Bid on this item: Advertisement of GRRN on Gun Talk

[Bubafat]

http://gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=133119813

I'll kick in $30 if item is won for GRRN.

Just a thought.

~Matt

[Jerome from California]

Bidding starts at $400.

[Eric R Shelton]

I'm in for at least $100.

[NavyBlue99TA]

Holy cow...Tom gets $7000 for a 3 month spot!?!  I guess there are a lot of us gun guys out there listening.  I'm in for $50.

[Bubafat]

Bidding starts at $400.

Exactly...how much are you good for Jerome? 

I figured if we want GRRN to grow, this could be a great way help get it there.

[jakematic]

Put me down for $50

[Jerome from California]

I'll put in $50 whether we win or not. What's up?

[Mark Vanderberg]

Just to let you all know, if you all win this auction you will probably make smoke come out of our servers when the advertisement is run.

We are definitely not set up for that type of traffic, so it could be interesting.

Does anyone know if this is the first time they have auctioned off an advertising spot before?

[jakematic]

Mark what would it take to get the servers able to handle that kind of traffic? Is it a bandwidth or server issue?

More importantly what can we do to help?

-Jake

[NavyBlue99TA]

We're all talking about throwing in money for the bid, but who/where do I send the money to?  I'd love to volunteer to take the lead, but my ship is pulling out for several days this week and I won't have the connectivity to stay on top of it.  That's also why I'd like to get somebody nominated now because if I don't send the money soon I won't be able to send it until the middle of next week.

[Jerome from California]

Does Mark Vanderberg have an account with Gunbroker.com? If he places the winning bid, he can PM or email those of us who are contributing. Those of us who have a Paypal can send him the money at that point. It would probably make sense for Mark to be the winning bidder so he can deal with  Gresham's company directly and tell them how he wants the ad produced.

[Bubafat]

If Mark doesn't want to, I can (assuming everyone ponies up their pledge  )

Who else is in?

[Mark Vanderberg]

Mark what would it take to get the servers able to handle that kind of traffic? Is it a bandwidth or server issue?

More importantly what can we do to help?

-Jake

Jake & everyone else,

The problem will most likely be the server. I'm not too worried about the ads that we have placed in the NRA magazine because I expect the traffic to slowly visit the site.

On the other hand an ad on the radio will most likely send us a bunch of visitors all at once that will probably either crash or slow the server down to the point that no one will be able to get to it.

I'm not sure what a temporary solution would be, because that's exactly what it is temporary. I would not want to start paying for additional servers just for a short period of time due to the sudden burst of traffic. I have considered adding an additional server on top of what we already have but the cost would be an additional hundred dollars a month and I'm not yet willing to do that unless we have a more reliable revenue stream. As some of you have noticed I have been experimenting with some advertisements on the forums but as of yet these experiments have achieved little more than about $11.29.

I do appreciate all the donations that I received from all of you, but it is an unreliable revenue stream to be confident enough to add additional costs. Cost keep increasing each and every month and as fast as it comes in, it goes out.

To answer the question I do have a gunbroke.com account but I would rather not to be the one to handle this. I do have a lot on my plate right now and that would just add to it.

I do appreciate all of you wanting to help get the word out about GRRN.

[Bubafat]

Well, given the issues you presented Mark I guess the question that arises is would you prefer Mark that we don't bid on this item?  

I understand that the desire for GRRN to grow must be balanced by the financial means to support it.  Like the New Orleans levies, if you build up too fast without a solid foundation, you will get a product that looks pretty but will easily crumble.  Good things take time.


Anyway if this is going through, I'll step up and take the reigns on this one and initially pony up the moneys if we win.  Given the other costs associated with this en devour, I don't think we should bid unless our total pledges are several hundred higher than the winning bid.  This would give Mark a little buffer to hopefully help get more server power.

Another option would be if there is another Angel out there to donate another server.  We were lucky enough to have an anonymous person donate a sever a while back (thank you if you're reading this!), but maybe it's time for another person to step up.  I wish I had that kind of disposable income, but I don't nor do many of you all.  Someone might.  Just throwing it out there.

Total pledge as of this post: $280

Who else is in?

[jakematic]

Another option would be if there is another Angel out there to donate another server.  We were lucky enough to have an anonymous person donate a sever a while back (thank you if you're reading this!), but maybe it's time for another person to step up.

What we really need is a long term revenue stream, even if another server is donated.

I for one despise having commercials in podcasts and sincerely hope we do not need to go that route.

Any ideas on something we do or sell to get things moving and raise more cash?

The only thing I can come up with is the "Ayoob Tube". A tube top with a picture of Mas Ayoob on each breast, but other than Tactical Tom who would buy one?

-Jake

[Bubafat]

HAHAHA...that's funny stuff.  Maybe a tactical cup...protection when doing those Captain Kirk Rolls!


Well, one thing I was going to start doing was selling some stuff in market place, with the sole intention of donating 100% of the monies to the GRRN (minus the shipping costs). 

When I go to the range I ask my friends and others who are shooting there whether I can pick up their brass....most people at the range I go to don't reload and have no problem with me picking it up.  I don't get a lot every time, but it adds up.  I'm currently cleaning up a batch and was going to put it up for sale.  This way everyone wins!

[Jerome from California]

GRRN swag might not be a bad idea. Mick Mcart uses Cafe Press and Kenn Blanchard uses Zazzle. I know I wouldn't mind have some GRRN T shirts to wear. We can raise some money + get the word out at the same time.

[Mark Vanderberg]

GRRN swag might not be a bad idea. Mick Mcart uses Cafe Press and Kenn Blanchard uses Zazzle. I know I wouldn't mind have some GRRN T shirts to wear. We can raise some money + get the word out at the same time.

GRRN swag most likely won't happen, still have not been able to rid of all the bumper stickers as of yet.

Making money on swag really is not an option. You get very very little from any of these services. I probably make more money off Google Ads and believe me that's not saying much. It normally takes me about a year and a few months to see $100.

[Mark Vanderberg]

Most people are not interested in advertising in the podcast. Have any of you used any of the ads here on the forums? I've tried to make them products that would be of interest to everyone here and the network gets about 6% of your total at Amazon.

So if we don't do advertising in the podcasts, and we can't get enough ad revenue from the websites. The subscriber base is still under 45 subscribers and that is with over 1000 people signed up on the forums and thousands of listeners every week.

Just thinking out loud, how to make this work?

Still have continuing goal to expand the network.

Any ideas?

Don't get me wrong I think it would be fabulous to be able to advertise on Gun Talk. Just maybe the additional traffic would actually help with maybe subscribers or donations. In turn allowing us to expand even further.

Still thinking out loud, would need 95 subscribers of months just to pay the bills right at the level we are at now without donations.

[NavyBlue99TA]

Holy crap...we have less than 45 subscribers!?!?  Wow, that's disappointing.  I thought more of my fellow gun nuts.  With all the awesome content provided by ProArms alone, the measly amount Mark asks for the whole network is huge bargain.  Bunch of freeloaders.  No wonder the NRA is beating the recruiting drum so hard. 

I know I'm mostly preaching to the choir here, so please ignore this if you're already a subscriber, but cough up some dough you loser cheapscates!