| RotoGuru Basketball Forum View the Forum Registry |
| |
| 0 |
Subject: The State of RotoGuru.com Posted by: Guru - [271182215] Wed, Jan 10, 11:33 Posted in the Forum Developments topic area: The State of RotoGuru.com | ||||||
| 28 | azdbacker ID: 2710201719 Fri, Jan 12, 00:31 | Exactly. I hope Dave knows that we are willing to do what it takes to keep this site going. I just hope this message sinks in, and we all keep up our clicking, not just a short term fix. I know I will. | |||||
| 29 | V ID: 5503129 Fri, Jan 12, 09:03 |
Guru, Do you have an update on the clicks since this message was posted here in the forum? | |||||
| 30 | Guru ID: 271182215 Fri, Jan 12, 10:28 |
Roughly 600 clicks yesterday (Thursday). That's about 10x the daily average for the previous week. And they appear to have come from about 300 unique individuals, which is excellent. Of course, the real issue is the sustainability. But I've never had that many clicks on a single day before. The previous high was probably more like 200. Thank you. BTW, you may have noticed some changes in the layout of the "Support a Sponsor" page. First of all, I have added some new sponsors, and I hope to be able to continue to add some variety. Second, I have added some new listings at the bottom. These are for two different types of sponsors: 1. Some sponsors offer a commission if you make a purchase from their site after having linked from RotoGuru. I've tried to identify a variety of merchants who would generally be appropriate for Gurupies, and more will be added over the coming weeks. I've always been somewhat skeptical of the returns on these arrangements, and I'm reluctant to invest too much time in this avenue, but we'll see how it goes. (Let me know if there is a specific retailer that you think I should add, and I can check to see if they have an affiliate program.) 2. The sites listed on the right side will pay a fee for new members or "leads", which generally means you must link from RotoGuru and then register at their site. Again, if you are interested, that's great. I have no experience with these types of arrangements, and I have to trust that the underlying accounting and tracking is accurate and complete. To help me monitor this, if any of you do use any of these commission/fee alternatives, I'd appreciate it if you would let me know (via email) which merchant/site you used, so I can doublecheck to be sure something has been credited to my account. | |||||
| 31 | Addicted ID: 610441810 Fri, Jan 12, 14:35 |
Guru, Do you want us to email for the merchants sites and the registration sites? Or just the merchant sites? | |||||
| 32 | Mike D ID: 2703686 Fri, Jan 12, 15:31 | A record high-----yesssss and it counts! | |||||
| 33 | jumpball ID: 4644339 Fri, Jan 12, 15:37 |
I saw the lists today. There are some interesting places there. The one I missed seeing was eBay. | |||||
| 34 | Stuck in the Sixties ID: 510101215 Fri, Jan 12, 16:02 |
Guru: I wonder what the response would be to a clicking contest? If you can really track individual clickers, why not give away a t-shirt or something to the person with the highest sustained click rate (as opposed to # of clicks)? We might even be able to post standings! | |||||
| 35 | Guru ID: 271182215 Fri, Jan 12, 16:25 |
Addicted - either, just so I can check to be sure something is being credited. Totally optional, however. Stuck - A clicking contest would definitely be taboo. There cannot be any meaningful incentive for clicking. Advertisers want people who are interested in their products. Also, I don't want to be in the business of monitoring who is clicking and who isn't. I track some information for the purpose of evaluating the aggregate results of certain advertising approaches, but I do not believe it is appropriate to track this info for other uses. jumpball - regretably, eBay has fallen seriously behind in their payments, and until they show an attempt to get current, I'll be reducing their exposure substantially. | |||||
| 36 | Klaus E ID: 13956316 Tue, Jan 16, 09:32 |
BUTT - if anybody needs reminding. CLICKCLICKCLICK | |||||
| 37 | Texas Flood ID: 12458220 Wed, Jan 17, 19:58 | butt, click, click! | |||||
| 38 | gibby88 ID: 50451220 Wed, Jan 17, 21:28 | CLICK people, CLICK!! | |||||
| 39 | gibby88 ID: 145139 Thu, Jan 18, 17:10 | click | |||||
