Advertising in the classifieds sections here

[WebSlave]

I've had a little birdy whispering in my ear about something, and he brought up an interesting observation. Apparently he has been over on kingsnake.com and observed many of the people who have banner ads here and spend quite a bit of time on the BOI posting classified ads over there, but NOT here at all. He asked me why that is the case, and I don't have a good answer.

So I will ask YOU all? Why is this happening? What is lacking here that is needed to convince people that advertising in the classifieds section is worthwhile doing? We are getting between 5,000 and 6,000 unique IP addresses hitting this site every day, so the traffic is definitely here, plus increasing daily. We have over 9,000 registered members and more are signing up every single day.

So what am I doing wrong and what do I need to do to change that?

[Clay Davenport]

I feel it's at least in part attributed to lower sales from ads posted here. This may not be true for the majority of people, I don't know, but I'll offer this as an example.

I had an account on kingsnake last season. I made an effort to post every ad I placed on both sites. In addition, I ran a special for the entire season on hatchlings that was advertised here only. I offered a 10% discount to fauna users for any snake I produced.
Since that special was only advertised here, they had to see it here so I knew they were a user. I did this mainly to draw support to fauna, but it also let me guage where the sales were coming from.
For the entire season I sold one snake with the 10% discount. I produced a fair number of snakes last year from several species, and with the exception of a couple of male balls I was sold out by the end of the year. All but that one snake were sold either directly from my website, or through kingsnake, and I believe my website actually sold the most.
I did sell a few roach orders from fauna, but beyond that nothing was generated.

I don't know what percentage of the overall traffic to this site actually views the classifieds. I'd guess the BOI probably has 10 to 1 the views of any other section.
I do think the format is partly responsible. Let me clarify that. I like this format of forums, and anyone with a degree of experience with it most likely prefers it too. The problem is with a site as large as this one it becomes difficult to navigate.
Let's be honest, the fact is that many people using the internet are either too lazy or too (should I say inept?) to figure out a complicated layout. The unfortunate result is to be the most successful you have to cater to the lowest common denominator to a point.
Both buyers and sellers are completely familiar with the layout at k.com. It's overly simplified and completely lacking of the great features of this site, but you can get to most any ad with two mouse clicks. People apparently are willing to accept the more or less archaic design, and lack of additional features in favor of simplicity.
Sellers become more and more familiar with the layout here as they post ads, but sellers alone don't generate sales from those ads. The buyers must be drawn too.

I'm a daily user of this site, but I rely totally on the view new posts function to browse it. I have a direct bookmark to the News forum for my posting there, because I can never remember where it is and it always took me several minutes to track it down.
I have begun using the forum tree lately, and that's a great help.

I'm not knocking the site at all. I like it. I also know that what I've said here really can't help the situation, because this format is what it is.
A while back I wrote an email to you on this subject that was more in depth but never sent it. I wasn't sure how it would be taken.

[Hues1]

Hey Rich...

Heres what it comes down to for me...

1. I only advertise via Banners, "One Liners", Sponsors etc....here on Fauna and nowhere else.

2. I only place classifieds over at KS with no banner advertising of any kind.

I sell more animals/products via the classifieds over at KS then I do with the Fauna Classifieds, BUT...I get more web traffic via Fauna then anywhere.

For me they "balance" out...the web traffic created by Fauna brings more prospective buyers, but the classified ads over at KS bring more "ready" to buy customers.

I personally believe it to be the setup of the Classifieds here on Fauna, I too like the layout of the "Forums"...but as a prospective buyer/seller, I would much rather view something more of a "Ebay" type listing.

They're easier to navigate and scroll through. Plus as a seller, the "Ebay" type of format is much easier to list, relist, and edit.

If you incorporated a style very much like what FaunaAuction was...you'd have much more classifieds advertisers...that would even be willing to pay !

