Autopia Community Support

David, is the $50.00 advertiser listing, an actual link?

Or just a vendors/advertiser name......?

What is the difference between an paid advertiser and a paying vendor?

Could Autopia benefit from a link exchange in leiu of a per month fee? Kind of a "you scratch my back, and I scratch yours" philosophy?



Im not disagreeing with your requests, just posing questions....
 
forrest said:
I'm in a different boat than most of you others - I don't sell product to autopians, I merely help with assistance like where to find products (which is now against the rules), offer suggestions on the type of product to use (and I've done my best to recommend a TYPE of product, not merely my own), and correct mis-statements made about my products.



I'm sorry, but I'm philosophically opposed to paying money to help folks out.

We've viewed the internet as a place for folks to go to learn. I'm sorry this no longer meets the goals here.



David, please delete my account, and those of Mr Chemist and dennis holloway.
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Forrest, I sure hope that you will reconsider, I'll really miss the input from you and the other Mother's guys, it is always honest and meaningful. I suspect the vast majority of Autopians share my opinion.



One thing I do not understand, is why sponsoring Autopia is any different from your sponsoring of the detailing forum on Roadfly? Is there something in play here that I am not aware of?
 
Patrick,



Good question. Thank you.



I am creating "advertising zones." Each zone will be a different place and type of advertisement property.



Zone 1 will be the sponsor directory itself. The sponsor directory will be a page that lists all advertisers and a link to their home page. The order of the advertiser directory will be random so that all sponsors have the same level of exposure. All sponsors will be required to maintain a Zone 1 listing, which will be $1.66 per day ($50 per month).



Zones 2 and 3 will be cost-per-click (CPC) advertisements. Most of these will be centered around the Autopia Reviews page.



Zone 4 will be used for branding, and will had a cost-per-day (CPD) structure.



I will also be offering Autopia Review Brand Manager Accounts. This is an annual subscription that allows the owner/manager of a brand to control what goes in the product description page for their product in the Autopia Reviews system. Account subscribers will also receive 48-72 hour experess inclusion of their new pages and updates.



Finally, I am working on capability to allow advertisers to sponsor a product review page (i.e., "PoorBoys SSR1") so that vendors can benefit from views reading the review pages. On my own product pages, this has worked very well.
 
This place keeps changing regarding "support"



It used to have sponsors, then David you stopped having sponsors because at the time, you stated that it was too much work getting payments from the advertisers and you wanted this place to be free of vendor/manufacturer influence.



Then you made it a "voluntary" support by asking members to purchase your detailing ebook and become "Contributing member" in your profile.



I don't understand why you are back now seemingly forcing vendors/manufacturers to support the forums. Those vendors are going to continue to benefit from Autopia regardless of whether they monetarily support it or not.



We are just losing their knowledge. FWIW, I have never seen Forrest spam his products here. I also doubt that Mother's really benefits because he answers questions here about the products. People can get the same answers on the Mother's waxforum site.



You have to do what you have to do, just seems to me that you are going about it the wrong way. You should go back to voluntary advertising and leave it at that.
 
Hi RIC,



Thanks for the feedback.



There is no forcing of anyone to sponsor. It is 100% voluntary.



If you are a vendor or brand manager that uses the forum, simply do your part to help keep the lights on. How simple is that idea? If you don't want to be a sponsor, please don't post anything about your products... doing so is not fair to the paying sponsors.



If you don't use the forum (i.e., 3M, Zaino, Zymol, Turtle Wax...), and your products are discussed here anyway, that's great, too.



db
 
I'm saddened to hear of Forrest and Eric's departure. :( :( I consider both to be outstanding gentlemen always with solid information to offer. I can only hope also that they might reconsider their decision.
 
Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems to be more than "don't post anything about your products".



"we will be asking vendors who are not sponsoring the community to limit their use of the community to reading posts."
 
RIC said:
Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems to be more than "don't post anything about your products".



"we will be asking vendors who are not sponsoring the community to limit their use of the community to reading posts."
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Thank you... that was not my intent. The intent was "please don't discuss your products if you don't help share the cost."
 
Another Question:

Because the PM system has been grossly abused by sellers, vendors will not be permitted PM privileges. These simple steps will stop the unsupported selling within the community.
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It was always my understanding, to avoid spamming, PM's were the preferred method when someone had a question about a particular product, that someone had the ability to provide. This would keep "true" commercialism, away from the main arena. Grand idea, I thought.

So, now unless your a paid seller/vendor/sponsor etc....you lose PM priveledges? PM's are used for a variety of reasons, other than answering questions about what one may be selling, its also used for advising less experienced individuals, on techniques, who may feel embarrassed/intimidated/low post count/, in the main arena.

What is the difference if one is PM'd, versus directly e-mailed? Seriously ! Other than being convenient while at the Autopia site.



Please dont construe this as sarchasim, I dont mind supporting, although Autopia is rather unique in this request. I just dont understand why one would ban PM'ing, after all, it's is an acronym for "Private" messaging.
 
a.k.a. Patrick said:
Another Question:



It was always my understanding, to avoid spamming, PM's were the preferred method when someone had a question about a particular product, that someone had the ability to provide. This would keep "true" commercialism, away from the main arena. Grand idea, I thought.



