If You Were A Moderator

[Newpollz]

As a relative newcomer, I’m troubled by the sense of “them” and “us” – INSIDERS vs outsiders; those who have achieved “success” (whatever that means) vs those just starting out….and I say this as an INSIDERS, BTW!

OK, I get the frustration of drive-bys and action-fakers, but the idea that newcomers have nothing to contribute seems dangerous. An alternative view is that newbies and fast-laners are just at different places on the same road. After all, isn’t that why people join this forum in the first place?

The mission of The Fastlane Forum is to encourage entrepreneurs to become valued contributors to society, successful, financially independent, and self-sufficient through leveraged and disciplined entrepreneurship, or Fastlane Entrepreneurship.

Anyone engaging in internet forums has to apply their own critical thinking and bull-shit meter. People must decide for themselves what is of value or not – AND just because someone has a high rep doesn’t make them always right; the perils of group-think! I think there are already enough tools to self-manage without complicating things further – rep bank, likes, following, ignoring etc.

So, back to the objective of encouraging entrepreneurs, self-sufficiency and leverage through others. How can we do more of this?

· Create a simple action-based work pack for newbies. Why? To bridge that gap from “I’ve seen the light, I’m super keen” to “OK how do I action this?” (Not “tell me how to start a business, just give me all the answers”, but some key questions and actions, pointers to useful resources etc. that they can work through at their own pace. Perhaps those who’ve “kicked newbies’ backsides” could help articulate what this might look like).

· Voluntary buddy system. People can either request or volunteer as a buddy…pairing newbies with a more experienced member (with a mutual area of interest – see also below).

· Add searchable experience tags to profile (skills/industry/sector). Helps make the relationship more reciprocal between newbies and older members - people can see what value you have to offer beyond rep $$$.

This right here. Divided we are few but together we are legion. I'm sure we could do in 1 year what we would in 10 years with this forum if we stopped being arrogant with one another.

 

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[GIlman]

As a relative newcomer, I’m troubled by the sense of “them” and “us” – INSIDERS vs outsiders; those who have achieved “success” (whatever that means) vs those just starting out….and I say this as an INSIDERS, BTW!

I'm not sure about other people, but the value of INSIDERS for me isn't in having some special distinction, I could care less.

Many people, including myself, have shared some very specific details of our businesses.

I would never share some of this in an open forum because I want there to be some guard against casual exposure of this information. Certainly I don't mean to share this with my clients or competitors.

The value of INSIDERS to me is there is a real barrier to entry as a small admittance fee which effectively establishes that gatekeeper for what I choose to share.

@Vigilante not sure if this would be seen as a detractor from the forums, but a list of "mastermind" groups and eligibility requirements may be nice. We have a SAAS slack group that has 10 members and has been an incredible resource to all of us. But we only admit people who are actively developing a SAAS product. This is to keep the group relevant to those involved. I know there's others too.

 

[StevieB]

Being able to view watched threads even if they don't have a new reply.

I frequently would like to review information I've read previously and I typically mark it 'watch thread', but when I click on watched threads it only shows me the ones with new replies since I've last read them.

 

[Supa]

Being able to view watched threads even if they don't have a new reply.

I frequently would like to review information I've read previously and I typically mark it 'watch thread', but when I click on watched threads it only shows me the ones with new replies since I've last read them.

You can view all your watched threads.. Just click on view more at the top.

 

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[Jake]

International clocks somewhere?

So you can see which part of the world is probably sleeping right now or working or reading the forum?

with http://www.revolvermaps.com/ you can see the location of active users based on IP address location

 

[Castillo]

I would love a chat room!! Would be very nice to have.. Please please?!

 

[Razz]

Tried sending this by message system, but most likely too inexperienced account. If I were a mod, I would pass this on, to find a way to delete this when searching for the book:

When searching for "millionaire fastlane pdf" I noticed that the content was available for free from Archive.org (among other sites). Figured it was worth a mention, don't think it was meant to be free... interesting situation being on Archive.org

Screenshot attached.

Removable with DMCA, info@archive.org with a request, or creating an account and asking for removal.

Other sites have it listed as well. Clicked on some links to check out the content, as reflected in the screenshot.

Edits on the pdf listed on Archive.org were done by a Paul (all the info stored in the pdf)

Please ignore/delete if this was a way to have the material more freely distributed. Trying not to be useless. Site that hosted it looked spammy to me.

 

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[Ubermensch]

I can teach you to make $10,000 in 30 days. Just sign up for my one month mentoring program. It only costs $5k and I'm accepting 2 clients.

Not sure if anyone mentioned this idea... how about a "gold post" function?

We have GOLD threads. Why not GOLD, specific, individual posts?

I would give the above quoted, posted by @biophase in another thread, an example of such a post.

The wisdom in the words "lies" in their double-meaning.

Get it?

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Not sure if anyone mentioned this idea... how about a "gold post" function?

