fyi- Some APUG Advertising Changes..

[Sean]

Hi All,

I have spent the last month heavily researching website "monetization" through advertising. Not because I am trying orchestrate a money grab on APUG but because the community as a whole is missing out. There are sites half our size generating 3 times the ad revenue we generate. I have found that it should be possible to continue having low key targeted ads while significantly boosting revenue. It's my intention to pour this money right back into APUG. I am a firm believer in re-investing in your business. What I want for APUG via boosted ad revenue:

-hiring a variety of writers to provide subscribers with 2-4 original professional articles per month
-overall more original quality subscriber content in many areas
-subscription fees cut in half
-gallery viewing open to all
-a lot of coding done to improve the site, coding is very expensive..
-more marketing to let the photo world know we are here and strong

The 1st phase of this has been implemented which are the text ads. They will be a mixture of google adsense + anyone who wants to advertise a text link specifically on apug (notice the 'advertise on this site' link under the ads). I will monitor the ad content and add as many unrelated ads as possible to the block list. Most will be somewhat relevant but others will not. Previous APUG text ads were quite a failure generating only $50 a month.

The 2nd phase of this is getting our banner ads into the hands of a professional management firm. The load I have trying to manage these 38+ companies and huge waiting list is getting too much to handle, I need to focus on the community a lot more so want to cut back on some back end tasks. The banners will NOT be google ads but will be managed by a well known 3rd party company and we will have a "Private Label" account where only our advertisers sign up to serve the banners. I will not need to manage it and service/flexibility to advertisers will increase a great deal. I have notified the advertisers by email.

Those are the basics and more details will follow. I am fully aware how important it is to support these companies and will still be working with them. These changes are to keep APUG evolving to the vision I have had for some time. I'll assume some will be unhappy with the changes but be patient, if this helps build our revenue we can really take things to the next level. Also, what is implemented will not necessarily be set in stone, it may take trying several different approaches to find the right solution.

Thanks,
Sean

P.S. It may take the Google text ads several hours before the ads show relevant content. Also, we have no one signed up yet, so once we start getting sign ups those ads will be serving and reducing some of the less relevant ones..

[Tom Kershaw]

Sean,

Personally, I'm fine with the current subscription levels. 25 USD a year seems like a bargain for all the worth I get out of the site, and the amount of time I spend searching for archived discussions etc.

Thanks,

Tom.

[jstraw]

Good luck with your plans moving forward. If the advertising is no more obtrusive yet makes more money, more power to you! I'm delighted with your plans for re-investment but frankly...I have no objection to you raising your standard of living. I think this site is great and that you deserve to benefit from all you do and provide.

[MurrayMinchin]

Tom's right, Sean. Keep subscriptions flexible, where those who value APUG and can afford it, can subscribe for more than the basic amount.

Keep dreaming big Sean, I'm loving this ride

Murray

[Sanjay Sen]

Sean,

I like what you've said. Good luck with the plans!


Best wishes,

[arigram]

APUG is the only site in which I have not blocked the ads, because the companies make products that interest me personally even if most of them are out of reach.

[FrankB]

Another vote to keep the status quo on subscription levels.

My own personal view would be also to continue the limitations on Member access. Altruism is all very well, but there should be some form of incentive to become a Subscriber.

I'd also like to applaud the more proactive moderation that has been conducted in the last few months. It's very encouraging to see.

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

APUG is the only site in which I have not blocked the ads, because the companies make products that interest me personally even if most of them are out of reach.

Same here, I actually bought from some of the advertisers, and that was very useful.

[jstraw]

Many's the time I'd love to be able to share a URL for an image in the galleries. Being able to so would probably help grow this community. I think that only Subscribers should be able to post images and comments, however.

[Tom Kershaw]

Another vote to keep the status quo on subscription levels.

My own personal view would be also to continue the limitations on Member access. Altruism is all very well, but there should be some form of incentive to become a Subscriber.

I'd also like to applaud the more proactive moderation that has been conducted in the last few months. It's very encouraging to see.

Agree. My subjective view is that the quality of discussion on APUG has increased in the last month or so. The "chest clearing" exercise of a few months ago might have been a good thing.

Tom.