I want to officially and publicly extend a warm thank you to Lee O'Hagan of Northamptonshire, England for his gracious donation to help pay the bills here at myArmoury.com. He's the charter member of the elite club of people who have dug into their pockets to keep this site running.
Hopefully this doesn't embarrass you, Lee, but the more I thought about it.. the more I thought it was necessary.
Cheers!
Last edited by Nathan Robinson on Thu 04 Dec, 2003 10:19 pm; edited 1 time in total
On average how much does it cost to keep this site up and running?
How can the rest of us contribute to the maintenance of this site?
Yes I remember when I signed up there was mention of "Preferred Membership" or Platinum or something... as a upgrade. Did that ever materialize? It had things like additional space for graphics, a library or album,a get out of jail in Liberal KS card, and stuff like that.
| Robert Zamoida wrote: |
| On average how much does it cost to keep this site up and running? |
Hm. Maybe I should keep this under my hat, but this is a hobby site, so I guess it doesn't matter.
It costs me $960 US annually just for hosting bills.
I paid for the contest sword out of my pocket.. gave away a dagger.. more to come.. We buy review swords, too.. We fund our own research materials to bring quality content to the community, and though we're doing this for ourselves as much as anyone, it all gets pretty expensive.
Basically, all this stuff adds up and it's been a very expensive hobby for me. But I am not complaining.. this is a choice and I'll keep doing it for as long as I am able.. not to mention, entertained by it.
One could say that the purchase of the photo and studio equipment could be an expense of the site, too. But really, I do this for a living and need the stuff any way. However, because these services are a part of my chosen profession (I'm self-employed), I actually "bill" myArmoury.com for the services I provide. I won't share the amount with you, but it's pretty damn expensive paying for a professional Web developer, photographer, etc. Haha... if myArmoury.com were a business, we'd be out of business!
| Stephen Pearson wrote: |
| How can the rest of us contribute to the maintenance of this site? |
I quietly put a PayPal donate button on the very bottom of the Home Page cause I didn't want to beg for cash. Lee saw it and donated without a word. He just did it. As much as I feel a bit uncomfortable about the whole asking for donation thing, I have to admit it's necessary, and man, appreciated. I'd rather be independently wealthy and just put out the site and shut up, though. But that ain't gonna happen any time soon!
| Gary Venable wrote: |
| Yes I remember when I signed up there was mention of "Preferred Membership" or Platinum or something... as a upgrade. Did that ever materialize? It had things like additional space for graphics, a library or album,a get out of jail in Liberal KS card, and stuff like that. |
See, I really need to do that. I felt uncomfortable about the whole thing, to be honest.. but lately, as mentioned in the post above, the simple truths of reality have hit me and I've been realizing that I have such big ideas and need ways of making them come to fruition. So I'll put some thoughts together and make them happen. Since I haven't done these other things yet, I'll make it so all donated money will be applied to these other levels of membership when they're available.
My answer recently has been to sell off pieces from my own collection to fund the next waves of things I want to do. Sure is hard giving up these things, though. As dumb as it sounds, I just boxed up a sword the other day that I had a real hard time saying goodbye to.
| Nathan Robinson wrote: |
| See, I really need to do that. I felt uncomfortable about the whole thing, to be honest.. but lately, as mentioned in the post above, the simple truths of reality have hit me and I've been realizing that I have such big ideas and need ways of making them come to fruition. |
Nathan --
I think a membership fee would be a pretty easy sell for this crowd. Your site offers:
1) Unparalleled content: scholarly articles, in-depth sword reviews, behind-the-scenes reports (Albion's Svardfest), sword give-away contests, and regular updates. Qualities which cannot be found anywhere else on the web.
2) Membership benefits: We found out about Albion's latest NextGen swords before anybody else, and you got Albion to extend its discount for myArmoury.com members for an additional month. Let's face it, you're saving some of us money!
3) Bandwidth: Members could upload their sword pics to your albums, allowing them to share with other users and benefit the community at large.
Ultimately, I think I'm pretty safe saying that there are a number of us who are extremely happy with the quality, direction and content of myArmoury.com. We've found something here that we can't get anywhere else -- it's probably about time we started paying for it!
--Steve
Uhm, wow. I'm a bit speechless, Steve. That's some very nice things to say.... not sure how to respond right now.
