I like the calendar idea. "A2K Exposed". Now, everybody get nekkid!
Okay, Craven, you've asked for our opinions, and we some of us have responded. I can certainly appreciate your reluctance in accepting donations in general and annual contributions in particular. (When I was a young man, I worked for a major company. One day I woke up and decided that I didn't want to work there anymore. Three weeks later I was embarked on what turned out to be a five-year hitchhiking adventure through Europe, Asia and Africa).
None of us want to see you get bogged down with the "obligation" of maintaining this site forever.
Many of your responses went, quite frankly, over my head.
It appears as if you and Jespah would be more comfortable with ads. So be it, although I certainly have never ordered anything based on the ads and, like many, ignore them completely. No matter how prominent Amazon is, it is of no consequence to me.
Eventually the on-line advertising bubble is going to burst.
Anyway, if you had chosen the donation route, what would the total be up to? -rjb-
I was all set to match contributions made by check...
(I know, I know, CDK....you're muttering "asshole" under your breath...)
Why not just replace the ad agency banner ads with one of our own for our affiliate, Amazon.com? We already know it works and works well, we just need more people to use it. It will be at the top of the forums pages and quickly available to anyone wanting to go read more about a book or subject mentioned in the posts. Now that we all know that we are an affiliate of amazon.com all we need is for the link to be very handy for our use. I am positive such a constant prominent display would increase revenues for the site.
I quickly made this banner ad to display as an example of what I am speaking about.
Everyone, I am categorically opposed to donations. I discovered that many are willing to contribute but that they are not really interested in the services I have to offer and are wary of online purchases.
I understand this but I do not intend to accept donations. So I will continue with previous plans. I don't mean to appear ungrateful or stubborn but donations are inherently more complicated than the straightforward exchange of services for subscriptions. There are a host of ways donations can go wrong.
Buterflynet,
I can add the Amazon ads to the rotation but frankly I need to reserve ad inventory for the "bread and butter" I referred to earlier.
Amazon is great but it will simply not support more than 10% of the cost of running the site. It's worthless to use that banner space for Amazon.
Yes, the banner would increase the revenue from Amazon but as it is the revenue from Amazon is negligible. To change this I need to do work in other areas.
Craven de Kere wrote:Stole your style there didn't I Frank? :-)
Yes. You were to the point -- and kind as a pussycat. My style exactly.
I'm sure you have your reasons for refusing donations -- and I respect you for being out-front about it. If you change your mind -- I pledge to donate.
But whatever you do -- I hope you do something to ensure the site will never falter due to monetary uncertainty. This site is SUPER!
Frank Apisa ~ very well said. Whether Craven likes it or not, I think most all of us would be willing to shell out a few bucks to keep the place going.
Supporting Craven's party-life is another story.....
Don't think I could afford that!
Keep your eyes on the road, husker!
Why don't we just go round to Slappy's house and steal his hifi and CDs? Betcha he'd have some beers in the fridge we could drink too.
Ok, this is a long thread, and having just read craven's inital post - all I can say is that this site has given me so much enjoyment and support, that I would be happy to pay the fee which is deemed fit for subscription, even without premium services.
Just dont make me use paypal !!! <sorry just joking>
The "even without the services" thing is what nixes the plan.
But no worries. I have a new plan.
Jeez, just when I learned the rules, he changed the game
So Blackadder! "Master, I have a cunning plan." "Really Baldrick? I don't suppose you mean putting pencils in our nostrils and wearing our underwear on our heads?" "Why, yes, Master Blackadder, how did you know?"
So I am here too late.
I think donations are a wrong way to do it, and so on. I am actually interested in the photo service...I would love a place to post and organize a goodly batch of photos at a time. I have moderately interesting photos on architectural sites, gardens, some hundreds on italian piazzas, LA urban scenes, my own painting, and so on.
As some may know I am fairly techinept, but I did get the avatar up, I can progress, especially with site photo posting advice.
I don't know the appropriate money for that. It would be deductible for me since art and site design are my business. $100./year? I haven't researched this except to see I don't want a site full of fooforaw, and one that doesn't limit me to 20 photos.
You can count me in for a fiver a month!
osso, my new plan involves photos.
