Making Money ATS

As we (probably) all know ATS needs money at the moment so I've been thinking of ways to rake in some dosh.

Many of us might have had ideas on how to do this that we deemed a little too quirky to suggest on the thread in RATS, so here might be the place to throw around ideas that are a little more 'out there'.

Here's my suggestion: Take the old Smilies out or retirement and put them to work. That can be accomplished in the following ways:

Professional Mourner:



Greeter at posh venues:



Spin Doctor:



Agent Provocateur:



Food Taster:



Circus Performer:




And, I expect that this little Smiley will be welcomed by many a neglected male member:

Ats making money will make them an evil corporation. A greedy evil corporation.
We can't have that.
Expenses don't change and everything should be free right?

Well..........

A couple of people on the other thread suggested an ATS calendar, so I was giving that some thought.

You know naked calendars are very popular at the moment.

Naked Fireman posed behind strategically placed fire extinguishers.

Naked Women's Institute ladies posed behind strategically placed cup cakes.

So I thought, what about naked Mods posed behind strategically placed Ban Hammers ?

a reply to: berenike

I got Joe to agree to do that calender in his AMA thread, just so you know. LOL

a reply to: Hefficide


The queue for that can start right behind me

I hadn't heard of the AMA threads, that's something I'll need to investigate.

what about t shirts? or do they already have them? maybe coffee mugs....

i think it would be cool to be walking around and see someone with an ats t shirt

a reply to: berenike

And, I expect that this little Smiley will be welcomed by many a neglected male member:

As I recall, thats one of the old emoticons.

I'm going to give what I can afford to, a star and flag.

originally posted by: berenike
Well..........

A couple of people on the other thread suggested an ATS calendar, so I was giving that some thought.

You know naked calendars are very popular at the moment.

Naked Fireman posed behind strategically placed fire extinguishers.

Naked Women's Institute ladies posed behind strategically placed cup cakes.

So I thought, what about naked Mods posed behind strategically placed Ban Hammers ?

I never saw a calender with cloths on, they are all naked.

Hmmmmm how about get loads more adverts but put themm all on pages were nobody hardly ever goes like some proper boring forum?

rockpaperhammock - here is a link that might interest you:

www.cafepress.com...


PhoenixFreeman - I've been wondering about persuading everybody to log off and come back without logging in just so they could see all the ads. [REMOVED] - but I'm always logged in so I don't know if we have any clickable ads.

a reply to: berenike

I edited out what you advocated in your post. It's generally bad form to suggest that.

And anyway, most of our ads -- in fact, close to all -- are paid per impression, not click. So just seeing the ads is fine.

a reply to: SkepticOverlord


Sorry - I didn't mean to be guilty of bad form.

Is it bad form to suggest punishing people who are guilty of bad form by making them look at the ads ?

And for a small donation to the fund, they could be let off ?


ETA I'm not advocating bribery and corruption.

Random thoughts...unfiltered and quite possibly worthless...

- advanced avatar abilities created for paid members
- members only section to create elites and common folk (works well in real life)
- threads with 'well known' subject matter experts taking questions limited to members only
- automatic notification of keywords in new posts for members
- Member posts getting highlighted subtly to encourage reading and reinforce elitist position
- ATS Live giving priority to members posts/calls
- Links allowed to all, pic and vid inclusion in posts limited to members only.

originally posted by: noeltrotsky
Random thoughts...unfiltered and quite possibly worthless...

No thoughts are ever worthless

We used to have brainstorming sessions at my old job and the boss always let me rattle on. She said that somewhere amidst all the crap there was usually a good idea

You just never know what a random thought may lead you to or what it might trigger in the person(s) you tell it to.

If I may - 'elitist position' - if they go with that I, for one, am sunk.

I do not know the demographics of membership but I am UK based and have a screen printing set up. As far as merchendise goes I am pretty confident I could supply Europe at a profit to both myself and ATS with Tshirts and other stuff.

originally posted by: nonspecific
I do not know the demographics of membership but I am UK based and have a screen printing set up. As far as merchendise goes I am pretty confident I could supply Europe at a profit to both myself and ATS with Tshirts and other stuff.

How cost effective would it be to make personalised TShirts for people?

You know, maybe with their ATS name and avatar. Perhaps, for the more paranoid you could make personalised PJs so no-one outside their home would see who they are

a reply to: berenike

I still get the ads loged in loads of em!

originally posted by: nonspecific
I do not know the demographics of membership but I am UK based and have a screen printing set up. As far as merchendise goes I am pretty confident I could supply Europe at a profit to both myself and ATS with Tshirts and other stuff.

yes i am game for that iam desperately looking for things to invest in lately!

If they were simple 1/2 colour slogan tshirts with simple logo's then pretty cheap to make as I bought a vinyl cutter which means you do not have to expose a screen for a one tshirt.

Anything ats associated would mean I would have to obtain a license from ATS.

a reply to: berenike

a reply to: nonspecific

Could you and Phoenix Freeman get together to discuss a business plan that you could present to SO?

There probably would be people in the UK who would rather order a TShirt from a 'home-based' company rather than import something from America. I know that import duty- whatever it's called - can be expensive if you get caught for it.

Plus - you could pay a small fee to advertise on here, so that would be at least one advertiser who wouldn't make outrageous demands on ATS - I hope