I'm brainstorming ideas and I think a poll that kind of narrows down choices would help members express what ads they are interested in seeing.
Ads should be seasonal also and cater to our niche. A sale on archery equipment will catch people's interest at the end of summer/ beginning of fall, but probably not when there's 2 feet of snow in winter.
People that are interested in OPE and chainsaws are also likely interested in outdoor apparel, wood heating systems, climbing gear, gardening, hunting, fishing, renting pigs, etc., etc., etc.
Any of those ads would likely produce traffic to the sites that pay for their advertising. You can throw Google Ads anywhere and it won't generate traffic, because people are desensitized to the ads.
I think the main point here is to have effective adverts that cater to the chainsaw and OPE crowd. Otherwise, they'll become like Google Ads, and be ignored.
It does take a pretty proactive person at the wheel to make it work. Xenforo is easy to use and ads can easily be placed on the sidebar and top banners.
There is always social media to consider. I don't know how everyone feels about it, but that's why I like the poll idea, as it lets people express whether they want social media or not.
Social media can be used to promote OPE when content is shared. This should help to create a larger web presence for OPE which will help get new members.
Again, brainstorming. I'm all for ads that are useful to us as members. I use the clickable links regularly.
