
     Fremont Arsenal Computer Center  Topeka, Kansas
          Multi-Gigabyte / Multi-Line / High Speed Modems
      CD-ROM Retail Sales & Wholesale Distribution
Ŀ Call for information on how to make money for your BBS!
ĳĿ
                    (913) 266-0067 1200-14400(913) 267-9624 1200-2400

     Let me start off with the following disclaimer:  This is NOT some sort of
     silly "get rich quick" scheme.  What this file is, is a compilation of
     various tips and techniques that have served me well in getting my callers
     to help with the expenses of running a BBS.  The Sysops of Fremont Arsenal
     make no claim that these techniques will work for you, but it can't hurt
     to try...  <smile!>

     What I am going to discuss today will cover several parts:

          [1] Encouraging your callers to contribute

          [2] Selling Items and Services from your BBS

          [3] Merchant Accounts and how they affect you.

Ŀ
               HOW TO ENCOURAGE CALLERS TO DONATE TO YOUR BBS               



     As you know, getting callers to give you money is not an easy task.
     But it can be done.  If you make it worthwhile for people to contribute,
     you will get a large number of people who will.

     The main thing is to both make it worth the callers while, and to reward
     them richly for it, and make them feel good about it.

     I run a free board.  Node one has always been free, with no file
     upload/download ratio imposed.  The only limits I put on normal callers
     is that they can only download 510,000 bytes or 10 files per day,
     whichever comes first.  When the BBS started to get busy, I decided to
     ask for help.  I offered to put up a second line, if people would
     contribute.  I asked for $20.00 per year, and they would have access to
     the second line, whereas average callers wouldn't.  They would also have
     more time available per day, and would not have any byte/file limits...
     they would be able to download until their time ran out.

     Later, I added an Adult section, and stocked it with an adult only
     netmail network, and a file section.  This, of course, being an
     additional service, was not made available to non-contributors.

     Later, CD-ROM technology was added.. .thereby boosting the capacity of
     the board.  This further enhanced the attractiveness of the board, and
     brought in even more callers and contributors.

     If you are looking to get your BBS into a pay for itself proposition,
     here are some things to consider:

         [1]  You have to spend a little money to make some money.  You will
         have to be able to offer callers something worth their while.
         Usually, dedicated lines and dedicated file areas, and increased
         priviledges do wonders.

         [2]  Make the callers feel good about contributing.  Make up a "Role
         of Honor" or some such that pays tribute to those that have went so
         far as to help you out.

         [3]  If you want your name to stick in their minds, you have to flag
         their attention when they are not on the computer, as well.  A very
         successful tactic has been to mail out a flyer to new callers.  This
         flyer serves several functions... mine gives a brief history of my
         board, and what I am trying to do, and has a helpful tips section on
         how to use the board, and finally explains the contributor program
         and gives callers a form to mail back with their contribution.  This
         mailer not only serves that function, but acts an an additional check
         as to the honesty of the caller... if the letter comes back as "no
         such address".. well, you can be pretty sure that they were not
         playing straight with you.

         [4]  Put up what people want.  A lot of people want adult files, and
         they are willing to pay for the priviledge.  A good adult section,
         properly screened, will be a big asset to you.

     A word of caution... the most commonly sited reason for not putting up an
     adult section is that the headaches of running it, and keeping it trouble
     free, are just too much to handle.  I disagree.. because if you start it
     right in the first place, it is almost maintenance free.  You should
     follow two ideas to make an adult section work well... one, you should
     only allow contributors of legal age access, and two, you should run it
     off of a "sub-board".

     A "Sub-board", if you are not familiar with the term, is a copy of your
     BBS software ran as a "separate" BBS, but accessable from the main board
     via your doors menu.  The sub-board can have it's own complete identity,
     and rules, and files... it is, in effect, an entirely new board.  On my
     main board, there are no alias names allowed... on the sub-board, you
     *must* use an alias name.  People don't worry about being found out that
     they are downloading "dirty gif's" if they can't be found out by
     others...  so the sub-board with alias names makes perfect sense.

     Another consideration is the trouble when children get access to adult
     files... and the sysop ends up in legal trouble.  Well, consider this....

     I run my adult files in a sub-board... only contributors get access to
     it, and it is *required* that callers use an alias name and a different
     password than their original.  I adhere to this rule strictly.  So, lets
     say Junior calls up the board under Daddy's name... he has to know
     Daddy's Logon Name, his password, his birthdate, and then he has to logon
     to the sub-board, give Daddy's user name on there (an alias), and his
     user password on there (again, it must be different), and then his
     birthdate again.....

