Re: [Harp-L] Re: Harp Ad co-op, Jason on XM, and Hog-20 amp

[Bob Cohen <bcohen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Dec 29, 2006, at 8:08 PM, Jim McBride wrote:

> I really like the idea and will consider participating. My only  
> concern is exactly what others voiced. I would not want direct  
> competitors ads on my website. I believe you might want to come up  
> with categories and allow people to exclude ads from their own  
> category if they want.

Your concern reminds me a story that Robert Bonfillio told me the  
summer before last while I was attending his chromatic seminar (which  
by the way was an amazing, eye-opening experience) at his summer  
house in Copake, NY.  If the details are fuzzy or wistful it's  
because of my bad memory and he, of course, tells it much better than  
I but:

Back in the days when Robert was doing a lot of studio work there  
were a few top notch harp players living in New York.  Each guy,  
including Robert, was perfectly capable of faking his way through  
nearly any type of harmonica gig.  However, each guy had a speciality  
whether it was classical, country, blues, jazz, pop, diatonic,  
charomatic, etc.

When directors called.  Each guy, of course, was looking out for  
himself. But if the one of the other guys in what I've taken to  
calling the New York Harmonica Trust was better suited for the job,  
the referral was made. Generosity among starving musicians?  Amazing,  
right?  Not really.  These were genuinely wise men who understood  
that every successful gig was a yet another powerful argument for  
including harmonica on other gigs.

In that way they weren't really looking beyond their own self- 
interest.  They were looking at the bigger picture.  In the case of  
microphones, not all your site visitors will want a bottle o'blues  
mic even when they originally thought they did.  The HarpCoop enables  
you to be the guy who made it easy for that visitor to find what he  
was looking for.  Likewise, someone might start out on, say Mr.  
Microphone's site and see an ad for your product and think.  That's  
for me.

That's not to say I don't understand your concern.  As this project  
blossoms, I will look into ways of granulating the deliveries.  For  
now, however, my thought is the thing has to start somewhere and  
given that it's being driven by my curiosity rather than a viable  
business model, I'm not prepared to devote significant resources at  
this time.

I really hope that you, and others, can step back and consider the  
big picture.  It's my belief that a thriving marketplace will benefit  
everybody.  And given the cost, right now, what do you really have to  
lose?  Let me know how I can help you to participate.

Bob

Bob Cohen
Principal, MojoTools Web Design
Blues Harmonica Lessons
Web   :   www.mojotools.com