| 40 | Perm Dude ID: 28059111 Thu, Jan 18, 17:17 |
Guru, I'm sure I'm not alone in saying Ebay's reticence in paying you is disturbing, 'cause I'm on their site all the time and used your link to get there. Is there any way you can let us know who we can write to to express our dismay to Ebay directly? I'm certain to withdraw my interest in Ebay if it turns out they are just deadbeats to my friends. pd | |||||
| 41 | Roar ID: 381011816 Thu, Jan 18, 17:39 |
I think Guru is making a good point that many people are missing. People have good intentions suggesting things such as click contests, click-a-thons, etc. If I was an advertiser, though, I would much rather have people click on my ad once per week and actually check out my web site than have people click 50 times per week and never actually allow the page to load. | |||||
| 42 | Pistol Pete ID: 43638267 Thu, Jan 18, 19:28 | I thought I heard something about Ebay was going to start charging a new fee for using their service. They had better be able to pay Dave real soon if that is the case. | |||||
| 43 | Drunken Masters ID: 46744612 Sat, Jan 20, 13:23 |
Guru, I was just curious on the recent stats of banner clicks. Has your message given people new reason to click? I am now a daily-clicker, but was wondering about how the other message forum participants took this update. DM | |||||
| 44 | Guru ID: 330592710 Sat, Jan 20, 14:09 |
So far, so good. Here are the daily tallies: 1/11 - 585 clicks 1/12 - 788 1/13 - 526 1/14 - 418 1/15 - 447 1/16 - 432 1/17 - 458 1/18 - 379 1/19 - 488 The numbers have trailed off a little, but if they hold at an average of 400+ per day, I'll cover expenses plus a little. I've also made some commission dollars (Real Beer, Binkley Toys, A Plus Ink), which is nice, and there have been a number of free registrations for which I've been credited. Thanks to everyone for your sustained support! The next few months will be the make-or-break period, as March and April are the two heaviest months for traffic. | |||||
| 45 | Texas Flood ID: 2110432013 Sat, Jan 20, 14:38 |
good news guru, we got the message now start clickin! click, click. sorry about the ebay thing i used that link every day? i don't know where you stand with them guru, but i have been in the collection business for years. i own my own business too. one of the things you might try is to have your attorney send them a friendly little riminder. another idea is to threaten them with a credit agency, D & B, Credit Exchange, Bruhnke and Silver someone along those lines. If the amount is small enough file in small claims court. get the judgement and give that to the credit agency. call them everyday till you get some action or a commintment and don't let up the older the debt gets the harder it is to collect. I'll bet you know that by now;). just be a pain in thier butt and above all be relentless! | |||||
| 46 | Astade ID: 281036223 Tue, Feb 06, 17:14 |
Guru, it's been nearly a month since you brought this topic to our attention. If you have the time, could you give us an update on clicks/day and any plans that you have made regarding rotoguru.com click! | |||||
| 47 | Pilewort ID: 917421 Tue, Feb 06, 20:04 |
love the great news about click volume, but we gots ta keep it up. click click booga booga. click click booga booga. click click booga booga. click click booga booga. | |||||
| 48 | Lou ID: 270392611 Tue, Feb 06, 20:40 | where is sperm dude? | |||||
| 49 | rockafellerskank ID: 48113316 Tue, Feb 06, 23:18 |
Guru, FWIW, about 3 weeks ago I used your site to link to ARIA Visa and signed up for a new card. Just got it in the mail. Hope there is a commission in it for you. rfs | |||||
| 50 | Perm Dude ID: 471126619 Tue, Feb 06, 23:25 | what do you want, Lou? Click an ad while you are waiting. | |||||
| 51 | jedman ID: 291133620 Wed, Feb 07, 00:31 | I bought 3 ties from buyties.com this past weekend through your link, make sure they pay you. | |||||
| 52 | James K Polk ID: 4455731 Wed, Feb 07, 00:55 | Anyone thinking about snagging a little Viagra from that Valentine's Day ad? :) | |||||
| 53 | Lou ID: 270392611 Wed, Feb 07, 02:52 | nothing, actually there is something. did anyone ever call you sperm dude before or am I an original genius. did u catch my show last night? | |||||
| 54 | Perm Dude ID: 28059111 Wed, Feb 07, 07:43 |