Or at the very least....set ALL of the Classifieds to display everything within the last 15 days as a default, there have been quite a number of times when I browsed the classifieds here on Fauna and didnt see anything in that category...I would then have to keep clicking on the "View last 2-3-4-5 days" button til I saw a listing and half the time it discouraged me from listing anything....for the fear that it would eventually just drop down as the days rolled by.

Another nice feature for sellers is the ability to "manage" the ads, I personally at any given time may have 15-20 different items available...its a sore to have to find each one to relist or modify it.

[JungleHabitats]

I have to agree with Clay on this subject.

I have a KS account currently and with not really wanting to have to renew it this year i had to.I have run ads on the classifieds here and even ran a ad as to which i was selling a 3x2x1 cage and was going to send all the funds to help this site.This was 5-6 weeks ago and not one email or post was ever replied to this ad that was placed.I think most traffic here is directed at the BOI and most find it overwhelming when searching the other forums for what they need.To someone without experience in this format im sure they look at the other forums and get the feeling thier search isnt worth the time to find what they need.and just toss thier hands in the air and give up.

I had posted 3 new ads on the 11th of April and just checked and they only have 40 views with that being the most and one 23 views.I some what think that those views are probably by the members here and not guest by using the new post button.Personally i think that the format is overwhelmingly to indepth for most users.In the last 3-4 yrs i have been a member here i must say i have only sold one item / snake here in that time.And that was a month ago. Compared to KS i have sold several animals and several cages i the same amount of time .I think even though the system they use lacks many things its user friendly to most general users..

I am not sure exactly what to do to make it better being the site is known widely for the BOI and i think less known for the classifieds.

[herpcondo]

I have an accont with KS, not for the forums,, but for the classifieds only,.,, The forum section is a very outdated format and very labor intensive to read a thread,, I think it just plain stinks,,, but on the other hand,, you can go to the first page of "the other site" and click just on classifieds,,, then go to the section that intrests you,, be it Boas,, Ball pytons,, Beardies etc,,,
I to have placed a few ads here, and have not had any replies at all,, the exact same ad i placed at the other site drew 40-50 hits a day, and quite a few email responses,,, I assure you , I would much rather Let my advertising money be used here 100%, but the fact is, for some reason i just sell more there,,
I think it is hard for people to find the classifieds here,, and i thing even a page style like "reptimart" may be a way to go,, and a suggestion i would like to see is a link from the main page to the classifieds section with a link from there to the section you want to browse,, I use the "new posts" feature only on this site, and i check it sometimes a few times a day,, and i check the classifieds that way, but most don't know about the feature,, or if they don't check in here often it is 24 pages of stuff and they just don't look through it all,,,,
I think a section devoted to classifieds might help with the ability to delete the ads,, change the ads,, and manage the ads like said before,, i mean if you look back there are some really old ads here,, that should have "expired " long ago,,,
So in my view i would like to see a seperate classified section, or even a seperate place the classifieds are all compiled,, it may also help to list them as a seperate site and let them rank on the fauna top sites to see how many real people are looking at the classifeds and then get a real idea of the numbers,,,
At least then you have some real data to work with to see what will drive more people here to use the classifieds,,,,
just my 2 cents,,,

[dwedeking]

Part of your issue Rich is demographics. When I joined this site, it was primarily targeted towards the more serious hobbyist/business in the industry. You've changed the focus of that and greatly increased the traffic from the general public. That is not going to change radically in just a short time. The general public are more apt to spend money readily (if you only have one or two reptiles you probably going to buy a cage, if you have 100 your going to look at building your own, for example).

Also the end user of this site tends to be a more discerning customer (for the most part). This is why banner ads tend to work on this site where they do not on KS. A customer here will look at your site and research you over a period of time and then purchase, where they are more apt to impulse purchase on the other site. Brand marketing works well on this site. This is why it is very important on this site to watch how you post. Each viewer is a potential customer, and your posts could be more important to their buying decision than the ad that you run.

