Mike Ballard Wrote:

> If you look over the majority of my posts they are
> responses to people asking for information or
> advice.

Mike...your contribution to the site is invaluable.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/2022 04:06PM by Chris Catignani.

Dislike Facebook, stoped using it a few years back and never regretted it.
Norm

Mike Ballard Wrote:
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> Posting more often does not make a person a better contributor.

Interesting!! I think the analytics companies use to determine where they spend advertising dollars will disagree.

If they're good at what they do they will look at unique IP hits and not just numbers from the same person. You can't fool a good advertising analytics firm with single IP traffic.

Mike, I like reading your post but like Billy would like to see you post more often..lol.

I do not post unless I think I have something to add to a topic. Some guys post everyday with their morning cup of coffee. Posting for them is something they do out of habit and that is fine but it is not something I have time for and if it does not help somebody I see no reason to do it just to hear myself talk.

Mike Ballard Wrote:
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> If they're good at what they do they will look at
> unique IP hits and not just numbers from the same
> person. You can't fool a good advertising
> analytics firm with single IP traffic.

You have absolutely no clue what you are talking about. It's pretty funny that you've managed to make more posts in 3 days in this useless post, than your yearly average for the last 16 years.

What is really sad, is that Alecks is trying to modernize this forum so it appeals to the younger generation. It reminds me of when Mudhole was up with a legit website, and many of the other suppliers resisted technology change. They all went out of business and the only one left standing is the one who accepted and promoted change.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2022 07:41AM by Billy Vivona.

Billy Vivona Wrote:
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> What is really sad, is that Alecks is trying to
> modernize this forum so it appeals to the younger
> generation.

Why are you so sad about this?
I think Aleks is trying to appeal to all...especially the older generation. Since most rod builders are older.

I'm not sad, it's sad that people are so resistant to change. It's a waste of time going into why appealing to the younger generation is neccesary to continue what has gone on here for 20 years.

Aleks would not have bought a poorly performing site. He bought this one over all the others for a reason.

Mike Ballard Wrote:
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> He bought this one over all the others for a
> reason.


I would like to know what those others are? I am not familiar with them.

There are plenty of other rod building message forums. You may not know of them because most are not very active. Just do a google search and you can find a quick half dozen.

OK, thanks.

I just thought of something else I would like to see on a forum...

Custom rod building is a business. And the only way for businesses to grow and get exposure is through forums like this one and social media, etc.

And presently on this forum we do not have a place for members to showcase who they are and what they do.

It would be really great if this forum could do something along these lines for all professional custom rod builders who do this to put food on the table. As it is now we are faceless names with almost no contact information available, and no centralized location where potential customers can see who or what we are and do.

We could be sort of like the Angi's list for custom rod building.

After all this forum is open to the public and every word can be read without becoming a member. And as long as this forum is public, if people out there wanted to have a custom rod built, it would be great if they could come here and see a section of the forum where all of our members could display what they do and show contact information and redirects to their websites, etc.

Something like this should not affect sponsors around here since most rod builders would continue to use the products of those sponsors even if potential customers were redirected away from here to the rod builder of their choice.

Just an idea. After 20 years still no faces to go with names and no real way to connect all of this as it is now. Participation should be encouraged and even social media links if possible.

Something like could raise or elevate the value and potential business side of this forum.

One thing I would recommend is that if our members would agree to it, if say a member redirects a potential customer to their website or social media, we as members here who support the sponsors might consider sponsor links on their own websites which would network out the sponsors to a wider field of potential customers. Team effort type of thing for the craft and helping each other be a success at it.

I think this forum had that exact thing for the first half dozen years or something. A rod builders Directory if I remember correctly.

Yes, this site featured a free rod builders' directory for several years. The Directory button is still there at the top of this page. With thousands and thousands of registered users, only a fraction of them joined the free registry (keep in mind that the vast majority of people that build rods don't sell to the public). The paid registry, which featured print advertising, did better by far but still not enough to really do much good. Regardless, it was a huge undertaking to get people listed and then update information as that became necessary.

Several people have tried this sort of thing and none were able to make a go of it. Referral services, rod builder listings such as many of the manufacturers and component dealers offer (North Fork is one) all seem like a no-brainer, but they never seem to gain much traction and all of them cost somebody money to host, input and maintain. I always tell people that if they truly believe they have the next great idea, go do it! You'll either succeed but if not you'll at least learn something about rod building demographics in the process.

At any rate, these type ideas should probably get a new topic heading of their own.

...........

Mike Ballard Wrote:
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> Aleks would not have bought a poorly performing
> site. He bought this one over all the others for a
> reason.


He bought it because it was a great site that has become antiquated on the technology side.He's trying to breathe new life into it by making the changes he's making.

Billy, your right it is a poorly performing site but it,s also a poorly performing economy that's only getting worse..Does anybody fish anymore? You don,t even see kids going down to the creek to catch suckers..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2022 09:02PM by ben belote.

So the site performs poorly according to Ben and Billy says Alek bought it to bring new life to it. Why would anybody do that? Why not start a new, fresh site instead of spending money on something that is supposedly worn out and not performing well? Sorry guys but your comments do not make any sense.

Because it,s less costly and worth the risk doing it this way.

I am happy to be very transparent about the reasons for buying RBO.

1) Organic traffic is king, if you search for “rodbuilding” the forum is the first link that comes up, that’s not an ad. Due to the forum being around for such a long time, the back links, authority ranking is near the very top. Companies spend tens of thousands of dollars in ads monthly to be at the top of page temporarily.
2) I don’t believe the forum format is dead. If you disagree, look at Reddit. In fact, the opposite I believe is true, people are tired of “social” media.
3) Forum needed modernization, not just to get younger people interested and contributing - but those from countries outside of the US. (Translation software)
4) Content of this forum is second to none - its genuine, the community is awesome, and I was a consumer of it before it’s purchaser (I don’t like to use owner, it’s a joint effort with everyone to keep the content on here valuable - I just promised Tom to preserve it an persevere.

Tom can chime in, but he is/was very protective about the community - he didn’t NEED to sell the forum - I had to “pitch” to him what I wanted to do with it, and that we have the financial and technical means to do it. I tried to buy it over a period of three years. Over many conversations, he agreed.

Just like Reddit is the “front page of the internet” I hope that the forum becomes the front page of rodbuilding - news, discoveries, product launches, and remains the resource/help/support community that it already is.

Best,
Aleks