When my wife and I developed Board Game Beat, we figured that we'd try to fund the site — that is, cover all costs and pay me a salary — through a combination of advertising and member support.
We're using Ghost as a hosting platform, which has an integrated member sign-up and subscription system, so the membership aspect of the site has run smoothly.
The advertising, however, has been less smooth since we had to patchwork together Airtable, spreadsheets, a mailing list, and manual insertion of ad banners within the code. I greatly appreciate the initial ad sponsors who believed Board Game Beat was worth supporting and who worked with us as we navigated through this set-up.
That said, we knew even before launch that the system was not ideal, so we started working with a programmer, Oliver Lawton, to design a bespoke advertising system after being surprised that none of the dozen-plus existing platforms we investigated handle the process the way we wanted. Many of those systems were designed for Airbnb sites and similar businesses that have spaces for rent, but none of them were ideal for advertising.
After several months of work, with me being the prime hold-up since I tend to focus on research and writing over business activities, this system is now live. Here's how it works:
- Go to WEMadvertising.com to see which ad slots are available, using the arrows at top to flip through the months.
- The ad rates adjust automatically, with a 25% discount if you're booking 8–30 days in advance and a 45% discount for ads booked at least 31 days in advance.
- Click BOOK next to whichever ad slots you want, then click CONTINUE on the cart at the bottom of the screen when you're ready to check out.
- The check-out screen has a 15-minute timer to hold slots for you, and it lists your choices, along with any discounts applied.
- If you already have banners prepared — with the banner sizes being listed on this page as well as the ad info page — you can upload those banners immediately. You can use the same banner for each week in a particular placement or upload a different banner for each week.
- Once you confirm the booking, you'll receive an order confirmation by email that includes an upload link, which allows you to upload banners if you haven't done so already or change what you have uploaded as long as the ad period hasn't yet started.
- When you click on the upload link, you'll see this:
- The order above is listed as pending because (1) the invoice hasn't been paid and (2) the assets have not been uploaded. The invoice is sent in a separate email as the ad system is integrated with Wave.
So much easier!
We still have a few modifications and edge cases to address. For example, if the person who receives the order confirmation later leaves the company — something that happened recently — I don't have an order upload link to give to the new employee who will be uploading the images, so I once again need to handle that manually.
Of course, a simpler booking process matters only if the advertising itself is worthwhile. Board Game Beat offers a small number of premium placements, with no rotations, no ad networks, no behavioral targeting, and no tracking scripts. Each advertiser receives a clearly defined position in a clean editorial environment read by dedicated hobbyists and people throughout the tabletop industry.
If Board Game Beat seems like a good fit for something you’re publishing, crowdfunding, releasing, demoing, or otherwise trying to put in front of dedicated board game people, the new system should make it easier to see current availability, choose a placement, and book a spot. You can view current availability, placements, and rates here.
For those who have made it this far, here's a pic from my 300th recorded play of The Game: Extreme, most of which have been played with my wife:
If you're curious to know why I love Steffen Benndorf and Reinhard Staupe's The Game: Extreme so much, check out this post and video I published in June 2023 after my 200th game.
I'll note that all three hundred plays — and a few more that I've forgotten to record — have been played with this one deck. NSV makes good-quality cards that hold up to a lot of use. No sleeves needed!
