Hi all,

I've been pondering something for a few days now and figured I could use some opinions. :tapemouth

The Internet 240z Club has come a long way since we first started with just a mailing list. And, we have become more popular with many Z fanatics who are Internet savvy.

We now have a membership base of nearly 900 members and a very reachable community through the forums and our mailing list.

The ideas I've been pondering are related to re-cooping costs associated with running a substantial server and internet connection. The time aspect isn't able to be tracked, but, I'm doing these things out of my love for the car and the hobby.

One thing I believe in is the free exchange of information between users and even vendors. If you have a product to sell, we are more than happy to allow the free exchange of the community in order to sell a product. I don't want this to change.

For instance, many of the Zcar community vendors are members of this list and also our mailing list. When I say vendor, I am speaking about people who provide parts, services, devices, additions, help, and other Zcar type items for a fee.

Now, like I was saying earlier, I don't want the free exchange of these services to stop. However, I do think that we can set up a MORE equal exchange of benefits.

What do I mean? Well, have you ever been reading a forum or an email message from another member and see another message from someone advertising either their site or their services for hire? THAT is exactly what I am speaking about.

We are a large community who share one thing in common. We are a 'targeted audience' which is a perfect opportunity to sell a product.

So, what am I talking about? Well, I don't really know how I want to do this. But, I would like to put together some kind of program so that the vendors using our community can help the community survive. How can they do that? I don't know. The easy answer is money. But, I don't want to jump to that conclusion just yet.

While I don't want to become a police officer and say, "Hey, you can't advertise your product here because you haven't purchased a banner ad!!" --- That's just something I don't want to do. But, there has got to be a good way for all of us to share the information and provide services all around.

Do any of you have ideas about this?

I am working on an advertising revenue system for the board at the current time. So, anyone supporting the club will get gread bonuses. Maybe this is the best approach. I don't know yet.

Just remember, I am not against the free exchange of information. My belief is to provide a community that will benefit the Z and the hobby of owning a Z. Period.

( We just have a few costs to take care of ) Sure, I'd love to find a company to sponsor the site and pay for all our expenses. Did someone already volunteer?

There it is. Let me know what you think.

[m]

PS: I have been supporting the club from day 1 with my own time and money. I plan to continue to do so. Nothing will change. The board isn't in trouble. In fact, we are doing better than ever since we added the 'interactive' part of the site. I'm just hoping to lower my expenses a little.....

First I'd like to say that I've enjoyed the site as you can tell by my obvious "addiction". One of the main reasons I've enjoyed it is the fact the are no pop-up ads, banner ads, etc. I have found many sites on the net I enjoyed visiting but because of the annoyances I avoid them like the plague. It is becoming more annoying than junk mail and telephone solicitors.

That being said, I realize it takes time and money to run the site. I agree that in order for the site to keep going in the direction it is going it will require funding and even more time to make sure things run smoothly. I can think of a couple places that might be worth talking too about sponsoring the site, they already sponsor race cars for advertisement so why not a collection of 800-900 certified Z enthusiasts. However, IMO I'd like to see the site remain as "clean" as it is. If there is the possibility of having them a sponsor page or forum or dedicated link I would be all in favor of it. As long as we never are bombarded by un-solicited e-mails I am in favor of finding a sponsor of some type.

Thanks for letting me voice my opinion.

One thing, I can REASSURE you that we will never have a pop-up ad, or any junk mail. NOTHING will ever be sold or used in a manner like that.

If we go for banners, they will be limited to static graphics and must match the overall appeal of the site. I don't want something standing out like a sore thumb.

Thanks for the opinion and I totally agree with your view.

[m]

The idea of looking for vendors that would support the website appears to be a good starting point. See what kind of response you get and go from there. Some vendors are better off in their businesses than other and could afford to help in some way or another. It doesn't necessarily have to be money but could be or web support or whatever. If a vendor is benefitting from the use of a free service, perhaps they would be interested in helping make that service a success. Some thoughts.

Dale

Dale, your comment just made me realize that there is another option (besides money) that our vendors can provide something for using the club!

I am considering the financial viability of either sponsors or classic advertisements designed to fit our club. But, for those vendors who cannot provide support in that manner there is another alternative!

The other alternative is to provide the club with equal expertise, articles, answers, and comments to the needs of the members. If a vendor wishes to use the club to benefit their own venture, they should participate in our community and provide information that will benefit the club.

Now, I can see how something like this could go a little overboard when each vendor uses every message to promote their own products. But, I think that is something easily solved by a few simple rules.

I like it! Thanks for the inspiration!

Mike:

I like the ideas you're tossing about for vendors being able to support our community with expertise and/or cash. Definitely worth looking into. Thanks for all you do for us Mike.

Mike and all:

I wondered when this subject would come up for us here, as it has on a couple of Jeep forums I subscribe to. Although I don't know much about setting up/maintaining a website, I can certainly understand how cost enters into the equation at some point. So with that, I guess I'll jump in here!

I'm very happy to hear you say you do not advocate banner ads and pop-ups! Woo-hoo! One particular forum of which I belong has had numerous problems with them, and consequently, hundreds of complaints. I know it's a big headache for the forum's owner, on an ongoing basis. But, it does pay the bills for running the site.

I don't mind tasteful, static advertising as long as it's more directly related to the subject (in our case here, the Z car). I'm not sure whether you could get the necessary revenue from that method, however. Also, it's highly subjective as to what constitutes a "more directly related" vendor form one "not so directly related", I'll freely admit. So, that could be an issue.

At first thought, the idea of vendors exchanging info, tech articles, etc. was appealing to me also, but then I realized that to some extent, we already have that. Some vendors post very detailed information on a regular basis, going way beyond directly selling or promoting their wares; others pop in now and then with helpful ideas, info and such, and some seldom even say hello. I'm not sure how one could place a "value" or "price" on any particular tech article, info exchange, etc., either. My point is, I am not sure how this would help you bring in revenue to defray some of the costs associated with maintaining this site.

Perhaps it might be more trouble than it's worth, but another idea is having paid memberships to certain areas of the forums. I find this site (and the associated e/m list) to be a couple of the more valuable sources of information, ideas and comraderie with other z-nuts around (especially Kyle, heh, heh!). For that, I'd be willing to ante up, if that direction were chosen.

Like the Jeep forums I'm a meber of, this group includes such a diverse range of backgrounds, I'm sure that we can come up with something. Looking forward to more feedback from more of the nearly 900 members here (wow, I didn't realize we'd grown to that extent).

OK, it's a sunny (but cold) day today, and I'm off work. Think I'll pull the cover off the Z and go for a cruise.

L8R,

gary