Hey there Folks. John here.
Ok, I’m looking at a bit of a problem that I never dreamed I would have. This silly little website is now regularly getting over 10,000 hits a day (tiny by most standards, but pretty big for us). Combine that with The Audio Edition getting over 4000 downloads a week now… and I’m facing a rather major bandwidth problem with rising hosting expenses to boot.
I know what all of you are thinking: “John, how can we help?” Yeah right. But seriously folks, here’s what I need. I’m not really up-to-date with money generating stuff when it comes to the web. The only money that I get from the site is a small amount from the Google Ads you see in the right. So I need some input. What are some good, legal and non-pornographic (sorry Richard and Miles) ways for earning a little extra online that you’ve come across? Just so you know, I don’t like the idea of Amazon or other “associate” selling schemes.
Anyway, any suggestions you could throw my way would be great. Thanks a ton!
d’oh forgot to add, thhat i can’t see how a paypal donation button or whatever could hurt the site, and i wouldn’t mind paying a nominal fee for longer audio editions. it’s great to hear your musings on the various goings on in the industry, the more the merrier i say. next thing you know, you’ll be doing a radio show, broadcasting to millions…
how about serving the audio editions via bittorrent?
since that’s where the large amount of your bandwidth is dissapearing, let the users help out.
if you don’t know what bittorrent is, the gist of it is that you download from everyone else who’s also downloading the files at the same time, and can act as a source once finished. since you download from multiple souces, the more there are, the quicker you get your download. it’s a win-win situation.
i’ll admit that it’s really geared towards large downloads, but i don’t see any problem in using this. best of all, it’s free, and it would only take a few minutes to set up, post a couple of links on the webpage, then sit back and watch the bills fall.
The radio edition could be members only, as could competitions. Not sure of the shower footage though John, you might have to pay people to see that! I will try to think of some innovative ideas for you!
Yeah, I don’t think I like the idea of going to a “subscription” service unless I can come up with really inovated new idea that I’m not yet doing on the site in a special “hyperspace” type Members Only area. Perhaps daily video footage of me in the shower singing show tunes?
I like this site and come here to post or just read regulary. However, I will not pay a subscription charge. As someone previously stated, the information is for free elsewhere, and as I know most of your sources for the information you post, I will go there instead. I would miss the posting and chatting and off course Rich’s and John’s insights and views. I would give one off “donations” to the value of my choice, but seriously, how pratical would this be? John needs continual funds, not irregulary payments from people. Anyway, how many of those 10,000.00 hits per day are from regular posters, and how many are from people who accidently come across this sight by chance? How many of them would contribute? The only sensible way is through advertisement and sponsors. All the links you put to source material or to websites were you have found trailers, do they contribute. Afterall you are sort of advertising them. I had never heard of Rotten Tomatoes or IMDB before I came on here, now visit them often. Another potential source of income is more competitions, but instead of free entry, charge for entry. Speak to electronics companies, and give away TV’s DVD players etc, but charge people to enter.
Hey what do I know, ive never run a business in my life!
Once you hit a certain point with traffic you can join Gorilla Network which is the source of ads on sites like Dark Horizons and such.
Vic
You could always setup a donation button which might offset some costs but lord knows most people on the internet don’t feel like paying for it. Otherwise, if you’re generating that kind of traffic why not try selling advertising on your website? Some weblogs are making a decent bit of change (enough to cover expenses atleast) through target advertising.
Have you consider Amazon.com?
Vic
I think we should set up a kissing booth.
Igor, Salon is accessible to everyone if u watch a commercial. You can pay or you watch a commercial every day. The result is the same.
Paying is a triple blade sword for an Internet site. There is always free information all around. Why should I pay for Hyperspace when I can find the pictures, and the trailer, just with bits of patience?
I think Paypal donations really work well (as already mentioned) – loyal readers tend to be pretty giving with those.
You could also court entertainment-related companies to advertise, like video rental stores, film-related merchandise or studios. Don’t know how you would feel about that though.
I payed my 35 USD a couple month ago, but I don’t know where you’re heading, Peter. :)
Bittorrent is a simple and good technology – why not use the obviouse for the start?
I don´t buy the idea to torrent or limit the audio edition. Visit Salon point com, they found the way.
As I said before, you should try Bitorrent for the Audio Edition. At least it will help you a little bit.
amazon / yesasia affiliations… paypal donations… minimal subscriptions ($1 a month?) to log in…?
Possibly a PayPal contribution button? I’ve got one on my blog (right side)
You could charge people some modest price, perhaps a one time fee, to access the audio editions. That way, people who really want the audio edition will still be able to have it, and you will stop the people who aren’t that interested in it, those who are just curious, from eating up all your bandwidth. The people who really love the audio edition would probably be willing to pay a modest fee.
Of course, you should also have a sample clip available for download so you can gain new audio edition subscribers.
Donations are a great idea, but I don’t believe they are stable enough. You might get fifty dollars donated one month and five the next-imagine the stress that would cause. By making the audio editions subscriber only, you know that everytime your bandwidth will increases you will receive money to compensate for it. No ripping your hair out there (I hope).
I don’t know how bad this bandwidth problem is, but maybe you should temporarily take down the audio editions until you can come up with a viable solution to the problem.
Nevertheless, I think your site is sweet and I hope you won’t have to shut down due to bandwidth problems. I don’t even remember how I came across it, but it was earlier this week and I have returned to it four or five times already.
I dont mind donating via Paypal too John. How much server space are we using right now btw?
John, you may want to check this out. 1GB hosting, unlimited bandwith, $50/year. Seeing as the audio editions are so small, that could go a pretty long way. I have no experience with them, but I know of one online radio show that uses them for hosting.
http://www.mojonetworks.net/
You could Torrent the Audio Edition – would shrink your bandwidth on that download considerably. I know I would seed for you.
Hey. I’d be glad to donate a little via PayPal. If you have enough loyal readers, you definitely can get major donations. I, for one, think this site is one of the best movie news sites out there. You are my soul providers! You and IMDB, naturally.
Keep up the good work.
Take donations Via pay pal, or mail.
I for one would be happy to donate a little of my do’
BoingBoing recently faced the same problem when they started getting popular. They signed up for a bunch of affiliate sponsorships to pay for their costs. Check them out. They’re nice and can probably refer you to the advertisers they’re using.