Critical mass. The ugly Catch 22. You need more advertisers to increase the variety in the classifieds. You need more buyers to attract the advertisers. Takes time for this to happen.

When I first started with this site I considered it more of a "wholesale" type site (for the classifieds). I targeted my ads towards other pet stores and professionals in the industry and kept my higher priced retail ads on KS. I've started to change this as you've started bringing in the "newer" customers.

One recommendation would be a link in the various discussion forums (I know you have that already on the right hand side). Make it one of your "sticky" posts that will stay on the top of the discussion forum. You have a captive audience for that interest right there, make it easier to drive them to the classifieds. We've discussed advertising before and some customers need the "2X4" to the head type of display, especially web based customers.

I've run ads on here that have out performed KS. Just to give you a ray of light at the end of the tunnel. Most were for higher end speciality items (again hitting the more serious/in depth user demographic).

[WebSlave]

I had an account on kingsnake last season. I made an effort to post every ad I placed on both sites. In addition, I ran a special for the entire season on hatchlings that was advertised here only. I offered a 10% discount to fauna users for any snake I produced.
Since that special was only advertised here, they had to see it here so I knew they were a user. I did this mainly to draw support to fauna, but it also let me guage where the sales were coming from.
For the entire season I sold one snake with the 10% discount. I produced a fair number of snakes last year from several species, and with the exception of a couple of male balls I was sold out by the end of the year. All but that one snake were sold either directly from my website, or through kingsnake, and I believe my website actually sold the most.
I did sell a few roach orders from fauna, but beyond that nothing was generated.



We've come a long way since then, Clay. Here's a snapshot of the members we had on this site as of April 7, 2003:

Members: 3,562, Threads: 12,228, Posts: 41,339

Most users ever online was 92 on 12-20-2002 at 03:09 AM

Most users ever online on a day was 415 on 01-31-2003.


Compare that with today:

Members: 9,144, Threads: 19,884, Posts: 94,777

Most users ever online was 245 on 02-13-2004 at 04:50 PM.

Most registered users ever online on a day was 1100 on 02-13-2004.




I don't know what percentage of the overall traffic to this site actually views the classifieds. I'd guess the BOI probably has 10 to 1 the views of any other section.



I don't think I can argue with that one, however, since the discussion forums are very lightly traveled, it is logical to assume that the 1 out of 10 people NOT in the BOI are probably in the classifieds sections here. It is rather difficult getting a feel for actual numbers here, since most people tend to browse rather quickly through the classified ads sections scanning for something of interest, while in the BOI they tend to park themselves and actually spend much more time READING the material there. So although you can check the "Who's Online" display periodically, it is just a snapshot of the moment and does not present an audit trail of a viewer's viewing history.



I do think the format is partly responsible. Let me clarify that. I like this format of forums, and anyone with a degree of experience with it most likely prefers it too. The problem is with a site as large as this one it becomes difficult to navigate.
Let's be honest, the fact is that many people using the internet are either too lazy or too (should I say inept?) to figure out a complicated layout. The unfortunate result is to be the most successful you have to cater to the lowest common denominator to a point.
Both buyers and sellers are completely familiar with the layout at k.com. It's overly simplified and completely lacking of the great features of this site, but you can get to most any ad with two mouse clicks. People apparently are willing to accept the more or less archaic design, and lack of additional features in favor of simplicity.
Sellers become more and more familiar with the layout here as they post ads, but sellers alone don't generate sales from those ads. The buyers must be drawn too.



Hmm, from the main forums page, all it takes me is TWO clicks of the mouse and I am at any classifieds ad section that I want to be in. From there I can click on the navigation line to go back a level, then click on the next topic of interest. I'm not inclined to go to ks to compare the click counts, but this doesn't seem much different to me.

