As of today, Ask SC is being replaced.  Here’s why…

1. Years ago, when Ask SC was created we didn’t have our current forum.  Back then, we were using a clunky, very limited, third-party forum software program.  Today, our Forum, which was built 100% by us, is a sleek, highly integrated, and powerful resource–that we can tailor to do almost anything.  In other words, we can now accomplish Ask SC’s objectives at the Forum.  More on this in a moment.

2. Ask SC has always had a few issues.  For example, people were constantly trying to game it to win VP.  Some answers submitted were often inaccurate or became obsolete soon.  Due to careless voting by the community, sometimes the best answers didn’t find their way to the top.  And plagiarism–especially lately–had become a serious problem.

3. After covering a whopping 850 questions, Ask SC has kind of “run out of gas.”  That is, about 98% of all questions being submitted now have already been asked and answered (there’s only so many good questions after all).

So…no longer will you see Ask SC as a tab on your SFI homepage.  However, Ask SC will live on through a new section we’ve just added to the Forum that we are calling “Great Question!”

Effective immediately, the same type of questions you were asking on Ask SC you can now submit at the Forum TAB (see the new new panel at the top of the Forum tab on your homepage).  And best of all, there are some nice advantages to moving this to the Forum:

First and foremost, when you ask a question, you don’t have to wait for weeks to get answers.  On the contrary, a question submitted now can be approved and be generating answers within as little as a few minutes.

And as with Ask SC, you’re not going to get answers from just anyone.  No, your question will be answered by some of SFI’s absolute best and brightest minds!

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS:

Submitted questions will instantly be queued up at the Forum for approval by our Forum Moderators.  If our Moderators deem your question as “great,” it will be prominently displayed at the Forum in our new “Great Question!” section (questions not deemed as “great” will simply appear as regular Forum threads).

All affiliates may now post answers to your Great Question.  Answers that receive 50 or more likes will automatically earn our new SUPPORT STAR badge.  And every time another one of your answers to a Great Question reaches the 50-like threshold, your badge will be upgraded (it will display the number of times you’ve reached 50 likes for an answer to a Great Question).  Bronze, silver, and gold trim can also be added to your Support Star badge (see Badge Gallery for details).

There will also be a new Support Star “Hall of Fame” Website featuring every affiliate who has earned the Support Star badge.  And last but not least, we also are planning special recognition for our top, most active Support Stars each year (more on this later in the year).

Q & A

Q: When can I start submitting Great Questions or posting answers to Great Questions to earn the new Support Star badge?
Everything’s ready for you right now.  Enjoy!

Q: Ask SC had tons of really great information.  Will it still be accessible to affiliates?
Absolutely, yes!  We would never want to lose the more than 52,000 answers that Ask SC generated over its lifetime!  Ask SC is now a nice little database located under the TRAINING menu.  You can query its wealth of knowledge, insights, and ideas any time you want.  All Ask SC answers will also appear when using the SEARCH bar located at the top of every page at the Affiliate Center.

Q: Can top authors still earn VP prizes?
Sorry, no, it’s time to leave that behind.  Unfortunately, if there’s a VP incentive, it will be a constant battle to prevent people from trying to game it, telling all their downline to like their posts so that they can earn VP, etc.  We also want people answering primarily because they want to help the SFI community, not to earn VP.  This will, of course, create the best answers, too, and there’s much, much more value to everyone in high quality, actionable answers than a few VP for a handful of people.

Q: Not having the Ask SC tab means one less daily VP!  How can I replace this VP?
There are of course numerous other ways to earn VP every day; these are listed on your TO DO list.  We are also working on adding new ways that you can use to earn daily VP.

Q: What about the extra entry in the Daily Grand that used to be awarded for voting on 30 Ask SC questions?
This will no longer be available.  However, we are working on adding an additional way to earn an extra daily entry.

Q: What about the Ask SC badges I’ve won for being a Top Author and for votes cast?
You’ll retain those badges–at least for the foreseeable future.

Q: Is is okay for me to refer my team members to answers that I submit?
Yes, please do, as part of the reason for us creating this new program is to get more people participating at the forum!  And you’re also welcome to suggest they like your post if they honestly like what you’ve written.  But do NOT beg for likes.  It’s unbecoming and will only decrease the value for everyone that we’re trying to create here with the Great Questions program.

Q: If the new Support Star badge is based on likes, won’t people be receiving this badge from getting likes for other miscellaneous posts, not just those in response to Great Questions?
No.  The system will only award the Support Star badge for likes generated by answers posted on the new Great Question threads.

DISCUSS IT!  Log in at the SFI Affiliate Center, then head over to the FORUM–to the SFI NEWS DISCUSSIONS section–to discuss this announcement with your fellow SFI’ers.