So I got this e-mail a week ago. Apparently someone wants to advertise here. Because I think it's interesting, here's our e-mail conversation so far.

Hi there,

I'm interested in doing some music related advertisement on your site that I think is unique and non-intrusive to your visitors and even adds extra benefits to your blog.

Please let me know if you'd like to hear more about my idea.

Sincerely,
Ad Guy

I'm skeptical, but I'm curious. I'll hear what you have to say. What do you propose?

The Fish

Hi sorry for the delay, had a very busy week

Ok so what I had in mind is every week I compile a list of new songs that will come out in the future that either leaked on the net or have been officially announced. I would like to promote that list. The advertising method, I don't want to put it on the side and have users look at it every time they're on a page but instead at the bottom of a post when you make one, once a week. So on one post a week it would have a small list at the very bottom of it and by tomorrow it's already old news and within a few days most likely on the back pages and archives. The way I can see it's beneficial is it's not taking up room on the side so you can still make more money from conventional advertising. It provides your users with relevant content (new songs) and a user may or may not be interested in it but if a user ever wanted to know upcoming popular songs they need not search google but just visit your site instead.

What do you think,
Ad Guy

Is this list text-only, or does it include images?

Will this carry any restrictions on the content of the post to which it is attached? Will I be free to editorialize on your advertisement in any way I choose, even if it's disparagingly?

Will there be any contract or other obligation? Will I be free to end my involvement at any time, for any reason?

How many items would be in this list? Three? 10? 50?

Is advertising content always chosen by you, or is there a "cafeteria style" option where I can choose one of several ads for any given week?

Will I be free to present that list any way I choose or are you expecting that list to appear in a particular format, ie, will you be sending me a block of code to paste or a script to reuse?

If the ad must be displayed in a specific way, do you have an example I can see?

Will I be free to exclude the advertisement from my site feed if I choose?

Will your advertisements attempt to set cookies with my visitors? If so, from what domains?

Do you have a privacy policy I can read? If so, what parts of that policy might apply specifically to people viewing your ads on my site, as opposed to viewing content on your site?

Will your ad trigger pop-ups, pop-unders, windows that resize themselves, JavaScript alerts, etc?

On what basis will I be compensated? By pageview? By clickthrough?

How often is payment sent, and by what method?

How long has this advertising program been in existence?

How many other bloggers participate in this program?

What's the turnover rate for participants in this program?

 
I might have more questions later. This is just what I have right off the top of my head.

 
The Fish

I haven't heard back from him yet. Do you think I will? Can you think of any good questions I should have asked?

Update: Ad guy responded very early Friday morning. His responses are italicized. Spelling mistakes are all his. My response follows.

Is this list text-only, or does it include images?
Text with a few links and no images

Will this carry any restrictions on the content of the post to which it is attached? Will I be free to editorialize on your advertisement in any way I choose, even if it's disparagingly?
You can edit it any way you want just have ot elave the links in tact

Will there be any contract or other obligation? Will I be free to end my involvement at any time, for any reason?
Absolutly not, 5 seconds of your time one day a week is all that's needed

How many items would be in this list? Three? 10? 50?
On some weeks 3 on some up to 10 varies on how many songs are announced

Is advertising content always chosen by you, or is there a "cafeteria style" option where I can choose one of several ads for any given week?
We do have different styles

Will I be free to present that list any way I choose or are you expecting that list to appear in a particular format, ie, will you be sending me a block of code to paste or a script to reuse?
You are able to do it any way you want

If the ad must be displayed in a specific way, do you have an example I can see?
Certainly, here's an example (this is a week with more then usual songs)

Will I be free to exclude the advertisement from my site feed if I choose?
The content would not be allowed to be removed from the post, however, you may exclude it from your feed.

Will your advertisements attempt to set cookies with my visitors? If so, from what domains?
no cookies, it's just text and a link

Do you have a privacy policy I can read? If so, what parts of that policy might apply specifically to people viewing your ads on my site, as opposed to viewing content on your site?
it's nothing that serious that requires anything drastic such as that

Will your ad trigger pop-ups, pop-unders, windows that resize themselves, JavaScript alerts, etc?
Defiently not

On what basis will I be compensated? By pageview? By clickthrough?
Flat fee per post. $10 or so per post

How often is payment sent, and by what method?
Paypal, weekly and within minutes after you put the code up

How long has this advertising program been in existence?
It's private by us, it's not a mainstream thing

How many other bloggers participate in this program?
Maybe 7 or so that we contacted

What's the turnover rate for participants in this program?
Not quite sure what you mean

I might have more questions later. This is just what I have right off the top of my head.
Sure but this is not anything that's extreme or ties you into any contractual agreemnts, we're simply just looking for a few extra places to put ads without any strings attached

I thought of two more questions.

Can I choose a different advertising interval? Say, twice a week, once a month or every three months?

If I decide to stop participating in your program, is it possible to resume participation again later?

My friends also have two questions I should ask you.

A reader wants to know if all the links will be at the same url or if you're building Page Rank with new urls every week. This question seems particularly savvy since he asked this before he saw your response to the battery of questions I asked in my last e-mail. Given that I'm able to change the presentation of your links any way I please and I'm able to exclude them from my feed but I'm not allowed to remove them from old posts, this does give the impression that you're less concerned about clickthroughs than you are about the long-term existence of incoming links. Are the ads all about Page Rank then, or what?

Also, another reader wants to know the airspeed velocity of a laden swallow.

Thanks,
The Fish

I await his next response with tingly nipples.