Blatant (*) kissing

[Rattfink]

At the risk of sounding like I'm kissin' arse...

I would like to know what we can do to support the efforts of the hard working folk that manage this site. It's a ton of work and is very well handled.

I'm not a rich guy or anything, but I would certainly be agreeable to helping out somehow. Purely for selfish reasons if nothing else (I want to be sure this resource is still available as I work my way through my project 240).

No, I don't think it should be a pay site.

Yes, I have bought the CD Microfiche.

Yes, I think MSA and others should sponsor.

Errr... Gotta go, the wife's callin'.

Ta ta kids,

'Fink

[Zlishous]

I agree with Rat, Mike if you need any help with ANYTHING please let us know! Can we write MSA or others to find out if they would be interested in sponsorship etc.... I think they would benifit greatly by being on this site (which by the way is the best Z site for info around). This is a great resorce for everyone, including those who love to give info to us newbies to the Z world! Mike thanks again for all of your hard work (and to others as well)!

Zlish:cool:

[AxtellZ]

Well said folks, i must say i feel the same way. Hey Mike, let us know what we can do for you- maybe post your address & we'll all mail you a dollar or something. .. Donate a couple bucks via Paypal?? I would'nt object...

Thanks to everyone here!

[guy_geo]

Yep. Mike, you rock!

You are doing a (in french) superbe travail!!

The site is well designed, lot of efforts put into it, it is convivial and has plenty of excellent ressources (compare to another Z site I won't name here...)

I'll be happy to contribute via Paypal my modest contribution in Canadian $ !!!!

[EScanlon]

Don't know about the rest of you, but I find the "logo" in the upper left hand corner of the site to be extremely eye-catching.

I'm sure that there is someone in the group here who is both artistic enough and able to make either a sticker or a metal badge type emblem to bolt on the grille of the car. Personally I prefer the metal grille badge. (Anyone remember the MG's and other British / European cars with all those flashy metal emblems on the grilles?)

I think that tastefully done you could easily sell it and make enough of a profit to help support this site.

Thoughts?

[kmack]

EScanlon's on to something here....maybe T-shirts w/ the site logo. Then everytime a site member went to a Z function, they could wear their shirt and the site would get free advertising.

[2ManyZs]

Mike and I were sending ideas back and forth last month about this, and I'd have to say that kmack and EScanlon have hit on something that is better than we came up with.

T-shirts and/or hats would be relatively cheap to produce and would bring in the needed revenue so we can enjoy this site. In fact, somewhere in this eclectic mix I would say there is probably someone with the equipment and/or knowhow to do the job. All we need is some seed money to buy the shirts and/or hats and we are in business. Great idea guys!!!! Now all we have to do is get Mike involved in this discussion and set some goals and find out who or how we could get the job done.

[EScanlon]

Well I downloaded the picture and tried to play with it, but the main problem is that it is a .GIF which is the lowest and least modifiable picture format. I'd be willing to give it a try if Mike could send me the original picture file but in as high a resolution as possible, that way I can edit it down.

There's a shop here in Portland OR that did some awesome decal work for a friend of mine's R/C boat. I also seem to recall someone at Saturday Market doing some Cloisonne type work, both of which I could approach and report back.

[2ManyZs]

Sounds like we are on our way to something. All we have to do is figure out which way we want to go. Patches, complete shirts, hey, why not a license plate frame for our Z's??? This could go on and on couldn't it??:eek:

[Rattfink]

First off, I must say that Mike is strangely absent from this discussion... hmmm... modesty?

Anyway, try this on for size...

Banner Ads and such don't work. Period. A remarkable "Click Through" would be 2-3% of the people that view it. Most ads average around 1%. Not a very exciting return on an investment.

Instead, if MSA (or similar entity) were to have a "Sponsored Forum" on the 240Z site it would get constant attention. We all know that sales posts to forums on the internet is a no-no. In this case it would be THEIR forum to answer questions and hawk product. The reader knows going in that it is a paid forum and can measure replies with that in mind. But it would give great access to "the pro's".

