Since we have a website review section...

[Vivid Color Zack]

Maybe we could have an advertisement review section. Almost all of us are doing SOME kind of advertising. Whether it be print, web, or otherwise we all could probably use some friendly feedback on our ads. I have seen similar threads on a graphic design forum I'm on.

I think spamming might become an issue though, just people posting junk to get their images/name up here rather than for review purposes.

[cbscreative]

I think you're right. Even the web reviews have to be carefully monitored. We do have policies about web reviews and can enforce them whenever we think someone is trying to take advantage of our generosity.

[vangogh]

That's an interesting idea. One of the ways we originally thought about how the forum would grow as far as new forums and subforums would be to see what kind of threads people were starting and if enough threads were started on a particular topic we'd create a sub forum. If the sub forum was popular enough we'd turn it into a full forum.

Why not start a thread for now asking for a review of your advertising. The best place would probably be in the Traditional Marketing forum (http://www.small-business-forum.net/traditional-marketing/). If the ad is specifically online the Internet Marketing forum (http://www.small-business-forum.net/internet-marketing/) would probably work best.

Let's see what kind of discussion we can get going and see if anyone else starts a similar thread. I do like the idea, but I'd rather not have too many forums and sub forums that aren't filling up with new threads.

[Vivid Color Zack]

I know what you mean, I don't like clutter on forums and I often wonder why some subforums exist for months or years without ever getting a new thread. I just wanted to run the idea by you guys before I just went off and started something that might be taken the wrong way.

I'll start a thread and see if anyone else contributes, I think it would be good way to get some feedback before spending the money to commit to production or submission to a service.

[vangogh]

Thanks. I do like your idea in general. I'm hoping in time as we gain more members and have more threads and posts we can expand on some of the forums. There are a few subjects I'd like to see covered in their own sections.

[Steve B]

I don't personally see much value in making more sections. Once I discovered the "new posts" button the sections became a moot point for me.

[Business Attorney]

I think a thread to review proposed advertising is a good idea but I suggest we have a policy that only members can post in that section and only after some minimum number of posts in other sections. If we have no idea who someone is or what their business is about, it is pretty hard to make any insightful comments about their advertising.

Even if a request is made by a non-member in good faith (which would often be hard to discern), I don't know that we should even want to provide a place for people to simply drop by to get an ad reviewed without joining the community.

[vangogh]

Steve I think most of us who are here regularly will use the new posts button or the today's button in combination with threads we subscribe to. Extra forums are more for new people to see what's here and they also help organize the content for search engines. It also helps when someone is searching. Instead of having to search all forums you can search the one or two that will most likely have what you're looking for. The key of course is for people to actually post content in the best location.

Good idea David. At the moment I'm not going to set up the subforum. I want to wait to see if we get enough interest to make it a subforum. No one can post anywhere until they've registered and become a member, but I should be able to set something up to keep them from posting in that forum until they've made a certain number of posts.

[Steve B]

I like the idea of having some restrictions on it - if it's possible. I'll be a frequent user of the section since I'm always doing some kind of advertising.

[cbscreative]

I would second the idea of restricting the use to a minimum post level. We have the same policy on web site reviews, so it makes sense to also have it on this section once we get to the point where we can justify having another section.

[KristineS]

I like the idea. At the very least we can try Vangogh's original suggestion and see how it goes. If we're getting a lot of requests maybe we make it a section of its own. Forums will come and go as time goes on. This forum suggestion sounds like it could be helpful, particularly for those who are relatively new to advertising.