I'm embarrassed to admit that I hadn't noticed the PayPal button on the bottom of the homepage until you just mentioned it. I actually feel kind of guilty about that now, with all the websites out there that i HAVE paid for it seems a shame that I have been enjoying all the content here without giving anything in return. Consider the check in the mail. Or the email. Or whatever...
Membership of some sort might be a decent idea. Might it even be possible to ge the whole thing registered as a Not for Profit Organization and run membership and donations to keep it that way?
Please, Please, Please just stay away from selling products at retail in the niche.
Based on past experience, going that route seems to create a significant flash point for conflict.
Please, Please, Please just stay away from selling products at retail in the niche.
Based on past experience, going that route seems to create a significant flash point for conflict.
"Please, Please, Please just stay away from selling products at retail in the niche. "
Belive me, that's been discussed.
You won't be seeing any cup-cozeys or myArmoury thongs here ;)
Belive me, that's been discussed.
You won't be seeing any cup-cozeys or myArmoury thongs here ;)
| Joe Fults wrote: |
| Membership of some sort might be a decent idea. Might it even be possible to ge the whole thing registered as a Not for Profit Organization and run membership and donations to keep it that way?
Please, Please, Please just stay away from selling products at retail in the niche. Based on past experience, going that route seems to create a significant flash point for conflict. |
There's no reason for us to register as a Not for Profit Organization. Anybody can accept donations, including individuals sitting in their underwear making sword-related hobby sites. :wtf:
I don't want to change to a paid-membership structure.. have no intent on doing so.. and know full well it would be an absolute failure trying to do so. That's not the intent of the site at all. In fact, it would limit the information far too much and completely nullify the entire mission of what I'm trying to do.
I will, however, try to offer extended benefits or services to those that want to contribute some cash to pay for them. Such ideas have already been discussed. I just need to brainstorm some more ideas and get over my discomfort a bit to get it done.
myArmoury.com accepts donations and will continue to do so. It's sort of an uncomfortable road for me, but reality is what it is and I can't always bankroll the things I want to do simply out of my own pocket. This thing has kind of grown bigger than I had thought it would.
| Patrick Kelly wrote: |
| "Please, Please, Please just stay away from selling products at retail in the niche. "
Belive me, that's been discussed. You won't be seeing any cup-cozeys or myArmoury thongs here ;) |
Hey Patrick,
How about a calender featuring you and Nathan wearing a myArmoury thong!!!! :eek:
Nathan,
As some humble suggestions, beyond those above, of things I have seen work for other forums that offered upgraded memberships:
1. Have certain areas of the forum viewable but can only be posted in by the upgraded members. (a classifieds section, or etc.)
2. A pdf repository of the articles and reviews for download.
3. A title (hey it worked in the middle ages) Sargent of myArmoury, Castilian of myArmoury, Baron, marquis etc.
4. ability to download larger higher res images from the Albums.
5. A myArmoury e-mail address
6. additional upload capacity.
Again I don't mean to step on anyones toes but I have seen the above work for other sites.
As some humble suggestions, beyond those above, of things I have seen work for other forums that offered upgraded memberships:
1. Have certain areas of the forum viewable but can only be posted in by the upgraded members. (a classifieds section, or etc.)
2. A pdf repository of the articles and reviews for download.
3. A title (hey it worked in the middle ages) Sargent of myArmoury, Castilian of myArmoury, Baron, marquis etc.
4. ability to download larger higher res images from the Albums.
5. A myArmoury e-mail address
6. additional upload capacity.
Again I don't mean to step on anyones toes but I have seen the above work for other sites.
| Gary Venable wrote: |
| Again I don't mean to step on anyones toes but I have seen the above work for other sites. |
Making suggestions never steps on toes!
| Harlan Hastings wrote: | ||
Hey Patrick, How about a calender featuring you and Nathan wearing a myArmoury thong!!!! :eek: |
Harlan, I think people would pay *not* to see that!
Of course for a small fee I will show you my Big Johnsson :D
| Harlan Hastings wrote: | ||
Hey Patrick, How about a calender featuring you and Nathan wearing a myArmoury thong!!!! :eek: |
Sword related gift idea for the wife.....hum....
| Patrick Kelly wrote: | ||
Harlan, I think people would pay *not* to see that! Of course for a small fee I will show you my Big Johnsson :D |
I just donated $25 to make sure that it never happens!
I've thanked each of our contributors privately, but I wanted to publicly acknowledge them, so have added a title to each donating member.
Thanks goes out to each of them.
Thanks goes out to each of them.
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