Members, need your help.... input please

captain

Dis in my way!
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Guys / Gals
I want to make sure that we do the best we can for the members and get you all what you want out of the site. We have had thousands of registrations over the years and I sometimes forget how long it has been since we put updates out about the site... We go through generations around here every few years. As the Hayabusa has grown in the market so has this site, every time Suzuki sells a bike we have a prospective member. When the site started there were just a handfull of us and my vision for the site was clear. To provide a place for motorcycle enthusiast to come to share stories and meet up with folks from all over the country. The vision has always been that corporate America would pay to advertise and the members would always have free access to the site. It took many years of struggling but we made it to the point a few years ago where we had enough sponsors to cover the cost.. This is when it started getting difficult! I would say the best years to date were about 2006 and the site just exploded with great people. The economy was good and the Busa was King of all then.. We grew and grew to the point where we had to start hosting the servers at a co locate instead of my office! This increased cost and once again we were looking to find money to cover cost... We have a lot of great advertisers and I do my best to keep the best on the site, I have never increased banner rates because I know if it's tough for me to keep the site running it's also tough for businesses to pay for advertising. This is why we started running Google ads a few years ago. This brings me to what I want to discuss with you now...

To be able to keep the site free we just have to include Google banners on the site. Charging membership is just not an option... So I want to put some options in front of you all and see what we can work out... Remember there has to be some give and take... We get a few cents on most of the banners that are posted from Google, if you see something interesting and click on them we get more money. For those that are using pop up blockers I have to ask, what have you given to the community? It doesn't cost you anything to come here but you use an ad blocker because you don't like ads... those ads keep us running so I ask that if you don't have a reason to use an blocker like for access for work you keep the ads open...

We have added ads in the threads in the classifieds section. there is a 300 x 250 area in the first thread now. We figured that it would not be too intrusive and if you are buying and selling then it would not be too intrusive there...

Does anyone have any other ideas for advertising, what are your thoughts? If I were to remove banners from the main forum pages would you be okay if I added the ads in the threads.. you guys chime in here.. this is how we get things done.

We have made some changes in the banners that are presented to you so you should start to see more motorcycle specific banners shown too.

cap
 
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Cap i know this has been brought up before. Open the donation button. There are a lot of us on here who would like to donate but you wont let us. I say forget the extra ads. let us members who love and enjoy the site donate a little? It doesnt have to be a requirement. I bet you would be surprised at the amount of people who would donate.
 
Cap i know this has been brought up before. Open the donation button. There are a lot of us on here who would like to donate but you wont let us. I say forget the extra ads. let us members who love and enjoy the site donate a little? It doesnt have to be a requirement. I bet you would be surprised at the amount of people who would donate.

Can't do it.. there are a lot of laws, regulations and issues with taking donations from members... The problems that go along with taking donations on a site with membership this size causes more problems than it's worth.. Tons of liability.....

cap
 
what if you ran top and bottom of the thread and perhaps every 5th post slide in something small, like a text ad or something to get impressions up? Perhaps you can shift the forum to the left and sneak a vertical one or two down the right side? If they are targeted, as they appear to be from Google from our internet use they are a lot less "ugly" IMHO than just random "get your viagra here" crap you get in other forums.

Another thought and I have no clue if it can be done with the software but maybe show more ads to those that are lurking than to those who are logged in. Even as I type this there are 2x as many "guests" viewing this thread as members and seems to be a pretty consistent thing on every thread I look in.
 
I for one have NO problem with the banners on the site. On 1/13/2012 I had my 10 year anniversary as a member of the board and I haven't even owned a bike for the past 7 years. I may not be as active on the board as some but I'm here everyday, through out the day and can't imagine not coming back tomorrow. If looking at a few banners means the site will continue to be here when ever I want to see what's going on then so be it... :bowdown: Thank you so much for YOUR time, effort and money to keep this place up and running over the years. :beerchug: I'm a member for life so as long as the board is around you're stuck with me. :rofl:
 
Sell me a sticker to help the site....in will be happy to donate....I me buy one...
No strings just buy a sticker from you on paypal...
 
