Advertising on the forum

[Seanie]

So far I've welcomed people and companies advertising on the forum, with some stipulations, it must be of some interest to the paddlers that use the site, and that posting frequencies cant be repetitive/spam. So far all the people who have posted plugs for their businesses have been great.

The main reason I've allowed advertising is because I love hearing about cheap or new gear. However if there was a large uptake on adversing on the forum and the 'noise' got too much, I think I'd have to make the forum a no ads zone.

As it is, what do ye think? Should we allow ads?

[tiernan]

Could they not advertise through ad banners and so on? I'd say it would be more effective for them as oppose to just putting up a forum post that will eventually get lost under more posts!

IWW then have the option to charge for advertisement if thats what IWW wants to do!

Would it be worth having a Buy and Sell section for members to sell their second hand gear?

[Seanie]

Could they not advertise through ad banners and so on?

They could but that'll cost money, the site is really just a hobbie for me but their are costs associated with it. So far I'm in the red just for server costs alone, granted I have bought more server grunt than I need, but the plan is to expand one two areas like gauges and geo location features. And the best way for me to recoup some of this cash is to get cash for the "supported by" ads.

I'd say it would be more effective for them as oppose to just putting up a forum post that will eventually get lost under more posts!

Thats what's nice about forum posts, they're temporal. And a plug would only last a few days.

Would it be worth having a Buy and Sell section for members to sell their second hand gear?

Nah, IFS does this fairly nicely. And IWW only gets the odd gear post. I see any forum as being like a party. At the start there will only be a few people, if we were to through that party in a warehouse it would be too big and the party would die. So I'm planning on having it in a nice room with furniture and good tunes. If more people arrive we can move the furniture back, it the music is low we can turn the volume up. And if people don't like the music we can maybe open up another room.

The question is do people mind having people plug their goods or services on the forum?

[Micheal Mc Sweeney]

Not really, once it dosent become repetitive or turn into spam. And like you said, at least the posts only last a few days then get lost among newer posts.
At the end of the day, it's your party Sean and fair play to you for trowing it. Míle buíochas.

[tiernan]

I see any forum as being like a party. At the start there will only be a few people, if we were to through that party in a warehouse it would be too big and the party would die. So I'm planning on having it in a nice room with furniture and good tunes. If more people arrive we can move the furniture back, it the music is low we can turn the volume up. And if people don't like the music we can maybe open up another room.

When do the drunk chicks arrive??

[decgforce]

I'd hate to see the forum side goin down the "spam advertising" route, It just makes browsing alone akward, and it just looks......chaotic! Hard read posts and follow threads.

Might be a dumb idea/more work for Seanie but i think a "donate button" would be no harm!

The data provided by this website has saved me wasting diesel on a few occasions, any paddler in the same boat should have no qualms pitchin in a tenner to help things along.......

[christramp]

As someone who has advertised and been graciously allowed to do so I would agree and say donations from companies are certainly agreeable. Seanie your site is a valuable resource and is a must for all of us planning journeys for trips etc, so to be given a platform where we can offer our services is great. That being said We are personally concious of not spamming and filling posts or pages, its not big or clever it just hacks people off when commerciality takes over a site. We have committed that we will only ever post about offers or new products that will be of benefit to paddlers here in Ireland.
We are new and our costs have to be managed but we would certainly like to contribute something towards this great site.
Chris & Damo
www.kayakhut.com

[Seanie]

On another note, I've placed some Google ads on the site. The layout and positioning isn't a permanent thing, its mainly an experiment. The next version of IWW which is currently in development (due 2012 ) will have ads, but the placement, type and number of ads has to be decided, hence the experiment. I'll be tweaking them over the coming weeks, trying to strike the right balance.

I've never personally owed a site with Google ads, so its got novelty value. So far I'm amazed at how well suited the ads are, but I also know that can vary from page to page.

I'm curious how ye feel about it all, please post here or email me at [email protected]

[jimkennedy]

Good work Seanie. Same as most people, so far I don't mind the odd kayaking-related commercial post, so long as it doesn't become constant spam. On the issue of sidebar ads, go ahead - I'm on Mozilla with Ad-block running so I never see them anyway.

On a related issue, I thing it would be a good idea if there was a policy of sponsored people declaring their sponsorship where relevant, as in: "I paddled the such-and-such boat and thought it was great, better than the blah-blah boat" is fine if you add: "Disclaimer: I'm sponsored by such-and-such boat company." People not doing this is a bit of an issue over on UKRGB.

That's it.
Jim.

[Seanie]

the Google ads are annoying me, I actually was thinking I'd use ad block myself, which is bordering on ridiculous. And on top of that, getting around 20-90 cents a day....yeah not exactly enough to qualify as "fuck you money"!.
Thank you to the people that gave feed back. The experiment is over, I'll be taking them down as soon as I get a chance.

[tiernan]

20-90c a day would pay for a few rain guage phone bills.

[Brian]

20-90c a day would pay for a few rain guage phone bills.

That doesnt make sense. Ads might offset some of the IWW hosting costs.

[Seanie]

20-90c might also result in a number of people not using the site at all or as much as they used to....

Google ads are distracting and makes the site look like a commercial effort. And that 20-90c is based in having ads plastered everywhere. Google ads aren't the way forward. I'm not turning my back on advertising completely, the local companies that have pitched in have been great and I hope to get the ball rolling on that again.

As for the revenue, the new version of IWW which is underdevelopment for the past 6 months will have new gauge pages, with an individual page for each gauge, which is more tightly integrated into the guides and the "big picture map" Each gauge owner will be able to post status updates and also control the adversing for their graph page, including the option to place a paypal donate button.

There is also another factor that has to be taken into account, the most productive/smart business solution isn't necessarily the best in this case. This site is a hobby for me, as are the gauges for the lads that build them. Some of the decisions around money etc. will be base on the fact that the money side of things isn't part of our hobby. Ultimately I think the most lucrative and reliable source of funding and managing gauges will be locally sponsored gauges, sponsored and maintained by local clubs or local businesses. Google ads certainly doesn't cut the mustard.