For a variety of reasons, I'm not comfortable selling ads. Instead, I'm toying with another idea: a voluntary subscription fee, collected quarterly during a pledge drive. I'd set a financial goal for each quarter -- perhaps $8,000 -- then ask readers to pay $1 or more. I'd collect the money through a secure online payment service, such as PayPal or Google Checkout.As a starting point, I'd like you to answer the following question -- posted in the new survey box, near the top of the green sidebar, right. I'd pay Jim this much per quarter:
- $0
- $1
- $5
- $10
My European and (I hope) Brazil travels are special events this year. Ordinarily, Sparky and I live quite frugally. I could live comfortably on $32,000 in voluntary subscriptions, supplemented by savings.
ReplyDeleteHow about incorporating The Gannett Blog as a not-for-profit with you as the paid CEO and applying to the Gannett Foundation for a grant. Then they could put you on the approved list and match all "employee contributions". Dawg, this is a plan!
ReplyDeleteI get more information, entertainment and food-for-thought here, than in my daily Gannett newspaper -- and I pay for that! $10 a quarter is a deal. Just like NPR, you have to be willing to pay for the programing.
ReplyDeleteI think you should consider the furniture store business model: Just have a "going out of business" fund drive every quarter. The gossip junkies around here will pay top dollar to keep it afloat.
ReplyDeleteGo for A Freedom Forum grant/gift, too!
ReplyDeleteYes, do it.
ReplyDeleteI'd put a fin in your pail
ReplyDeleteI'd rather see paid advertising than a subscription fee.
ReplyDeleteSign me up for $1000.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see the IRS agent's face when he reads your 501(3)(c) application.
ReplyDeleteFrom the IRS website:
The organization must not be organized or operated for the benefit of private interests, and no part of a section 501(c)(3) organization's net earnings may inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. If the organization engages in an excess benefit transaction with a person having substantial influence over the organization, an excise tax may be imposed on the person and any organization managers agreeing to the transaction.
Not a bad deal. You have set a hook and people are following. I'm ex USAT 20 year plus employee who is also 100% disabled Viet Nam Vet. Maybe I should try this on vets.
ReplyDeleteI was at USAT while you were there. I got out in 2004 before the stock went south. I worry about the others that are still there and have lost the a$$es.
Really, what's wrong with some tasteful Google ads? The best thing about them is that they're automated - there's no worry about pissing off the advertisers, because they don't even know which sites they're running on. Complete editorial independence.
ReplyDeleteI would cough up a Lincoln.
ReplyDeleteHell, I might just pay all four quarters in advance. That's how confident I am that we need you around.
How about you pay me to read this thing?
ReplyDeleteGet yourself some Google ads running.
ReplyDeleteThe 501c3 idea is amusing, but would require some organizational hoops to be tenable.
well with a subscription fee I guess there goes being anonymous...and I would think there goes nearly all of the readers...maybe you shouldnt have pissed away a years pay in Spain...
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a donation and not a fee.
ReplyDeleteI'd go $5 a quarter
ReplyDeleteI, too, would be ok with some ads on here. But I would be willing to pay $1-5 per quarter, if necessary, to keep this blog going. It's a great service and, sometimes, a real comfort.
ReplyDeleteI'd pay $5, until I leave the Gannett newspaper that I am at, which I have every intention of doing.
ReplyDeleteI wonder, too, about keeping the anonymity in tact. Even though you'd use an e-mail account to pay via PayPal, it's still connected to some bank account with your name on it. Could we ensure that no one would get that info?
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ReplyDeleteyou need to go do watchdog journalism against all these crooks on wall street....watch them squander $700 Billion of taxpayer money. you have a skill for it....it would be well worth it.
ReplyDeleteI would pay $10 per quarter
ReplyDeleteI think it's a great idea, and I think you'll be able to easily raise $8,000 a quarter by keeping this blog going.
ReplyDeleteI bet Gannett might pay you $32k/year to shut it down!
ReplyDeleteI'd be happy to pay, but after looking at my Gannett paycheck ...
ReplyDeletePlease figure out how to run a for-profit Internet news site. If print is going to die, journalism requires some reliable funding other than donations. Even if you hate Gannett, I would bet NPR and all other non-profit shops combined don't employ the number of journalists the Evil Empire does.
ReplyDeleteNot a dime. You should have managed your money better (and I'm sure you're going to delete my post - which is another reason I won't pony up a nickel). I took a buyout several months ago and didn't take a killer vacation. Instead, I took classes to bolster my skill set and have been looking for work. I have been watching my cash flow and cutting back wherever I can. Maybe you should have done the same. Good luck passing the hat.
