COMING SOON! – MYGOLFSPY FORUM LAUNCHES (MARCH 1st)

FORUM LAUNCHES – MARCH 1ST! ($10,000 In Prizes)

Next month MyGolfSpy will have been online for 2 years…crazy when I think about it.  And over 2,500,000 million golfers have come to visit the sites…really crazy when I think about that.  I think this is because our motto was always simple and one that was needed in the industry.  And that is a voice that tells it like it is and speaks the truth about how we really feel about the industry and its products.  It sure seems to be catching on…we see sites all the time popping up with similar mottos now…and I hope it continues…it is what this and every industry needs.  And I feel you will see this trend grow even more in the near future.  More and more blogs like this and less and less people buying subscriptions to biased based magazines.  Actually that is already happening.

What E-Mail Do We Get The Most?

So out of the 2.5 million golfers that have come to visit us in that time…what is the most common email we get from readers?  Well…the one email we get the most by far from the readers is “Do you plan on starting a forum?”

And up until about 6 months ago I always answered that question with the same answer…”probably not”.  Although we have since changed our minds…because one email after another continued coming in from guys all over the world either un-happy with the other forums they are apart of or just because they simply wanted a place they could come and have a more open discussion with other golfers and actually have their voice heard not shot down by moderators.  So we felt there was another need out there to be filled for golfers. Initially I didn’t think it was a good idea…because there were already some great golf forums out there on the web.  Many of which have been around for a very long time and have accumulated thousands of members and tons of incredible resources for their guests.  But like we said…you guys convinced us that there is a need for a new golf forum with a fresh outlook on the game and how members can interact without be moderated so heavily.

Great Golf Forums…But Missing The Point

So we decided since we were going to do this…we had to improve on what was already out there.  And during the last 6 months I have thought long and hard about that.  What were many of the already great golf forums out there missing?  This quickly became apparent.  Almost none of these so-called forums were actually doing what a forum is supposed to be about! – And that’s a place where you can actually speak your mind. A forum should be a place where you can come to speak your mind and say how you feel about a certain topic or particular interest you have .  Sounds simple right?  Well after years of being online they have almost all seemed to stray from that intention.  Many of them have become more like a dictatorship and less like a democracy.  People getting banned…members getting suspended….getting put in adult time out.  HUH?  We will have rules (actually don’t like that term ours will be called Moral Codes) but they will be the obvious ones that you apply to your regular lives.

So How Will We Improve On The Forums Already Out There?

So if we were going to launch a MGS forum we had to figure out how to improve on what was already out there…that was a must.  So we spent hours going through all the other forums out there and all the hundreds of emails we get from readers having issues with other forums…and came up with a plan on how we would approach each of their downfalls and improve on them for the new MGS Forum.

1. Be 100% Non-Biased – Running a forum costs money that is an unfortunate fact…so most forums to stay up and running look for advertisers to offset those costs…which we will have to do as well.  But what has happened with the majority of these other golf forums out there is that have become biased to their advertisers products.  If they are not nice to them they wont continue to advertise and the forum ceases to exist.  So…if you say something negative about one of those advertiser’s products you might actually be BANNED from ever coming back to that forum.  What is this…Germany back in the old days?  I actually have a email folder full of emails from members of other forums telling me about how they got banned for expressing their opinions. It amazes me how many posts actually get deleted from other forums out there.  We had to fix this issue.  So we decided that in order for the MGS forum to improve on that we will have to do a couple things:
   • One…we will always be honest and un-biased about any product we review or discuss even if it is from one of our advertisers.  The cream will always rise to the top in our opinion anyway…so just tell the people the truth.  Quite simple…if you don’t want bad things said about your product make sure you put out a great product.
   • And secondly, we want this to be a place you guys can give your actual honest opinion as well about anything and everything you feel like discussing about golf.  So if you like a product we want to hear all about it and even if you don’t like the product or have something you want to say we still want to hear about it.  It is best for the consumer to hear all the honest opinions from all the other members.
2. Educational Approach – We want the MGS forum to be the most educational golf forum on the web and be based on educating the golf consumer.  We are going to reach out to and welcome all golf business owners both instructional and non-instructional to take part in this forum.  This way you get the scoop not only from the non-professional members but also from the all the professional golf business owners in the business as well.   Typically people come on forums for a couple reasons: one is to meet other golfers and chat about golf and the other is to learn something.  Sounds like a simple concept once again but most the other forums are not doing this either.  WHY…YOU SAY? Well it has to do with the advertisers that pay the bills again…they have the power on most of these forums…and they have not figured out how to treat non-paid advertisers (vs) paid advertisers postings on the forum.  Paid Advertisers get upset at forum owners for allowing Non-Paid Advertisers to post info about their business for FREE.  Which is understandable but we feel we have  a simple solution that will allow any and every golf business owner and golf professional to participate on the MyGolfSpy forum.  Which in the end…once again is best for the members.
3. Golf Product Reviews –  we have found that there is also a lack of super detailed product reviews on forums by the owners.  And not only on forums but magazines as well.  The Golf Digest “Hot List” has almost become a joke to the consumer.  They only rate the big dogs and they almost all get Gold, Silver or Bronze Medals …once again to keep their advertisers happy.  So we will encourage every member to review and post their reviews of products to help other consumers make a more informed decision on their purchases.  But in addition to that we want our reviews that we do to be “The Last Search For A Review You Will Ever Need To Look For” kind of review.  We have put in place a new system to test products that we feel will give the absolute best data and information you need to decide if that product is right for you.  Many people go from site to site reading reviews trying to piece together all the info they need.  So we plan to fill that gap with the be all and end all type product review for you guys.
4. And Much More… – we have all kinds of other exciting projects that we feel will fill the needs that needed to be met not only from other golf forums but from other golf sites as well.  We have a couple built into the forum and we also plan on launching a couple more in the near future.  One of those being GolfBagCheck.com which is still in BETA testing (so pardon the mess).  But when finished we feel this will be another great addition to the growing MyGolfSpy family of sites.  We also have a new FREE Classifieds system that we think is an improvement on other forums classifieds sections.  So keep sending us your ideas for what you think needs to be done and we will keep on trying to build them for you!

P.S. – Keep checking back this week and next to see all the special things that will be going on with the forum launch.  We will be giving away over $10,000 worth of golf gear to new members of the forum.  You want want t miss that post…so keep your eyes peeled to MGS!

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