As far as catering to the lowest common denominator, I guess I am resistant to that idea, and have been from the start. I would be very hesitant do "dumb down" this site in order to reach that lowest common denominator, which quite honestly from what I have seen is a VERY low number. I'm not sure what I could do about this. I have been trying to come up with a reasonable compromise as to the structure, but there seem to be inherent limitations in everything I try. I suspect that part of the problem is that I have to make allowances for the other animal groups that are here in FaunaClassifieds. Otherwise I would just eliminate one entire level simply by having this an all herptile site. Perhaps my move from HerpWantAds to FaunaClassifieds was not such a wise move to make. Honestly, from the participation I see from the other animal groups here, if I knew what I know now, I never would have done that.

Do I roll back to HerpWantAds and drop the other animal groups entirely? Or do I start up HerpWantAds in parallel, maybe using the format similar to my FaunaArt.com site? Although I can link to exterior sites somewhat, a direct connection using the logon database of this site is probably going to be very unlikely. So I would have to create another completely independent site and then promote it to get traffic there. Do I really want yet another load on my shoulders?



A while back I wrote an email to you on this subject that was more in depth but never sent it. I wasn't sure how it would be taken.



I am always willing to listen to suggestions. However, bear in mind that not everything is possible to do here. You would be amazed at the number of things I have run by my programmer and he had to bring me back down to earth with an assessment of what it would take to accomplish what I wanted to do. vBulletin is a very flexibile piece of software, but it is not infinitely so.



I sell more animals/products via the classifieds over at KS then I do with the Fauna Classifieds, BUT...I get more web traffic via Fauna then anywhere.



The numbers are coming here, but I believe they are not finding the ads here so they leave. Catch-22, obviously. You want the traffic to be here to see your ads, but the traffic wants the ads to be here to see. I am doing my best to do my part to bring the traffic here, but unless YOU do your part by giving those visitors the ads to see, then it is a fruitless effort. People go to a site to see the ads YOU are posting there. The cycle has to begin with the advertisers posting their ads and the people will follow them.

Even if you have duplicate ads running on multiple sites, what is the harm in doing that? A little bit more effort for increased exposure to your ads? Is that an insurmountable effort considering the long term benefits that could result?



I personally believe it to be the setup of the Classifieds here on Fauna, I too like the layout of the "Forums"...but as a prospective buyer/seller, I would much rather view something more of a "Ebay" type listing.

They're easier to navigate and scroll through. Plus as a seller, the "Ebay" type of format is much easier to list, relist, and edit.



Heck, whenever I go to Ebay, I use the search function ONLY for whatever it is I am looking for. Personally, the navigation menus drive me crazy.

So what is it about the Ebay like display you would want here? Thumbnail photos inline? Can you give me some particulars?

I think my programmer could set up something in the profile page for you so you could manage your last x number ads, if that would help.

But editing an ad is hard to do here? Listing is hard to do as well? Not having sold anything on Ebay for a VERY long time, I am not familiar with how it is done over there.

But give me a detailed list of what you want to see here, and I will run it by my programmer to see what is possible.



If you incorporated a style very much like what FaunaAuction was...you'd have much more classifieds advertisers...that would even be willing to pay !



Ugh! I hated the structure on FaunaAuction! Even after I modified it, I still wasn't very happy with the way it looked. Not to mention that it had some off quirks that were difficult to deal with. But even there, what was different about it that you liked? The only information I can think of that was shown was maybe the current bidding price. If you want the price visible in your ad here, why can't you just put that into the topic line? Again, maybe I just don't remember something about it that caught your eye.



Or at the very least....set ALL of the Classifieds to display everything within the last 15 days as a default, there have been quite a number of times when I browsed the classifieds here on Fauna and didnt see anything in that category...I would then have to keep clicking on the "View last 2-3-4-5 days" button til I saw a listing and half the time it discouraged me from listing anything....for the fear that it would eventually just drop down as the days rolled by.



Eh? I have the default for the Classifieds Ads to show ALL ads to a viewed unless they specifically change the default in their own profile. Perhaps you should check your setting in your Edit Options page.



