75ZT Community

.....the majority of us here are quite seasoned in the quirks of the 75/ZT, so if we have a niggle we just get on and fix it. furthermore we are enthusiasts who take preventative action.

Now this is opposed to other sites where there are a vast majority of people who are not privvy to this knowlage and information.

So, thats my view, others? Feel free to comment and if this is so, how do we spread the word?

I just feel there is a mine of unused expertise here

In my opinion the best way is to let members on other forums know we are here. Admin can't do this as we are persona non grata on some other Rover / MG sites. Pointers to this forum are very often deleted almost immediately from public forums. PM may be useful in this type of scenario.
We do have an up to date Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-75-ZT ... 223?ref=ts which may help in spreading the word. Also a search for 75zt in google shows us top of the list which we have spent much time using SEO to put us there.
Having said that. The current membership stands at 429 which is possibly double what we considered would be a good count in less than 4 months. I am quite sure from the amount of guests viewing the forum on a daily basis that at least some of the expertise is being used. We can't force them to register or put direct tech questions if indeed tech help is what they are after.
Any suggestions as to how we can gain more members and not just those that know one end of a 75 ZT from the other will be taken seriously and acted upon if we possibly can.

The only advantage at the moment that the other site has is it's vaste library, if that is the right word, a major part which has been contributed by the knowledgeable gents here, although the great members here are quick to provide any nessacary advice, I do find myself looking at old threads on the other site for a quick fix, not that I'm able to provide any ideas on how to increase members here, I think when we built up our library here more people come.

Mick wrote:In my opinion the best way is to let members on other forums know we are here. Admin can't do this as we are persona non grata on some other Rover / MG sites. Pointers to this forum are very often deleted almost immediately from public forums. PM may be useful in this type of scenario.
We do have an up to date Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-75-ZT ... 223?ref=ts which may help in spreading the word. Also a search for 75zt in google shows us top of the list which we have spent much time using SEO to put us there.
Having said that. The current membership stands at 429 which is possibly double what we considered would be a good count in less than 4 months. I am quite sure from the amount of guests viewing the forum on a daily basis that at least some of the expertise is being used. We can't force them to register or put direct tech questions if indeed tech help is what they are after.
Any suggestions as to how we can gain more members and not just those that know one end of a 75 ZT from the other will be taken seriously and acted upon if we possibly can.

free car with every membership

i find it sad that some sites don't like mick and co or this site .

(3rd try)...

Dave has a very good point, this forum is tending to become a social forum rather than a place one would come to for help with a car problem.. In my own case, I now tend to think of the people on this forum as personal friends, and I try not to bother my friends with my personal problems, so I would post a car prob on tother site, rather than this one...

I intend to alter that, so I have made a start re my window and "vanishing" threads..
...

James.uk wrote:(3rd try)...

Dave has a very good point, this forum is tending to become a social forum rather than a place one would come to for help with a car problem.. In my own case, I now tend to think of the people on this forum as personal friends, and I try not to bother my friends with my personal problems, so I would post a car prob on tother site, rather than this one...

I intend to alter that, so I have made a start re my window and "vanishing" threads..
...

if your friends can help why not ask them and i hope that this site is a friendly one and hope that the other side is one too .

We have more members deals on this site and a few of theses we have got a better deal on than what we had on the other side. with these deals and the brains we have on here why go anywhere else

kandyman wrote:We have more members deals on this site and a few of theses we have got a better deal on than what we had on the other side. with these deals and the brains we have on here why go anywhere else

in your case to learn new jokes for face book

I post my problems on here.

I have always had an answer to any problem I have posted, or at least a point in the right direction as to where to start looking for the culprit.

What I have found is that most of the members on here tend to be on before 9am or in an evening. Whereas you will tend to get an answer during 'office hours' on the OC.

The other thing I have noticed is that generally on the OC if your diesel is running poorly 'it's your MAF (Mass Air Flow Sensor)', if it's a 1.8 'it's HGF (Head Gasket Failure)' and if it's a V6 'it's your VIS (Variable Intake System) motors'. LOL

Over here you tend to get a more thoughtful reply.

As for how we get more members, saw a young lad obviously struggling to get under the bonnet of his 75, with the help of a guy with a toolbox. So I stopped and had a quick chat, found out he was from Edinburgh and had just bought said 1.8 LPG (Liquified Petroleum Gas) converted 75 off a widower. The guy with the tools was a mechanic friend of the seller and was trying to work out how to get in to the bonnet. I told him what I knew, after over tightening my catches. We got in and I then pointed them in the direction of the cable connector, it was spread and was not holding the cable to the release handle, so I also showed them the fix with a couple of cable ties. He asked about the OC, I gave him a fair assessment of the same, and then pointed him in the direction of this site.

That was Friday 17th, so not sure if he has joined either site, but that is how I intend to spread the word, by telling every 75/ZT owner I have the pleasure to chat with or help about this place.

I do know what you mean, and sometimes it's a bit quiet because of it.

On a busy site, there can be a tendency for technical answers to be 'I heard xxx' but stated as fact rather than 'I heard'.

I honestly believe that if you want a good answer, you are more likely to get it here. If you want a quick answer you may find it elsewhere, but as some sites only believe in a minority, elite, technical team, they don't enjoy the benefit of lsitening to a broader, experienced cross section of owners.

I think most people here frequent more than one site, and why not? I understand the point about not bothering your friends with problems, but aren't your friends the best people to ask? At least you have an idea whether you can trust the answers? When I frequented one of the other forums, I often jumped in to contradict what other people had said, and it felt uncomfortable. Don't see anything like the same issues here. Always felt uncomfortable doing it, but I hate BS answers to things. People get misled enough by people out their without 'trusted' places being the same.

