What's the deal with all the freakin ads!!

i just wanted to clarify the advertising situation here at NYBASS... first of all, john and i are not looking to make money off the site, period... some of you say that it's our right, and that is fine, but it's not what we're interested in... what we are interested in is raising enough money to pay for what it cost to buy the site from frank(which isn't all that much) and to keep the place up and running... i am fully confident that we can do that... but we also have bigger plans!... we would love to have some cash left over to buy t-shirts, hats and other stuff for give-aways, contests etc... so, in order to do this i've come up with a plan:

first and foremost, we will be selling sponsor banners to members who want to promote their business... they are 1/2 the price of before, so to make it more affordable to members, with full banners costing 20 bucks a month and half banners going for 10 bucks a month... easy breezy... not a lot of coin... very simple to make your money back... these will be featured on top of the forums so that they get maximum exposure because they are the most important ads.

secondly, we are participating in google's targeted ads program, where the site gets a small amount of money everytime someone clicks on a link in the google banner.. these are targeted ads that actually change depending on the context of the forum page... so if robJ starts talking about fishing in lake erie, there is a good chance an ad for lake erie fishing will appear... very cool!

thirdly, we will be putting up a few "affiliate buttons" that will link you to various affiliate sponsors... NYBASS will receive a small commisson if you purchase products from these vendors... we will include companies that we believe members are interested in shopping with such as Bass Pro Shops, K-Mart, Barnes and Noble etc... so if you are going to buy some tackle online from BPS, link to them through NYBASS and we all benefit!... go to them directly and NYBASS gets nada.

so, the initial effect of all of this will be a bunch of ads all over the site... i will try to incorporate them graphically so to be of minimum distraction... and there will ABSOLUTELY BE NO POP-UP ADS AT NYBASS!...wait, i'm not sure if i made myself clear: there will ABSOLUTELY BE NO POP-UP ADS AT NYBASS!... they are evil and they suck!...

the long-term effect of all of this will be lots of free stuff for members hopefully!... no more collecting 5 bucks each for t-shirts at the maho outing... john and i will absolutely use the revenue for the members.

i hope this is ok with everyone... if anyone has any specific questions, let me know.

mike