Wednesday 4 February 2015

A Public Apology

As you can see, there's now a donate button but I feel like I need to apologise. I don't want you to feel like I'm suddenly shuffling up to you, tin cup in hand, and making a nuisance of myself. The most important thing to me is ensuring that anybody who reads this blog regularly will keep reading this blog regularly. If you've read me long enough, you'll know that I'm not the super slick corporate type who only wants you for your money. I've blogged for nearly ten years without a button. I've added it simply to make that option available to anybody who feels a sudden upsurge of generosity. Perhaps they've suddenly come into millions and want to spread the love. Perhaps they genuinely like something I've done. I don't know... I just figure that without that button, I'd never know.

The horrible part of this is knowing that you'll be thinking 'Damn, I suppose he's now waiting for me to donate'. I'm not. I'd feel really ashamed if the appearance of the button made anybody feel like that. I'd feel double ashamed if it suddenly received donations from regular readers. The button is simply there for the future instances when something I've written has particularly touched a somebody or made them laugh. It's for the times when my Rotring advice has saved a person the cost of buying new pens. It's just a punt which might earn me enough one month to save me from the breadline. They say that artists are always poor. I'm poor but I don't consider myself much of an artist. I simply do what I do because I love doing it. Without writing and cartooning, I'd be nothing. The donate button is an attempt to stop myself becoming nothing.

So, that's all I'll say on it. I'll try not to mention it again. I hope it doesn't offend anybody. I hope you just understand that I'd be stupid not to try every avenue that might raise a little income.

8 comments:

  1. I've got a 'donate' button on my site but nobody ever presses it unless I 'shake the tin'....

    What does work for me is the Amazon Associates account. You stick an Amazon ad on your site and anybody that clicks it and buys stuff from Amazon makes you 5%.

    They get the same products at the same price and you get 5% of whatever they purchase. Win-win!

    It pays for all my hosting...

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  2. Hm... Never realised that actually worked, though thinking about it: I suppose you only need somebody to browse to Amazon from your site to make it work. I'll look into it, though your sites will have infinitely more traffic than this blog.

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  3. Plus, if you set it up properly, everything you order from Amazon comes with a 5% discount....

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  4. Thank you! That's such a good suggestion and I never realised how good that could be. I know a few people who shop at Amazon regularly and if I could only get them to start their shopping here, it would more than enough to pay for my hosting, possibly even leaving a little bit in my pocket.

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  5. I'll happily use it as my link to Amazon if you get that up and running.

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  6. Many thanks Stu. It should be now top right on all screens. It's an Amazon search box which, if it works correctly, should take you to Amazon. I believe if you start there, I'll get a referral fee for anything you buy at Amazon. Or so I'm told. I'll see how it goes but it would be good to have something towards my costs and would definitely inspire me to make more of this blog. ;)

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  7. ok - I've ordered something - lets see if a trickle of money is forth coming...

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  8. Whoo hoo! Fingers crossed and thank you. ;)

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