So The Garage Journal has been growing and growing... In fact, we've grown more in the last 6 months than we have in the history of the site. Obviously, this is good news. More traffic means more content, better content, etc... It's good for everybody.
However, with the increased traffic I need to start thinking about ways to support it financially. With the Jalopy Journal, I started the HAMB Alliance. Essentially, the Alliance is an optional program that costs $50 per year. For that $50, you get a firewall tag (this is a vintage inspired deal started at Bonneville long ago), some pretty serious discounts from our participating vendors, as well as some other perks in the forum. The site as it is remains free... and the Alliance is not an obligation at all.
The whole idea came to me when I was first starting to learn about building old hot rods and customs. I read stuff like Street Rodder and Rod & Custom and noticed how the content seemed to be driven by the advertisers. For instance: If I read a tech article on how to bag a '65 Riviera they would use Air Ride parts and totally avoid the pitfalls of the installation. They made it seem so easy... And, of course, there would be an Air Ride ad on the next page.
This bothered me. I paid for the magazine, but I wasn't the customer. The advertiser was... and my needs seemed to be ignored.
As I was building my publishing company, I made a vow to myself that I would never allow my content to be controlled by advertisers. You'll notice that none of my forums feature advertising. Instead, we sell sponsor slots on our homepage and leave our forums clean.
That still left me with the problem of how to make money though... Web servers, bandwidth, and all of that kind of stuff starts to ad up... and this is, after all, a business...
Then, it occurred to me. If you have enough traffic and registered members, you can turn the table. Give the power to the content and make the reader the customer again. Instead of having advertisers pay me for exposure, I can give them honest exposure in exchange for discounts to my customers.
It might sound complicated, but it's not... and as we have proven on jalopyjournal.com, it works!
So, I'm thinking it's almost time to start the Garage Journal Alliance. Here are the basics:
Obviously, the important part here is the discounts. All vendors offering discounts to the HAMB Alliance will offer the same discounts to The Garage Journal Alliance. However, I will be actively seeking vendors that are more targeted towards guys that frequent The Garage Journal. You know... stuff like 15% off floor coverings from a major brand we all know and love, 10% off hand tools from another, etc...
I guess my reasoning for this post is to find out who you guys would like to see in the Alliance. Craftsman? Racedeck? Griots?
Let me know your thoughts.
However, with the increased traffic I need to start thinking about ways to support it financially. With the Jalopy Journal, I started the HAMB Alliance. Essentially, the Alliance is an optional program that costs $50 per year. For that $50, you get a firewall tag (this is a vintage inspired deal started at Bonneville long ago), some pretty serious discounts from our participating vendors, as well as some other perks in the forum. The site as it is remains free... and the Alliance is not an obligation at all.
The whole idea came to me when I was first starting to learn about building old hot rods and customs. I read stuff like Street Rodder and Rod & Custom and noticed how the content seemed to be driven by the advertisers. For instance: If I read a tech article on how to bag a '65 Riviera they would use Air Ride parts and totally avoid the pitfalls of the installation. They made it seem so easy... And, of course, there would be an Air Ride ad on the next page.
This bothered me. I paid for the magazine, but I wasn't the customer. The advertiser was... and my needs seemed to be ignored.
As I was building my publishing company, I made a vow to myself that I would never allow my content to be controlled by advertisers. You'll notice that none of my forums feature advertising. Instead, we sell sponsor slots on our homepage and leave our forums clean.
That still left me with the problem of how to make money though... Web servers, bandwidth, and all of that kind of stuff starts to ad up... and this is, after all, a business...
Then, it occurred to me. If you have enough traffic and registered members, you can turn the table. Give the power to the content and make the reader the customer again. Instead of having advertisers pay me for exposure, I can give them honest exposure in exchange for discounts to my customers.
It might sound complicated, but it's not... and as we have proven on jalopyjournal.com, it works!
So, I'm thinking it's almost time to start the Garage Journal Alliance. Here are the basics:
1. First and foremost, the site remains free. If you don't become an Alliance member, you aren't penalized in any way.
2. For $50 a year, you become an Alliance member and ya get:
- an annual tool box tag... Something neat and metal to stick on your toolbox to show your allegiance. I'm still working on this in my head.
- Some minor perks in the forum such as increased private message storage and stuff like that...
- Discounts from our participating vendors.
2. For $50 a year, you become an Alliance member and ya get:
- an annual tool box tag... Something neat and metal to stick on your toolbox to show your allegiance. I'm still working on this in my head.
- Some minor perks in the forum such as increased private message storage and stuff like that...
- Discounts from our participating vendors.
Obviously, the important part here is the discounts. All vendors offering discounts to the HAMB Alliance will offer the same discounts to The Garage Journal Alliance. However, I will be actively seeking vendors that are more targeted towards guys that frequent The Garage Journal. You know... stuff like 15% off floor coverings from a major brand we all know and love, 10% off hand tools from another, etc...
I guess my reasoning for this post is to find out who you guys would like to see in the Alliance. Craftsman? Racedeck? Griots?
Let me know your thoughts.
Want!!
on the magnetic tool box tag, moveable is good.