business members

[jezerams]

are there any rules about guys with small businesses being members on the forum?

was chatting to a guy at a show recently, panel beater, fabricator etc who has recently setup on his own after learning the business working for others for years. His passion is obviously old fords and thats what he wants to concentrate on. i build websites, mainly for big companies, we eventually got talking about that... i suggested rather than worry to much about his own website he join up on forums, post pics on the builds etc he has done/is doing, show what his skill is, provide a load of pics we like to look at etc, after all my feeling was his potential customers are more likely to be found on specialist forums than coming across his own site from searching google.

He told me he had tried joining one forum before, but thought he had to pay upfront to sponsor if he was a business and wanted to be a member. Obviously only recently started up, things no doubt are pretty tight so although i got the impression would potentially be up for paying to be a site sponsor in the long term, it was pretty hard to justify throwing cash at it up front.

personally it feels we need the experts on the forums too, great to see the pics of the work they do, draw on their knowledge when we have questions etc, so was surprised that was what he thought

can someone clarify what the rules are on here

cheers

[alladdin]

anyone can join turbosport, and giving advice is welcome.
i think that its if a "buisiness" wants to advertise on the forum that they need to become a sponsor. its not a lot tho !
p.m. a mod for details.

[stephen bahr]

anyone can join turbosport, and giving advice is welcome.
i think that its if a "buisiness" wants to advertise on the forum that they need to become a sponsor. its not a lot tho !
p.m. a mod for details.

it's £140 a year to be s site sponsor.

[joe GSM]

Ive never advetise anywhere i become a sponsor because i like the site, if you pay for sponsorship doesnt mean you will get loads of work, it takes year to gain peoples trust ,if you join as a sponsor your sponsorship payment wont guarantee you work only your repution will let you down

[Dan]

you can be a member even if you are a business, however if you want to promote your business we do encourage people to become sponsors (140quid a year). for the forum to survive it has to be paid for some how and business sponsorship goes a long way to doing that.

we have given a little leeway to people who are starting out and just ask that they become supporters (12quid a year) but they cant take the piss while their doing it, and we wouldn't allow any direct promotion of a business (advertising for sale or service posts etc) without being a sponsor.

he can post projects, but again not directly advertise the business. and if it does conflict with another sponsor (geographically) they wouldn't be able to do this indefinitely.

hope that helps


i should add that just becoming a sponsor wont guarantee sales and business. you need to be actively involved on the site (posting work your doing and offering advice where possible) most of the business will come from referrals of the members on the forum, and it does take some work to get in there. but you will find we are a loyal bunch so a good supplier will be mentioned a lot

[jezerams]

cool thanks for the response guys, what i'm gonna suggest is he register, would it be ok if he uses a signature or username with his company name/logo in it?

contribute generally to technical questions etc, just like any other user, if he has any interesting restoration jobs on the go... maybe add the odd thread to the Restorations and Projects area, post some pics etc... I'd certainly recommend he doesnt shamlessly plug his business. To be honest we all know that wouldnt really work anyway.. i'm sure once he starts to use it and see the benefits for himself he would be up for being a supporter or sponsor, just wanted to make sure he didnt have to pay up front before i recommended something that would get him banned

[Dan]

he wouldnt be able to have any company details displayed without being a sponsor so no signature etc (one of the few site policies we have). we can always change his username afterwards should he become a sponsor and want it different.

he can post as much as he likes, offering advice etc. but no business plugging shameless or otherwise if he was a subscriber/supporter he might get away with a bit but only for showing projects etc and still no direct business references

hopefully he will see that there is a great opportunity and people are always keen to find quality local people to work on their cars (well i am). he wouldnt get banned, just have posts removed/edited if it was a bit much and be nudged to become a sponsor

[jezerams]

cool ok i'll pass that on.. thanks Dan