Quote from bigwave800000 on 01/18/10 at 11:51pm:

 
The short answer: No
 
Now the reasoning behind "No":
 
When we first launched BluffParkAl.org in 2006, the object of the site was to promote the Bluff Park area of Hoover.  We came up with the slogan "For, About and By Bluff Park, Alabama".  We wanted this to be about "our little part of the world" not the rest of Hoover, the rest of the Birmingham-Hoover metro area, the rest of Alabama, and so on (you get the point).  There are plenty of web sites around for that already.
 
In order to promote Bluff Park, we needed to promote Bluff Park's businesses, so we decided that only businesses based in Bluff Park would be promoted.  You know, "the little guy/gal" who ran their storefront and/or business out of Bluff Park.  Businesses that were not based in Bluff Park were not eligible (i.e. CVS, Exxon, etc.).  
 
BluffParkAl.org is not a revenue generating web site.  Although we have "sponsors" of the web site, these sponsors do not pay to be sponsors.  Their sponsorship pays for our bi-annual Bluff Park Community Party (more on that later this week).  Their contribution pays for advertising, supplies and anything else that we need to pay in order to get the party organized.  The web site itself is designed and hosted by PC Medics of Alabama, which accepts no money to run the site, and pays for all operating expenses of the site.  Could it be a revenue generating site (for profit)?  Difficult to guess.  
 
Since 2006 there have been two attempts by other companies/individuals to create a revenue generating web site that focused on Bluff Park.  One site cost the owners almost $4000 to buy.  They barely lasted two years.  Although the site is still around, it is no longer focused on Bluff Park as our site is.  Some local stores still have their signs in their windows.
 
A few weeks ago we were approached by a company that was located outside of Bluff Park that wanted to advertise on BluffParkAl.org.  They actually made a very generous offer, one that was almost too hard to turn down.  After careful consideration, we turned them down.  It would go against the premise of our site.  "For, About and By Bluff Park, Alabama".  It would ago against our original vision of the site.
 
So, bigwave, as much as we would like to consider taking on businesses outside of Bluff Park, we simply cannot.
 
Meanwhile, continue to patronize those businesses that are located in Bluff Park.  It's because of you and me that they are around.  They are important to our community, a community that is different from any other part of Hoover.  And thanks for making BluffParkAl.org the official "neighborhood web site" of Bluff Park.
 
Robin (admin)
BluffParkAl.org