I don't think we are trying to be any sort of competition to any other forum or site. We shouldn't anyway. Each has it's own style and substance. My efforts stay here (as I'm unwelcome elsewhere because of my family and values) but I will help any owner who needs it, from any forum or site.

Duncan wrote:I don't think we are trying to be any sort of competition to any other forum or site. We shouldn't anyway. Each has it's own style and substance. My efforts stay here (as I'm unwelcome elsewhere because of my family and values) but I will help any owner who needs it, from any forum or site.

Not normally one for spamming with "I agree" comments, I have to say that, after a bit of thought, Duncan's comment quoted above is precisely in line with my own thinking.

Just an observation, but tried typing in ' Rover 75 forums ' and MG ZT forums ' into google and yahoo. I can't see this forum in the first 2 pages of results. Most ' newbies ' in search of assistance may not find this site at all, just the others Is there any way that can be sorted?

TyphoonTT wrote:Just an observation, but tried typing in ' Rover 75 forums ' and MG ZT forums ' into google and yahoo. I can't see this forum in the first 2 pages of results. Most ' newbies ' in search of assistance may not find this site at all, just the others Is there any way that can be sorted?

The metatags for the forum encompass many variations of rover 75 and MG ZT along with other keywords. Although it is possible to manipulate SEO to a certain degree in general, time is what counts in page rankings. Yahoo and Google bots as well as a few others search this site many times per day, but so do they search other 75 and zt sites.
If there is anybody that has any further ideas to get our name ranked higher on search engines in short time we'd appreciate the help.

It would be interesting. (but practically impossible) to view a Social/Demographic profile of the 2 membership listings. In this way it would then be feasible to contrast typical members complexions.

I notice the club seems to have an expanding nucleus of 'non subscripted' within it's present parameters. Whilst unable to access intellectual property etc, they do get information and free guidance via the forums.

Lets say the aim of the Club's directors from conception was to create a relatively short-term vehicle for financial gain. Within this scenario, the simple revenue of paid membership becomes tertiary, in comparison to the perception of 'hits' or 'visits' as conceived value.

Therefore, any investment bereft of fixed assets within it's balance sheets would need to be amortised realistically, as the vehicle park exponentially diminishes. The apogee here may also well be fast approaching?

Long term value therefore would need to be based upon the secondary revenue stream of subscripted income replacing the 'hits' income, as the vehicle park recedes.

For example a 'horse drawn carriage owners club' would have been a high volume membership bet in the late nineteenth century. Post the internal combustion engine however, its receipts would have been savaged by the terminal shift to the motor car as the primary and alternate method of transport.

I see the two fora being constantly digressive as car value's fall, and the ownership shifts demographically as a corollary within the two.

In other words, the typical 75/ZT's owner changes 'per se', as car values fall. The later keepers will also be restricted in longevity by the ever increasing costs of upkeep.

Therefore I would be inclined to believe this forum will eventually eclipse the club. I believe it's membership is more inclined towards longer term possession, based foremost upon desire and appreciation as selective principals of dominion.

Of course, many of us belong to both, but discernible migration should occur as the changes I foresee materialise, accelerated by unemployment contemporaneous with economic degeneration.

Have to agree on the search issue.

Searching Rover 75 on Yahoo doesn't find here, or the OC within the first few pages of results. Org comes up a number of times.

The Wikipedia page is found, and interestingly contains a reference and link to the OC.

Our problem is...

The community has, happily, already grown much more quickly than was expected, with a helpful, thoughtful, intelligent and well mannered clientele.

The expertise here is second to none.

There are good deals to be had be it regarding rust proofing, insurance, or spares from sellers.

There is an extremely high level of support from the people running this site - including a willingness to listen and make changes where possible and within a very short time-frame.

There are meets, nano-meets, brunches, firework displays and goodness knows what else in the offing..

.....maybe we worry too much.....

....maybe we post too little?....

either way.......

'Slowly slowly catchee monkey'...

another thought...

To compete requires one to conform, to do things in one's own way requires one to be a non-conformist...a bit different and a bit special.....I always preferred non-conformists meself....

That all said...I will continue to point folks in this direction....

I think it would be fair to say that we have a small, quality membership on here and it does feel a lot more friendly than elsewhere.

Personally, I find that I use the OC as a reference library because there is a much larger database to search. I do know that, if I had a problem, I could use this side to get lots of quality advise but, due to the friendly nature of this site I don't like to bother people here, silly, I know.

We do possibly lack the number of new members joining unlike other sites but do they stick around once they have posted their initial question / query, hmm, not sure.
They don't appear to be paying their £10 with any great rush as there seems to be more "blues" over there these days, maybe wrong

Only my thoughts, there do appear to be some fresh faces looking to attend the Donington Park meet on the 24th Oct, which can only be a good thing really. It will be interesting to see how that turns out on the day.
Not sure what effect, if any, the OC Regional Secs will have on local meets and whether this will impact on any arranged here and jointly posted on both sites??

Someone has just posted a question about this site on the other side, so I have briefly explained this side and why it was set up (believe James.UK has also done the same)

As time goes on and the debacle that is the regional secs continues to get worse, I am less and less obliged to take the role on for the midlands. I had asked initially just asked to do east mids and lincs, but offered to take on the whole midlands initially.

Due to things happpening in London - I am now living in Wales and whilst I will try my damdest to help with the regional role (for the members, not the club at all) after what has happened with Lewis, who is in essence the future of that club - I am really on the verge of saying stuff it.

The thread will probably be found by someone on the other side and I'll get a rollicking- but hey ho!

I think one of the ill-informed comments on that thread using the term 'copy' might be one of the things that actually makes this forum different.

(ungracious comment deleted)

A pity there still seems to be that immature 'them and us' attitude amongst certain of the rank and file membership