They would staff it as they see fit and would be obliged to offer as much help as possible within reason. It would create a running archive of the questions that they frequently answer anyway, thus saving them manpower in the long run. Folks like us could hit 'em up for advise and purchase product from them if they offer a fit. Naturally this gives them plenty of opportunity to plug what they stock and explain why it is a better option than Brand X. I can't help but think it would breed much good will in the Z community as well.

A great tool for them, some greenbacks for our buddy Mike, and excellent access to a proactive vendor of Z parts. Sounds like a win-win-win situation to me. But then again, I'm a marketing guy and you can't believe anything I say.

Whatcha think?

"Ask the Pro's Forum" sponsored by whoever.

Mike wanna pitch it to MSA? Or maybe they'll read it on their own and jump?

Just my $.02

'Fink

[EScanlon]

Sadly, I think this thought, although sounding real nice, won't wash.

If they would be willing to do something like this, they would do it on their own website. And anyone that's gone to their website knows that it is a very limited website. (http://www.zcarparts.com/)

Heck, they don't even list their products.

The key to making this work is to offer them the services of someone to be a "clerk" and forward the questions to them and post their replies.

The main problem there is going to be for someone at MSA (or the like) to actually respond to the questions posed, in a timely manner.

This would allow them to have access to the features of this website that their site does not have due to the limitations of their programming. (Ask Mike, but the software for maintaining forums is nothing like what they have. Theirs is plain HTML coding that anyone with Microsoft Word can replicate.)

But now, it might not be cost effective for Mike to incur all these ADDITIONAL tasks only for a few bucks, and then you have the problem that the cost may be too high for MSA or others.

Speaking as a manager, which is what I do (Sales), and putting myself in their shoes, I look at this offer as being "nice" but not being worth the money. After all, "I" already have an 800 telephone number and any customer can call me and ask me anything about my products and I'll answer. The only thing you offer, is that people could then read other people's questions, AND NOT CALL ME. Well, I kind of WANT them to call me, cause they might go ahead and buy the part right then and there, and I also have the opportunity to suggest sell something else.

Sorry, but this is a hard-sell item.

I still think that offering items that the various users of this site would want, at a profitable margin is the best, aside from outright donations as the guys at zcar.com have done, when click-through's went down in number.

But then again, just my 2¢

[Mike]

Oh man, not sure why I missed this discussion. I've been pretty involved in other things lately and decided to take a small break from the site for awhile.

As far as revenue generating agents... believe me, I've been looking around for possible ideas. I've looked everywhere from banner ads, company sponsorship, stickers, CDROMs (uhem), Tshirts, hats, and you name it.....

Our best revenue agent, and the only revenue agent so far, has been the Microfiche CD. Without that, we wouldn't be here today. Luckily, I was able to obtain a copyright release from Nissan because they are pulling other Zcar CD's off the shelves!

Anyway, I have been shying away from banner ads because it seems like such a pain to administer. While I'm not against showing cool ads for businesses that support our site, I don't want to turn into a bill-collector. My preference is to find some kind of sponsor to help keep the site running on an annual basis.

I also have a firm belief in the "collective whole." I want to keep the freedom of shared information. If we decided to isolate ourselves to a single vendor, I would do so only with the condition that others could also keep links and free exchange of information.

We have also seen active participation from various vendors in both our email list and web site. I am hoping that I'll see a few donations come our way from sales or contacts that stem from our site. But, that comes from good relationships.

Anyway, our next best option is probably club merchandise like Tshirts, hats, and other miscellaneous related materials. I am up for any kind of help I can get with this site. If any of you are willing to either donate time, money, or resources.. we could definitely use it.

For instance, a Tshirt venture would cost money to buy the shirts, pay for the printing, and then ship the product. If any of you have contacts to get printing done at a reasonable price, or the money to buy the shirts.... or the resources to design a logo... I am up for anything you can throw at us!

Speaking of that, our main page logo is just something I threw together in Fireworks 3. I can send you the Fireworks file or any other format. Just let me know the best formatting.

We also have a formal logo for the club. It's the oval logo with the large Z in the middle.

At one time, we were going to have cling-on stickers made. But, I saw how badly that failed with the IZCC and decided not to persue that venture.

Oh well... there are some options on the table. Tell me what you guys think.

And, THANK YOU for all of the good words you have said about the site. I've been working hard on it. Luckily, I like to do this kind of nerdy stuff.