Another nice feature for sellers is the ability to "manage" the ads, I personally at any given time may have 15-20 different items available...its a sore to have to find each one to relist or modify it.



As mentioned above, I believe I can get my programmer to implement something like this if it would help out. Just give me some details I can pass on to him so he can evaluate what would be needed to accomplish that.



I think most traffic here is directed at the BOI and most find it overwhelming when searching the other forums for what they need.To someone without experience in this format im sure they look at the other forums and get the feeling thier search isnt worth the time to find what they need.and just toss thier hands in the air and give up.



Not sure what to do about this. Dumbing down my site is not an attractive option to me, I suppose. Judging from some of the emails I get, I don't think I could make the bar low enough in a lot of cases to make much difference. The "search" function here works VERY well and can be effectively used to zero in on a specific keyword. I felt that putting the classified ads under the Classifieds and Business Section in the Reptiles & Amphibians category would be pretty much self explanatory about what was expected to be found there. If I put ALL of the forums and ad sections on a single page, I would bet big bucks that numerous people would not know enough to scroll down the page to see the rest of them and complain about the length of time it takes just to load that page.

Again, I am open to suggestions.



I am not sure exactly what to do to make it better being the site is known widely for the BOI and i think less known for the classifieds.



Well, I guess maybe it was presumptious of me to assume that people coming to a site called "FaunaClassifieds" might expect to find Classified Ads on here. :bandhead0



but on the other hand,, you can go to the first page of "the other site" and click just on classifieds,,, then go to the section that intrests you,, be it Boas,, Ball pytons,, Beardies etc,,,

I think it is hard for people to find the classifieds here,,



Hmm, I go to the front page of FaunaClassifieds.com, click on the link in the menu listing that says "Classifieds and Business Section", which then takes me to ALL of the forums, in that section, including the classified ad forums. What am I missing here? Two clicks of mouse and you are where you want to be.

Sorry if I appear dense, but I fail to see the difference in the number of clicks or the difficulty getting to the classifieds ads from the main page of this site.



I use the "new posts" feature only on this site, and i check it sometimes a few times a day,, and i check the classifieds that way, but most don't know about the feature,, or if they don't check in here often it is 24 pages of stuff and they just don't look through it all,,,,



Would a link that would limit the display to NEW ADS only help some? Bear in mind, that the front page of this site has a display of the 10 most recent classified ads displayed on it. I can increase that number if needed.



I think a section devoted to classifieds might help with the ability to delete the ads,, change the ads,, and manage the ads like said before,, i mean if you look back there are some really old ads here,, that should have "expired " long ago,,,



As mentioned above, this may be possible to do in the user profile section. Just give me more details about what you want to see in there.

As for the old ads, that's another Catch-22. A low number of ads in any section inhibits people from adding in their own ads. So I am in no hurry to delete the old ones. Since it is a manual process anyway, it is labor intensive for me to do that, and the above mentioned excuse about the power of numbers does influence my finding time to prune the ads out more frequently. But if the numbers are there, then certainly I will prune them back as needed. If the numbers get large enough, I will pay my programmer to come up with an automated method to do this. In the meantime, ANY user at all can select the default age of the messages they view. If they ONLY want to see those ads from the last 30 days, they can easily do that themselves.



So in my view i would like to see a seperate classified section, or even a seperate place the classifieds are all compiled,, it may also help to list them as a seperate site and let them rank on the fauna top sites to see how many real people are looking at the classifeds and then get a real idea of the numbers,,,
At least then you have some real data to work with to see what will drive more people here to use the classifieds,,,,



Sure I can set up something like HerpWantAds and have it a classifieds only site, but what does that do for FaunaClassifieds.com? So I just scrap the domain name and fall back to HerpWantAds.com and drop the other animal groups completely? Certainly that wouldn't break my heart much, but there is a lot of time and effort put into the FaunaClassifieds name right now. Do I really want to just throw that away?



