Yacht Brokerage Industry Coming to YF!

After several months of intensive work, YF's new classified listing system is set to launch in June. It's an entirely new, dedicated platform for the brokerage industry to display their listings on YachtForums. The interface will be much like YF's reviews; a more immersive user experience that favors the scroll. In addition, we've also spent several frustrating weeks setting up Amazon's SES service for mass email marketing.

We've evaluated just about every classified listing system in the industry. I think we have a better way forward! At the very least, it will present an amazing opportunity for brokers who are serious about selling boats; exposure to a membership built on serious people seeking information; not the curiosity seekers that most yachting websites attract. Most importantly, we have the ability to put each listing on the first page of Google.

We're taking a slightly different approach with YF's listing system. It will require the broker to actually do some work to sell the boat, as opposed to simply uploading a copy & paste spec sheet w/ pics. Every boat has a story and we're asking for that story to accompany the listing. The most complete listings will be featured on the front page of YachtForums and included in our monthly mailers. With nearly one million monthly readers in peak season, the exposure is unprecedented!

More details to follow in the coming days...

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Good questions OB and thank you for asking!

1. All mail will conform to the Can-Spam Act. That was the purpose of setting up the verified service through Amazon.

2. There will not be a comment section in the listings however it could be enabled. It could also open Pandora's box!

3. The cost of a listing will be comparatively inexpensive; based on volume.

4. I'm still weighing manufacturers and dealers.

Thanks Beau. As you know I've contemplated this forever; trying to make decisions in the best interest of the community while evolving the business model. There's a lot of good reasons for going in this direction; unrelated to additional income. I'm all about expanding the collective knowledge base. Listings will bring more buyers to YF, therefore more discussions. Those listings also represent more indexed links, thus bringing more traffic to YF.

Like OB said... a Very, Very long time coming, but communities can be sensitive and we don't want to rock the boat. This is why I have discussed this privately with our senior members. We're all in this together!

On a side note, there are other avenues to increase revenue and each of them are a WHOLE lot easier than a developing and maintaining a classified listing service! It would be easier to implement several Ad Networks such as AdSense or Taboola, but that would litter the forums with unrelated advertising; diluting topic and theme. Or I could do mail outs to our database on behalf of advertisers. I'm strongly opposed to all of this, so a listing service makes the most sense.

I have faith that the brokerage industry appreciates YachtForums and they are likely to help add to the collective knowledge base. I think they are all beginning to understand the value of topic-rich social medias and how contributing helpful information can benefit their bottom line. If not, my finger is on the delete button.

Thanks for noticing!

The Arpanet was founded on the premise of exchanging information, but the commercialization of the internet has diluted this to a mix of infotainment and advertising. Pop-ups, pop-unders, flash, hijacks, embeds and a myriad of methods designed to bombard readers with product messages is creating an unwelcome environment.

People come to YF seeking information about yachts, not investments, insurance or sneakers. I believe if advertising is relevant to a reader's interest, it's generally acceptable as long as it's not "in-your-face". I'd like to believe the yacht builders that maintain a presence on YF are complementary to our site, but it is more than a branding opportunity to them. These builders have a sense of community and appreciate our discussions.

Some of the worst offenders are forums owned by Internet Brands which have been turned into cash-cows that leave the user with an experience akin to being hounded by playing card pushers on the Vegas strip. I used to think other webmasters & admins were short-sighted - putting income before community - but with an ever-changing digital landscape and the rapid expansion of the internet, maybe they were right? Personally, I think our best days are still ahead.