Limiting posts by contributors & moderators

[MOTB]

I am a contributor and also a product supplier (MyOnlineToolbox.com). Something that I see over and over again at different forums is the restrictions placed on suppliers of products and services. While I try my best to refrain from product endorsements, it is sometimes very very hard to not reference our product when explaining a different point of view. It is also hard to not reference our product or service when someone else clearly is not providing the right quidance to other viewers. The moderators (rightfully so) look to enforce forum rules but I think it is a disservice when other readers do not know the source of education from posters.

Without being so sensitive to what is posted as a potential advertisement, is there a way that limits the number of posts that someone can do in a week or month? That would then control what someone says as well as strategic that no one person, including moderators dominates a conversation topic.

Just throwing ideas on the table since I believe there are a lot of smart people from the services and suppliers categories who do not participate in forums simply becuase they can not get recognition from their background, and that does stop them from participating and then the education is lost.

I will continue to try to not reference my product but it is very hard when you sit on this side of the fence. Happy New Years and good luck with the forum.
Brian

[framer55]

Just reply to the threads you know absolutely nothing about!!:)

[daArch]

IMO, valid information from manufacturers and suppliers is necessary to keep professional tradespeople informed. Also new product announcements should be welcomed and embraced.

Unfortunately, historically too many manufacturers and suppliers take these forums as an opportunity to unashamedly hawk their wares, and often provide more hype than truth.

Mods, admins, and owners are left in a tough position. And regrettably the baby often gets tossed out with the bath water.

I help admin another vBulletin forum and I have not seen any controls that limit the NUMBER of posts a person can make in any period of time. And I can not even get the "moderation" feature to work so that we can view a specific member's posts before they are seen by members.

Perhaps the best solution is to have specific guidelines for manufacturers and suppliers, and if they insist on not adhering to those guidelines, they get banned.

But I do agree that people like yourself are a valuable resource.

[Silvertree]

I am not sure what your problem is Brian. You have a sub forum on this site for MOTB users, no one ever joined but we did try it for both our benefits.

You market your product on RC more than we promote our own site and even a hack businessman like myself sees the content you post has not been business advice as much as suggestions to use programs like MOTB.

Your a sharp businessman, tell us how to get funding, or do free PR without mentioning MOTB. We know who you are and don't need reminders all that often.

Your welcome on RC and in fact we have always welcomed vendors, the simple rule is give a little and learn a little.

What have you learned so far?

[ArmchairDIY]

I'm going to throw my 2 cents in here.
I can't comment on your post specifically Brian, but only in general about vendors here and on other forums.

I personally will ignore or not read self promoting posts. I think a vendor or any member needs to contribute something to the conversation to become a trusted member of the community. I very much disagree that post numbers should be put in place. It's not the quantity it's the content that becomes an issue.

Be helpful, knowledgeable, and courteous and anyone can become a trusted source of information. It's simple reputation building, in the virtual world or the real world it all works the same.

Again I'm not commenting on you Brian, this is just my general opinion.

[Eieio]

Everyone is entitled to an opinion whether it is right or wrong. Limiting posts will not stop anyone from posting non factual opinions or even incorrect information..

There is no need to reference your product as a vendor multiple times unless it is relevant to a post or topic, you simply put who you are and what you do in your signature line and profile when your register..

The purpose of a forum is to discuss ideas and opinions, so why would you stop someone from posting their opinion?

If the information is not valid the members will do the research or discuss its merits..

The limiting of vendor participation has never happened here, in fact it has been encouraged several times..

But is a vendor/member promotes his or her product constantly it is frowned upon..

If you want to advertise your product we have ad space available to vendors that we think fit our forum model

[OGStilts]

If you ask me, Brian, you do it right. I don't consider you to be in your face about it but when you have relevant info to add to a discussion your right there. Not everyone has the self discipline to do this. When these guys start promoting themselves on every thread it's just annoying to the members and it turns us off of their product as well as could turn us off that forum if it was a rampid part of the site. That is probably why moderators monitor the way they do.

What are you wanting to do that you aren't currently able to do? You are memorable to us whether or not you are seeing the results yet doesn't necessarily mean you need to change what you are doing. I for one was looking for something the other day and your website was one of the first I thought of because of your activity here.


And I would like to add whatever you do don't start "connecting" with people on linkedin or "pming" them on the forums promoting yourself, that really pisses me off. I'm not sure how many of you have run accross this over on linkedin but I'm so sick of connecting with people over there and then they start emailing me everyday wanting me to call them or meet and have lunch with them. I connected with you to get to know you and your product a little better, not so I could get annoying emails and updates from you every day.