When I joined this site, it was primarily targeted towards the more serious hobbyist/business in the industry. You've changed the focus of that and greatly increased the traffic from the general public.



Yes, that is true. Another case of my letting public requests go to my head and trying to comply with their wishes, I guess. :) I should break myself from that habit.



Critical mass. The ugly Catch 22. You need more advertisers to increase the variety in the classifieds. You need more buyers to attract the advertisers. Takes time for this to happen.



I think I have been successful getting people to this site. I believe it has reached critical mass where new users are signing on at a rate that is only limited by the total number of people in this field. I ran ads with Overture for a while, and experimented with turning on and off the hit spigot. What I discovered is that when the spigot was turned off, I lost a small amount of visiting traffic, but it had NO effect on new registrations at all. So I just turned off the spigot (got to be expensive) and new registrations are just chugging right along.

I believe I am doing my part to resolve the Catch-22 dilemma here. But unless and until advertisers put their ads in the classifieds section, I can do no more than I am. If you all don't place your ads here, then eventually these people I have brought here will just stop looking for them. The ads you place here don't cost you a dime and don't eat anything while they are here. If you get ONE sale from an ad, would it be worth the effort of placing it here? How many times have you heard someone say "No, I have never dealt with that company, but I see their ads EVERYWHERE."? What is that telling you?



One recommendation would be a link in the various discussion forums (I know you have that already on the right hand side). Make it one of your "sticky" posts that will stay on the top of the discussion forum. You have a captive audience for that interest right there, make it easier to drive them to the classifieds. We've discussed advertising before and some customers need the "2X4" to the head type of display, especially web based customers.



Do you really think that would help any? I don't feel that the traffic to the discussion forums is really of any consequence at all, so would that really help direct them to the classified ads? If they can't see the highlighted link I already have on the discussion forum page, will a highlighted sticky link in the forum do much better? Heck, I'm willing to give it a try, and I guess the view counter will tell me whether it is working or not.



I've run ads on here that have out performed KS. Just to give you a ray of light at the end of the tunnel.



It just seems like such a LONG tunnel sometimes. But heck, we've nearly tripled registered members in the last year and it doesn't look like it is slowing down at all. We have gotten 5,000 to 6,000 people (actually unique IP addresses) visiting here every day. I just need your help giving all these people something worth coming back here for. There are over 9,000 registered members, but we only get about 800 or so to stop in each day. Why aren't the rest of them stopping in at least once a day to check out what is new here? Why are we getting nearly 5,200 NON registered people coming here each day and what are they doing while they are here? They can't be going to the BOI, so just what are they looking at? My guess is they are coming in, taking a peek at the classifieds sections, then not finding anything new, don't bother logging in and just go on their way.

Isn't the possibility of nearly 6,000 potential customers worth the effort of placing those ads here?

[dwedeking]

Yes, that is true. Another case of my letting public requests go to my head and trying to comply with their wishes, I guess. I should break myself from that habit.

Actually what I was trying to get across was that you were doing your part. As you pointed out to Clay the numbers have changed since last year, except the main breeding season hasn't started so some that are sold out haven't been able to see the results (haven't run ads this year yet).



Do you really think that would help any?
Yes, I commonly write ads that say "Click Here To..." and then whatever my desired action of the consumer is. When I used to do design I always told companies to design for a 13 year old (1/2 the attention span and 1/2 the brain capacity). You want an internet user to do something, tell them, don't just give them the option to.

How many more ads for insulated boxes do you want me to put up??!!?? :D I'm trying to sell :D

[Darin Chappell]

You know, Rich ... this won't win me any fans on your other site, but have you considered the fact that a large number of those who visit your sites are corn owners simply because it is YOUR site? Granted, there are lots of other species represented here, but the corns rule as far as sheer numbers are concerned, I would think.

