Should folks freeload on AZB?

CreeDo said:
lol is the person AZE, scottster?

Of all the signatures that have ads in them, his is the only one that really jumped right out at me (must be a sign of a good ad-man though). Part of it is because he'll plug his services in the actual post, not just passively in his signature. I got a laugh when everyone's arguing in the grady and the randy goldwater threads and he'll pop in for a second with "no doubt y'all will be needing some t-shirts or something once you get things going! Give me a holler!"

(no offense to AZE if he reads any of this, he seems like a cool enough guy and I bet he's a slick designer too)
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Just so everyone knows, I am a paying advertiser -- keep an eye at the top banners you will see mine (along with a handful of ones for other companies designed by me). I've personally asked Mike if it was okay to include the ad in my sig, and he has no problems.

CreeDo, I take no offense, and thanks for the compliment :) I'm also glad that my ad catches your eyes.

Aside from the fact that I pay for advertising, do I feel bad for having the ad in my sig?... No.
It's not super-intrusive, it's a small ad and a very small amount of text -- it doesn't increase the load-time of the page by any more than a second or two. I see no reason why it should bother anyone -- if it was a picture of Efren (and the same size) it wouldn't bother anyone, and it would definitely bring MORE attention than the one I have now.

I get a lot of clients from AZBilliards, and I think the signature is a big part of that. I've even done some work for Mike (i.e; the logo from BilliardsSpace.com). So unless Mike has a problem with it, I don't see it going down.

I think AZ billiards is an amazing place. I enjoy coming here daily to read threads and posts from everyone, and I'd like to think of myself (correct me if I'm wrong) as a valuable, contributing member. I try to help out members as much as I can.

As far as my business being non pool-related... most of my dough ends up supporting pool players any way :rolleyes:
 
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AZE said:
Just so everyone knows, I am a paying advertiser
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What bugs the heck out of me is when you hi-jack a thread to Spam the topic with your irrelevant threads.

Also, FYI.. When you are promoting a business that deals with personal business cards, it might be a good idea to not have any typos in your ad...

"AZBilliards.com Speical!"?
 
rayjay said:
That really is cool, JAM. Great photos....
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Thanks. It is kind of a catchy tune! :D It kind of gets you in the mood to shoot pool! :p

JAM
 
With my newest business venture I will hopefully soon be a paying sponser for these forums.

Give someone an inch, they will take a mile.
 
Scott Lee said:
Ray...You may laugh now, but recall several years ago, when you found me on another pool forum, to ask me to come work with you and Laura. Then, afterwards, you lavished praise about me back on that same forum. Many posters have emailed and PM'd me asking me to post schedules of my travels...partly because they want a chance to see a show, or get a lesson; and partly because I am the only professional BCA instructor who travels full time, and will come to your home to work with you. Yes, my site has a place for a schedule lineup, but I am unable to post or change information on it (only my website manager has access, and it's difficult for him to keep up with everything he already does). Also my schedule often changes at the last minute, and so I sometimes post it here for those who have asked. I do try to contribute as much as possible on this forum and the other one. I do that because I CARE about the game, not because I want to "fish" for students. I am VERY busy, and enjoy it that way. If Mike or anyone else feels that I'm stepping over the line, they have a right to say so.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
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Scott, do you remember when we first met you said that you would be our pool instructor for life, that any time we had a question we could just call you on the phone?

Scott, do you remember after the second lesson you had with my wife? After it was over I was standing at the pool table with a cue in hand and I told you that I could not hit the cueball straight up and down the table, that the cueball always had right spin on it? And your response was some kinda mumbo jumbo that I must be twisting my wrist or something.

Other readers notice: SCOTT DID NOT TAKE TWO MINUTES OUT OF HIS PRECIOUS TIME to look at my stroke.

A year later it took Tony Robles a milli-second to notice that I was lining up the shot with right English - due to my extremely dominant right eye.

Scott, you do have a place in the lives of teaching beginners, but as far as I am concerned, you can get lost.

WW
 
AZ Dealers

I think the Wanted/For Sale section should be for individual pool players who have a pool related item to sell or who may be looking to buy from another pool player.

