My three-week pledge drive ends today, with a total $1,781 raised -- 30% of my goal. Of course, there are still two more months left in the quarter, so it's possible I'll raise the other 70% by Dec. 31. But that's looking pretty unlikely.
Here's why. Ad sales accounted for only a third of my total -- illustrating the abysmal reality of news websites supported solely through ads. The breakdown:
- Advertising: $580
- Subscriptions: $1,201
What happens next? I'm about to rent a postal box, requested by some readers uncomfortable with buying a subscription online. And I'll continue tracking ad sales. In the meantime, as promised, I'm committed to keeping Gannett Blog alive through the end of the year. Then, depending on how much I've raised, and whether I've found better-paying work, I'll decide what do with this blog in the new year.
Until then, thank you for your generous support! Many of you opened your wallets to buy subscriptions, often spending far more than my suggested $5. I am honored.
Until then, thank you for your generous support! Many of you opened your wallets to buy subscriptions, often spending far more than my suggested $5. I am honored.
To buy a $5 subscription, please use the "Donate" tool in the green sidebar, upper right. Any amount appreciated! Post feedback in the comments section, below. Send e-mail to gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com].
More discouraging: Ad sales have lately trailed off, which shows that the early, higher sales were probably due to novelty/curiosity factors. In short: Readers have now grown accustomed to the ads, so no longer "see'' them -- therefore, don't click on them.
ReplyDeleteAlso, my subscription income was front-loaded. Many people bought what amounts to year-long and multi-year subscriptions; they won't be back in the first or later quarters. In other words, I've probably sold most of the subscriptions I can expect all year in the past three weeks. That source of revenue will likely dwindle, too.
I could pursue foundation money, but I'm not sure how comfortable I feel leading such a hand-to-mouth existence. I would prefer a more reliable source of income.
Soon as you provide a post office box, you've got my subscription. Here's hoping others do the same.
ReplyDeleteMe too. I'll send some cash to a P.O. box.
ReplyDeleteI agree Jim, Get a PO box. I like to pay my bills the old fashion way. I also like to read a good newspaper so I guess this makes me a dinosaur. If you get a PO box I pledge $10.
ReplyDeleteBetter yet, sell stock in your venture but if your stock price falls you could lay yourself off to cut down on expenses. It would destroy the product but it is the business model of at least one Fortune 500 I know about.
Set Gannettblog Inc as a corporation, headquartered in Delaware. Call the company an information bank.
ReplyDeleteName Jim Hopkins as CEO. Sell one share of stock to Sparky for $100,000. Set the CEO income to $100,000 and one share of stock, option price 1¢.
Have Sparky sell his share back to the company at 1¢. Fire the current CEO and hire Sparky Von Sparkenstein as an investor activist replacement.
Now, as the information bank value has gone down $200,000 between the strike price and the current price of the two stocks, you should be able to pick up part of the $700B rescue plan. Wouldn't want the largest information bank to fail, could drag down the rest of the economy. Don't be greedy, $1 or $2 mil should be enough to satisfy information lenders, and start moving that stock price up.
And with $100,000 worth of stock value losses, Mr. Von Sparkenstein should be able to get a good tax break while ex-CEO Hopkins avails himself of unemployment.
A perfect plan!
(Yeah yeah, I know nothing about finance so don't tell me how this wouldn't work. Just here to entertain, folks)
How much time and cash are you spending now on this blog?
ReplyDeleteIs there a mailing address that donations can be sent to?
ReplyDeleteJim
ReplyDeletePO Box ... and remind everyone daily that the blog might go away soon without support. Be heavy handed. We need you. I'll send you $20 as soon as I see an address.
I think we should do this in the daily paper too. Buy us or lose us. I really dont think the average or occasional reader realizes how close we are to extinction.
Sign me Grateful
You could always put those video skills to work. Feature yourself holding a cup, begging for spare change---but make viewers first sit through some kind of long video advertisement for something advocacy-related!
ReplyDeleteRMichem: I should know the exact answers to your question, but I don't. So I'll approximate.
ReplyDeleteI am on and off this blog from when I wake up to when I go to sleep, seven days a week. Combined, I suspect I spend six to eight hours daily (although Sparky would say it's much more).
More and more of my time is spend managing comments, and responding to e-mail. I could work more efficiently, and get the essential work done in less time. But, inevitably, I waste too much time.
As to costs: I spend $40 monthly on web analytics subscriptions (SiteMeter and Stat Counter). The Blogger software I use for publishing is free. And I don't count the cost of my monthly Internet cable modem, because I would have that anyway.
My biggest expenditures to date were telecom costs in Spain this past summer -- perhaps $2,000 in overages on my international data plan, and for a DSL subscription in our condo that required a minimum six-month contract. Generally, I've found that telecom charges outside the U.S. are much higher.
What happens if I pay you for a year worth of blog subscriptions but Gannett only lasts 3 more months and goes bankrupt? Do you change the subject of the blog to "How people got news before the internet?"
ReplyDeleteOr: Bankrupt Gannett Blog
ReplyDeleteSeriously now. Have you approached Freedom Forum?
ReplyDeleteJim, you're such a journalist! You can't do that any more -- you gotta think like a publisher! Get that PO box like we told you 3 weeks ago -- I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
ReplyDelete7:04 pm: Thank you If you haven't already, please read my Freedom Forum posts; you can find them by clicking on the appropriate link in the Labels section at the bottom of the blue sidebar, on the right. Then, ask me that question about FF grants again.
ReplyDeleteOK. Read every word in the FF posts. Now, I still think you should boldly request funding based on that group's seeming willingness to provide support to things that appear to be non-media related. Get them to explain why your media-focused blog is less deserving than some of the what I would label "advocacy" awards to social services programs and causes.
ReplyDelete