[Jon]

Welcome to the Hotrodders Bulletin Board

If you're affiliated with a company in the automotive industry, please take a few moments to read this message before posting on the board.

We have a lot of members who own businesses or have jobs in the automotive industry. We've found this to be a great advantage to us, as these are the people who tend to have a lot of knowledge and experience to share.

However, every once in a while, someone comes on the board and tries to promote their products or their company. From a business perspective, this might seem like a smart idea. Hotrodders.com is the largest hotrodding website on the internet, and posting information about a certain product or company is a quick way to market to thousands and thousands of hotrodders who are in the process of building cars and buying parts.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work. We've found that hotrodders can smell a salesman a mile away, and people who come here to promote their businesses are never successful. In fact, it often has the opposite effect, as our members react negatively to sales pitches.

Focusing on knowledge, and not advertising, has been one of the keys to our success. In fact, we don't even allow paid banner advertising on the board, so please don't ask.

If you feel that you have a good product or company that you think would be beneficial to our members, here's what we suggest:

1. Enter your company name or website in your user profile. You can put your website in the "Home Page URL" field, or you can mention your company in the "Biography" or "Occupation" fields. To edit your user profile, click here.
   
   
2. Establish a reputation on the board by sharing your knowledge and experience with our members. Take the time to make knowledgeable, well thought-out posts in our technical forums.
   
   
3. Feel free to mention your business name on the board occasionally, but don't post a link, address, phone number, or any other contact information for your business in posts on the board. Don't "pitch" your business, it isn't going to work. A better option is to say: "check my user profile for a link to my business".

We've had business owners, employees, and website operators use the above methods with success. It's not quick, and it's not easy, but it's an excellent way to establish a solid reputation for your business by sharing information and experience with our members.


Thanks for understanding. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact the Hotrodders Bulletin Board administrator at jon@hotrodders.com.