At the moment, BBF can still be considered a new forum. It's close to a year old however it's still not generating huge amounts of traffic. I'm hoping the forum grows considerably in 2013. Ads are currently only shown to visitors and those who are not logged in. I'd prefer to keep it this way for the time being, as I don't want to annoy people with banner ads etc. I have been getting more requests from martial arts stores about advertising here. Up until now, I have just replied that we are not currently accepting advertising, though it seems silly to turn down money, as I could use it to promote the site. My idea is that we add a sponsors room. Each advertiser would have an ad posted there, and they can interact with all of you if you have questions etc. I think this is the best way to handle things, however I would love to hear your thoughts on the issue Kev
yea its the norm for ads on websites so i dont have a problem with it as long as its not those annoying pop up things that jump up over my text im good, plus all the work that goes into something like this would be good to see you get some financial benefit from it
Personally Kevin I think that is a great idea, they still get to advertise without it being too obtrusive and the way I see it is this. If someone is interested in a particular product then at least we won't have to look far to search for it (that's if they've got what you are after of course). It's always difficult trying to fund your own website especially in this day and age. However although we all appreciate you asking the members of this forum for our input, I think the majority of us will respect what ever you decide to do. I will say this though, I find it great to be able to come to a forum such as this one and not have peoples merchandise thrown at me (pardon the pun) at every turn or every page that I visit. Praise where it's due bud, love being part of this forum and this is one of the best if not the best community I have ever had the pleasure of being a part of. So thank you
Don't worry, I don't ever want anything like that here. I'd prefer to not show any ads to members, which hopefully I will be able to do if the income from banner ads to visitors is sufficient. Thanks Charlay. Appreciate the support. Yeah most forums are full of banner ads. I don't mind blasting ads to visitors, as they are not contributing to the forum in any way, however if at all possible, I'd prefer to keep them away from contributing members.
I do like the idea of a separate space for them. However, a discrete space would not annoy me too much.
I actually don't mind ads, sometimes you find something you didn't know what you were looking for, so if you happen to toss them onto the members side, I would be fine. That might be a better way to get more advertisers and/or more money.
You put the effort into creating this forum, so please reap some financial gain from a discrete banner ad as well as the sponsors room. To be honest, I more often will have my curiosity piqued by a banner ad and click on it rather than go searching an advertising section. In particular when the banner temps me with a discount coupon (hint-hint sponsors).
Kev, I think you more than deserve to jump on the money-train - I say go for it, either a separate room (sounds kinda' weird, like they have cooties or something!) or banners, pop-ups, Flash ads, browser hijackers, Trojans, worms ... The only thing that would bother me is that I know right now probably 95% of the ads are going to be for MMA training and supplies, and I'm going to have to be looking at guys' heads being stuck into inappropriate places on OTHER guys!
