“Then you can have, like, a celebrity challenge bass tournament, it can benefit ‘Bubba’s Kids’ and you can also make enough money to help keep your site free….”
Let me see if I understand this correctly, I can put together a charity event, then siphon off enough money to show a tidy personal profit – to benefit the web page’s struggling bank account – and pretend that all the collections and donations are going to some other charity while really keeping it for the site’s business?
Not likely. I’m finding that appealing direct to the consumer for support is a lot cleaner. No fraud involved.
After hours of trying to reason with complaints, then I realized a couple of points.
One, some folks just expect everything to be free on the internet.
Two, some folks figured if they whined long enough, or cleverly enough, I’d just give them a password.
Site’s still free expect for the latest update. In fact, I’m in the process of revamping a number of the older batches of text files, to update and correct the material. Still free. But the up-to-date scopes cost a mere a $2.95.
Tired of me complaining about complainers? Wait until I post some of the flames.
I usually loathe to reference current events, but for too long, the price of freedom is a burden borne on the back of too few.
Can’t let the cat go hungry, either.
One person used to send an anonymous donation – postmark Santa Clara – every 6 weeks or so. Been going on for a few months, addressed to the kitty.
“Now that Kramer’s charging, no more anonymous $20’s.”
Firstly, I still have to declare that as cash income, and secondly, it’s not dependable. Not like it came on a regular basis. An occasional $20 in the mail [it was ten bucks last time> doesn’t pay for the server over a year. And since only 1 [one> person was doing it, it doesn’t represent a viable or dependable revenues stream. I don’t want to sound ungrateful, I just wish there were more kind hearts these days.
Now, if hundreds of people were sending in anonymous donations of just $1, this wouldn’t be an issue. But they’re not.
I should get a clue, though, subscriptions are outnumbering complaints 2 – 1. Means I’m getting two or three subscriptions for every e-mail that complains about my lack of ethics.
In the darkening Friday afternoon twilight, I took a longer way home, down an old trail by the river’s edge. While worrying about keep astrofish.net afloat, I’ve been neglecting certain essentials. It was a Scorpio, about a week ago, who reminded me everyone needs to touch dirt from time to time.