Sponsor forum?

[Josh-L]

Since we have quite a few sponors on here now I think we should have a "Commercial" forum or "Industry" forum. Similar to what bARF does or Sniper's Hide.

I am a sponsor on SH also and we have a seperate for sale section. This lets people go direct to a site sponsor to look for something. They also do not allow commercial business to post for sale ads if they are not a sponsor. I think this is a good idea because if they can't sponsor the site then why should they get free ad's?

I don't know if others would want that on here or not. Just a thought.

Or maybe just have a setup like on the Industry section of bARF and have our own little forum to post in to keep our for sale ads in or for people to ask questions in.

The industry type layout might work best here so people can see all the sponsors listed at a glance.

[Kelly Drown]

Do you have some links for an example or two of what you're referring to? I've never been to bARF so not really familiar with it.

[Josh-L]

Kinda like this...
http://www.ar15.com/forums/board.html?b=2

You could put it at the bottom of the main forum page where all the individual forums are listed. Have it read kinda like it does on bARF...

Alpha Omega Tactical
www.aotactical.com

The Firing Pin
www......

TDSA
www.....

You get it. Then when you click on the company name they have there own little section to post for sale ads or for people to ask questions.

And then on SH they have the regular for sale section for members and then under that you have the "Commercial" forum.

http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm

I think the Industry style like on bARF would look the best on here.

[Nanotech9]

we do a simplified version of this on out motorcycle forums... We do not want to be driven or controlled by our sponsors to the point that we become Dicks about who posts what because of sponsor pressure... (not even insinuating that that has happened here - all our sponsors seem pretty cool)

Our solution to this was... Open a sponsor forum. To be a sponsor, offer the club a 10% minimum discount, or more if you want. Doesnt have to be bike related. Then, you're added to the sponsor list, and get to post in the sponsor forum.... you get to post your monthly specials, current deals, and people can ask you to hunt down prices etc. Only rule... Dont shat on another sponsor's Thread.

If you want a banner, you pay $100 for a year. Dont have to pay to post in the sponsor forum, but you do have to offer a discount.

We have businesses that post up in our regular classifieds, but usually its their personal items for sale etc. As of yet no non-sponsor bike shop thats in direct competition to a sponsoring bike shop has tried to get on there and give us any trouble. The system works great.

Sponsors offer a discount, and in return they get extra business simply from being a sponsor, and as a bonus, they get free advertising in the forum. Its definitely viewed as a "bonus" though so that we don't have any headaches trying to settle any "fairness" fights.

[Kelly Drown]

I kind of like the idea of this... I'll have to think a bit on how to best implement something like this and how useful it might be.

[Josh-L]

I was hoping the other sponsors would chime in but I guess not. I still think an industry setup would be the best but you're the bossman Kelly.

[MAS GunWorks]

Works for me.

[olyeller]

do you guys really want to be taken out of the general classifieds?
Thats where the traffic is;
you get put in an industry forum, whos gonna go there, thats not specifically looking for something from one of you guys?

Yall arent abusing the regular classifieds, so if I were you, Id want to stay in there.
Works for ar15.com.

[MAS GunWorks]

do you guys really want to be taken out of the general classifieds?
Thats where the traffic is;
you get put in an industry forum, whos gonna go there, thats not specifically looking for something from one of you guys?

Yall arent abusing the regular classifieds, so if I were you, Id want to stay in there.
Works for ar15.com.

Good point.

[Josh-L]

If we post in the general section our ads get lost. If we have one section were we can keep them together then people can see everything we offer at once.

"whos gonna go there, thats not specifically looking for something from one of you guys?"

Isn't that the point? Wouldn't that be easier if someone said... WTB, whatever and they know that that's something we sell so maybe they would click to see if we have it before they even post a WTB ad?

They also do a lot of cross posting on ARF between their Industry section and classifieds. I was thinking have a general everyday stuff we sell in the Industry section and if we get something new or have a special or something then post it in the general classifeds letting people know.

It works on a lot of other websites. I don't care either way, I'm just trying to make this a better site for everyone. Maybe we could at least try it and if we feel sales are suffering then take it out?

[Nanotech9]

it works pretty well on our club forum too... the guys post specials etc in the vendors forum, and people can go in there and make a post asking who has the best deal on tires etc..

It doesn't get a TON of traffic, but then again their specials ads dont get lost in the mayhem of all the other classifieds posts.

[Josh-L]

I forgot about this thread. I got reminded of it when I noticed over the last few days there are a few business that post on this site that are not sponsors. I was also informed recently about a kinda shady practice of one business man that is not a sponsor who PM's people to try and get sales and never posts or contributes to this forum.

Maybe I'm just being selfish, I don't know. I guess my main point is that I don't sell enough on this website to even get the money I put up to be a sponsor back so it really pisses me off when companies who are much larger than me and have store fronts post on here and have all their company info in their sig line, or don't post on here but gobble up all the WTB ad's or try and get in on another dealers answer to a WTB thread by PM.

[MAJ MALFUNCTION]

I'm with Josh 100% on this.

Kelly, a sponsor/industry section can be really useful (for several reasons)!