     Can you see any reasonable person thinking that the fault lie in the
     sysop, if the father in this scenario let his kid see him do all that?
     Obviously, when you have that kind of protection, the only way non-
     authorized people will be able to get in is if they have purposely given
     the information out.

     Now, how do you make it worth the callers while?

     Well, there are several things you can do.  One is to offer different
     services than what the "competition" offers.  Another is simply to offer
     more than the competition, or easier access to it.

     When it comes to BBSing, on the hobbyiest level, there are three basic
     services that are offered.. files, netmail/messages, and games.  You have
     to decide what you want to offer, and what crowd you want to address.

     On the subject of games... I do not run any online on the Arsenal.
     Why?  I personally feel that they tie up the board for hours at a time
     doing nothing productive.  There are plenty of ways to use games to
     attract callers, but I personally stay away from that field.

     Netmail:  this is a good field, but in order to make it worth the callers
     while, you usually have to get a netmail service or two.  Netmail gives
     the callers access to talking or listening to more than just the notable
     locals, and is a good draw.  Unless you have a local netmail hub, you
     will have to call long distance to get your mail packets.  And the
     disadvantage to the local hub is that that board also has the same
     "product" that you do, and had it first.  So, getting something new is
     still a necessity to draw in callers.  Look for networks that aren't
     available in your local area.  And before all else, get a high speed
     modem.  There are now V.32bis modems out there being sold to sysops for
     under $250, so there is no reason to *not* do it, as it will cut your
     phone bills to a fraction of what they would be otherwise.

     Files:  probably the biggest draw of all on a normal system.  The problem
     with being a files oriented board is that it is *very* expensive...
     you have not only the computer costs, but the costs of hard drives,
     backups, phone calls to obtain the files, and all the time scanning,
     classifying, and tossing the files.  Very much a drudgery.

     However, there is an alternative to that... the CD-ROM player.

     Everyone is familiar with the CD phenomena now... and there are a good
     number of machines being sold with built-in CD players.  CD-ROM players
     can be had for under $400 new now, and more and more manufacturers are
     bringing out disks.  Increasingly, there are more and more BBS oriented
     CD-ROM's being produced.. and these offer a wonderful opportunty to the
     enterprising sysop.

     Picture in your mind this....

     Start a running total on cost here... if you went out and bought a 650
     meg hard drive, interface card, tape backup and tapes, and then paid Ma
     Bell for the priviledge of filling up that drive....

         650 Meg SCSI Drive            $1300  (these are averages)
         SCSI Controller card            100
         Tape Backup 250 Megs            300
         Tapes for two backups           150
                                      ------
                                       $1850

     Now, add in the phone charges to fill that beastie up... assuming that
     you were able to download with no efficientcy loss, it would take 783
     hours of phone time to download enough files to fill that up.  A little
     over a month of solid downloading.  Wouldn't Ma Bell just love you to
     death?  <Grin!> And even if you have a 14,400 Baud modem, you are looking
     at 130 hours of downloading, assuming that you didn't even have to type
     in the filenames, just connected and downloaded!  Obviously, this is an
     unworkable situation.

                         Lets look at an alternative:

         Mitsumi CD-ROM Reader         $ 225
         Shareware Diskette               50
                                      ------
                                       $ 275

     With the CD-ROM player, you don't have to spend any time on file
     maintenance, you don't have to classify files, you don't have to back
     them up, and the cost is WAY below the comparable hard drive setup.
     Even if the cost was the same on both, the time savings on the CD setup
     is so great that it would still be worth it.  But when the cost is less
     than 25% of the competition?  Who wouldn't be interested?

     And consider this... next year, if your callers are getting tired of the
     files on your current setup, what do you do?  Delete some, and download
     like heck again?  And what happens if one of your good callers needs a
     file from your old collection, but it has bit the dust?  Well, with CD
     technology, you don't have to worry about that... when your filesbase
     needs a refresher, buy a new $50.00 disk and pop it in, configure it, and
     away it goes... no muss, no fuss.  And if your callers need a file now
     and then from the old disk, it's no big hassle to pop in the old one and
     then copy it to the hard drive for them to pick up.

     Consider this:  Get a CD-ROM and disk at $450-500, and then only allow
     donators access to the disk (this works best on Adult disks).  Make it a
     minimum, say, $25.00 donation to get in on the disk.  Then, all you need
     are a few donations to fun obtaining a second player and disk... and you
     have even more to offer your donators.. attracting more donators....
     <Grin!>

     You can see how this would work, I trust.....

