I've had a quick search around and couldn't find any conclusive answers to my dilema. At what point would you consider having advertising on your site?

I don't have an specific statistics, but heres the run down on my site;
Sports site.
Main website not yet in use, still under construction.
Forums are up and running, 12 members, 8-9 regular (day to day) posters, and a few guests each day. In just over a week there are 200 posts.

My question; At what point would you consider asking companies or other sites to advertise with you. I'm just interested to know other peoples thoughts on this.

You could put up a banner that says "Advertise here... click here to find out how" or something like that. That way if someone's interested they'll contact you.

With only 12 members I don't think you can actively go out and solicit advertising. Maybe when you have 1,200 members you'll have something more viable to sell.

Why not just slap a google adsense on. You don't even have to think for those...

Are those dozen members a quality market to which advertisers should consider promoting their goods and services? It will be difficult to convince someone to spend money on advertising with you if you can't show a reasonable return on that investment, whether that investment is $1 or $1000.

The question again; At what point would you consider asking companies or other sites to advertise with you. I'm just interested to know other peoples thoughts on this.

Thanks.

MMD,

1. As soon as you get your website presence you should look for the a cost effective advertisement methods matching with your budget and your requirements.

2. If you've already established your product with a brand image having its own market presence and identity you'll need the advertisement support when your product reach between the growth stage and the maturity level. Thereafter you might further require it as and when the products travel from the maturity level to decline stage considering the business conditions, competitive reactions product improvements and other factor with situations.

Originally posted by MMD
The question again; At what point would you consider asking companies or other sites to advertise with you.

At the point when you can show some real advantage to them in return for their support.
Advertisers expect returns - wait until your site is finished and you have a clear idea of the amount/type of traffic you will get on it. Going to the market to ask for advertising any sooner than that could cost you credibility.

I noticed that you said yours was a sporting site. Getting support for sports sites so that they are cost-neutral to you can be hard. One way you can ask for help is to put out the message that you need help to keep it alive, and ask for sponsorship. That sponsorship can be acknowledged with an advertisement, but people who are prepared to support sports sites will sometimes do so just because they believe in the site, without neceessarily looking for what they can get out of it. Even a "donate to us thru Paypal" can be worth considering.
Worth thinking about perhaps.

But, whichever way you go, get your site completed first and let it run for a few months.

imo, you have a long, long way to go before advertisers would want to advertise with you ( they expect returns ).

your best ( and probably only bet ) is to use google adsense and try to make a few bucks

Originally posted by freak
Why not just slap a google adsense on. You don't even have to think for those...

That is what I did for one of my sites and i got about 100 bucks in 3 months.

When I start a website I have the advertising page already created, it's their choice if they wish to advertise even if my site isn't that big (who am I to say no!) an impression is an impression right?

I think right time for an advertisement is needed when you’ve already recovered the cost of your investments and you've at least 50-60 customers with your market presence , you should think to select a media with an objective to reach in the target segment with minimum waste.

word of mouth is some of the best advertising....

Yes word of mouth is best advertising, when you've a sufficient numbers of loyal and satisfied customers only with your brand image.