Exclusive Research Here is an eye-opening study I conducted that estimates what some companies are paying to the magazines for full-page ads. Fractional page ads scale roughly in cost. Magazines are rarely opened and most print ads are never seen. Print media is dying as more and more people get their information from the Internet. |
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This page details the features of all the advertising plans available on RF Cafe. Thank-you for considering RF Cafe.
Take advantage of the high traffic on RF Cafe by having your company logo and highlighted listing displayed in the appropriate
Vendors listing page. No contract is necessary since only a super low month-to-month rate is offered.
Hyperlinked logos are positioned to be "above the fold" in the right border common to all pages, thereby giving maximum visibility. RF Cafe typically receives 6,000 to 9,000 page views each week day, and about half that on weekends. To see the depth and breadth of RF Cafe visitor locations, please scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the world map image.
What kinds of companies typically have the best results on RF Cafe? Those who offer RF components like amplifiers, filters, circulators, connectors, cables, power dividers, switches, RF modules, PCB fabricators, test equipment, RF shielding, etc., seem to do the best. Analog and RF IC companies also do well, as does system and circuit design software (specialty software tends to not do as well). Basically, anything used to actually design, build, and test RF and analog circuits and systems. Unfortunately, only a couple purely design services people have gotten acceptable results
(they are still advertising, BTW). Please take a look at my
current advertisers to get an idea of who has been successful. I have never solicited advertisers in any form, so I will only "bother" you about advertising if you first express an interest. Thanks for reading.
Highlighted Advertisement Features
There Are Three Plans Available - Highlighted Ad located on as many as 10 Vendor pages (like the one to the right) for which your company provides products and/or services (areas 1 and 2 to the right). Ad height can be up to 400 pixels for Max Exposure and 350 pixels for Standard formats. All Highlighted Ads are a fixed 300 pixels wide.
- If your offering does not qualify for an appearance on 10 Vendor pages, then the remaining allocation of pages will have just your linked logo at the top as a sponsor of the page. Most non-vendor pages quality; e.g., any of the References, Special Interest, or Resources pages. You can choose them, I or can do it for you <example>.
- Hyperlinked logo in the right border of every RF Cafe webpage (7 or 8).
- All hyperlinks go directly to YOUR website.
Specifically, the 3 plans feature... - Standard Highlighted Ads
- $25 per MONTH with appearance on 10 pages for your highlighted ad and/or logo.
- Ads similar to those marked as 2 on the right. Maximum height is 350px.
- Your hyperlinked logo (8) is included in the right border of every RF Cafe page in a spot that is shared with typically 5-8 other logos, and is displayed randomly.
- Billed on a 6-month basis.
- Maximum Exposure Ads
- $150 per MONTH with appearance on 10 pages for your highlighted ad and/or logo.
- Ads similar to those marked as 1 on the right. A few small graphics and additional color are used to draw extra attention. Maximum height is 400px.
- Your hyperlinked logo (7) is included in the right border of every RF Cafe page displays EVERY TIME a page loads. It does NOT share a spot with any other logos.
- Billed on a quarterly basis.
- Banner Ads
(Please note that only slot #6 is currently available) - Banner ad locations each contain up to 4 (only 3 at this time) hyperlinked advertisement slots that are displayed randomly with each page view. A pseudorandom number generator assures that each ad will, on average, receive the same number of impressions.
- If desired, up to 3 separate images can be provided to be randomly displayed in the slot. The average impression rate will be shared with other companies in the slot (1:3 or 1:4, depending on number of companies).
- $350 per month per ad in either location 4, appear on every page on RF Cafe. Each spot is used by up to four companies. Ad sizes are 120x600 pixels (35 kB max file size) and 468x60 pixels (20 kB max file size).
- $280 per month per ad in location 3, appear on about 98% of pages on RF Cafe except the homepage. The spot is used by up to four companies. Ad size is 300x250 pixels (30 kB max file size).
- $250 per month per ad in either location 5, appear on every page on RF Cafe. Each spot is used by up to four companies. Ad sizes are 120x600 pixels (40 kB max file size) and 160x600 pixels (50 kB max file size).
- $220 per month per ad in either location 6, appear on every page on RF Cafe. Each spot is used by up to four companies. Ad size is 160x600 pixels (50 kB max file size).
- For all banner locations, you may occupy more than one of the slots (up to 4). For example, appearing in location 5, for three of its slots would cost 3 x $250 = $750 per month.
- I will attempt to minimize file sizes for banner ad graphics, with your final approval prior to running.
