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WashingtonBay
10-29-2008, 10:10 AM
Hi all, me again, talking about the forum management. :)

And NO, this is not a request for money..... really. :D We don't need it.

But as you know, we're no longer attached to a store, and while we're prepared to invest in keeping the forum up and running for the long term because we like to, we'd also like it to pay for itself, in part, if we can.

I wanted to take a moment to explain the advertising affiliate advertisements we've decided to use so far and how they work, because I'm not sure all of you know.

By affiliate ads I mean the Amazon Ad banners you usually see on threads, and the Allivet link in the upper right hand corner. The location and type of ads may change over time until we see what works, what gets in the way, and what people actually want to use and support.

I'm not talking about the g o o g l e ads, they work a little differently.

With Christmas coming up particularly, I wanted to mention the Amazon ads, in case people use Amazon for some of their Christmas or other shopping. We sure do... they have a LOT of stuff.

We also know you all buy a lot of pet meds and products, and we like Allivet as a company and use them to buy our prescription and non-prescription meds and supplements.

If you use the links from our site to access Amazon or Allivet and make a purchase, we get a percentage back. How much of a percentage depends on how many sales we make, but it's anywhere from 4-6%. And it doesn't cost you any more than you were going to spend in the first place. It's a "free" way that you can help pay the bills for us here.... we get money back from actual purchases you make on those two sites. Note. You don't have to buy the particular items in the ads. You can buy anything, the session just needs to originate from here for us to get the credit.

I'm not asking you to spend money you weren't going to spend, just letting you know that if you're going to be buying from Allivet or Amazon in the future, if you get there from here, it helps us pay for keeping us going, gives us a little pocket money once in awhile. We're not expecting it to make any big profits, and we hope to keep the number and type of ads as minimal and unobtrusive as possible.

I'm thinking if you know how they work and why, we won't need to shout them at you, and you'll use them when you can.

Thanks all, for your support :)

The WBs. :)

Pinky
10-29-2008, 10:13 AM
So if I go from here to amazon.com, which then driects me to amazon.co.uk (cause I'm awkward ;)) do you still get money?

I only ask because I have a stupid amount of books to buy :p

vicklynn
10-29-2008, 10:17 AM
How very cool. I dont buy from them, but sure will check it out when making future purchases.

WashingtonBay
10-29-2008, 10:18 AM
Yes, it should Pinky! If it originates from here, it will bring our affiliate ID with it. :)

And if you're buying a stupid amount of books anyway, we'd appreciate if you did that. :)

Gypsy Rose
10-29-2008, 10:25 AM
Thanks for explaining how that system works, WB. Unfortunately, most of my supplement purchases are through SmartPak. There are occasions however, when I need to order things that SmartPak doesn't carry. When I checked into Allivet for your Probios, I noticed that they do have a good supplement line. I'll definitely be investigating further, to see what else they offer.

I also purchase books occasionally online, and will check through the link to Amazon to see if they have what I'm looking for before going anywhere else.

WashingtonBay
10-29-2008, 10:28 AM
Thanks :) We might check out other companies that also offer affiliate programs in the future... I don't know off the top of my head if SmartPak does, that's hubby's department to get set up for us. Maybe a tack shop. Stuff we know you guys are buying online ~anyway~.

We like Amazon because they have such a wide range of stuff.... even tack and animal supplies, really. They have stuff everyone buys.

Pinky
10-29-2008, 10:37 AM
Yes, it should Pinky! If it originates from here, it will bring our affiliate ID with it. :)

And if you're buying a stupid amount of books anyway, we'd appreciate if you did that. :)

About £100 ($200) worth, all for my computer programming course :cool:

That's good, it's nice to know that not just Amazon'll get my money! :D

WashingtonBay
10-29-2008, 10:47 AM
Amazon gets most of it, we'd get about $12 from just that purchase. :)

If a few people do that, it adds up! We've done this on our family blog for awhile and with just our family and friends using it, it pays for most of the DVDs and books we want to buy. :)

In terms of hard costs for the site, the software is paid for, but there might be costs to come to keep it up to date and add features we'd like to have. Some of the add-ons like a better direct upload of pictures to threads cost money to buy. And the web hosting itself is a little over a hundred bucks a year at this point.

There's our time, but that's an imponderable and we're not really hoping for anyone to cover that like it's a job. Whatever we make over the actual costs of running the site is gravy. :)

Mandzanita
10-29-2008, 02:32 PM
Ahhh man, I wish i would have known that. I got a few of BF's Christmas presents off Amazon a couple weeks ago (I like to start early!). it's okay, I'll be getting more stuf fmost likely, Amazon is awesome, and now I know :)

Arrow
10-29-2008, 03:27 PM
Thanks for spelling it all out! I've bought from Amazon through here once, and I'll try to remember to do it always!

WashingtonBay
10-29-2008, 03:43 PM
Thanks! That'll DO! :)

shynbvs
10-29-2008, 05:21 PM
It's a "free" way that you can help pay the bills for us here.... we get money back from actual purchases you make on those two sites.


COOL! i'll definitely be using that! ;)

oursarge
10-29-2008, 05:41 PM
That's good to know, I buy alot from Amazon! I will make sure when I am looking for something I will click from here.

Driftin
10-31-2008, 07:22 AM
Cool. I have bought several things through Amazon. I'll just do it through the link now.

WashingtonBay
10-31-2008, 07:48 AM
Thanks :)

Equine_Woman
10-31-2008, 08:19 AM
Awesome!! I buy from Amazon pretty regularly!!! I'll be sure to do it through here!!!

alittleoffkey
11-02-2008, 08:27 PM
*takes note* Hey! An excuse to go book shopping! Like I need another one of those... :rolleyes: :D

~*Domino*~
11-05-2008, 09:57 AM
Very nice to know, I shop at Amazon for a lot of stuff. Will do so through here from now on!

WashingtonBay
11-05-2008, 10:05 AM
Ah - Hello, thank you and welcome :)

Ryderd65
11-07-2008, 10:49 PM
I always wondered what the incentive was for having ads on your site. Thanks for the info and I will shop Amazon from here in the future.

WashingtonBay
11-08-2008, 08:54 AM
Thank you! :)

Annasmom
11-14-2008, 01:20 PM
sweet I need some school books

Gypsy Rose
11-15-2008, 09:14 AM
I noticed HGS has ads for SmartPak- might be worth WBoy's time to check into it- trouble is, probably doesn't do any good for those of us on the autoship program, unless it counts if we use the link to acess our accounts, lol! I do change my shipments occasionally, and usually get my dewormers through them, as well as horse treats.

Debbie
11-26-2008, 07:16 PM
ok, so I'm from Indiana...call me CORNfused :) Went to the actual website and didn't see anything about Amazon. Can someone point me in the right direction, please? Ready to pull the plug on Clinton Anderson's gaited horse training DVD, but dont' want to hose out the profit to the forum.

WashingtonBay
11-26-2008, 07:25 PM
Just click on any of the amazon ads here to get there, and then you can search and make your purchase, and it will keep track of where you came from and give us credit. It knows!

If you already have it in your cart you may want to delete it and close and go in again from here.

And we sure appreciate the thought! Thanks!

JackieB
11-26-2008, 07:45 PM
Thanks for pointing this out, WB. I'm sure I can get some stuff from Allivet and Amazon now and then.

Debbie
11-26-2008, 07:46 PM
For the love of mud. All I had to do was look at the bottom of the page...duh! Must be the brandy sweet 'taters in the oven for tomrrow :) Thank you, again!

WashingtonBay
11-26-2008, 07:48 PM
Glad I could help! :D