Six months ago, Jason Janz made an appeal for financial help for SI, and quite a few of you rose to the occasion. He was able to recover his personal investment in SI before passing the site on to me. At the time, he estimated the cost of running the site to be around $750 a month.
The good news is that the cost is now around $550 a month. However, though we’ve managed to bring costs down, income is still slightly below the level of expenses. And if we’re going to grow SI, we’ll have to do more than break even. The Admin Team is in need of reliable teleconferencing services adaptable to our locations during the day. Conference and interview opportunities await funds for travel expenses. Bandwidth and server upgrades may also be necessary in the months ahead. And we’d love to start paying writers for their articles.
A couple of solutions to the financial situation are in the works. A site face-lift is in development and will allow us to offer more attractive advertising options, which should improve ad revenue. The new site will also feature non-rotating “affiliate” ads that will bring revenue to SI when folks make purchases via the links.
But in the long run, it appears likely that funding a thriving site will require the ongoing support of at least some of those who use the site. Accordingly, today we’re launching the Refiner’s Club.
The Refiner’s Club
A $100 contribution to SI buys membership in the Refiner’s Club for one year. For making the commitment to support SI in this way, every Refiners Club (RC) member will receive the following:
- his or her name listed on the RC roster
- the RC label or logo in his or her member title field
- access to RC members-only quarterly meetings with the Admin Team (exclusive discussion thread or live chat) to ask questions and share views on what’s going well, what isn’t, what should change, what shouldn’t, and so on
- a SharperIron Refiner’s Club coffee mug
Membership for six months is available for $50 (you still get the mug).
To join, choose a button below and send email to [email protected] to let us know you’ve signed up. If you prefer to mail a check, send it to…
SharperIron, LLC
P.O. Box 125
Boyceville, WI 54725
| One year | Six months |
