Announcement Northwest Firearms needs funds, can you help?

[Ura-Ki]

Been doing my best to import members, and bring in new folks. So far I think I have imported 5 members, and gotten 11 new in the last year! Going to keep at it, the best darn fire arms sight on the web!

 

[TeacherSmurf]

Donations sent for both members of this household.

Looks like @CountryGent added some gold to my silver.

 

[Ura-Ki]

^^^ Wait a min here, No Diamonds^^^ @CountryGent




J/K

Ducking!

 

[3putts]

Thank you for the privilege of hearing so many points of view every week. I want to help keep the forum running in some small way, at least. Becoming a Bronze Supporter through Paypal was all I could do now. Thanks Joe.

 

[Geardo]

Personally I would feel more comfortable buying a gun from someone who has paid a fee to list the gun. Less likely to be a scam.

 

[jackrv]

Made a reply in the inbox section and I'll add one here:

Donation made.

 

[John Brown]

I am actually one that has been building websites for along time more then I would care to say
Just finished another client last week, but I digress.

I will be renewing my membership soon I think its ready to expire.

If I may make three suggestions :

1. No more free firearms sellers, the bulk of allot of bandwidth is used by those ads. Its impossible to collect after the fact as you would need FT staff to collect. But two things would help A: sellers buy tokens to sell items on the site. or B: There is a sellers paid group. A person pays XYZ a year to be able to sell on here. The site has more then enough reputation and giving away for free just is not always great business. MHO. ( you could allow other non-firearms for free but firearms should be a fee of some kind.
   
2. Raffles or Give Away's are not successful in a article if i recall was FB and end of an era explained how websites could not compete with FB by gaining revenue why FB gain revenue by buying and selling. Some of the largest gun groups are on FB. While prizes are great they in the long run do not increase membership and if they do its only during the raffles time frame.
3. NWFA need to take a stand, things are tough here financially because this site is basically entertainment. While there are some community projects the fact NWFA doesn't take a stand or represent a stand hurts the view. I know others will argue otherwise but other large sites like this continue to grow because they also make progress politically. It may not be what NWFA wants but it will have a up hill battle until the day in Salem a petition from all the members with Joe Link at the top saying we wont stand for this. Well until that day..... NWFA will struggle to move along.

This has to be in the top 5 large firearms sites on the west coast, but politically speaking its not even on the map simply because there is no unity or organized meeting of the minds.

Dismiss this if you like, but this is what I do and only giving this advice because I have been here awhile watching the struggle so thought now was time to say something and for free none the less.

Meh. It's a local forum, with a homey atmosphere. Don't mess with it. So what if you have to remind folks to donate once in a while. Turning it into what you suggest would ruin it.

 

[Load shooter]

Made my donation. Hope everyone steps up. Let's show Dianne Feinstein and those commie anti-American gun grabbing know nothings we will never give an inch.

 

[Flymph]

I wouldn't mind having people in the classifieds be supporting members, even just one month bronze.
If somebody intends to sell here, they should support for the platform.

 

[Grumpy]

Upgraded to gold.

I enjoy the show.

 

[DBagnall]

It has been quite some time since I've visited the forums here but I got the notification from Joe via email and I really would hate to see this place go belly up.

I am in the process of buying a house, otherwise I would give a bit more but I went ahead and purchased a one year Bronze membership. I hope it helps, albeit in a small way.

Hopefully I can peruse the boards here more like I used to.

 

[outlaw1776]

As much as I hate to write this message to our community members, I'm afraid it's necessary. I've always believed in being open and honest about what's going on at Northwest Firearms.

The revenue that we rely on to run Northwest Firearms comes from three sources; ad networks, support from local businesses via advertising, and member donations. We've been lucky in that for the past few years these sources have provided adequate funds to keep us afloat. I'm sorry to say that we're hitting rough waters now, and we could really use your help.

I know there are rumors floating around that I'm getting rich off of this (even though I've publicly posted my W2), but that simply isn't true. This site is a labor of love for me, and if it were paying me a decent salary I certainly wouldn't be working a part-time job. Despite our shoestring budget and me forgoing my last couple of paychecks, our accounts are nearing the bottom.

For better or worse, almost all websites rely on ad networks for their primary source of income (as do we). Historically headquartered in LA, New York, or London, the ad industry is overwhelmingly anti-gun. Most networks ban firearm-related content outright, leaving us with only a small handful of niche networks to work with. Like any business, these guys have their ups and downs too, and right now things are way down in the firearm sector (meaning our payments have fallen off).