1. Peeps could see exactly who the sponsors are (if they desire to send business to sponsors, which many do).
2. I think it would encourage some others to become sponsors.
3. I get A LOT of PMs from folks that ask the same sort of questions. If I had a sponsor section I could keep many of those commonly asked questions up there along with the answers.
4. If sponsors run specials or sales we could post them there (which members would probably like to hear about).
5. If we have something new/sexy in we could also announce it there.

I think it would be a great bennefit to the sponsors and members!

What da ya say Kelly??? :)

[olyeller]

good idea.

[DrBaker]

I like the idea of vendor forums/classifieds.

I see these work successfully at other gun sites (Arf) and motorcyle sites (gixxer) and hemi truck sites (htc) that I visit.

I'm not a vendor and therefore typically try to purchase a lot and sell a little. With that in mind, every forum I visit has site sponsors that get my business. I might be buying performance parts for the bike, suspension components for the truck, or AR parts for my pretties. Whatever it is I need, I typically find that the forum sponsors can get it for me with good price, good service, and good advice.

Now that I think about it, I've purchased something from every single person that has posted in this thread.... even you Kelly (OSA t-shirts)!

[YukonGlocker]

I think it's a good idea also.
It works well at MP-Pistol: http://mp-pistol.com/boards/

[ef9turbo]

I also agree. Something where the sponsor can post his sales and such in. I didn't look at your forum, but something like AR15.com's sponsor forum.

[Wizard]

This sounds like a great idea to me as well. Im always wondering what kind of stuff the different venders that are part of this sire offer. They have a venders set of threads on akforum.net as well where all the venders/sponsers have their own froum page where they can post info on their products and people and post and ask questions or read the forum for that vender to see if it has already been asked without posting a new thread.

[Kelly Drown]

It sounds like the overall response is positive in favor of having sponsor forums. I'll see if I can integrate it in.

By the way, we don't allow non-sponsors to advertise in the forums so we're going to start cracking down on that. The main site has a Business Directory that all members can post their businesses there and we encourage it. It's a nice resource and it's available to all for free.

[Kelly Drown]

Let's give it a shot... There are now sponsor forums in the OSA Marketplace section. :)

[Mack45]

Thanks Kelly!

[olyeller]

Kelly, Maybe the sponsors, affiliates, etc, could have moderator privileges for their own forums as well as the regular mods?

[Josh-L]

Oh I see how it is.... my idea and I get put third from the top!!! We all know what Bryon's been doing huh.....

J/K... Hopefully we'll generate more business from the classifieds this way. Thanks Kelly!

[Wizard]

Well im glad to see this put up, hopefully it all works out like you planed.

[264Magnum]

What about a general type forum located within the sponsor forum? Basically a place where a member can post what they're looking for, and the sponsors can chime in with their merchandise. It'd be a lot easier than posting in the main forum, where it gets lost pretty quick. Or going from webpage to webpage trying to find who has what. I'd much rather buy from one of the guys here than Brownell's or Midway any day.

For example. I start a thread asking who has a Magpul MIAD grip, Josh-L (or whoever) replies that he has or can get me one at such and such a price.

I think its a good idea anyway.

[264Magnum]

I can't be the only one that thinks I had a good idea.

[Wizard]

What about a general type forum located within the sponsor forum? Basically a place where a member can post what they're looking for, and the sponsors can chime in with their merchandise. It'd be a lot easier than posting in the main forum, where it gets lost pretty quick. Or going from webpage to webpage trying to find who has what. I'd much rather buy from one of the guys here than Brownell's or Midway any day.

For example. I start a thread asking who has a Magpul MIAD grip, Josh-L (or whoever) replies that he has or can get me one at such and such a price.

I think its a good idea anyway.

Not a bad idea per say but that could cause conflicts as some of our venders have the same products and we dont need them getting in a bidding war over something. JMHO tho.

[olyeller]

Not a bad idea per say but that could cause conflicts as some of our venders have the same products and we dont need them getting in a bidding war over something. JMHO tho.

I agree; also, if someones serious about wanting an item or price, a pm to the sponsor shows that theyre serious.

to lookup and get a price for every forum member thats curious and posts about an item would make for a lot of work.
jimo.

[264Magnum]

None of our sponsors websites really go in depth about what they have in stock, unless I missed it which is entirely possible. When I want something, I want it now. I have Midway on speed dial. If I'm not serious, then I'm not going to post about it. I worked in sales for a long time so I know how frustrating it is to have your time wasted by tire kickers.

They don't even have to post a price. Just let me know they have it in stock and I'll handle from there.

[Wizard]

None of our sponsors websites really go in depth about what they have in stock, unless I missed it which is entirely possible. When I want something, I want it now. I have Midway on speed dial. If I'm not serious, then I'm not going to post about it. I worked in sales for a long time so I know how frustrating it is to have your time wasted by tire kickers.

They don't even have to post a price. Just let me know they have it in stock and I'll handle from there.

Well what I do is just PM them and and then copy and paste it into a PM for each of the venders and wait no more than 12 hours usually less and I have a reply.