That being the case (assuming it is for a moment), would not your cornsnake.com classified ads section be cannibalizing this site's potential to one degree or another? What if you just finally bit the bullet and combined the two in some way? Or, short of that, what if you just left the forums over there and brought all of the ads over here?

The very best breeders of the newest and rarest corns ALL advertize on that site, but only a few of them frequent the ads here. Maybe they'll amble over eventually, but if you're really wanting to goose this thing along, I think they'll need an incentive.

It's amazing how compliant people can be when they are given no other options! :D

By the way, as you know I have not had a KS account for some time, since I was bounced out of there. Last year, I sold out of everything I had in record time, except for some rather normal yearling and two-year olds I had laying around, and all of the internet based sales went through your two sites.

[herpcondo]

A lot to think about,,,,
You make a very valid point what do the 5200 non registered people come here for everyday,,?

I read and reread the whole thread you posted Rich a couple of times,, and i think with the registration growing on a very steady path as it is,, and the faithfuls telling everyone we meet and everyone who is in reptiles at all about this place it is getting better everyday,, ( heck i even put a banner on my website for this place) ,,,
I wish there was a crystal ball to explain why things sell better on the other site,, But i am pretty much baffled by it also,,, but the facts are the facts,, and my items do sell better,, ( dragons) ,, I am willing to place more ads here,, and for sure see what happens,, as it only takes a few minutes,, but i must say,, I also think some people just don't get the format here to find the classified ads,, this format is great if you understand it,, the other format in question on the other site is a widely used format and has been for many years on other sites i have been on,,, and i think it is a little easier to use than this format,,,(classifieds wise)
(The forum section is horrible) Now after saying all that,, this format is very easy to use once you know how,, i agree it only takes 2 clicks to get the classifieds you want,, but what if the people don't know where to click..? the classifieds section on the front page is in very very small type and it is located half way down the page with 7 other bullets,,,,
I for one am willing to help anyway, i can,, and i will be happy to advertise here,,,,,,, i just would like to see some results from it,,,

[Stardust]

I believe it is all about the discussion forums. If that were to take off the classifieds would take off as well.
People want to feel at home at whatever site they go to. They want to make internet aquaintances they can talk to and share things with on a daily or semi-daily basis. That "friendly" feeling is not here. I posted in the tegu section for suggestions on a tegu cage, took along time for anyone to reply and still although it was nice of the person to reply it really wasn't what I was looking for. I posted the same thing on different forums, as it was sort of a test, and got replies (as in more than one) much more quickly.
When I did frequent ks that is what I liked about it, and since classifieds were already there where I felt comfortable in, I looked.
I believe if more people used the discussion forums they would begin to feel at home so to speak here. If they are using other forums to chat to others about herps it stands to reason they will just go ahead and use their classifieds as well.
Just my thoughts on the subject.

[WebSlave]

Well, if anyone knows how I can get people to use the discussion forums more, please let me know, because obviously I don't have the magic touch to make it happen.

[dwedeking]

Free blondes and beer!!! :D

What do you want to talk about??!!??

[WebSlave]

Well, yeah Dan! Subject matter can definitely influence the activity in a forum, but I'm not sure a forum on Blondes and Beer would help much with the other forums here! Not unless you had to go through the other forums to get there, I suppose.

Maybe that's the ticket! People can only get access to the Blondes and Beer forum if they post 100 messsages in the other forums. What do you think? ;)

[Darin Chappell]

Let's see, I think we could then expect:

50 posts of -- "Where is the beer?"

Followed immediately by:

50 posts asking -- "Where are the blondes?"

From every new person online...!!!

[herpcondo]

Can i request some hot wings with the beer and the blondes,, and throw in a redhead once in a while to mix things up...
Now that is a forum i can support! One dollar at a time!!!

