Gofarmer - worth expanding to include Bulgaria?

[fey]

Well...Muffy has huge problems of his own...via his 'family'...so he is probably angry with everything...

But, Rachel, you don't 'alf attract trouble!!!

[leedarkwood]

Is your site working for Bulgaria? I just looked at the ads, as you have mentioned them, and found four properties for sale and nothing else, do I have to register to find more ads? There seems to be stuff for UK but not here.

[rgawith]

Yes site is working for Bulgaria. However, admit there are not many ads on for farming related stuff in Bulgaria. It is mainly the UK at the moment but expats in France and Bulgaria can register and post in all the listed catergories. It is free to browse categories and see what is for sale.

Just working on some promotion for Bulgaria and France.

Yes it has now been brought to my attention that Muffy has large problems of his own - if we shall put it that way!

[mememe]

Yeah - I had a look as well. Not a lot for sale, with just 12 registered users and just 1 user online when I looked. In the forum there were 76 messages, including quite a lot (37) of admin postings...

I'm afraid that I don't think that many people will be interested in the pretty small £100 per month display advertising buttons - but everyone has to start somewhere...

Good luck!

[leedarkwood]

But maybe it would make good business sense in that case to defer your leap from a fiver to 45 quid in costs until you have built up an advertising base? It is a bit of a steep increase in costs with little guarentee of a return....

[scot47]

Most of the Brits I see in Bulgaria are into crofting rtaher than farming. There is in Bulgaria an accelerated flight from the land and from agriculture.

This is in fact a phenomenon throughout the EU. People are rejecting peasant farming in favour of paid employment in urban areas. I can show you villages in Bulgaria where there is no one under the age of 60.

[rgawith]

Not sure where you are looking, there are currently 70 registered sellers listing everything from horses for sale, tractors and machinery, B&Bs, wool, livestock etc. There are close to 900 members total, 95% UK based. Few in France and handful in Bulgaria.

There are many ads on the site. The sponsor ads on the right hand side have been purchased in the past by larger agricultural companies in the UK. They get much more than just an ad on the site.

Gofarmer has been featured in many publications. It has helped many people successfully sell their items and promote their business.

The cost was 45 pounds a year to list as many adverts as you want in that period, there is no limit. So 45 pounds is actually great value. Where else can you advertise as many products as you like for just 45 pounds a year. However, there is a 5 pound introductory offer, so your first year is just 5 pounds and then subsequent years are 45 pounds. This gives you the chance to test the site for just 5 pounds for the first year and if you decide it is not for you, you can cancel before the payment for second year is taken.

As a member you can also send in details of your business or farm to be featured on the main home page under the Business and Farm focus pages.

The forum was hacked a few weeks ago and so once that had been sorted, I went through the other week and removed all spam posts and old posts that now had no relevance so that is why the forum is a little sparce.

[mememe]

Sorry if I have misread the figures, rgawith. I was getting them from the forum which, from what you say, must be registered for separately from the main site?

A good idea - but some valid points have been made here. I agree with a previous posting that it is unlikely that many expats will move to Bulgaria to enter into a career in fully-fledged farming...

Get out of the rat-race by moving to a country with a relatively low per capita income - whilst working in an industry which has one of the highest suicide rates of all? I just don't think so....

[leedarkwood]

Just gone back in to look again, this time I found four property sales and one farm guesthouse, in Bulgaria, all of which the seller or owner seems to be you? Do you have any ads from people in Bulgaria at all? If not, then I think your original question back in 2007 might have been answered...

[phoenix2b]

In devense of Muffy- I too dont always read the small print-my bad-but as a sign of Good Will-and to promote a positive angle-surely a refund would be appropriate- the site might be great in the UK-but it would seem that it is not attracting much in BG-a revision of the membership fees may attract more people to place adverts-I personally feel that as MYBG offers free advertising-for all-then you need to to consider why anyone would want to use your site-
just a thought on reality and nothing personal