Submit Hint Search The Forums LinksStatsPollsHeadlinesRSS
14,000 hints and counting!


Click here to return to the 'Change has come to macosxhints.com...' hint
The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Change has come to macosxhints.com...
Authored by: robg on Sep 10, '04 10:27:52AM

It's a wonderful idea ... implementing it is quite tricky, however. Geeklog would have to somehow support and track subscriptions, automatic renewal notices would have to go out, etc.

Also, not everyone would pay, and then there's a sense of a few entitling the many to the site's benefits. With ads, the funds are coming from a third party, so no guilt trips for those paying / not paying.

Down the road, I do intend to add some features that may be available only to subscribers. One of the package's benefits will probalby be a way to disable the ads (but not it's most interesing feature :) -- but this is well down the road, as it will require some very extensive changes to Geeklog.

When I had the donation banner on the side of the page, I would get anywhere from 5 to 20 people paying in a given month -- on average, I covered the site's direct expenses, and made a bit of change for taking my family out on occasion :). It's a big step from there to thousands of people each paying $1 to help suppor the site. It's a good idea, I just don't think it would work out.

cheers;
-rob.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Change has come to macosxhints.com...
Authored by: PsiPhi on Sep 10, '04 04:03:28PM
Hey Rob,
Just want to say right off the bat that I'm in no way shape or form opposed to you getting some revenue from ads. Neither am I opposed to you doing anything you damned well please with your site. I have been a long time Mac OS X Hints "viewer" and will continue to be one.

That said... I'm just a little curious how you plan to resolve the apparent clash in these two statements:

From the article:
You should also know that I will never consider the "other way" of making money on a site like this -- by restricting areas of the site to subscribers only

From parent:
Down the road, I do intend to add some features that may be available only to subscribers

Is it the "may be" part? Again, I'm not voicing objection over you adding subscriber privileges -- this is one of a very few sites I would consider subscribing to -- I'm just curious what the distinction is? Are you saying you'd never make it a "subscription only" site but that you might add some subscriber perks?

Anyway, keep up the good work, your advertisers will get at least one page view per day from me.

-peter schart

[ Reply to This | # ]
Change has come to macosxhints.com...
Authored by: robg on Sep 10, '04 07:34:31PM
No confusion meant -- the next sentence after what you quoted is important for the context of the statement to be understood:
The community built this site into what it is today, and (as long as I have any say in the matter), the community-contributed content here will always be freely readable and searchable for everyone.
That's what I mean by "restricting areas of the site" to subscribers only. That's what I would never do -- restrict access to the hints and database to those who subscribe. I would never do this. Ever. Really. I think it's plain evil :).

In another follow-up here somewhere, though, I discussed the concept of a "Gold" account which would offer additional features beyond the free features. You can find it to read what I wrote, but the other important thing to note is that I have this plan in mind only if the ads don't work out -- it's just another option to hopefully help fund the site. All it is at this point, though, is just a concept.

So my hope is that the ads work out, but if they don't, I'll need to consider other options to keep the site online. Paid-for "Gold" accounts is but one option, and (I reiterate :), those would never come at the expense of locking free users out of those areas of the site that make macosxhints what it is -- the hints and the database of past hints!

Hope that helps;
-rob.

[ Reply to This | # ]
Change has come to macosxhints.com...
Authored by: PsiPhi on Sep 11, '04 04:36:14PM

Ah, I see now. That makes perfect sense.

Thanks!



[ Reply to This | # ]
Change has come to macosxhints.com...
Authored by: soufle on Sep 10, '04 08:03:57PM

Hi Rob,

While I suspect this is all water under the bridge, I for one would have preferred the pay as you go method or a more vocal plea for regular users such as myseld to contribute.

You commented on the lack of participation from a donation banner. Maybe many people are like myself, in that so many ads over so many years I have learned to tune them out. Maybe that should be considered for your current ad plan. A plea form Macsurfer earlier this year I noticed, it was not a banner or ad type request but a posting right on the page and I did contribute.

Note: I am not trying to flame, I am a business owner myself and do not have heartburn over you trying to generate some revenue. I am and will be a faithful daily reader, though I am very unlikly to ever click on a banner type ad.

Sincerely,

David

---
The box said windows XX or better so I got a Mac!



[ Reply to This | # ]
Change has come to macosxhints.com...
Authored by: dan55304 on Sep 12, '04 10:13:39AM

I think offering a subscription for those who want "ad free" is a great compromise when Geeklog supports it. That's a win-win.



[ Reply to This | # ]