Shorebirds fly over the Copper River Delta, Chugach National Forest, Alaska.
I have avoided putting any advertising on our main photo website despite some lucrative offers because I think they are a distraction that would take away from the photos.
I have been more open to the concept with the photo blog; with all the subscription buttons and the like in the side bar, there are already a lot of distractions taking away from the photos. With web hosting cost rising rapidly, I thought this might be a way to help subsidize these costs, but I really haven’t had the time to pursue the options.
Well last week while we were in Cordova, B&H photo approached us about a partnership with this photo blog. I thought it was a perfect fit. B&H not only has an excellent reputation, but I have been a happy customer with them for a very long time. In fact, I have pretty much purchased all my photo gear with either B&H or Hunt’s Camera. It won’t be over the top advertising, hopefully our regular visitors won’t be offended. In the future I may link to products at B&H, just like I have done in the past. In addition, you will see the below banner in the sidebar.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Ron,
FWIW, I think advertising a product or service that you support is immeasurably different to advertising some Google AdWord sponsored thing .. so good luck to you.
Cheers
Carl
That’s not too bad and heck, if it helps with hosting cost – do it….
Thanks guys, and good point Carl.
Ron
“B&H not only has an excellent reputation, but I have been a happy customer with them for a very long time. In fact, I have pretty much purchased all my photo gear with … B&H…”
Thank you. We appreciate this.
–
Henry Posner
B&H Photo-Video
I need to get my B&H banner back up and running. Ever since changing my theme, it just seemed to stick out like a sore thumb too much. (Not that it is all that bad because B&H rocks!
)
Yeah I agree Mark. You know, I don’t remember seeing the ad on your old site. Maybe it needed to stand out a bit more.
Thanks for the comment, nice to hear from you Henry!
Ron
I’m of the same mindset. Ads aren’t something I’ll ever actively pursue on the main pages of my site. I do take a slightly low key approach to Google ads on my gallery though. The gallery ads blended in to the bottom of the page bring in 1/3 of my Google Ad revenue while the majority of the rest comes from my blog and articles. I am planning on giving BH a bit more visibility on my blog, but it hasn’t been a money maker to date. None the less I don’t mind running their ads on my blog as I think they’re a stand up organization. Visiting their NY city store this past December was a lot of fun an I’m proud of myself for only spending $100 while there
It could have been soooo much worse. Anyhow I’ll be curious to see how the advertising works out for you.
Hi Jim,
Thanks for the comment and the feedback. I noticed the B & H ad for the first time on your site today, so maybe the extra visibility is working, or maybe I’m just more cognisant of their banners now.
I would love to visit their store some day, but I don’t think I could limit myself to a $100 – you did good!
Thanks,
Ron