Hi Tim,
Fair question, and hopefully one I can answer for you now...
I believe in creating long-term assets with my personal projects. Whilst I have been contacted by a number of UK hosting companies for example about advertising on Design Forums, I've stuck to my original vision for the site, which is an advert free community.
Whilst it would be easy to accept their offers and stick up a load of adverts, I think this only has a short-term benefit. Sure I would earn a few £s here and there which would cover my hosting cost outlay, but in the long run I think this would detract from the site and put new and existing members off being involved with it.
The negative side to running the site in this way means it takes longer for me to get things going, for example this very thread is regarding the Design Forums blog, something I've wanted to get started from day 1. But, with freelance design being my main source of income, I have to put freelance work before projects like Design Forums. Hence why the Design Forums blog is still in development, in a queue behind my current workload.
The positive side to running the site as I do is hopefully that the members of the community appreciate that I'm not selling out to get their clicks on paid adverts, there is no ulterior motive, say for example a printing company running the forums and advertising a reseller scheme or something.
What do I get from the site? I get the benefit of being a major involvement in the community, the opportunity to network with designers and developers I wouldn't have known otherwise, and the chance to discuss one of the major interests/passions in my life. In a financial sense, I have invested a fair amount in to the site, for example the main expense was the domain name at £275. I believe by creating a genuine community the domain name will only become more valuable and be an asset for the future growth of the site.
I hope that answers the question, as I believe being honest and transparent about my reasons for running and investing in the site is the best way to attract the kind of members we want around the community.
Thanks,
Greg
PS- Do you think it would be worth me making an 'About DF' page in the main menu so existing and new members alike will be able to learn a bit more about what the sites aims and objectives are?