ReplyDeleteJim your web site is a daily read for me, just like "News Blues" was a daily read back in the day. When "News Blues" went pay for view, I never visited the site again.
ReplyDeleteI never pay for any content on the web, or register to gain access to a website.
You are saying this would be a voluntary pledge drive. Does that mean everyone would still have access to your blog even if they pay nothing?
Like some other people have said, I would support ads, but I would also pay 5 or 10 bucks quarter, maybe more. I follow your blog more than any other. And I would follow it even more if work didn't suck out most of my free time. Get a domain, too.
ReplyDeleteI would pay $5 a quarter as long as I'm working for Gannett. You provide a great service to employees. Once I leave -- and I intend to do so -- I hope to wash my hands of the company completely, gossip and all.
ReplyDelete1:40 a.m. -- Why so hostile?
ReplyDeleteJim didn't say he was in serious financial trouble. In fact, I would bet it's quite the opposite if he can live in San Francisco for less than $40k a year.
He simply said that it's time to think about generating some income, which is reasonable. That he's kept this blog going this long without pay is admirable.
It's becoming clear that people who dislike Gannett Blog spend as much time with it as those who like it. I guess it's the Howard Stern phenomenon.
I visit your blog about once a week. I scan over the entries that you had added since I had last checked out your blog. Do I enjoy your blog? Yes. Would I be willing to pay to read your blog? No. Sorry man, but why would I when the vast majority of the good sites on the internet are free. I visit numerous new sites several times a day and they are all free. If you want to make money from your blog, you better do advertising. It’s the only way. Just look at the number of free e-mail accounts offered on the internet such as Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail e-mail accounts? They are all free and make money via advertisements and not memberships. If people aren’t willing to pay for e-mail accounts, people will not be willing to pay to view your blog.
ReplyDeleteIf nothing else, this thread and the early survey results show how nearly impossible it is to get readers to pay for anything online.
ReplyDeleteExactly! And how ironic: Welcome to Gannett's challenge: Trying to make a buck in the digital age. Who will pay for ANYTHING online?
ReplyDeleteYou want ironic? Look at the site metrics for FAKE news - the Onion, Not the LA Times, Comedy Central, MSNBC/Fox News (ha!) - they're making buckets of money and busloads of audience without any of that pesky journalism stuff.
ReplyDeleteWe have three choices to make money on the web. Go highbrow and chase after the Economist/WSJ crowd, go local for news no one else can give the reader, or go lowest denominator and put up PornstarMomsLikeMe.com.....
Multi-stream revenue model: subscriptions, Google ads and grants. Add a fee layer of content that's deeper than what you offer now. And charge people to comment!
ReplyDeleteJim,
ReplyDeleteWill you have special "premium" editions like CIncinnati to boost circulation? :)
I'd pay the same that people leave in my candy support jar - zip, zero, zilch, nada.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of a d-bag mouths off on a thread like this?
ReplyDeleteIf you don't want to pay, that's cool.
Anyone who mouths off about how they REFUSE TO PAY, you know what I say to that?
"Thanks for stopping by, (corporate manager)!"
Add me to the list of people who would not give you a penny. See ya!
ReplyDeleteI would not pay, but I would be fine with advertising.
ReplyDeleteWith your traffic numbers, you'd make out well with that.
I'm a fan of this blog but would not pay a dime for it. I would completely support whatever method you used to generate income from it but would not be willing to actually pay for it myself.
ReplyDeleteOnce I get a job I would be willing to pay a quarterly donation to keep abreast of what Gannett is doing to my friends left behind, assuming they will remain for any realistic amount of time.
ReplyDeleteAll of the negative responses have surprised me. There has been information on this blog which I never would have heard anywhere else. In addition, there is some comfort in knowing that I was not one of just a very few people "screwed over."
It has even been surreal to be able to sit down and read the devlopments which have followed my departure. When I was with Gannett it was easy to think that I was being singled out.
Jim, you have been better (and cheaper) than a shrink-- if we could ever find a competent one on the Gannett health plans!
Of course I'd pay...this forum is necessary. Never mind that wingnut who started the "blogsucks". It's a sure sign that Jim's blog has gone viral throughout the company, and so the wingnut (likely egged on by his fellow executive wingnuts) feels compelled to strike back. Heck, maybe the wingnuts bonus will be increased for being such a good dog! You've got my $10 per quarter, for sure.
ReplyDeletei'd contribute 50/yr (the other 2 wks i'll be vacationing where there's no cable/net)
ReplyDeleteJim I would be happy to send you a donation in a plain brown envelope. Forget the PayPal. Just give us a box number or street address.
ReplyDelete