Ads?

[Sir Adam]

I'm yet again seriously considering putting a few advertisements up (or rather offering a few specific companies the possibility to advertise here if they are interested). My thoughts currently are as follows:
*5-10 ads on CBoats at a time (different ads on different forum pages, etc...)
*NO pop-ups (that's what drove us here in the first place)
*Only reputable whitewater-related ads

This would help me defray the cost of hosting the site at pair.com, as well as pay for CD's, etc... to backup the site.

If there was enough interest I would look into hosting limited video as well (e.g. increasing what I pay to pair.com for more bandwidth a month).

In case anyone is curious, we get 700-1000 unique visitors A DAY here (so I know not everyone is registered, and will try to keep it that way as long as I can (ability to post without registering)).


Please let me know:
a) what do you think of this (for or against advertisements on this site)
b) if you're for it, are there any companies in particular you'd recommend approaching (I've already approached two to feel them out in general and they were both open to reviewing specific proposals)

[unloggedcosmik]

I don't see anyproblem with having some ad's, especially if it'll help generate some money to keep the site up. I would recommend like kayakoutfitting.com, and a few smaller companies like that maybe?
Will

[allan]

i agree with cosmik...

while adds are a pain in the butt, they're a fact of life. You've given us a great resource here adam, and if adds are going to help you afford it, then that's what counts.

cheers,
-allan

[John Coraor]

Ditto

John

[David Good]

I can remember back in my K1 days when I frequented Boatertalk.com and they were running into financing problems. There solution (I believe) was to go with advertisements. In my opinion, I think it worked really well for that site. I wouldn't imaging this site would have to go as far as they did (after all, your not looking to make this a profession), but offsetting the cost with a few ads makes a lot of sense. If the advertisers were well chosen, it could really be useful also.

You may look at Mountain Surf, Drakkar (after they're a bit more established), NOC, NRS, Strap Work, Esquif... Basically I'm thinking of the companies that I use most often as a cboater...

Take It Easy,

David

[Marko @ drakkar]

established ... large steaming pile of dog doo i have to get my dictionary

<just an kayak designer>

[Guest]

Whatever you need to make it work, Sir.

If it becomes a pain (to either you or the rest of us) then it can be tweaked until it is right.

Thanks again for your service to the C-boat community!

[clt_capt]

Adam,
I see no issue with having some advertisers on the site - Heck they may even be willing to offer discounts to registered users - That would be a win for you and for the registered users - not to mention the advertisers.

F

[Jon]

I vote YES too.

[Scott C]

By all means advertise. The added revenue can only enhance the site. The videos would be a wonderful resource if you could have a "how to" section. I would even let Marko from Dakkar advertise. By the way when can we see one of them up here in Canada?

Scott

[guest20]

I vote yes. It could be a win-win: we all spend $ on boats on gear (albeit in properly paddler-stingy fashion), we are all interested in the latest stuff, so select advertisers could be rewarded by having a select target audience that actually might care about the stuff they sell.

We all look at ads for things that interest us,, it 's just the ones of no interest that are the pain..

[the great gonzo]

definitely a yes, as long as they are palling related.

martin

[Sir Adam]

Thank you all for your kind words and support . I will continue looking into placing ads on this site (approaching the vendors you've listed as well as those that are linked on the Home page), as well as increasing bandwidth further to allow video.

If you have any other vendors you recommend I approach, please post them here!

[sbroam]

I meant to vote earlier - "Aye". Sounds good to me.

Scott

[Mike W.]

If the companies don't think we'll buy stuff just have 'em look through our posts. A search for "contact cement" turned up 382 matches...call Weldwood & get their $$ "foam supplier" - 436 matches.

Another angle to take with them is to point out that many are already listed on the main page. I think many of us would lean more toward spending our $$ with companies that advertise here.