Re:Bandwidth Problems
I’m sure this has been brought up before and I just missed it, but has any thought been given to selling [b]moderated[/b] banner ads? Perhaps elcheapo text ads to fan sites that are just starting, moving up to more money for ads for non-commercial but intricate fan sites to high-stakes ads for commercial sci-fi sites?
Pretty much you could charge whatever you liked, you’d have total approval over which sites and which banner design they submitted, and unlike that rotating service I remember you being on they would all remain on-topic. You’re not the kind of people who are out to grab the biggest bucks, so I don’t think there’s any danger of being inundated with off-topic banners. And you could limit it to a certain number of purchased ads monthly so no poor Admins get overworked.
You could even give discounts to [i]contributing[/i] members to encourage interaction. People who have engaged in a few discussions or uploaded pics if they’re shy, nowamsane?
Submitting links is cool, but I bet a few of the webmasters who did so might consider donating to the cause if they could get a $5 ad rotated in on the left, and moreso for an ad at the top, and you’d be providing a double service to the cult tv Village… uh… Community by linking people who are looking for exposure to people looking for information.
I’m currently paying Google for a little tiny 3-line text thing. I’d gladly drop $20 in Paypal for a banner rotated at the top here for one month. (But perhaps that’s the Nytol talking…. 😉 )
Pet
(P.S. I was never really sure if your off-site banners are paid or trade or just informational. What are they?)