werkkrew
10-11-2006, 10:11 PM
I have been working on my site for a while and the growth is steadly increasing.
My hope is that within the next year my site will reach "big board" status.
As of today, I own my own dedicated server and it handles the load fine, but eventually Im sure I will need a more robust infrastructure, and thus, the finances to support it.
My plan is to eventually support it using suttle advertizing, google ads, banners, whatever, who knows maybe I can even make a profit.
Should I start advertizing while the board is young, so the users are used to seeing the ads? Im afraid that if a year from now I suddenly ad a bunch of ads my users might get upset or label me as greedy...I dont plan on using any subscription based things, or asking for donations...
I already have a usergroup hierarchy in place such that certain groups will never be subject to the ads...I just dont want to disrupt or upset my userbase in any way.
So the question is, do I wait until I need help financially to start advertizing or do I start advertizing sooner so the users are used to it?
Have you guys had your users ever react negatively to advertizing?
What are some good mods/hacks you guys can recommend to help manage an ad campaign (what groups, see what ads, where, and when)?
My guess is that I should allow my forum to grow a bit more, as to not deterr potential users who immediately see ads before registering and wait until the forum is more mature to introduce the ads, but I'm not sure.
Thanks in advance.
My hope is that within the next year my site will reach "big board" status.
As of today, I own my own dedicated server and it handles the load fine, but eventually Im sure I will need a more robust infrastructure, and thus, the finances to support it.
My plan is to eventually support it using suttle advertizing, google ads, banners, whatever, who knows maybe I can even make a profit.
Should I start advertizing while the board is young, so the users are used to seeing the ads? Im afraid that if a year from now I suddenly ad a bunch of ads my users might get upset or label me as greedy...I dont plan on using any subscription based things, or asking for donations...
I already have a usergroup hierarchy in place such that certain groups will never be subject to the ads...I just dont want to disrupt or upset my userbase in any way.
So the question is, do I wait until I need help financially to start advertizing or do I start advertizing sooner so the users are used to it?
Have you guys had your users ever react negatively to advertizing?
What are some good mods/hacks you guys can recommend to help manage an ad campaign (what groups, see what ads, where, and when)?
My guess is that I should allow my forum to grow a bit more, as to not deterr potential users who immediately see ads before registering and wait until the forum is more mature to introduce the ads, but I'm not sure.
Thanks in advance.