[Theforum] another online community in trouble

isaac isaac at members.evolt.org
Tue Jun 18 20:31:49 CDT 2002


Also, I'd much rather that we had simple text-ads, and/or 5-10 key corporate
sponsors (hosting, training, publisher, hardware, etc) than consistently ask
our members for money. I'd like our key resources to remain free for
students and poor freelancers (who need us the most).

If we're asking some members for a subscription, I'd want it to be in
exchange for an "account" -- MEO email, MEO blog space, stuff like that.


If it's going to cost $800/month to run our services, then we find 8
sponsors that can gain exclusivity in their field and support us. $100/m
each.

A hosting sponsor - lots of options
A hardware sponsor - apple, dell, hp, etc
A training provider - online HTML certification, who knows
A publisher - o'reilly, glasshaus, etc
A software company - adobe, macromedia
A beverage company - alcoholic products advertised on thechat footer?
A CMS product - lots of options

and so on.

$100/m buys any of them exposure to x million hits/month on our sites. And
with a very targeted audience, surely that'd be a great deal? They'd also be
the exclusive sponsor in their category for the terms of their support.
That'd wouldn't stop us reviewing or mentioning competitors on our sites or
lists, but it would stop us being sponsored by two hosting companies.


I think this could/would ensure the survival of evolt.org. And we'd be doing
it without pop-up ads, continual demands from our members, etc.


Thoughts?

isaac




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