We have GOLD threads. Why not GOLD, specific, individual posts?

I would give the above quoted, posted by @biophase in another thread, an example of such a post.

The wisdom in the words "lies" in their double-meaning.

Get it?

Thanks, this has been on my wish list for some time. I just found a plugin that might do the trick.

Many times some threads suck, but have one GREAT post buried within it ... this would help expose such gold.

Stay tuned...

 

[The-J]

It's been said before but I think the Inside should require you to pay a portion of your Rep$ bank, say $1000, to gain access. Not that high of a bar, but still requires you to be somewhat active.

The outside forum is quite valuable, but the inside forum is priceless and shouldn't just be accessible by anyone with a credit card

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

how about a "gold post" function?

I can now feature posts on the front page although there is a bug in the software which misidentifies the poster. Anyhow if someone thinks a post should be featured on the front page, tag me and say [HASHTAG]#Featured[/HASHTAG] -- so nice to be able to expose good posts in poor threads.

 

[Ubermensch]

Thanks, this has been on my wish list for some time. I just found a plugin that might do the trick.

Many times some threads suck, but have one GREAT post buried within it ... this would help expose such gold.

Stay tuned...

I see @biophase 's post pop up on the forum's home page now.

Looks good.

 

[Andy Black]

There's no reason to get so rallied up because someone else has a different opinion than you. There should be a beer button. You send it to someone and you have a virtual beer with them. Everyone can just get along and have a good time.

^^ This seems like a great idea.


Mmmmmm.... beeeer...

 

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[LifeTransformer]

I'd turn off the notification for; "You sent username $100 rep".

I know I did! I just pushed the button, what are you alerting me for?

Just a minor annoyance is all .

 

[FastNAwesome]

Thanks to moderators for appreciating many of the great suggestions, and a very belated apology @MJ DeMarco - the link I posted in this thread looked very spammy indeed - once I turned off ad blocking.

 

[NetBorn]

I wish I see a forum in which moderators are just polite, using a decent respectful language and joking around leaving threads of any kind to any member of a forum ... Imagine how secure one can feel of being part of something when some people are openly "giving justistice". Would I try to be more helpful in such situation in the long run ... I would try to care less and just take and leave.

 

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[NetBorn]

I wish I see a forum in which moderators are just polite, using a decent respectful language and joking around leaving threads of any kind to any member of a forum ... Imagine how secure one can feel of being part of something when some people are openly "giving justistice". Would I try to be more helpful in such situation in the long run ... I would try to care less and just take and leave.

Btw, as member of a certain society I was also moderator/admin of a forum in which there was a guy that was provoking people on the forum - not like personal attacks but asking strong questions and quoting not so pleasant facts. He got banned, later I got to meet him personally and honestly he is one of the greatest guys you can know - he did a lot more for the society offline than anyone else, he organised events and kept straight and clear mind on the cause not mixing with other things ... well anyway.

 

[Mr4213]

Did not have time to read all the post. Not sure if this has been mentioned.

Maybe the forum could have a system that verifies networth.

And then have forum rep and networth rep.

 

[Supa]

I wish I see a forum in which moderators are just polite, using a decent respectful language and joking around leaving threads of any kind to any member of a forum ... Imagine how secure one can feel of being part of something when some people are openly "giving justistice". Would I try to be more helpful in such situation in the long run ... I would try to care less and just take and leave.

Why are you still on here if you seem to not like it?

Can't disagree more with what you said.. Every one of the moderators does an incredible job at keeping this place clean of bullshit threads and posters.

 

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[samsara]

I wish I see an "I Don't Like" button for replys like this:

I wish I see a forum in which moderators are just polite, using a decent respectful language and joking around leaving threads of any kind to any member of a forum ... Imagine how secure one can feel of being part of something when some people are openly "giving justistice". Would I try to be more helpful in such situation in the long run ... I would try to care less and just take and leave.

 

[Serty]

Not sure if it has been mentioned already but adding a Chrome notification to alerts would be nice so you don't have to waste time and check if someone has replied to a discussion etc.

 

[Red]

I haven't tested any of these out, but here are 3 options for forum alters via chrome extensions.

Edit: upon further research... I'm not sure if these will work for this forum... can't find a tapatalk notifier either (they link to them, but you get 404 errors)... will keep looking.

 

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[GMSI7D]

If you were a moderator, or if you owned the forum...

What would you do differently to make this forum better?

Anything goes. Great answers/suggestions/ideas will get you rep$$.

Suggesting MJ fire me might get your IP address banned.

Go.

i suggest you make a list of the top contributor of the weeks in terms of value added or whatever criteria you think is relevant

so readers can access directly to the most valuable content of the weeks or months or whatever time.

for example :

user ABC received 125 like last week so you reward him with 20rep§

user XYZ received 85 like last week so you reward him with 10 rep§

and so on for the top 10 user

you get the idea

 

[GuestUser155]

Revamping/ removing the "Fastlane Topic Search." Right now it seems to serve the same purpose as the forum-wide "Search Titles Only." (Or at the least make "ex: Should I go to college?" the standard title of the box, but disappear when you click inside. Right now you have to delete all of the text before inputting your query.)

