Cheat Sheet War Room - Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet Creation

[wisemx]

Hi,
I'm always willing to give reviews, being truthful to the point of hurting anyone's feelings does however make it tough.

In reviewing this site I'd say you have done a very good job laying it out.
You have made a good clean use of the AjaxControlToolkit.

The things that bug me however are of a personal nature.
I'm really getting short fused with any and all sites that bath in googlesyndication like that.
I know it's not easy and thousands of developers are making money that way, but I still see it as a trashy tactic.

Those are my opinions, as a Dad, man of integrityandseasoned developer. http://community.discountasp.net/emoticons/wink.gif
I did not intend in any way to hurt your feelings, simply being honest.
Salute,
Mark

[pinch]

Thanks for the input. I actually thought I went quite easy on the advertisements (compared to other sites related to fantasy football where there is so many ads on the page that you can't tell what is content and what isn't, not to mention the pop-ups). I also made sure to put the advertisements below any real content so that the most important things are up top. Also, there are only 3 ads on the main page, 2 google and one adbrite (and the trophy affiliate stuff at the bottom). Unfortunately I have to pay the hosting in some fashion (and even here as Discount, it isn't cheap) so advertisements are a necessary evil, aren't they?

Still, your point is noted and I appreciate the review.

Thanks.

[pinch]

This is a web application that I designed because I needed a project to learn ASP.net. It allows you to create fantasy football cheat sheets using drag and drop and saved all of your preferred rankings. Then, you can generate a printable cheat sheet with all of your positions integrated.

Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks.

www.cheatsheetwarroom.com (http://www.cheatsheetwarroom.com)

Post Edited (pinch) : 6/2/2008 1:04:38 PM GMT

[mjp]

pinch said...
Unfortunately I have to pay the hosting in some fashion (and even here as Discount, it isn't cheap) so advertisements are a necessary evil, aren't they?



Nothing personal, but no, ads are not a necessary evil. I have to side with Mark on this, and it really has nothing to do with your site in particular, just the general creep of Google ads intohalf thesites on earth.
The ads won't make you much money - much less than a handful of paying users -so it's just kind of a distraction to have them there.








mjp
---
DiscountASP.NET

[pinch]

mjp [DASP] said...
pinch said...

Unfortunately I have to pay the hosting in some fashion (and even here as Discount, it isn't cheap) so advertisements are a necessary evil, aren't they?

Nothing personal, but no, ads are not a necessary evil. I have to side with Mark on this, and it really has nothing to do with your site in particular, just the general creep of Google ads into half the sites on earth.

The ads won't make you much money - much less than a handful of paying users - so it's just kind of a distraction to have them there.


Fair enough, but how do you pay for the design and hosting costs of web application whose purpose is to provide a free service? Are you saying that all ads and affiliate products are bad and if you own a site you should just swallow the costs yourself?

I know the 'everyone else is doing it' excuse is bad in itself, but lots of people are doing very well from Google and other advertisements. Of course the user experience would be better if there were no ads whatsoever, but in some cases that just isn't practical. Even the www.4guysfromrolla.com (http://www.4guysfromrolla.com) site, one of the best ASP.net sites on the web, uses a barrage of ads; it doesn't seem to hurt them much.

Post Edited (pinch) : 6/3/2008 5:41:06 PM GMT

[wisemx]

Yup, even sites like dotnetkicks.
Personally I'd suggest trying Paypal donations on your site.
If your visitors find your site valuable they will offer donations.
Salute,
Mark

[mjp]

pinch said...

Fair enough, but how do you pay for the design and hosting costs of web application whose purpose is to provide a free service? Are you saying that all ads and affiliate products are bad and if you own a site you should just swallow the costs yourself?


Yeah, that's pretty much what I'm saying. But that's just my opinion. I'm old school, that's how we used toprovide free serviceson the web.I understand that it may be outmoded thinking now. My point is why provide a free service? You'll make much more profit off a small user base paying a small fee.
[quote]

I know the 'everyone else is doing it' excuse is bad in itself, but lots of people are doing very well from Google and other advertisements. Of course the user experience would be better if there were no ads whatsoever, but in some cases that just isn't practical. Even the www.4guysfromrolla.com (http://www.4guysfromrolla.com/) site, one of the best ASP.net sites on the web, uses a barrage of ads; it doesn't seem to hurt them much.


Well no, but you're notat that levelyet. You're just starting out. If you are talented and lucky enough tobuild something substantial, then drop in the ads, or split it off into a paid/free service. Until then you're unnecessarily cluttering things up. You won't make anything from those ads unless/until the site isattracting several thousand unique visitors a day. Even then, the effectiveness of that type of advertising depends largely on your audience and what they want/need. You don't even know your audience yet.


I just think you're hampering yourself before you even blast off. You can always put in ads later. Why start with them?

mjp
---
DiscountASP.NET

[pinch]

Somebody said...
Yeah, that's pretty much what I'm saying. But that's just my opinion. I'm old school, that's how we used to provide free services on the web. I understand that it may be outmoded thinking now. My point is why provide a free service? You'll make much more profit off a small user base paying a small fee.

Yeah I can remember saying the same thing when I started out but when I'm on a shoestring budget as it is it makes things tough. Charging a minimal fee isn't a bad idea, but I think that is something I'd have to move to when the application matures, right now I'm just trying to work out the kinks.

Somebody said...
Well no, but you're not at that level yet. You're just starting out. If you are talented and lucky enough to build something substantial, then drop in the ads, or split it off into a paid/free service. Until then you're unnecessarily cluttering things up. You won't make anything from those ads unless/until the site is attracting several thousand unique visitors a day. Even then, the effectiveness of that type of advertising depends largely on your audience and what they want/need. You don't even know your audience yet.

Well right now my site is targeted pretty well to fantasy football players, although it may expand in the future. The clutter comment is well-taken though.

I just think you're hampering yourself before you even blast off. You can always put in ads later. Why start with them?

Only justification now is 1) start making up for the money I put into hosting and 2) they DO provide some value because seeing as I just launched my content is minimal.

Still very interesting points and I appreciate the feedback.

Yup, even sites like dotnetkicks.
Personally I'd suggest trying Paypal donations on your site.
If your visitors find your site valuable they will offer donations.

That is a good idea as well, thanks Mark.

[pinch]

Thanks for the input guys, I have taken your advise and stripped the application of ads for the foreseeable future.