little girl gets older she'll be happy to play with her toys on the floor and watch telly as you sit there on the laptop too. Until she discovers X Factor, when she'll expect you to spend 20 minutes here and there looking at X Factor videos with her.

 

Exactly, couldn't have put that better myself!

[dave u]

Dave

 

Sales at Pompey were shite right across the board mate. I had £12 in my pocket at twenty to three though it perked up slightly after that. And ours was only a week old! It was a funny old crowd, you get that sometimes.

 

Saw your dad at the Anny later on and he looked well hacked off too. Obviously I can't persuade you to carry on if I'm finishing, but I'd agree with everyone on here by saying you're too good a writer to quit.

 

I'll happily send all TTW&R readers your way, but you'll have to do something about the small print - we're all arlarses over there! :lol:

 

Yeah my dad said the sellers around him struggled too. That's kind of my point though. If everyone else was doing loads I'd just put it down to the fact TLW must be shit. When no-one is selling, that's a bigger concern because it suggests there isn't really a market for fanzines regardless of whether they are any good or not.

 

Anyway, anything you can do to persuade your readers to give TLW a try will be much appreciated, cheers Steve.

[05 Milan]

So...what is the conclusion here? We all get together to buy Dave a laptop?

[Section_31]

Sad truth is, fanzines aren't doing as well because football fans are changing. There isn't much call for wit and insight among the sky generation, they want glossy covers and Steven Gerrard bumper stickers.

 

As a side note Dave, you sell your reserve reports to the Echo but do you sell them to the other papers as well? Me mate used to flog them to the opponents paper as well and get an interview (pre-agreed with said paper) with an opposition player, it was an easy 50 extra notes.

[jon lad]

how about an organised march to anfield, starting in the sandon car park? we could sing songs, everyone buy a tlw rag and wave it about and maybe someone could knock up a framed pic of dave and his big fish.

[hamstrung]

Sad truth is, fanzines aren't doing as well because football fans are changing. There isn't much call for wit and insight among the sky generation, they want glossy covers and Steven Gerrard bumper stickers.

 

Who wouldn't pay top dollar for a Stevie G bumper sticker?

[jon lad]

Dave, do you have anybody selling at the surrounding car parks? never seen anyone, surely they would be a good spot.

[RedKnight]

It's defintely true that fanzine culture has taken a nosedive since the advent of the internet. Something like having past articles on the site(I know there's a few now) and more use of the blog might help to divert traffic and possible subscribers to the fanzine. If there isn't already a "Want to read more? Subscribe to the fanzine here" link on the blog or past articles then one should be added.

[Mr.Smoketoomuch]

I think it's more than enough. You've got to have a balance, especially when you have a young child.

 

Only in the UK in Europe do people work such stupid hours.

 

That is not true. Though europeans do work less than asians and americans. Maybe the Brits work harder too, but the self-employed and employees in many businesses put in long hours even in Europe.

[Stu Monty]

Give Monty the editorial page?

 

 

Apart from that obvious solution I think that you need to be listening to a combination of people, quite specifically Skeet and Cochcaer regarding optimising the site, and, as always, AWS, regarding the issues. Is it a viable option to do smaller issues more often or does the amount of games prohibit that being viable? I don't know if I'm just speaking for myself here but I reckon that a bit of a kick up the arse to do at least one item a month might actually be a good thing, it might also make content more interesting as it would stray a little more from 14 flavours of "Why are we still shit?"