Recently I've been asked by Eli "ej8eli", how I felt about advertising on EJ8squad.com. For those of you that don't know Eli is the owner of VB Motorsport which is an online store that opened up in June 2007. He has expressed an interest in possibly having some type of advertising banner on top of the forum.

Below is how I feel.

I didn't start this site to make money. I wanted a forum without all the drama that you find on some forums and where everyone would feel welcomed, an online family if you will. The Google Ads with the combined sales of the decals usually covers my yearly hosting bill. I would be lying if I didn't like the idea of more cash coming into the site. I've always wanted to get t-shirts and hoodies made up for you guys. But, that will not happen without it coming out of my own pocket and I just can't afford to do that at this time. If this site keeps growing like it has been there will be a time that I will have to switch to a dedicated server and that means $$$. I'm sure that step is a long way from now, but you never know.

That's about it. I'll now hand over decision to you. Let me know you feel about this.

Thanks,

Jeremy

Below is Eli's response to me asking a little about him and VB Motorsport.

This post was last modified: 05-12-2008 08:06 PM by gimmezell.

I say go for it. I have been a member on another forum for about 5 years now and have watched it go through a lot of changes. I have talked to both of the site owners and they say advertisement helps pay for a big chunk of the cost for the site. I believe it was about a year or so ago we had to switch to a dedicated server because of traffic and wow.... I was told about some of the costs and it can get pretty crazy. Check the forum out here : http://www.streetcarforums.com/

I think some sort of small add would be an awesome idea for the squad and would also help some of our members businesses grow at the same time. Plus.... I would definately rock a squad shirt or hoodie for sure!!!

This is a tough decision Jeremy! I believe that this forum IS my second family and am extremely appreciative of the fact that you decided to leave this decision to us!

Poll FTW....lol

I think it would be a good idea based on the fact that this forum is growing and having the extra cash to make this forum bigger and better is always a good thing.

Advertising is everything, it only helps. It helps the companies grow and id love to find a good shop thats fair!!

I say as long as it people from our site or at least car related not like on HT where they're advertising Lappel's (bascially a fancey word for name tags lol). I would diffenity rather buy from ppl who are always on here where at least I kinda kno them

The family statement is what I like to hear. Thanks Carlos.
Poll added.

i say go for it it will only help the site grow

i know i'm a newbie to this site...and that i haven't been here long and i already felt the love since day 1...having an online family is great..but i also think that as our family grows so does the need for extra cash..we can tell you how we all feel but as the founding father you have the overall say...i think it'd be a good idea to have extra money to build our forum into something bigger and greater..the only thing i'm worried about is the risk of losing the family feel...i think that should be taken into consideration..i don't like seeing people "clowning" on other people just because their ride isn't what people would call "worthy" and i think that's what makes this forum a great place to be is that we are all supportive of each others views in terms of how they want their car to look...to me it seems like a great idea but would we stick to the same values that made Ej8Squad the place it is today?

and P.S. if we do decide to place adds on this site...can we get items we order from his company at company cost for being a member of this forum?

If I wouldn't of found a local swap I planned on buying my motor from VB
since it was 400 cheaper then anywhere else shipped and everywhere else was over 2k for just the motor.
I think since it is a small starting up shop that is rapidly growing such as our family is here it would go hand in hand per say. With the enormous amount of new members in the last month alone if EJ8squad keeps expanding like it is now you will for sure need a dedicated server. Not to mention Tee shirts to say the least would be bomb.
I say go for it.

Wow...what an epic decision to make. I'd want to know how permanent such a choice would be, could you choose to remove it if you don't like the changes it brings?

Also, would it be a two way thing, would they have a link to this site on their own home page? That would be cool and would help both ends.

I like the idea of the site growing and making more money, and hoodies and t-shirts as well, if advertisements are one of the necessary ingredients needed to make that happen then I'm all for it as well.

On a side note, I'll be donating to this site when I'm out of my work slump.