To Keep Free Republic Running
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Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
| Free Republic 2nd Qtr 2024 Fundraising Target: $81,000 | Receipts & Pledges to-date: $9,248 | |||
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Posted on 04/19/2012 1:22:35 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
I've checked with an ad agency. We can probably raise the funds we need to operate FR at our current level and at the current market price for online advertising if we run a banner ad at the top of every page and at least one rectangular ad in the above the fold body of the page and a couple rectangular ads in the sidebar. If that doesn't generate enough revenue, we can also run pop ups or pop unders and we can even run audio and video ads if need be. But of course, if we go full bore commercial, we'd have to insure strict copyright compliance with very brief excerpting of all articles to avoid lawsuits. And the agency would require that we install a filter to censor out any bad or unacceptable words in our posts.
Or, of course, there's always the membership model. We could setup a members only system where paying members get full access and non-paying members get throttled back, etc.
I don't like either of the above models and think we'd soon lose a lot of our readers and participants. Of course that may happen anyway if we can't fund it and if we cannot get our equipment problem under control, or if my refusal to vote for or support an abortionist/homosexualist/statist who has plans to install ObamaCare, er, I mean RomneyCare into all 50 states runs everyone off.
The donation model has served us very well since 1997 when we first started using it. It's very clean, uncomplicated and we attract participants who perhaps can't afford membership dues but do want to join the discussion and join our rallies, protests, prayer sessions, etc. And the advertising model would probably bring in the revenue, but it comes with strings attached.
I'm sure there are other ways and ways to combine features of various models, sell books, cds, gear, etc, offer no ads for paid subscribers, etc, even ISP services, but all of these also complicate matters.
I'm an old dog and I like to avoid new tricks, new complications, additional overhead, additional accounting, additional rules and regulations, etc, wherever possible. I like to stick to simplicity and with what works.
Thank you all very much for your continuing participation and support.
My AGV popped in to warn of tracking cookies at both sites.
Given that my AGV immediately popped in at both Newsbusters and Drudge, I would want a Premium Membership that blocked all ads.
Remember what happened to Rush Limbaugh!
The libs contact your advertisers and threaten to boycott them unless they drop you and poof! no advertisers!
We live in a uncivil times and the revenue loss in mass of advertisers would be instant bankruptcy for FR!
What's up with that, Jim? If these are FReepers, they need to at least pay a premium. (Hopefully they do already.)
While I'm at it, add another one that will pay $10 for new monthly donations over $30 per month - anytime throughout the year, not just during FReepathons.
I don't want to see FR have to move to paid membership (pay to post) - just the software to handle that would give John fits. Neither do I want to see ads come here.
Maybe we should consider a more obvious and permanent reminder that this is a user supported site - automatically on every thread created.
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Yup and that’s another big drawback to advertising. They track you everywhere. I was interested in buying a couple items recently and googled them. Ended up purchasing a rollaway bed from Amazon and some hardware and hand tools from another online outlet. Now wherever I go I get ads for beds, mattresses, tools and hardware. I’ve been targeted as a buyer in the market. And ever since then I’ve noticed that I get targeted for any item I google or look at on Amazon.
Is FR trade marked? If not, can we? Most regular FReepers would purchase the merchandise.
It may not eliminate FReepathons all together, but I’m sure it would put a great big dent in them.
Hey Wendell, you wouldn’t know a real man if you saw one, coward.
It makes the interwebs tolerable.
I would ban you myself if I could, and also kick the sh!t out of you too if I could catch your cowardly a$$!
I have no idea on whoever may be merchandising t-shirts or anything else. They are not connected to us. I have given permission to people who ask to print our logo or name on banners and signs etc, for tea parties, rallies and events, but not for merchandising.
Thank you very much, Ron!! Will alert the NMD Sponsor team!!
+1
100%
No, trust me on this. It wouldn’t even pay the overhead of merchandising much less a dent in our fundraising. And definitely not worth the risk of going commercial.
Geeez. What a colossal PITA. AVG blocks the tracking cookies, but their warnings are also a nuisance. AVG showed Drudge’s site with three tracking cookies, and Newsbusters’ with four! All seven went into a file for deletion once I reboot, which is another PITA.
Jim (and any other FReeper that hasn't done it) you need to go to this link download and install Ghostery (hope you're using Firefox) - that is the best way to stop anyone from tracking your browser use.
Well said in my book.
Did not even think about that angle. You're right, cr@p!
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