Standing the test of time - i.e. the site needs help
Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 4:57 pm
Hi all,
I'm not sure how to put this, so I'll just say it as it comes to mind.
I have been running this site for five years. Almost every weekend, I have spent countless hours working hard to create an exciting update. I read every single fic entry, thought up new polls (til WW took over), invented new things like competitions and new sections, wrote toy and episode reviews and for a long time I uploaded all the art, as well. For the most part I enjoyed it; I loved the weekend chats where I got to watch people excitedly talk about the updates, fics and competitions. I knew it made a lot of people very happy, because it was such a friendly, warm community and also (most probably) the largest purely Beast Wars site on the net. However, I spent a huge amount of my free time in high school in front of a PC reading fics and working on updates. There were times it was so stressful I'd spend 12 hours working on it on a Saturday and end up in tears. But even though it was a heck of a lot of work, I soldiered on, because it made people happy, and that made me happy. I did it out of love.
Five years on I have distributed some of the workload to some good friends who have kindly offered to help. I am busier than ever now, with a full time job and several projects and commitments. I am trying to save up for higher education. I am trying to be a writer. And I am trying to run this site. I am prepared to keep running it as long as there is an interest in it and enough people want it to remain active. I'm prepared to put in the work, but I am still sticking to my guns on one thing, and that is money. I do NOT have horrible sponsored advertisements all over the site - they would ruin the look and feel of our site and I know people would dislike them. I make no profit whatsoever from running the site. All I ask is that, in return for all I do, the visitors pay the annual web hosting renewal fee of $120. In the past, people have pitched in and reached this target. I am grateful to these people, but I am keeping to my policy. If the site doesn't get enough donations, then there's not enough interest and I am shutting it down. As much as I have loved doing this, I am not working every weekend on it AND paying for it.
The site needs to be renewed in a few weeks time and, despite the addition of a store (which I was nagged for for years) it has received just one donation. No one so far has bought from the store. Two people have bought from Entertainment Earth, but the profits come to only $6 and we don't see any of that money until the income is at least $20. No one (except that person) has donated. Time is running out, and I'm not going to beg. But I am going to at least let everyone know what will happen if it doesn't get the support it has received in previous years.
I hope this doesn't sound like self-pity or whining - I don't mean it that way. I have also enjoyed a lot from the site, but there is only so far I am prepared to go for it.
That's really all I have to say. I shall probably post something like this up next update, so the rest of the site's visitors can see.
The shop and donations links are on the site's main page, if anyone is interested.
I'm not sure how to put this, so I'll just say it as it comes to mind.
I have been running this site for five years. Almost every weekend, I have spent countless hours working hard to create an exciting update. I read every single fic entry, thought up new polls (til WW took over), invented new things like competitions and new sections, wrote toy and episode reviews and for a long time I uploaded all the art, as well. For the most part I enjoyed it; I loved the weekend chats where I got to watch people excitedly talk about the updates, fics and competitions. I knew it made a lot of people very happy, because it was such a friendly, warm community and also (most probably) the largest purely Beast Wars site on the net. However, I spent a huge amount of my free time in high school in front of a PC reading fics and working on updates. There were times it was so stressful I'd spend 12 hours working on it on a Saturday and end up in tears. But even though it was a heck of a lot of work, I soldiered on, because it made people happy, and that made me happy. I did it out of love.
Five years on I have distributed some of the workload to some good friends who have kindly offered to help. I am busier than ever now, with a full time job and several projects and commitments. I am trying to save up for higher education. I am trying to be a writer. And I am trying to run this site. I am prepared to keep running it as long as there is an interest in it and enough people want it to remain active. I'm prepared to put in the work, but I am still sticking to my guns on one thing, and that is money. I do NOT have horrible sponsored advertisements all over the site - they would ruin the look and feel of our site and I know people would dislike them. I make no profit whatsoever from running the site. All I ask is that, in return for all I do, the visitors pay the annual web hosting renewal fee of $120. In the past, people have pitched in and reached this target. I am grateful to these people, but I am keeping to my policy. If the site doesn't get enough donations, then there's not enough interest and I am shutting it down. As much as I have loved doing this, I am not working every weekend on it AND paying for it.
The site needs to be renewed in a few weeks time and, despite the addition of a store (which I was nagged for for years) it has received just one donation. No one so far has bought from the store. Two people have bought from Entertainment Earth, but the profits come to only $6 and we don't see any of that money until the income is at least $20. No one (except that person) has donated. Time is running out, and I'm not going to beg. But I am going to at least let everyone know what will happen if it doesn't get the support it has received in previous years.
I hope this doesn't sound like self-pity or whining - I don't mean it that way. I have also enjoyed a lot from the site, but there is only so far I am prepared to go for it.
That's really all I have to say. I shall probably post something like this up next update, so the rest of the site's visitors can see.
The shop and donations links are on the site's main page, if anyone is interested.