- All banner ads include up to 10 pages for your highlighted ad and/or logo, with ad format like the Maximum Exposure ads (1).
- Billed on a quarterly basis.
| Example Vendor Page w/Highlighted Ads (see explanations to the left)  Please note that only static images for logos (no animation) can be accommodated. Pages on which your highlighted advertisement may appear are up to you, with the following rules applied: - You must provide a product or service directly related to the Vendor page theme - no exceptions. For example, if you make RF filters, the Filter Links page is appropriate, but the Test Equipment Links page is not, because although the filters can be used in test setups they are not really test equipment. If a visitor needs a filter for a test setup, he will know to look on the Filter Links page. Each page counts as one (1) page in your advertising plan.
- Besides vendor link pages, you are welcome to sponsor any page on RF Cafe except the homepage. However, only your logo (with hyperlink to your website) will be placed on those pages at the top, just below the page title. Each page counts as one (1) page in your advertising plan.
- In order to avoid the possibility of a cluttered or biased presentation, the total number of appearances for any company will be 10 pages.
- Note: I send renewal notices a week or so before the end of the current advertising period. Since many companies do not respond right away, I keep the advertising running for a month or two beyond the end of the paid term. It is necessary that you let me know if you do not want to continue or I will assume that you are just late in responding. After a month or more of no response to my e-mails, the material will be pulled and a final invoice for those one or two months will be issued. Therefore, if you do not want to continue, you must respond to let me know or you will be billed for the 1 or 2 months. Thank-you.
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Up until about October 2008, I was using a website visitor tracking service to log statistics on visitor frequency and location. When I first subscribed in January of 2007, they logged total visits, but sometime in 2008 they began logging only "unique" visits. A "unique" visit is where they only counted any number of page views from a single IP address within an 8-hour period as a single event. That caused the visitor count to register as a significant drop (about 1/4 overnight). Since RF Cafe advertisers want to know how many times their ads are impressed - which is the total number of page views - the service was no longer of value. It did still provide a good picture of the worldwide breadth of visitors, but I already have that picture. Clicking on the image to the right gives you a bigger version so that you can see the red bubble sizes and locations.
Actual page views for RF Cafe have remained fairly consistent at around 6,000 to 9,000 on weekdays, and around 3,000 to 4,000 on weekends. For Maximum Exposure customers, that means visitors will at the very least see your hyperlinked logo in the right page border with every page view. Banner advertisers have their large image ads viewed on average of every 3 page views. Standard Highlighted Ad customers have their logos in the right border impressed every 6 to 7 page views. So, even for the last case, that translates into typically 1,000 times each weekday that your company is represented on RF Cafe. Based on my statistics, a typical visitor views about three pages per visit. For Banner advertisers, that means the average RF Cafe visitor will see your ad with every visit. My philosophy has always been to keep RF Cafe as simple as possible for everyone - including myself. Simplicity keeps costs down. I could subscribe to services that can provide extensive statistical data for around $100 per month, but I have chosen not to mainly because I do not have the time to parse that data and try to exploit it. At some point, I probably will.
Regarding the prices set for the Banner Advertising, I base those on what I can typically expect to earn in those locations when Google Ads are running there. You might find it hard to believe, but the banner slots are actually priced lower than the average Google net because I prefer to have predictable, high-quality companies represented on RF Cafe. For example, it is not unusual to earn $200 to $250 per week in the 300x250-pixel banner ad slot, yet I price it far lower for RF Cafe advertisers at $280 per month. Compare this to what you are paying for a month of advertising in the magazines, the vast majority of which go straight into the mail room recycle bin or trash can. Of those that survive, what are the chances of anyone seeing your $1,000 ad amongst the hundreds of others? I have had advertisers tell me that leads from RF Cafe significantly outnumber those from all other sources combined, with RF Cafe being way cheaper. Those results are not guaranteed for you, but they are very likely.
Why, then, do companies keep advertising in magazines? I'm told that is is primarily to buy the appearance of significance. Somehow, even in this age of dying printed matter, there is a perception that being seen in one of the trade mags confers a level of validation. OK, it's your money and your bottom line. - Kirt Blattenberger
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Standard Highlighted Ads NOTE: These plans are no longer available. Please do not use these links unless instructed to do so. Thank-you. |
| Please limit order to 12 months at a time (qty. of 2 on the order form) |
Up to 10 Pages: $25/month for 6 months ($150 total) |
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Please note that first-time advertisers must pay using PayPal. After that, you are welcome to pay on an invoice. |