[dwedeking]

Sample discussion topics:

1. Which corn snake morph goes better with a blonde when doing a photo shoot?

2. After cleaning all your dragon tanks, which beer goes down smoother?

3. 10 tips on convincing your blonde that cleaning snake cages is fun (doesn't work on redheads though :D ).

General Business Discussion:

4. Improving sales by hiring blondes.

5. How to keep beer cold in a reptile shop that is a constant 85 degrees.

Damn, looking back at this I think I have an obession with blondes, beers and reptiles .... oh well, I can live that. :D

[HerpVenue]

Okay in the 2002 year and older....I had a ks account.
I would post on ks as well as fauna and other different free classifieds.
MOST of my stuff sold from KS ads

2003
My friend said he would post my snakes on KS and I would owe him a 10% handling fee. (brokering I guess)

Well he got 3 or 4 replies.

At the same time I had them posted here on Fauna as well as other free classifieds. (because I would like to keep the 10% for myself)

Anyway. MOST if not ALL sold right here on fauna.
Maybe it was because he was an unknown and advertising on KS.
Who knows.
but his 3-4 replies at KS that he got.
versus my selling MOST if not ALL my animals right here.

I think the tides might be turning.
They are a little slow but they are turning.

[WebSlave]

The recently implemented classified ads control panel should help people immensely to manage their ads here now. Several people have already commented on cleaning up old ads that they didn't know were still on the site, so that will definitely be a benefit.

As for the tide turning, why yes, I think it is.

[Wilomn]

Daniel,

Invest in a good mini-firdge. Not only can you keep some meds in it, making it a tax deductable business expense but, you can keep beer in there. Get one small enough to fit behind your front counter and you're stylin'. I would also recommend keeping a clock with a big face or large numbers nearby so that when it's closing time you don't have to waste precious beerless minutes trying to make sure it's beer o'clock. You can kick out your lingering lookyloos and break out the cold ones for your friends as well as yourself.

As far as the blonde vs redhead thing I sincerely wish you better luck with your blonde employee(s) than I had. Terrible is all I can say. I never had a true redhead working for me, had a couple that used henna pretty well and they were great. Isn't it also hard to find a blonde that can REMEMBER 10 points? Sorry Wendy, couldn't resist that one.

[Mickey_TLK]

I say trash the other animals.

WE ALL KNOW THIS IS A REPTILE SITE.

While I get the format, I hear from other people ALL THE TIME that they dont. Theese are other ks users, people at trade shows, and now people at the shop.

As for getting people in the discussion forum, I dont know that that will happen anytime soon either. Lets face it, people are creatures of habbit, and if you have a group you allready post with on another forum, why post the same thing on another site.

I personally dont like to have the same add running 10 different places. Too much to keep track of. I have over 30 adds on ks right now, keeping up with them is hard enough when running the store, careing for animals, ect. Plus trying to play on a forum to boot is a time killer.

Back to the discussion forum, I know I follow the boa forum at KS. Thats the ONLY forum other then the BOI that I look at on the web (well plus mine now I must admit). Why no time for others. The only reason I still go to the boa forum on ks is because the TOP BREEDERS in the country post on it frequently. You see new exiting stuff, and its worth going. Ive done it for years, and dont see that habbit going away soon. Now if I post here, at best the only people who generally see it will be people who know your format, die hard herpers, who likely would have seen it on ks allready anways...lol.

I love your site, but I say again, kill the other animals. Dumb down the front page to IDIOT LEVEL, and then see what happens.

As to Rich Luna's selling his snakes here better then brokering on ks through a friend. THATS AGAINST TOS (SORRY COULDNT RESIST) Actually my point was going to be that you have such a GOOD STANDING HERE people trust to purchase from you, soo I can see it paying off. However from personal experience, and from other friends accounts, the adds dont pay off for others.

I will try and get in the habbit of posting adds here, and I will put specials on each one to gauge where the sales are from. If it works I will let others know as well.

Mickey Hinkle
The Lizard King Reptiles