There are a couple of Dealers who will post cues 2 or 3 items at a time referencing their business web site and I don't think they should be allowed to put their items in with the individual sellers. Maybe there should be a separate section for Dealers to list some of their items and they could pay a reasonable fee to AZB.
 
whitewolf said:
Scott, do you remember when we first met you said that you would be our pool instructor for life, that any time we had a question we could just call you on the phone?

Scott, do you remember after the second lesson you had with my wife? After it was over I was standing at the pool table with a cue in hand and I told you that I could not hit the cueball straight up and down the table, that the cueball always had right spin on it? And your response was some kinda mumbo jumbo that I must be twisting my wrist or something.

Other readers notice: SCOTT DID NOT TAKE TWO MINUTES OUT OF HIS PRECIOUS TIME to look at my stroke.

A year later it took Tony Robles a milli-second to notice that I was lining up the shot with right English - due to my extremely dominant right eye.

Scott, you do have a place in the lives of teaching beginners, but as far as I am concerned, you can get lost.

WW
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I have seen Scott at a couple of events, one of them at the Derby this year. Every time I have crossed his path he is teaching FOR FREE. Scott is a guy who promotes the game and has dedicated his life to it. I am positive he has made mistakes as we all have but.....

I don't know you, but if you played for over a year without being able to hit the cue ball straight before someone pointed out you are not hitting it in the center, I have to wonder about the source.
 
JCIN said:
I have seen Scott at a couple of events, one of them at the Derby this year. Every time I have crossed his path he is teaching FOR FREE. Scott is a guy who promotes the game and has dedicated his life to it. I am positive he has made mistakes as we all have but.....

I don't know you, but if you played for over a year without being able to hit the cue ball straight before someone pointed out you are not hitting it in the center, I have to wonder about the source.
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At the IPT King of the Hill Shootout, they had a contraption that was for sale that you put at the end of the table. You try to hit the contraption dead on. If you do, then a green light comes on.

I was shocked at how many times it took some of the so-called pros to get that green light to turn on. :D

JAM
 
whitewolf said:
Scott, you do have a place in the lives of teaching beginners, but as far as I am concerned, you can get lost.

WW
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FWIW Ray, there are some of us that wish you would get lost too.
:)
I have sat in and watched Scott teach. He is one of the best I have ever seen, and he is one of the nicest people you will ever meet.
 
Jerry Forsyth said:
First, just to clear it up, I have begun a new venture with Mike Howerton, but it has nothing to do with AZBilliards.com. I have no say in AZB and I derive no income from it.

That said, I am curious as to how the posters feel about those who use the forums as a place to advertise products or services. AZB is supported by ad dollars and these posters are, IMHO, stabbing Howerton in the back by posting free ads instead of purchasing them. The forums are suppose to be a place for the open exchange of ideas and news, but does grabbing a free ad fall into that category?

It just seems to me that posting these free ads in the forums is a rip-off to the advertisers who do pay to keep the site up and running and it is not a proper use of the vehicle. I am not speaking of tournament announcements and other news, just those who wish to sell something to the readers.

So please give me your opinion. Is posting free ads a proper thing for those who wish AZB to continue in business to do? Or should those posters also have the decency to pay for a small ad? They are very inexpensive, especially if you consider the number of eyes and the targeted audience they reach.

Jerry
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Well, like most free services, some things may need some modifications. Like on GFY, there are rules:
Advertising in ur sig is allowed, but only to a certain size. For bigger ads, u must have reached a big post count (like 5k min or something like that) or buy a sig spot.I would personally like to see this rule imposed.

They already have an area for selling and trading, and should do it there solely. If they wanna promote using their sig, they should really think about giving back to AZB something...

I'd also like to see AZB start branding their ad spots. It gives immense traffic to both the advertiser and the organization who buys the ad spot.
Most branded ad spots look purty awesome!

Tiger
 
JAM said:
At the IPT King of the Hill Shootout, they had a contraption that was for sale that you put at the end of the table. You try to hit the contraption dead on. If you do, then a green light comes on.

I was shocked at how many times it took some of the so-called pros to get that green light to turn on. :D

JAM
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If they were legit pros that must have been a small target. I guess if they were selling it, it couldn't be too easy to hit. Otherwise Joe Blow gets up there and...bing hits the diamond, light goes on and he says "See, I don't need that." :D

I can't wrap my head around someone knowing they are not hitting the ball straight and just putting up with it for year before a chance encounter with Tony Robles. If Tony was out sick that day WW might still be slinging the rock to starboard :rolleyes:

This so intrigued me I went and looked at some of WW's threads. Now I believe it.
 
