So its been a while since I have posted anything here on FG. Its not that I don't have anything to say, but I have just been rather busy the last month or so and since I do this as an on going hobby... well you just have bare through the ebbs and flows with me. Its the down side of the non-corporate DIY approach. You have an honest venue for discussion, but consistency in content just can't be assured. (For example read the complaint below)

The one thing about the FG DIY approach is clear wlll never be a sell out bike site. You have my word. Strong words I know and guess what I just keep turning aside request for advertising more and more and with each moment my conviction becomes stronger.

For example, I just received another handy dandy email asking if I wanted to partner for advertising.

It is the typical example of a form letter. They look for sites of decent amounts of traffic then hit them up for partnership. I have received a number of these requests.

Dispelling the Myths:

Is FG Against Manufacturers?

In short, no, I am not. If you do cool stuff, I will be happy to give you air time of FG by talking about what you do... blind plugs are a NO GO as far as I am concerned. For example, look for an article soon from Carlos Cruz about his custom track frame building company.

Why don't you get some money for your work?

Hmmm... I could always use more money. In fact I could really use some more right around now, but FG has always been this piece of honest communication I have been working on for the past 4 years. By not having advertising

1. I don't have ugly ads marring my already ugly site
2. I don't confuse users into thinking I support something I do not
3. I get the freedom to slag anything I want without fear of retribution. Not that it would happen even if I took on advertising, but whatever I like my delusions.

On To The Request

Here is the email I received

Ransu Salovaara sent a message using the contact form at
http://fearlessgearless.com/contact.

Dear cycling blogger,

Bikesyndicator is a advertising sales network that all ready now sells
online advertising to more than 40 cycling sites from around the world.
We would like to get your blog rolling with our advertising sales as well.
With us, you can focus on your content as we take care of advertising and
pay your commissions monthly. Here are our ad formats:

> Bike/Gear/Lifestyle Advertising sold to your site by our sales team.
These bike related ads pay good CPM and ads can be either graphical or
text. This format also enables advertisers to buy advertising from your
site as "self serve" and pay their campaigns online.

> Optimized Ad Flow that runs paid ads full time. This flow includes
general advertising from hundreds of advertisers including household
brands like Olympus, Samsung, Virgin, Napster, American Express, etc.

> Selected CPA (cost per action) campaigns. CPA campaign pays per sale or
lead that happens through your site and it can give you nice extra
revenues, as we work with the best CPA advertisers in a world

> Press Release Publishing. Our soon to be released,
PressReleaseSyndicator will pay you for every press release published on
your site

Joining Bikesyndicator is easy and it doesn't cost you anything. Just
click this link http://www.sportsyndicator.com/publisher and register
yourself to our system.
We will then supply you with all the necessary ad tags, and you are ready
to go. First ads should be running on your site within hours and we pay
your commissions monthly to your PayPal account.

Risk free membership:
- Joining Sportsyndicator is not binding in anyway, and you can leave
network whenever you want
- We don't require exclusivity, so you can continue with your current
advertising activities as normal

Hopefully you see this as an easy way to increase your ad sales and we can
see you signing up shortly!

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me.

Best regards,

-ransu

--
Ransu Salovaara
Sportsyndicator Ltd.
"the sports advertising network"

ransus@sportsyndicator.com
tel US: +1-415-315 9660
tel EU: +44-20-813 33772