I noticed this “trick” on some blogs. Even few high profile blogs .. and it made me think. First reaction was “wow, this is a cool plugin”. The next one was … “but wait .. this looks like begging”.

Do I want this on my site? NO NO NO

1. I am kinda sensitive to this issue in a way …

I live in Romania. The main problem here is cause by SOME people who are not integrated in the society (or just don’t want to) .. who find some revenue options that are slightly (well very) illegal. Begging is something many do and we’re just sick and tired of people who wait in the intersections to ask for money, of young women and men who could WORK like we do and get some wage. But begging is easy. You don’t have to do anything .. just put your hand (palm facing the sky) and catch the change.

Some of these people (a huge percentage are gypsies) go outside the country and put to work the same “revenue system” as in the main country. And here we are .. gypsies and beggars. I HATE THIS.

I know it might sound like something that needs medical attention, but I do get this reaction to begging … and for me that beer plugin IS BEGGING.

2. Many do this .. it doesn’t mean I want to …

What shocked me wasn’t that some small traffic, low PR, almost unknown blogs like mine have this installed, my shock was that some of the high profile blogs use this too. And honestly I don’t get it. Why would a blog that gets thousands of USD in revenue each month sink so low as to put a donation button? Would that work? Well .. in my case no. I come to those sites to get some information (FREE INFORMATION) and I even respect the fact I have to dig in deeply in the layout to find the actual content from all the referral links, banners and paid reviews to actually find something worth reading. And now .. I am also invited to buy the owner a beer? Oh, come on.

Many of the huge blogs are tired and just filled with too many ads. Ads as banners, as links, even all kinds of paid posting options, all kinds of lists and other gizmos to place when the owner is just too tired and dry of any ideas to write a decent post. Some of these blogs still offer quality content. Some are getting lower just because running such a huge project is awfully demanding .. and in the end we have a limit.

I have lists of blogs I “should” visit and even if I go in those places I find 1 out of 4 posts that are really noteworthy. I know I am horribly picky and mean. But I have a limited time myself and when I do stop to read, I really want to leave that place with something new that would make me think.

In this case .. quality content being quite scarce in many places .. I can’t see why I should donate for the 3 articles that were really interesting?

3. It would show others I don’t do well into monetizing

I won’t hide it: my online projects are not making me rich. Just for some months I have found some ways to recover some of the expenses and maybe be able to pay for a forum license or a promotional campaign. I cannot say my revenue stream is non existent, I am just admitting I am not into this for money.

I agree that some of the efforts must pay off, and that’s done with some decent adsense banners in some sites and text link ads in other places. I don’t want my ads to be intrusive. You’re not here to see my ads. YOU ARE HERE TO READ MY CONTENT.

Placing that beer pint with the “If you liked this post, buy me a beer” caption and a link to the PayPal account for me would mean I am desperate. I don’t do well into earning money, so please just donate few bucks to keep my site active.

4. Donate for what?

I can see a huge forum asking for donations .. one that has thousands of members and tens of thousands of posts. Or a free “something” site… a site with free downloads that eat up HUGE resources. But .. donate for a blog?

A blog doesn’t ‘eat’ more than 100 MB space and 4 GB bandwidth (wtricks.com uses this and we’re taking about a forum, a directory and a blog, and believe me the blog is the smallest ‘consumer’ in the equation). A host for this would be 3 USd a month or even less. And still many blogs have something like “Suggested: $3 a beer or $7.5 for a pitcher” … Yeah, I got that “suggested” stuff, but still …

If a blog needs more space and bandwidth, it’s certainly a huge traffic one. And when we get there, the blog monetizes pretty well with advertising campaigns .. Why would that blog need to ask me for my cents then?

5. You don’t have to donate if you don’t want to …

Well .. this is what I hear in my country too, when I try to get from a place to another and those few beggars drive me nuts. No, I don’t have to pay them, but I have to see them on the streets compromising my city and my country. Same begging habit comes now to “infect” the cyber city I am living in, the Internet.

6. Donations DON’T WORK THAT WELL

Oh yeah .. maybe it’s something new to some .. yes. Many donation campaigns don’t work. You’d get few bucks from this … and that’s all. People are not that willing to give money, even if we’re talking cents. When all forums are filled with “free hosting” requests and people who’d spend as little as possible .. who do you think would give you money?

I am myself tired of all people who ask for free promotion, free templates, free headers and so on. These people make up a huge percentage of the Internet users who might get to your blog. And, if so many cannot be convinced to pay 9 USD for a decent domain and get their own site from that low-quality free hosted subdomain to an actual normal domain that would bring them more traffic, recognition and revenue, you are really that sure they’d put money into your paypal account just because you put down a nice post?

The only time Wtricks might have had donations was last year. We were on phpBB and the forum was growing nicely. Many were suggesting VBulletin as a script and some of my members OFFERED to donate some money for the script. One of my mods promised he’d put 50 USD on the table and the others 3-10 USD. And other members told me I should install a donate hack and they’d gladly put some money in the account so that we can move on.

You know what I did?

I thanked them and waited some more till I was able to get a license. Not with donations. Not with asking my people to pay for something on my site. And we’re having a wonderful community and they thought it was a nice thing to do. They love the forums, they spent months on it already and they wanted to help it.

Was I proud?

I was proud of my members. I was so grateful .. But I didn’t want to accept this. I was also too proud to accept money from them. I just don’t want my members to pay for this site. All I have put here in 3 years and thousands of hours or work is FREE. I made Wtricks starting from the FREE idea. I am sick of sites that ask money for anything. This is why this project was born .. to offer links to free resources, free downloads, free forum skins … free articles. I would have betrayed my ideal by accepting the money.

My members were ready to pay for a new script they’d also use in here. I don’t think too many people would pay for a blog entry though. A forum makes people feel as part of the community. They MAKE IT. A blog is just a place to find information, less chances to befriend other people and feel you are a part of something great.

On the internet donations scarcely work. Too few people make money to cover the shame of begging. As I said, as biased and tired as I am now, at midnight, in my eyes that beer plugin is begging.

I have my image to care for. I don’t want to ruin my brand by asking for donations. I want to convince people I have such an awesome content that it’s worth it .. to convince them to buy advertising for instance. To convince them to link to a good post. But not to ask for money.

In my country some beggars are living in huge villas and are driving Mercedes cars. I am saving up for my first car. It won’t be expensive .. I just couldn’t afford it. On the internet some drive “mercedes like sites”. Many have worked hard and deserve the place they have now. I want to get there. I will make it on my own: writing content, promoting, losing sleep, being happy for another link sold or another Adsense check.

I know it’s not easy. I have a long road to walk .. but I will enjoy every step. And I won’t drink a beer (I don’t drink alcohol) Maybe I’ll drink a soda on my way up there. But that soda is not donated by you, dear reader. I have earned it myself. And if you come with me, I’ll make sure I find a can for you too.

It’s on me

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