[Consortium] Advertising Policy - linuxaudio.org

[Patrick Shirkey]

On Fri, April 20, 2012 11:10 am, Daniel James wrote:
> Hi Patrick,
>
>>>> I would like to proceed with this first "customer" and will need
>>>> to migrate the subdomains to the new location first.
>
> I agree with Ico that the value of the support and goodwill that we have
> from Virginia Tech and other educational institutions is far higher than
> what we could reasonably expect to earn from Internet advertising.
>

I don't see how advertising on some of the subdomains will stop any of
those institutions from continuing to support the goals of the Consortium.
If that was the case then all Universities would have to do *everything*
using not for profit solutions. I seriously doubt that the Universities of
the world want people and businesses to do everything for free. While that
is a personal political choice should the Consortium have a political
agenda against capitalism?


> If there are new companies that would like to support our work, there
> are other ways for them to do that - such as becoming an active member
> of the consortium, hosting LAC, sponsoring conference trips and the
> like. This will earn them more kudos than advertising, which would have
> a pretty low response rate anyway. Free Software developers don't buy
> much, they build what they need instead :-)
>

We should be offering those options already as that would give them access
to our immediate community. How then do we let the world know about their
support? One standard way is to provide promotional opportunities across
our online content.

Advertising and online promotions through a Linux Digital channel will
give companies exposure to anyone who happens to drop by any of the online
locations we place their advertisements. If we are going to restrict
ourselves to only focusing on institutions and people who are already part
of the community then we are missing a big opportunity for growth.

While a large part of the Linux Audio community is built on the efforts
and support of Universities and volunteers it seems like cutting our nose
to spite our face by restricting ourselves from providing support and
marketing opportunities to businesses that want to have that brand
association or leverage off the SEO potential from our combined and
continuing efforts on building out our content over the years.


> The online video channel idea sounds like it could be viable, but
> looking at the economics of YouTube advertising and what it takes to
> become a content partner there, I don't think our existing community is
> large enough to make it pay.
>

Youtube advertising relies on mass market principals. Our core "selling"
point is that we have valuable brand association. This gives us the
ability to set specific rates for allowing companies to associate their
brand with ours. Another opportunity we present is access to a dedicated
bunch of eyeballs. However it will work to our advantage too if we have
highly recognised brands associated with our content. Whether you like it
or not people who are new to Linux Audio will feel more confident in
taking a leap if they see brands they recognise.


> I would suggest looking at creating video tutorials on cross-platform
> Free Software like Ardour or Audacity as a related possibility. See:
>
> http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=82839#AU
>

That could be useful but I don't have the time to make many videos myself
at the moment. However there is scope for other people to contribute
content for this purpose. There is already a lot out there in that regard
but I haven't had the time to collate it all and post it anywhere. I have
considered a section on lmv for tutorials but I am leaning towards a new
subdomain for that purpose. i.e journal.lao

> You may need permission from software authors to monetize videos
> containing screenshots (there is no allowance for Free Software in the
> policy):
>
> http://support.google.com/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=138161
>

That is a very unusual take on things. It might become an issue but I see
that as a very low risk. If anyone was upset about their software being
used to make videos or articles that are also hosted on sites with paid
advertising then we could provide a contact form for them to get in touch
with us for removal.

Did you or Dave have any issues with clearing rights for screenshots in
the books and articles that you have published professionally? That would
be useful information for an FAQ.


>>> Next to that, my personal take on advertising on linuaudio.org is that
>>> the Net is already crippled with ads. Online marketing techniques come
>>> with strings attached such as the general development of pervasive
>>> tracking systems
>
> I agree that Aymeric made a good point there.
>

Sure, we can have our own tracking/analytics if we choose to. I haven't
made any plans for any analytics or tracking but I think we have an
opportunity to provide a complete solution for any member of the community
to integrate into their website and help the channel expand. That would
have to come at a later date though and would be dependant on making some
cash first.



--
Patrick Shirkey
Boost Hardware Ltd