Sponsorship on Violinist.com

"If you happen to play the violin, what a site! ...There are other music-oriented sites on the Internet, although none of them quite matches the offerings of violinist.com." - The Christian Science Monitor

"The best discussion board around, it covers many issues not addressed elsewhere." - The Strad

"A stimulating and impressively knowledgeable dialogue" - Strings Magazine

Sponsorship on Violinist.com puts your brand and message in front of more than 250,000 violin professionals, students and fans each month. It also sends a powerful message that you are supporting a beloved community that's helping violinists around the world.

In a 2011 random-sample surveys of our readers, we found that Violinist.com readers are:

• YOUNG: 60 percent of Violinist.com readers are age 40 and under.
• AFFLUENT: The median household income of Violinist.com readers is between US$80,000-$89,999 a year.
• INVOLVED: 78 percent of Violinist.com's readers consult Violinist.com before making a decision about music-related purchases.

Download Reader Survey [PDF]

We offer two types of sponsorship opportunities on Violinist.com -- a business directory and banner advertising. In addition, all of our current sponsors are noted on the site with text links to their websites, which appear on the right side of all Violinist.com pages except for on the Business Directory page itself.

Business Directory

The Violinist.com Business Directory features retailers, luthiers, schools and other organizations that market to the violin community.

Your listings in the directory will include:

• Your business, school or product name
• A 160-pixels-wide by 120-pixels-tall logo or photo
• Your street address and phone number
• A 60-word description of your business, product or school, telling Violinist.com readers why they should select you
• A link to your website and to your email address

Pricing: Directory listings are sold on an annual basis for $600, for a 12-month listing. In addition, directory advertisers will receive a text link to their website in the right-side navigation column on *all* pages of Violinist.com for that year, at no additional charge. (That's more than six million page impressions over the course of the year!)

Banner Advertising

For larger sponsors that wish to make a stronger branding immediate impression on Violinist.com readers, we offer banner ad campaigns. We offer multiple banner advertisement packages on Violinist.com, with discounts for certain multi-month orders with advance payment.

• $1,000/mo for 200,000 ad impressions, rotated between our 160-pixels-wide x 600-pixels-tall "Wide Skyscraper" position and our 300-pixels-wide x 250-pixels-tall "Medium Rectangle" position [IAB standard sizes]
• $750/mo for 150,000 ad impressions, rotated between our 160-pixels-wide x 600-pixels-tall "Wide Skyscraper" position and our 300-pixels-wide x 250-pixels-tall "Medium Rectangle" position
• $500/mo for 100,000 ad impressions, in either our 160-pixels-wide x 600-pixels-tall "Wide Skyscraper" position or our 300-pixels-wide x 250-pixels-tall "Medium Rectangle" position, or rotated between the two

The Wide Skyscraper is displayed at the left side of all Violinist.com pages (except for the Business Directory page) and the Medium Rectangle is displayed in the center content column of most Violinist.com pages. We accept ad creatives in .JPG, static .GIF or animated .GIF formats. Ad creatives files must not exceed 250 KB.

For sponsors who reserve a reserve a 12-month placement and pay in advance, we offer two months free (12 for the price of 10), as well as a complimentary 12-month listing in our Business Directory.

Activation

We welcome our sponsors' participation in all areas of the Violinist.com community, to help them activate their sponsorship within the community. We have prepared articles on How to find new customers for your violin-related business and How to get publicity on Violinist.com to help guide our sponsors and potential sponsors learn how best to engage the community in a responsible, respectful and productive way.

On Violinist.com, we do not want direct commercial solicitations in our blogs or discussion board. Please use your participation in those forums to demonstrate your expertise in and passion for the violin, and to build positive connections with others in the Violinist.com community. Let your ads on Violinist.com "ask for the sale."

How to Order

We ask that our sponsors pay in advance of the beginning of their ad placement. We offer monthly billing for on-going, non-discounted placements. Prices will be guaranteed for the length of the contract, to a maximum of 12 months.

Business directory placements are billed annually and must also be paid in advance. Advertisers must provide their own creative, which is subject to approval by Violinist.com before placement.

Please be advised that Violinist.com will not accept advertising for products or services that are not legal in the United States of America. Nor will we accept advertising that we feel reflects poorly upon violinists or the Violinist.com community. Will we not accept advertising on behalf of artists or organizations listed on the American Federation of Musicians' International Unfair List.

To purchase one of our sponsorship packages, or to talk about how Violinist.com can help your business or organization, please contact Violinist.com's Director of Advertising:

Robert Niles
E-mail: robert@robertniles.com
Phone: +1-626-376-7787