Subject: online-news "pledge drive" - credit cards / Rosalind reply From: outings@netcom.com (Steve Outing) Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 14:15:47 -0700

I now have a way to accept credit card payments for the $25 donation to 
maintain and upgrade the online-news list, since I know for some folks -- 
particularly those outside the U.S. -- it can be difficult (and costly!) to 
send a check to the U.S. 

If you want to use Visa, Mastercard or American Express (that's all that's 
available to me at this point), just send me an email message with your 
name (as on credit card), card number, and expiration date, and amount to be 
charged. (Careful if you reply to the message, please; I'd hate to see this get 
inadvertently posted to the list!!) I'll acknowledge receipt of the message, 
so you have an email receipt, but may be delayed for a few days.

(For checks, my address is: Steve Outing, Planetary News, 1067 Marble Court, 
Boulder, CO 80303 USA. Payable to: Steve Outing/online-news)

- ---
Let me respond to Rosalind's suggestion that this "beg-a-thon" is silly. 
Briefly, I find this to be the least objectionable way to fund a 
valuable forum such as this. It's voluntary. It lets the grad student who sent 
me a note continue to benefit from the forum even though she can't afford to 
contribute right now. It avoids more objectionable techniques such as selling 
list names to advertisers so that subscribers aren't blitzed with ads. Or 
appending ads to every single list message. (Sponsors are appropriate to this 
list and will continue, I hope, but I think that sensitivity is required in 
how their messages are presented -- for subscribers' sake as well as for the 
sponsors'.)

It's an experiment. For certain types of online communities, the "beg-a-thon" 
approach makes sense. It's no model for Pathfinder; maybe it is for the Dog 
Owners Association online service, or even Web Review. Will it work? We'll know 
pretty soon. 

Perhaps these little revenue experiments with online-news will help others 
in developing their strategies to fund their online ventures. I'm not averse 
to trying other concepts as well. (But anything I try is likely to preserve 
the free cost to subscribers.) Since this list is a public service to the 
online news / publishing community, trying new things with the list itself 
could be an interesting educational experience for all of us. (S. Finer's 
suggestions about a model where money goes back and forth so that those who 
contribute valuable content to the list are compensated as well as the list 
administrator are interesting but seem unwieldy. Still, if someone develops 
a working model ...)

It's not silly, Rosalind. Does this mean I shouldn't expect a check? ;)

- --
One last note about this. I'm a consultant and writer, and my income comes 
from a variety of sources and activities. I've always considered online-news 
(and online-newspapers, my other list) to be supportive components of my 
other activities. I get many story ideas for my Stop The Presses! column for 
E&P here; and the list has brought me several consulting clients who wouldn't 
know of me otherwise. I don't look on it as a profit center as much as a 
"public service" component of my entire business. 

It may be that with the limited sponsor support I've found for the list, plus 
this "pledge drive" income, I end up with more than enough to cover basic costs 
of paying for server and telecom resources used by the lists; new software 
for the lists; maintenance of the Web archive; and software development for 
enhancements to the Web site. Any money left over might compensate me for the 
time I spend administering the lists. I just want to be clear that mine is not 
a non-profit business. I do not operate the lists as a direct profit source; 
but if this recent activity ends up actually turning a small profit, I don't 
want to later be accused of surreptitiously trying to make lots of money from 
the list. (Making money from *your* words.) That's not my intent. For this 
part of my business, I'm not guided by money -- other than to make sure that 
the lists pay for themselves and that I'm compensated for the hours spent 
administering the beasts.

- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Outing                                   Planetary News LLC
outings@netcom.com                             Boulder, Colorado, USA
owner-online-newspapers@marketplace.com        voice: 303-543-7810
owner-online-news@marketplace.com              fax: 303-543-1059
          Consulting services for the newspaper new media industry
                      Read my Stop The Presses! column:
- ------- http://www.mediainfo.com/ephome/news/newshtm/stop/stop.htm -------



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From owner-online-news-digest@marketplace.com Wed May 29 09:39:56 1996
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