JCIN said:
This so intrigued me I went and looked at some of WW's threads. Now I believe it.
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Yup, he's got the stroke down pat.... The keystroke that is.
 
AZE said:
Just so everyone knows, I am a paying advertiser -- keep an eye at the top banners you will see mine (along with a handful of ones for other companies designed by me). I've personally asked Mike if it was okay to include the ad in my sig, and he has no problems.

CreeDo, I take no offense, and thanks for the compliment :) I'm also glad that my ad catches your eyes.

Aside from the fact that I pay for advertising, do I feel bad for having the ad in my sig?... No.
It's not super-intrusive, it's a small ad and a very small amount of text -- it doesn't increase the load-time of the page by any more than a second or two. I see no reason why it should bother anyone -- if it was a picture of Efren (and the same size) it wouldn't bother anyone, and it would definitely bring MORE attention than the one I have now.

I get a lot of clients from AZBilliards, and I think the signature is a big part of that. I've even done some work for Mike (i.e; the logo from BilliardsSpace.com). So unless Mike has a problem with it, I don't see it going down.

I think AZ billiards is an amazing place. I enjoy coming here daily to read threads and posts from everyone, and I'd like to think of myself (correct me if I'm wrong) as a valuable, contributing member. I try to help out members as much as I can.

As far as my business being non pool-related... most of my dough ends up supporting pool players any way :rolleyes:
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Well i kinda agree that the ad spot is not large... at least not for GFY posters. :)

But for AZB, it is a bit much. ;-) But that's not ur fault either, there are no regulations in place for that.

I think if anything i truly do not prefer is anyoen hijacking a thread. That bites. At least on AZB, it doesn't occur too often. :thumbsup
 
tigerallenyim said:
Well i kinda agree that the ad spot is not large... at least not for GFY posters. :)

But for AZB, it is a bit much. ;-) But that's not ur fault either, there are no regulations in place for that.

I think if anything i truly do not prefer is anyoen hijacking a thread. That bites. At least on AZB, it doesn't occur too often. :thumbsup
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All right. I'll bite.

What is GFY?
 
JAM said:
I noticed on Billiards Digest several times that there seemed to be kind of a "no tolerance" for any advertising whatsoever, even for regional pool tours, which struck me as odd. :(
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Jen, to the best of my knowledge, Billiards Digest has no problem with the regional pool tours posting information about their tournaments. In fact, there is a seperate section for tournament announcements, similar to the one here on AZB. If regional tours are not allowed to advertise their events, I would have to wonder why BD has the tournament section.

BD does have a policy of no advertizing and they do seem to enforce it.
 
For JCIN

Jason,

I also wondered what GFY was so I took a leap and typed www.gfy.com into my browser. It is a porn site with a chat room.

Man am I amazed at the twists these threads can take!

Best,
Jerry
 
Rich R. said:
Jen, to the best of my knowledge, Billiards Digest has no problem with the regional pool tours posting information about their tournaments. In fact, there is a seperate section for tournament announcements, similar to the one here on AZB. If regional tours are not allowed to advertise their events, I would have to wonder why BD has the tournament section.

BD does have a policy of no advertizing and they do seem to enforce it.
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I did notice the BD Tournament Section for sure. :)

I recall -- and I may be wrong, so subject to check ;) -- that one of Mike Janis' posts about the Viking Tour were deleted on BD. I never did understand why, though.

I am not in any way bashing BD, Rich. I like that Discussion Forum, and the more the merrier, I say! :)

JAM
 
JCIN said:
If they were legit pros that must have been a small target. I guess if they were selling it, it couldn't be too easy to hit. Otherwise Joe Blow gets up there and...bing hits the diamond, light goes on and he says "See, I don't need that." :D
Click to expand...

Ralf Souquet was one of the shooters who didn't get the green dot to light up right away. Kevin Trudeau even stepped up to the plate, but came with a couple misses. Ralf did get the green light to light up eventually. Keith hit it after three or four attempts. It was funny to see the expression on their faces when the pros did come with a miss! They couldn't get their hands on that cueball fast enough to try it again. :D

I wish I could remember the name of this device. It was a contraption that let you know if you were a straight-shooter, I guess! :D

JAM
 
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