Football season two years ago I was Sperm Dude for about 3 weeks. Sorry, not original. Didn't catch the show. I didn't think you'd speak of anyone beside Mase. pd | |||||
| 55 | Guru ID: 330592710 Wed, Feb 07, 10:12 |
(jedman - the tie commission did come through. Thanks.) Here's a daily chart of click-through rates since the beginning of January. A rate of 0.50% means that 1 out of every 200 ads is clicked, and is generally considered the low end of the acceptable range. Message boards are fairly notorious for low click-through rates, I believe, so I've generally set this level as my target.  As you can see, prior to my discussion on 1/10, the rate was quite dismal. Although on the surface it may appear to have maintained a fairly steady rate, we've been hovering at or below the .50% line for about 10 days now, and I suspect the slight uptick 5 days ago was due to my comments in the forum developments area. If we can keep this at the .50% level (or better), I should be able to stay marginally profitable with the status quo, although I think my bandwidth costs are going to go up moderately this spring. But this level of revenue at least gives me the optimism to plunge ahead. The ultimate wildcard, however, is the general state of web advertising. If rates decline further, or supply disappears, that could spell trouble for a lot of free, advertising driven sites. | |||||
| 56 | Gman15 ID: 4091212 Wed, Feb 07, 10:21 | Guru - thanks for the update. This kind of info should inspire all of us to keep clicking ads on a regular basis. With Valentine's Day around the corner, it amy be time to visit Blue Nile ..... | |||||
| 57 | yo ID: 481028229 Wed, Feb 07, 10:27 | Guru, look for something from buy.com and prizegames.com. | |||||
| 58 | Cornell AllStar ID: 5661130 Wed, Feb 07, 10:46 | If i wasn't an economically challenged college student, I would buy things from the ads I click also. Just can't afford it, damn $40,000 tuition. | |||||
| 59 | jumpball ID: 33050298 Wed, Feb 07, 10:56 |
thanks for the update Guru. I think I've looked at just about every page on Blue Nile during the past 2 weeks . . . can't afford most of the stuff, but the detailed setting diagrams are interesting to look at. | |||||
| 60 | devils1 ID: 107452911 Wed, Feb 07, 11:05 |
Cornell, you spend more in a year than I did on college and law school combined! Still clicking away. Signed up for the Citibank one site program a couple of weeks ago. | |||||
| 61 | ProudestMonkey ID: 3311561610 Wed, Feb 07, 11:17 |
Do you get more of a kickback based on how deep into the site we go and how long we spend there? click | |||||
| 62 | Guru ID: 330592710 Wed, Feb 07, 11:28 | No, that doesn't have a direct impact on compensation. But it does impact the advertiser's view on the "quality" of the clicks. And if most clicks appear to be superfluous, an advertiser can terminate the relationship. | |||||
| 63 | Promo ID: 33105116 Wed, Feb 07, 11:52 | Guru, have you had any thoughts about using the Affiliate programs with any sites out there? I know with Amazon for example, if you have a search box they give you something like 5% of any purchases made by people coming from your site. I normally use sites like ebates and such that give me the $ back, but I would gladly click from here to do my shopping if it helped keep this site alive and well...just a thought. | |||||
| 64 | Pilewort ID: 917421 Wed, Feb 07, 12:36 |
guru: tanks for the click-o-graph. Numbers in general and info overload in particular motivate Gurupies. What say we shoot for 5000 clicks for the week beginning this Sunday? And best of luck in your efforts to keep dead-beat advertisers honest. Everybody by now should have subscribed to "jokes that are funny" listserver. | |||||
| 65 | ClevelandRocks ID: 47144711 Wed, Feb 07, 12:42 |
i agree there are a few free services that everyone shoudl have registered with by now. some of them are pretty fun. that textbooksatcost website is cool. i think i'll be frequenting them start of next sememster. the book store on campus is killer. oh also.. what happened with the t-shirts idea? i'd be happy to spend some money on stuffs with the Rotoguru logo on it. Bumper stickers, fleeces, t-shirts, mugs, caps. | |||||
| 66 | Mike ID: 49052108 Wed, Feb 07, 13:03 |
