There has been some disturbing discussion on the forum in the past few weeks of making Gotmead a Pay site, and I must admit I was rather surprised to read about it. I met Vicky at Meadfest this year, and learned quickly how incredibly passionate she is about this site. She would love to make Gotmead her fulltime job, and as members of the forum, I am sure we would all love to see it happen for her (and maybe for us too. The more time Vicky has for GM, the better GM gets for us right? ). There are a lot of expenses involved with GM, and with the site growing as fast as it is, the expenses will only get larger. If Vicky is to make this work, GM needs to get some funds coming in.
It is my opinion that making Gotmead into a subscription site is a mistake, and will only work to isolate itself from the growing mead community. There are far too many part time hobbyists that do not post enough to justify paying a fee to do so. More importantly, there are a growing number of people discovering the magic of mead every day. We invite them to visit GM, and tell them that it is one of the largest databases of information on mead. That the members are some of the kindest, most helpful people anywhere on the net. Having to say "For only $19.95" at the end of all that praise just seems to cheapen it.
Gotmead needs to start making money in order to stay alive. Vicky cannot do this alone. So it is up to all of us to find a solution. This thread was started to brainstorm some ideas about how to raise money for Gotmead.com.
Throw out a donation if you can. They can be made through paypal to:
gotmead@gotmead.com
Or mailed to:
Vicky Rowe
131 Cedar Creek Lane
Youngsville, NC 27596
But what else can be done?
1. Having a paypal link just sitting on the site somewhere is great, but active fundraising must be done every 6 months or so. Post everywhere. Heck PM members about it just incase they have not been on in a while. Active fundraising is very helpful.
2. Get an apiary to donate some honey or trade it for ad space or something. Then raffle it off. $1-5 per raffle ticket. Draw the winner, and drop ship the prize from the apiary. We might even be able to get away with doing a big one during Meadfest each year!
3. My homebrew club raffles off home brew every couple months for charity. Each member brings a bottle of their prize brew, and then the bottles are split into 3 groups and raffled off. The members buy tickets for $5 each, and the winners go home with big smiles. We could do the same thing online. If members are only shipping one bottle, it is incredibly easy to do.
4. We could put together a book of our favorite recipes, and print it through cafe press or lulu.com. Let members buy it and use the funds raised to pay the one time fee to get it onto Amazon.com
These are just a few ideas. I know that some of you out there are smarter than I am. So let us help out as best we can. Where my marketing people at?!
I know we can do this. Please do not let GM become a subscription site.
Cheers!
John( aka Greenblood)
It is my opinion that making Gotmead into a subscription site is a mistake, and will only work to isolate itself from the growing mead community. There are far too many part time hobbyists that do not post enough to justify paying a fee to do so. More importantly, there are a growing number of people discovering the magic of mead every day. We invite them to visit GM, and tell them that it is one of the largest databases of information on mead. That the members are some of the kindest, most helpful people anywhere on the net. Having to say "For only $19.95" at the end of all that praise just seems to cheapen it.
Gotmead needs to start making money in order to stay alive. Vicky cannot do this alone. So it is up to all of us to find a solution. This thread was started to brainstorm some ideas about how to raise money for Gotmead.com.
Throw out a donation if you can. They can be made through paypal to:
gotmead@gotmead.com
Or mailed to:
Vicky Rowe
131 Cedar Creek Lane
Youngsville, NC 27596
But what else can be done?
1. Having a paypal link just sitting on the site somewhere is great, but active fundraising must be done every 6 months or so. Post everywhere. Heck PM members about it just incase they have not been on in a while. Active fundraising is very helpful.
2. Get an apiary to donate some honey or trade it for ad space or something. Then raffle it off. $1-5 per raffle ticket. Draw the winner, and drop ship the prize from the apiary. We might even be able to get away with doing a big one during Meadfest each year!
3. My homebrew club raffles off home brew every couple months for charity. Each member brings a bottle of their prize brew, and then the bottles are split into 3 groups and raffled off. The members buy tickets for $5 each, and the winners go home with big smiles. We could do the same thing online. If members are only shipping one bottle, it is incredibly easy to do.
4. We could put together a book of our favorite recipes, and print it through cafe press or lulu.com. Let members buy it and use the funds raised to pay the one time fee to get it onto Amazon.com
These are just a few ideas. I know that some of you out there are smarter than I am. So let us help out as best we can. Where my marketing people at?!
I know we can do this. Please do not let GM become a subscription site.
Cheers!
John( aka Greenblood)