     On the Fremont Arsenal, I got into the CD technology after I started to
     investigate just what it could do for me.  And when I needed to buy six
     disks to fill up a Pioneer CD six-pack, I ended up getting into selling
     the wee beasties, as well.  Because I'm a sysop, and because I'm not
     trying to get rich off of this program, I'm selling these disks to other
     sysops at wholesale prices.  Any registered BBS sysop can buy shareware
     disks from me at the same cost as can computer dealers... so a $100
     shareware disk might cost only half of the retail price.  For specifics
     on what is available from the Arsenal, please call the board and leave a
     comment to sysop regarding what the current prices are, and what disks
     are available.

     To get the most current list of available diskettes, download the file
     CDSALE.TXT.  This has information such as a general description, if file
     listings are available for the CD and what the file names are, and other
     pertinant info.  The prices listed on that document are "retail", and you
     will *not* be paying that.  Contact Dave Clark at the Arsenal for the
     latest pricing for sysops.

     Another service for sysops is that I will provide file listings for the
     CD-ROMS that are BBS capable.  This makes it easy to decide if you really
     want to purchase a particular drive, as you can see in advance just what
     is on it.  These file listings are in Spitfire BBS format, but that
     format is compatable with standard RBBS and PC Board style file listings.
     Of course, if you are running a Spitfire BBS, you have it made in the
     shade...  <Grin!>  I will also include some BBS doorware files, and a
     copy of a DOS 5.0 compatable MSCDEX for your convenience.


 Incentives for your Callers


     Ok, now that you have decided that you want to try to get your callers
     to help in paying the bills, what do you offer them in exchange for
     the help?  There are several things that you can do:

     [1]  Offer Additional Lines.  If you are running a single line BBS on
     a 386 or 486 computer, you can usually simply use Desqview to multitask
     and you can run two lines off of one computer.  The costs?  The phone
     installation, a copy of Desqview, and a modem.

     [2]  Offer More time.  Give contributors more time and/or bytes for
     downloading per day.  This works best if you have a "limit" on the amount
     that a non-contributor can download per day.  Examples from my use:

          Non Contributors Get One Hour and 500k or 10 Files per day

          Contributors Get Two Hours and 5 Megs or 999 Files per day

     [3]  Offer services to contributors that non-contributors don't get.
     Examples of these include such things as access to time banks, or
     access to adult oriented files.

     [4]  If you are running CD-ROM, get an extra files disk, and offer to
     pull files off of it on request of the contributors only.

     [5]  If you sell equipment and Services, then offer your contributors
     a price break on said equipment and services.

     [6]  Give them public recognition.  Make sure that it "feels good" to
     be a contributor.

     [7]  If you have a upload/download ratio, suspend it for your
     contributors.  And, if they don't become contributors again, you might
     want to make sure that you "zero" out their downloads/uploads counts,
     or else you will have a very unhappy camper when they find out that the
     5,487 files that they downloaded as a contributor is suddenly counting
     against them for their upload/download status.  Sure, it sounds "neat"
     to leave it there from the sysop point of view, because it will
     "encourage" them to send in that check, but lets face it, that sort of
     activity only makes the sysop look petty.  I know, it's happened to me
     when I was a paid subscriber on a subscriptions only board.  When it
     happened to me, I vowed never to call that board again.  Do you want
     callers thinking the same thing about your services?

 What to take for a contribution?

     Well, you have decided what to do now... but how to go about doing it?
     What do you accept as a contribution amount?  It all depends on "what the
     market will bear", and what you have to offer.  I would suggest an amount
     of $20.00 to $40.00, no higher, unless you have some really spectacular
     stuff to offer your callers.

     Another thing to consider... allow people to donate computer equipment
     to the board in exchange for contributor status.  Sure, this sounds goofy,
     as who would willingly give up their computers?  But let me tell you this:
     so far, in one year, I have had the following equipment donated to the
     board as a result of this policy:

          3 286 Class Computers
          1 V.32bis Modem
          1 SCSI CD-ROM Player (Third Generation NEC!)
          2 10mbps Ethernet Cards
          4 Megs of RAM in 1 Meg SIMMs
          3 2400 Baud Modems
         30 DC600A Backup Tapes
            And a whole lot of miscellaneous parts....

     When you consider that this is in the period of one year, that isn't too
     bad, is it?  <smile!>  I put an approximate retail value on the equipment,
     and then give them a contributorship status based on how many years they
     would buy at my current rates with that equipment.  Well, some of these
     people got a couple or three years, two of them have lifetime memberships!
     <smile!>


 Selling Items off of your Board


     A BBS is a natural meeting place for people interested in computers.
     As such, it makes a perfect central hub for people interested in
     upgrading their computers and software.