So, now unless your a paid seller/vendor/sponsor etc....you lose PM priveledges? PM's are used for a variety of reasons, other than answering questions about what one may be selling, its also used for advising less experienced individuals, on techniques, who may feel embarrassed/intimidated/low post count/, in the main arena.



What is the difference if one is PM'd, versus directly e-mailed? Seriously ! Other than being convenient while at the Autopia site.



Please dont construe this as sarchasim, I dont mind supporting, although Autopia is rather unique in this request. I just dont understand why one would ban PM'ing, after all, it's is an acronym for "Private" messaging.
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Patrick,



Again, thanks for your feedback and questions.



For over a year I ignored comments to me from members telling me they were contacted by a vendor offering them free product in trade for a favor or recommending a product for a particular problem. This trading of products for reviews and direct selling rewards those who invest time in PMing members. In other words, one-on-one spamming.



PMs are a valuable tool. It is different than email because a member's email address is not exposed. They would have to come to you. PMing is valuable, but it cannot be provided at the detriment of those who honestly support the community. I don't want to be a cop, but I'm also not going to be the fool.



I will politely ask sponsors and vendors not to use PMs to actively contact members (respect the paying sponsors). If a member contacts you (a vendor) to ask you a direct question, that is appropriate.



If a vendor wants more exposure and interaction with members, all they need to do is sponsor a private forum. Through a private forum area they can have as much interaction as they want.
 
I wonder if a compromise can be made that will meet your goals David and still allow Forrest and Eric and Dennis to participate...They've been excellent members and I enjoy and value their advice.
 
SilverLexus said:
I wonder if a compromise can be made that will meet your goals David and still allow Forrest and Eric and Dennis to participate...They've been excellent members and I enjoy and value their advice.
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Lee,



I quite enjoy their involvement, too.



The basic issue is that I must have one set of guidelines that apply to all commercial activity. Not having this guideline, and applying it evenly, is what caused so much trouble last year. There can be no favoritism.



I believe that answering a technical or availability question about a product (by the brand manager or a vendor) falls into the relm of "commercial benefit". I hold myself to this very standard. Going forward, I will not use the general forum areas to answer questions about the products I vend.



If a business has a policy that they do not support on-line communities (e.g., it is not part of their marketing strategy), I fully understand why they cannot sponsor Autopia. I believe this is the case with Lake Country, who is primarily in the private label manufacturing business.



I understand and respect the decision of all vendors and brand managers who choose not to support Autopia.org. Those who do will find a new level of community and awareness for their products and services.
 
I would love to see Viking Car Care listed as a supporter on our sponsor page.



I would enjoy seeing all Viking brand accessories in our Autopia Review system for members to rate and rave about.



If it would benefit the Viking Car Care brand, I would like to see a Viking sponsored private forum area.



If it would benefit Viking's retailers, I would like to co-develop a retail product locator database (I sent this same comment to Forrest), as it would be a nice benefit to Autopians, Retailers and brand managers.



In short, I'm wide open to making this a win-win-win relationship, but I need help in the form of support.
 
I really like the gold Viking polishing MFs :up. It's the first locally available MF I can say I feel safe enough with to trust.
 
Bill D said:
I really like the gold Viking polishing MFs :up. It's the first locally available MF I can say I feel safe enough with to trust.
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Their plush blue drying towel is aslo very good.
 
So just because of where these guys work, they can't post about detailing here any more without paying? Maybe detailing is their hobby and their job? Not everything they post would be a "pimp my product" message.
 
Autopia.org has helped to line the pockets of detailing vendors, many of which are (were) represented here like Meguiar's (Mike), Mothers (Forrest) and the Viking guy. I'm sure there are others too. That is undeniable. People here are like sheep and run to and fro to every product that comes up positive. Finish Kare Pink Wax, I believe, will fit the bill in a few more weeks.



Now, when it comes time to put guidelines and rules into place since all these manufacturers are making money off of David who is shelling out thousands to keep this machine running, they all thumb their noses and scoff at David. "How dare he! Who does he think he is! We should be able to use his bandwidth, his servers, his hardware, his time, his hours of effort, his money, his EVERYTHING to post answers to everyones' questions and boost our product and NOT compensate him."



Are you serious vendors? You should be THANKING David for this place. He provides the outlet that sends zillions to your company's bottom line. Now he asks you to pay for all the free advice and advertising you've been spewing for years and you pi$$ and moan?! Is David gouging you for that much money that it would make such a huge dent in your million dollar marketing campaigns?



Sh!t, you might as well ask for free ad space in Motor Trend and Hot Rod while you've got the ball$ to bark at David.



You know what Autopians? If you all have a question abour a vendor's product, pick up the phone and call them. Make them work for the costs it takes to keep their phone lines open and their representatives busy. Don't use David's current FREE service for this.



Also, where would all the smaller guys like Excel, PakShak, Specialty Motoring, Clearkote, Poorboys, Adams, etc... be if it were not for Autopia or Detail City for that matter? That also does not include the likes of CMA, Autogeek, Premium Auto Care. David's forum has lined ALL YOUR POCKETS. Am I in anyway wrong?



You people disgust me. I PAID to be an Autopian member when I first joined so I may have access to benefits that are now free to all like coupon codes and the detailing guides. Pony up and join the real world. Nothing is for free - and it won't be on Autopia anymore.
 
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