Play around with the font settings: On loading, the page (all of the orange headers) first displays Times New Roman before going to some sans font. There's an example of it on top of the about page (where it doesn't change to sans like the rest on the front page and forum headers). Also, I thought it was pretty weird that you have tabs on the About page and the INSIDERS page navigating to a certain header instead of another page. I don't know a lot about design optimization, but I've heard that you want your functions to be intuitive (and similar, so that one button doesn't do a different thing every time). It seems the tabs serve as page-navigation links for some pages (About and INSIDERS) while serving as a hyperlink on other pages (Forum and Bookmarks).

Another thing, is that the front/home forum page is too long (atleast for me). It takes seven pgdwns just to get to the bottom and there's so much stuff going on. There's no immediate or quick solution. If you think it's a problem, it's going to take some thinking and a lot of trial and error to get something that works well. Maybe allow the forum categories to be minimized? Such, I might not need go scrolling through the 2/3 of "Common Forum Questions" that I've already read completely. I can just minimize it and save my self the scrolling.

Also, the forum rules/guidelines (the small box) are pretty out of the way. I'd imagine if they were high-priority/important they'd be higher (or even the highest/first thing under the nav-bar) and a constant reminder what's required of you.

Maybe merge staff and user online? Still have the pictures of the staff members, but have a different/bold colour in the user-list. The Staff list would be above "People You Follow." And perhaps merge "New Users" as well. Put it right under "Users." If I owned the site I would just put a little box that showed the very newest user, unless my purpose for the feature was to get members to welcome them (even then I'd have to use some more elbow grease to get that system in place).

Just some of my insights from a good amount of work on different forums.

 

[devine]

Well, I would scale up TFLF to a new level:
1. I would create a website for TFLF as a centralized system with the very best content highlighted.
2. Invest major efforts in TFL Website to make it a product, not a medium.
3. Promote premium elements of TFLW by creating better user experience in general.
4. Make us a quality-first brand that is up to 2017 standards, that is flexible and easily managed without major efforts since everything is setup.
Not hypothetically speaking, I would take care of implementation.

 

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[GuestUser155]

I'd also optimize mobile.

 

[Daniel M.]

Hi MJ,

In order to have a cleaner, more professional look I would advice to choose the forum categories in which the new threads, posts should appear in the top of the forum.

What I mean is that 5 minutes ago I just created a new thread in the Health and Fitness forum with the title "Smoking vs Vaping". In my opinion is a great topic of discussion in the health category, but has nothing to do with the main theme of the Fastlane Forum.

So, what I'm saying is that in the Latest Comment section should appear just business related threads and comments and nothing else. (Exclude "Rest Stop" category for example).

 

[Longinus]

Didn't we have a "Poster of the Year" topic near the end of the year? I'm not sure, but can't find it.

If not, it's an idea. Winner gets a "poster of the year" badge

 

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[Ika]

There are a lot of freelancers and learners on here who want to practice their skill.
There are a lot of entrepeneurs on here who need these skills.

If I need a service, I would like to give other fastlaners the chance to do it to build up a portfolio, learn the craft or simply show what they can do. The problem, is I don't know who is learning what skill. Most of the time, there are no examples of peoples work in the progress threads too.

My idea is the following. One of the admins or mods opens a thread in the marketplace.
Now the people searching for the service can write a post like this:

What: Copywriting in Germany for my Landingpage
When: 2 weeks from now on
Reward: You can use the work in your portfolio. I will write a honest (!) review/Testimonial on your website or upwork/fiverr. I will give you feedback on the work, your communication and the overall cooperation.

If you think you are right for the job, you can send me pm and things start rolling.

The seller has a place to gain experience without the need to sell his service to strangers.
The "buyer" has a place to get a piece of work and is in the position to help someone out.

For some projects there needs to be special arrangements, maybe non disclosure agreements, but the two people have to figure this out alone. There might be exploitation by the "buyers" though.

So maybe put this into the speedway forum?

 

[GMSI7D]

if i were a moderator, i would tap into this formidable power of interconnected minds that are writing here for free

this is like a formidable engine with hundreds of minds too plug , a giant mastermind to harness







i would organize a mastermind event where all milionaires here are invited to come and to share their life lessons.

imagine the power of such an engine of knowledge and achievement

unbelievable



this is like famous copywriting events : all superstars are in the room






and the room is worth hundreds of millions of dollars in potential achievement


you can always connect these " brain batteries" as a giant CPU in a new way ( management of people) to acheive new results

this is truly the mind of a god that is emerging in the room with all these superstars

someone once said that the internet is truly like a God with all this knowledge available within one click.

same thing here