     However, I'm sure you are familiar with the marketplace.. it's a dog
     eat dog world out there in the computer retailing business, with
     already small profit margins shrinking every day.  How do you, the
     sysop, compete with megastores for the dollars of the computer public?
     How do you lure your callers into spending money with you, rather than
     taking it down to the local BizMart or Sam's Club?

     The answer that I use is... you don't.  Don't even try to compete in
     that sort of market.. as you can't buy a truckload of a certain component
     in order to get a good enough price to make it worth your while.

     Instead, try this... offer a few items, ones that aren't easily
     obtainable at decent pricing, and then bundle them with your services.
     This is something that the local superstores *cannot* offer... you.

     Here is a plan that has worked well for some sysops:

          Sell a High Speed Modem (a decent V.32bis Modem, such as the Boca)
          for a price that includes a years "membership" on your board.
          I am currently offering a Boca V.32bis FaxModem for $275.00, and
          that includes a years contributor status on my board.  Locally,
          a V.32 only modem goes for $330.00, so this is a very good deal
          for my local callers.

     Another thing that you can get into selling is CD-ROM disks, especially
     if you are running CD-ROM on your board.


 Selling CD-ROM Disks


     This is an area where you can make some sincere money for your BBS.

     The CD-ROM phenomena is growing every day... more and more computers
     are being sold with CD-ROM players bundled with them, and more people
     are adding CD-ROM players to their existing equipment.  Software
     publishers are looking at using CD-ROM as a distribution method,
     and several game and utility publishers are already using the format.
     More and more people own CD-ROM players, but where are they going to
     find good disks to use in them?  Oftentimes, the local stores, if they
     carry anything at all, only have a few games, an atlas or two, and
     a copy of PC-SIG... big deal.  Nothing that will excite the average
     CD-ROM owner.

     But, you can offer your callers new and unique CD-ROM disks on your board,
     without having to spend a dime, and you make money when a disk is sold.
     Here's how:


 CD-ROM Wholesale Dropshipping


     I know just as much as anyone that it's no fun to plow a lot of money
     into something, and have it sit there collecting dust.  No one wants
     to have to put up a lot of money in order to make money, but it seems
     to be the only way to go, right?

     Wrong!  <smile!>

     Here at Fremont Arsenal, we are into CD-ROM's in a big way, working with
     manufacturers and distributors to try to make life easier for everyone.
     For too long, the Sysops, one of the major groups of consumers using
     CD-ROM technology, have been left out in the cold, with no voice.
     I'm trying to change that, and to make BBS's and Sysops a force in
     the market.

     Fremont Arsenal is offering a service that will allow you to offer your
     callers CD-ROM disks at a good discount, while still making your board
     some money to help pay for the expenses of running it, and without you
     risking any of your hard earned money in the process.

     Basically, what we are doing is this:  Fremont Arsenal provides you with
     the basic tools to start selling CD-ROM disks on your board... all you
     have to do is answer questions and take the orders and the money.
     Then, at that point, you call me up, and either forward out my charge
     for the disk, or use your Visa/Mastercard to pay for it at wholesale
     rates, and I "dropship" the disks to your caller from here at the Arsenal.
     No markings (other than a return PO Box) will be on it, so I won't be
     competeing for your callers business.  Basically, you put up the notices,
     take your money, forward out enough to me to pay for the disks and
     shipping, and keep the rest... Fremont Arsenal does the shipping and
     packaging work.  What could be easier?

     What you need to get started in this is a valid State Tax Number.
     This is easy enough to obtain in most states.  In Kansas, for example,
     all you have to do is go down to the state offices, fill out a couple
     of forms, and you get your tax number in the mail in a couple of days.
     No fees to pay, nothing.  Very Convenient, to say the least.

     If you have any questions regarding this, please contact Fremont Arsenal,
     at the information listed at the end of this document.


 Regarding Merchant Accounts


     Merchant accounts are those wonderous accounts that allow you to take
     Visa and MasterCard transactions.. you can accept charges for your
     services and products.  Needless to say, having a merchant account
     is a great boon to a sysop, as it makes it VERY convenient for a caller
     to contribute money, or to buy a product.

     However, it's not a simple thing to get a merchant account.  You see,
     a few years back, several unscrupulous people got ahold of merchant
     accounts, and proceeded to raise some havoc by making false charges
     on accounts.  These "people" were using telephone based businesses
     to do their nefarious deeds, and there was a great commotion in the
     industry as a result.

     The backlash of this was that most financial institutions now are very
     very scared to advance a merchant account to anyone that is involved
     in any way, shape or form in "telephone sales"... even if you have a
     "storefront", if you engage in telephone sales, you are heavily
     suspected of being some sort of alien influence sent down to destroy
     Western Democracy, it seems.

