Personally I would not recommend putting AMA and similar activities behind a paywall.
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These are all great partnerships we should nurture. I’ll ping @CC_Sorin on this one.
In general, I wouldn’t want to lock any AMA from a vetted expert behind a subscription - free will always maximize their audience and our users’ benefit. We could work out some kind of special discount for additional services with some experts but those often don’t work out if they don’t see immediate inflow of leads.
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Forgive me if this is outside of the scope of CC, but I wonder what amount of international traffic could be garnered here. That’s one of the most frequent types of posts I see on Reddit: “I’m an international student seeking a full ride; where should I apply/can this school be a safety for me/can someone explain things to me as I don’t have a lot of resources in my area and don’t understand this process very well?” I feel like creating some sort of hub for international students applying to the U.S., maybe with some resources translated into different languages, could easily get some traffic (+ sweet sweet ad revenue).
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Is CC in danger of going under without some of the changes suggested?
One thing I have always liked about this forum is that it offers equal access (for free). But if it won’t survive without changes, that is another story.
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Ok, I will add my two cents! For reference, I am a stay at home mom of 4 and former librarian. When S18 was in high school I didn’t use this site at all. He was a middle stats kid with some interesting quirks and got into our state flagship (he wanted to wear a t-shirt on May 1 that said W?F on the back because many many many higher stats kids got rejected that year lol)
Next kid S19 was a NMSF. I can definitively state that he would not have gotten a full COA without CC. Which makes me much more willing to consider spending some $$ to keep CC going.
With D24 we found that the college application landscape has changed tremendously AND we had moved to a different part of the country (NE) with so many colleges we knew nothing about. CC has been tremendously helpful.
D27 is going to be a challenge for many reasons and husband and I are contemplating hiring some help for the first time.
As Twitter and Reddit have become more sketchy I am also enjoying many of the other community forums for the first time.
So, what would I pay for?
I would do a patreon type donation. ($20-$40)
I would pay for Match Me posts ($ ?)
I would pay for a tier that included AMA with colleges you don’t hear much about (D24 has an app into Muhlenberg because of CC)
I would pay for college essay feedback (D24 used the forum here and it was a great experience) $50+
As other people have commented, I worry about locking out kids who don’t have the money and support that mine do. I worry that they think the reddit Applying to College or whatever it is, is real (it’s nuts! it creates anxiety!)
Good luck!
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Yes, if you have no specific information about a subject, it’s best to see if other users can provide advice before copying and pasting from a Google search.
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Love this. International students can always use guidance for their specific situation. We would need some expert to lead this effort tho…
The short answer is no, we’ve cut costs enough to keep it running. That said, there is so much cool stuff we could do with just a little more consistent funding.
So glad to hear! We want to keep it that way for as many people as possible.
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Be careful, I made a much more general comment about the use of google in answering questions and had my intentions questioned. That said I completely agree!!!
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Sounds like you need a banker😀
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Fyi, though, Patreon is not for CC users to monetize content, but for CC itself to create cashflow.
Personally I like this best because it is SIMPLE and doesn’t require huge effort to create/vet new product.
I already pay $6/month to support a fledgeling d3 soccer board because I want it to succeed.
I would be happy to pay $10/month for CC.
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And there are no prizes for being the first to answer a thread 
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But there are badges. 
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Point taken. This is def something for us to try.
I think @skieurope is suggesting we monetize our amazing badges! 
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I have tons of excellent ideas that will make you some money. But you will have to pay me a monthly fee for it
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All I want is a new baseball cap. The one I have is wearing out.
Sign me up for a Knowsstuff Premium Subscription! You take badges as a form of currency, right? 
I’ll see what I can do! tagging @CC_Sorin for help on this one…
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Last year you had an admissions counselor from Berklee College webinar. I would pay a small amount to access something like that piece meal or maybe an annual price to access those kind of contacts with professionals. But I would probably only pay if I had (or was) a junior or senior in high school.
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That’s a good idea! Set up a large zoom (or equivalent) with valuable speakers in the field and charge a modest fee to attend.
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Can I sell my badges to newbies? I will even give CC a commission.
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Make a verification badge that you can sell–since that worked out so well for X/Twitter!