Aleksandar916
Power Member
- Nov 29, 2017
- 770
- 1,098
It’s almost a full year since I’ve upgraded my membership to Jr.VIP so I thought it would be good to look back at what I’ve been doing, posting, buying and selling, achievements and failures. Hopefully, this will inspire others to upgrade their membership and support the forum and it’s always
A few quick stats to begin with:
Let’s break down each of these:
I got these at the very beginning, one for trying to sell outside the marketplace (I honestly didn’t see the thread was not in WTB) and the other one for post inflation. Both are completely justified, but the second one annoyed me more than the first one
Lessons learned and I didn’t repeat any offense (so far).
Even though my primary goal was not to sell here, I accepted many small WTB gigs, mostly for reviews on freelancing platforms, since I had buyers accounts I’m already using a lot, I thought why not do a few of these here and there, after posting on a dozen of such threads, I quickly started getting messaged by other members for the same service. Most of the time, I’d get $7 to $10 per gig (after all fees). A few larger gigs were there too that helped me inflate the total number.
Earnings from signature rent are more than the cost of subscription, which is good enough for me. I didn't have an active signature all the time.
I started only 23 threads, either asking for advice or general discussion. The two threads that were featured in the BHW newsletter were the Sales Tracking Template and Project Budgeting Template.
I love spreadsheets and tracking expenses so I thought I’d make some to help the members, really loved the reaction and was super proud they ended up in the newsletter.
I have found so many great service providers here that I regularly buy from. I found a number of shitty ones too, never got to the point I'd need to open a shitlist, but just decided not to buy from them ever again.
Another great advantage of being Jr.VIP is that it gives you more opportunities for review copies, a great way to test the service but also to get some valuable stuff for free. I don’t have the exact count, but I’d say it’s worth more than what I’ve earned through gigs.
Bear in mind that when accepting a review copy, you need to respect the seller and the future buyers. Don’t take the review copy and forget to write the review, but also don’t write only positive things - your status should come with the responsibility towards the future buyers of the service.
I started my journey thread just before I decided to upgrade to Jr.VIP. It’s my favourite part of BHW, you get to share with others what you’re doing, your failures and achievements but also get support and advice from the members. Even if no one is following your journey, writing it is a tremendously beneficial for you and it allows you to look back and reflect on what you’ve been doing and (hopefully) see the progress. Even without my own journey thread, I'd argue it's my favourite part of the forum. Find journeys you like and stick with them, it's incredible to watch someone grow and sometimes sad when you see thread not being updated in months.
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Of course, not all of the things above come directly with the membership, but upgrading was an indirect cause why all of it happened. Bottom line, upgrading pushed me to be more active on the forum, which comes with many benefits. The community here is large and incredible and if $100 membership helps the forum owners keep it alive and great, it's money well spent.
I look forward to renewing it in a few days. Who's up for sharing their own experience?
A few quick stats to begin with:
- 2 well deserved infractions, courtesy of @BassTrackerBoats
- $565 earned on WTB gigs and signature rent
- 23 threads started
- 2 threads featured in BHW weekly newsletter
- 3 likes on my posts from @Diamond Damien - kind of a big deal
- 1 haha from @BassTrackerBoats - I put this in my CV now
- Over $5000 spent on various services here
- 11 successful reports
- Countless tips and massive knowledge gained. Unlimited inspiration and lots of laughs (I mostly blame @Willyfish for these)
- 1 side gig journey thread started, inspired by @Kikerinka and @blogmen
- Unknown number of review copies
Let’s break down each of these:
Infractions
I got these at the very beginning, one for trying to sell outside the marketplace (I honestly didn’t see the thread was not in WTB) and the other one for post inflation. Both are completely justified, but the second one annoyed me more than the first one
Lessons learned and I didn’t repeat any offense (so far).
Gigs and Signature Rent
Even though my primary goal was not to sell here, I accepted many small WTB gigs, mostly for reviews on freelancing platforms, since I had buyers accounts I’m already using a lot, I thought why not do a few of these here and there, after posting on a dozen of such threads, I quickly started getting messaged by other members for the same service. Most of the time, I’d get $7 to $10 per gig (after all fees). A few larger gigs were there too that helped me inflate the total number.
Earnings from signature rent are more than the cost of subscription, which is good enough for me. I didn't have an active signature all the time.
Threads
I started only 23 threads, either asking for advice or general discussion. The two threads that were featured in the BHW newsletter were the Sales Tracking Template and Project Budgeting Template.
I love spreadsheets and tracking expenses so I thought I’d make some to help the members, really loved the reaction and was super proud they ended up in the newsletter.
Money spent / Review copies
I have found so many great service providers here that I regularly buy from. I found a number of shitty ones too, never got to the point I'd need to open a shitlist, but just decided not to buy from them ever again.
Another great advantage of being Jr.VIP is that it gives you more opportunities for review copies, a great way to test the service but also to get some valuable stuff for free. I don’t have the exact count, but I’d say it’s worth more than what I’ve earned through gigs.
Bear in mind that when accepting a review copy, you need to respect the seller and the future buyers. Don’t take the review copy and forget to write the review, but also don’t write only positive things - your status should come with the responsibility towards the future buyers of the service.
My Journey Thread
I started my journey thread just before I decided to upgrade to Jr.VIP. It’s my favourite part of BHW, you get to share with others what you’re doing, your failures and achievements but also get support and advice from the members. Even if no one is following your journey, writing it is a tremendously beneficial for you and it allows you to look back and reflect on what you’ve been doing and (hopefully) see the progress. Even without my own journey thread, I'd argue it's my favourite part of the forum. Find journeys you like and stick with them, it's incredible to watch someone grow and sometimes sad when you see thread not being updated in months.
-----------
Of course, not all of the things above come directly with the membership, but upgrading was an indirect cause why all of it happened. Bottom line, upgrading pushed me to be more active on the forum, which comes with many benefits. The community here is large and incredible and if $100 membership helps the forum owners keep it alive and great, it's money well spent.
I look forward to renewing it in a few days. Who's up for sharing their own experience?
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