     So, how do you get past all this prejudice to get a merchant account?

     That is not an easy question to answer, and there is no real set answer
     for it.  Basically, you are going to have to work hard on this.

     Check with your local bank, where you have your checking/savings accounts,
     and where you have any loans out (if you have any).  Talk to Credit
     Unions, if you have any dealings with them, and see if they handle
     merchant accounts.

     Now, get prepared for battle... <smile!>

     A Bank is going to have major objections to "telephone sales".  Here are
     some of the tactics that I used to get past this objection:

          [1]  My sales will only be of "subscriptions", not products.
          As a result, if there are any bad charges or people contesting
          the charge, there is no risk to either the bank or myself, as
          all I have to do is revoke the membership.  No money is lost.

          [2]  If you run Call Back Verification, stress that before a
          person is allowed to make a charge, you automatically verify that
          they are indeed at the phone number that they claim to be at.
          This will reduce fraud considerably.

          [3]  Stress that people need to pass through security checks
          (password checks, birthday checks, etc.) before they can place
          a charge, again helping to keep down frauduent activities.
          <Yes, I know, this is stretching it, but non-computer people
          will eat this up like candy>.

     Whatever you do, do NOT mention that you will be selling equipment,
     only services.  If you really want to suck up to them, mention that
     you do computer consulting locally, and you will be having locally
     made charges (face to face transactions is the buzzword here),
     reinforcing your need for the account.

     Usually, a Bank, nomatter how good your references and credit history,
     will still need to get approval from Visa/MC in order to let you have
     the ability to take "telephone orders".  Make sure that your credit
     house is in good order before beginning this odessey to help keep your
     path a smooth one.


 Other Merchant Account Sources


     There are some items floating around here and there that claim that
     they can get a sysop a merchant account through an out of state bank,
     or through a Teleflora account.  I personally can't vouch for these
     schemes, and all I have to say is Caviet Emptor.. let the buyer beware.
     They may be legit, but it's better to have a local bank do the
     merchant account (if you can swing it) rather than have a bank or
     other institution in another city doing it.


 Another Miscellanous Tip


     Use the US Postal Service to your greatest advantage.

     Ok, that sounds cryptic enough, right?  <grin!>  What exactly do I
     mean by that?

     Well, lets say Joe Blow logs onto DOS SHELL BBS, and fills out the
     new caller questionaires, goes through callback verification, etc.
     Just another logon to yet another faceless BBS.  Joe might logon
     to several BBS's in one day, especially if they are new to the
     area, or just got a modem, and their friend from down the street
     is showing them how to use it.

     Your BBS is just one in a crowd, right?

     But two days later, Joe Blow gets this nice looking flyer in the mail
     from DOS SHELL BBS.  It has a letter explaining why DOS SHELL BBS
     is there, what a caller can expect from DSBBS, a tips and techniques
     letter (giving some cute tricks on how to make your time on DSBBS
     really work for you), perhaps a list of the most popular downloads,
     an explanation of your contributions policy and why Joe really should
     consider contributing, and a return form for contributing.

     Suddenly, DOS SHELL BBS is in Joe Blow's memory as being an EXCEPTIONAL
     BBS, because you cared enough to go out of your way to contact him.
     You are now head and shoulders above your competition, and you are
     more likely to get any money that Joe is willing to contribute to the
     local BBS scene, because you are going out for his business.

     I have had people tell me the major reason they donated to me, rather
     than to the local pay only board, was because of the professionalism
     that I showed with my mailer, and that they felt that anyone that
     went to that much trouble must be serious about the board.


 Contact Information


     I invite anyone with questions or comments regarding anything that
     I've discussed in this file to contact me on the Arsenal for further
     information, and details on the CD-ROM Drop Shipping Program.


     Fremont Arsenal Computer Center  Topeka, Kansas
          Multi-Gigabyte / Multi-Line / High Speed Modems
      CD-ROM Retail Sales & Wholesale Distribution
Ŀ Call for information on how to make money for your BBS!
ĳĿ
                    (913) 266-0067 1200-14400(913) 267-9624 1200-2400

                      Mailing Address:
                      P. O. Box 5723, Topeka, KS  66605-0723

                      BBS Phone Numbers:

                      (913) 266-0067  USR DS V.32bis
                      (913) 266-8139  USR V.32bis <High Speed Only>
                      (913) 266-0155  2400
                      (913) 266-7595  2400
                      (913) 267-5238  2400
                      (913) 267-9624  2400 <Messages & Orders Only>

                      FAX Phone Number:

                      (913) 266-7594

     Thank you all for your time and consideration in this matter.