Our second source of revenue is advertising from businesses who contact us directly (Supporting Vendors). There's a major catch 22 in banner advertising stemming from the fact that in order to do well banners should be updated frequently. Companies with the resources to keep their banners updated are usually big enough that they run large campaigns with the ad networks, and most small companies don't have the resources to keep their banners updated (so their success varies). Most businesses also reduce their advertising when sales are good, and from what I understand the gun shops are packed. At this time we have only eight Supporting Vendors.

Finally there's you guys, our members, and anyone who's been here a while knows how much I hate asking you for donations. In fact, in the ten years we've been here I've only done it a couple of times, and only when we really needed it. Thankfully in times of need your generosity has gotten us through.

How you can help

Donations - If you appreciate what we do here and you've been thinking about making a donation, we'd really appreciate if you'd make one now. Not only will they help us out, Supporting Members also get a variety of upgrades such as reduced banner ads, reduced classified ad bump limits, and entries into our quarterly fundraising giveaways. Donations can be made via the donation page or by mail to Northwest Firearms, PO Box 28152, Portland, OR 97228.

Gift Donations - Really like another member? Through our gift donation system members can make donations in the name of other members, upgrading their status. Just click on their username, click gift, and make your selection.

Purchase an NWFA Lower Receiver - We made a sizable investment to get these lowers produced. While we're just breaking even at this point, each sale does put money back into our accounts. The purchase thread can be found here.

Purchase an NWFA T-Shirt - Every little bit helps. We get a few bucks from each of these.

Talk to Potential Advertisers - If I had the option I'd love to discontinue working with ad networks all together in favor of direct advertising with businesses themselves. If you're on good terms with a business owner and think they might be interested, mention it to them. If you're a business owner please consider advertising with us. If you have outside sales experience, maybe we should talk. The Contact Us form is at the bottom of the page.

Disable Ad Blockers - The rise in the use of ad-blockers is one of the reasons for our falling revenue. We try our best to not only keep the number of ads here to a minimum but also keep them clean and non-invasive. We won't do anything to discourage the use of ad-blockers, but we would appreciate it if those of you who use them would consider donating.

Closing

Regardless of whether you're in a position to help us or not, I want to thank each of you for your support and consideration both now and in the future. A community like this is only as good as it's members, and I honestly think we have the best around. Most people have no idea what it takes to run a site this large and complex, and we couldn't do it without you.

Thank You,
Joe Link
NorthwestFirearms.com

Does clicking on advertiser links help as well? I see Brownells on here as well as some others. Isn't that how they track link traffic...or does it require purchasing from that site after linking?

Thanks

 

[EPS]

Hell we got at least one member from New York lol you can't even own a gun there in the city

 

[briany]

Done, I always wanted some platinum

 

[DuneHopper]

Meh. It's a local forum, with a homey atmosphere. Don't mess with it. So what if you have to remind folks to donate once in a while. Turning it into what you suggest would ruin it.

ROFL... thats my professional opinion if site is running this many years and still struggles I gave a solution and why it struggles, don't mean I don't enjoy it.. people can take my information or not. Thats how an opinion works EDIT :

To be honest Joe should "NOT" have to ask freed loaders on a site to help, I mean thats being 100% honest if you sell here wow you should donate. The amount of people on this site should easily support it, so if my ideas are bad cough up the dough

 

[CountryGent]

Looks like @CountryGent added some gold to my silver.

Well, it is only virtual jewelry, but it is helping a great community.

^^^ Wait a min here, No Diamonds^^^ @CountryGent




J/K

Ducking!

Haha.

 

[John Brown]

If there is money left over, maybe we can get Stormy Daniels to perform at an event.

 

[John Brown]

ROFL... thats my professional opinion if site is running this many years and still struggles I gave a solution and why it struggles, don't mean I don't enjoy it.. people can take my information or not. Thats how an opinion works

Ever been on GlockTalk or ArfCom? No thanks. We need a down home forum, not some monster conglomeration. See? That's how an opinion works.

 

[EPS]

If there is money left over, maybe we can get Stormy Daniels to perform at an event.

Appears she only needs $130.0000

 

[11Charlie]

$130.0000

Only you could screw up the punctuation on money!