Sell me a sticker to help the site....in will be happy to donate....I me buy one...
No strings just buy a sticker from you on paypal...

+1 on that - if you sell a product, now matter how cheap the product is, at any markup; it is no longer a donation. I'd gladly buy a $20 sticker :)

As to ads, the ads on the site do not bother me, or on any site for that matter. I don't bother blocking, I pretty much ignore them. Now, ads in posts/threads I find invasive. If it comes to that, I'd suggest using one of the mods where you can make them only show for non registered users.

If cutting overhead costs would help, I'd be happy to see what I could for you. I am a manager with a large web hosting company, and I'm sure I could get you a very sweet deal on dedicated servers if that would help :) (we work with a number of high end datacenters around the world).
 
Another thought and I have no clue if it can be done with the software but maybe show more ads to those that are lurking than to those who are logged in. Even as I type this there are 2x as many "guests" viewing this thread as members and seems to be a pretty consistent thing on every thread I look in.

Already doing this... Log out of the forum and then take a look at a thread...
 
+1 on that - if you sell a product, now matter how cheap the product is, at any markup; it is no longer a donation. I'd gladly buy a $20 sticker :)

As to ads, the ads on the site do not bother me, or on any site for that matter. I don't bother blocking, I pretty much ignore them. Now, ads in posts/threads I find invasive. If it comes to that, I'd suggest using one of the mods where you can make them only show for non registered users.

If cutting overhead costs would help, I'd be happy to see what I could for you. I am a manager with a large web hosting company, and I'm sure I could get you a very sweet deal on dedicated servers if that would help :) (we work with a number of high end datacenters around the world).
I agree:thumbsup:
 
T-shirts.. Put someone in charge of making/selling them and you're golden. Even if you do it only once a year or so. You can double profit on a t-shirt.

Vabs has nothing else to do, put her on it. :poke:


The ads don't bother me at all Cap. They are a little annoying on the new "forum runner" app, but on the site here they don't bother me one bit.. I'll get used to them on the mobile app I'm sure..
 
The sticker idea is great.

I agree with Jphilipson that the in thread ads are invasive, but I would prefer that over no Org at all. I am a donating member, and would be glad to buy a $1 sticker for $20.
 
The forum appearance has made several changes in the years that I've been a member, some I've liked, some not so much. The banners and such are a necessary evil in my opinion. Bottom line is as others have said, this is my virtual "home" and I can't imagine not being here. I've taken breaks when things have ticked me off, but since its home, I always return.
All that being said, sell overpriced stickers hats and shirts. Those of us that are orgsters for life will realize that we are not simply buying a sticker or shirt, we are helping contribute to the costs of our home. Like any family dwelling there are squabbles, disagreements and gripes, but we are a family and we have love for each other. I had the pleasure of entertaining Ogre in my home this past weekend, that would not have happened had it not been for this way this place is run. Be clear about this Doug, I'm not the kind of person who randomly invites strangers into my house, that I was comfortable inviting Matt and offering him a meal and a place to lay his head was due solely to the interactions I have had with him on this board, and subsequent phone/text/IM chats. You have created something great, something far more than just an internet message board. I honestly feel that I can travel the world and not be far from someone that would come to my rescue if things got bad. Anything that I personally can do to help this continue I'm willing to do. My words of thanks are not nearly enough to convey the depth of my gratitude.
Jeremy
 
Vabs has nothing else to do, put her on it. :poke:

Whaaaaaa??

Minion.jpg
 
As for the ads; do what you need to do Cap
But I'm with everyone else, I need a way to contribute. How can we contribute short of a click.
:rulez: I'm talking cold hard cash here...need a way to send back all the savings I've came up with from the wealth of knowledge this site has provided. I've ran out of mods to buy......well OK maybe not, cause these diehards keep coming up with great ideas.

Seriously; I need to give something back...HOW :please: :please:
 
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