Amen Clevelandrocks - I'm with the t-shirt idea - here in Ireland that would be even more exotic than it is likely to be in the States. I'm sure it would also engender some pretty freak Gurupie sightings over there.....!!!! | |||||
| 67 | Shelby-villian ID: 261146232 Wed, Feb 07, 13:23 |
I for one would love (and be obligated) to buy a rotoguru tshirt- long sleeve even better. As a graphic designer, I offer my service pro bono if its neeeded. Click! | |||||
| 68 | jedman ID: 2702357 Wed, Feb 07, 14:37 | I would proudly wear a RotoGuru T-shirt, heck, I'd buy 2, one long sleeve, one short sleeve. Bring it on!! | |||||
| 69 | Astade ID: 281036223 Wed, Feb 07, 15:42 |
Guru, thank you for the 'click' stats. It appears that you will be able to sustain the low-end of the average (and hopefully with baseball coming up even higher!). I can't imagine how you were managing in the past couple of months with such low click-through rates. You shoulda told us earlier ;) I am all for a T-Shirt (something fairly classy!). Let us know what we can do | |||||
| 70 | The Left Wings ID: 2131321 Wed, Feb 07, 18:27 |
Wait a minute... Can anyone tell me what is defined by a "click?" Can I just click the ad, and close it right after I arrived at the other site, or do I have to move around in that site? How many times can I click a day? Basically, what are the rules of ad-clicking? And one more thing, Guru, you didn't create this great place to make money, did you? I hope this site is how you employ your talents on your hobbies instead of a money-making machine... I also hope that you don't get offended by this question, but see, whenever the $$$ question comes up, this usually follows... | |||||
| 71 | Fatal Image ID: 35601219 Wed, Feb 07, 20:52 |
You do realize running a web site costs money.. domain fees, web hosting fees, bandwidth fees.. | |||||
| 72 | Guru ID: 330592710 Wed, Feb 07, 21:33 |
Left Wings - your questions have been asked and answered many times. Try clicking on the link in the opening post, and then read the first two items. Am I in this to make money? I hope not, because if so, it's a dismal failure so far. But there's nothing wrong with a modest profit motive. It's the American way. Excluding prizes, site costs are running close to $5000 per year. Biggest expense is the dedicated server for this forum, as well as associated bandwidth. In addition, I paid out $2000 in prizes last year. So my current rate of expense is almost $7000 per year, assuming prizes stay at the current level (which I haven't yet decided). And I will be doing a T-shirt sale before too long. Patience. | |||||
| 73 | KnicksFan ID: 490101520 Wed, Feb 07, 21:54 |
Guru, would it be possible to have an "ads clicked today" counter on top of each page. I think that would increase ad clicks a lot for a couple of reasons: a)if people saw that the day had a low click total, they may feel obligated to click more. b)some might look at it as a game, trying to break previous record high click days. c)i can't think of a c | |||||
| 74 | The Left Wings ID: 2131321 Thu, Feb 08, 07:40 | Prizes? We have prizes in here? Cool. | |||||
| 75 | swami ID: 477472711 Thu, Feb 08, 07:54 | Quick question. When we click an ad in this forum, one doesn't appear until tomorrow. If everyone clicks on their first entry in, no ads would go unclicked, thus raising the percentage of ads clicked per ads seen. Am I correct in assuming this? | |||||
| 76 | Guru ID: 330592710 Thu, Feb 08, 09:52 |
Not quite. There are still ads shown at the bottom of each forum page. And there are still ads shown at other pages (other than the forum). But by eliminating the top ad for 24 hours, the rate is probably somewhat improved. | |||||
| 77 | asd ID: 3410422622 Tue, Nov 26, 2002, 23:46 | d | |||||
| Rate this thread: | If you wish, you may rate this thread on scale of 1-5. Ratings should indicate how valuable or interesting you believe this thread would be to other users of this forum. A '5' means that this thread is a 'must read'. A '1' means that this is a complete waste of time. If you have previously rated this thread, rating it again will delete your previous rating. If you do not want to rate this thread, but want to see how others have rated it, then click the button without entering a rating, or else click here. | ||||||
| |||||||
Post a reply to this message: (But first, how about checking out this sponsor?) | |||||||