How do you accept money?

[Shawn Gossman]

Do you use PayPal?

Or do you use a different payment channel?

For the channel you use to accept money, why do you use that channel over others?

 

[Tracy]

Currently don't... my site is run as a hobbyist site..and like ALL hobbies it costs money.
If one day it gets "big" and the costs are more than I want to incur as a hobby.. then I'll contemplate monetizing it.
To many peoples first thought is "how much can I make" and not necessarily "what can I give back to society".

 

[Shawn Gossman]

To many peoples first thought is "how much can I make" and not necessarily "what can I give back to society".

I can agree with that.

I run a hiking niche outside of forums. I am also a paid hiking guide. Every year a few days a year I do community group hikes for free.

Someone told me I should charge $10 a head just to make a little money from it.

Instead, I'd rather charge a non-perishable food item or a bad of pet food and then we can donate to a food pantry/humane society each hike in the region.

I think I'd feel better about it doing it that way and stick to charging money for the private hikes.

The same concept could make a great "charity drive" for online communities.

I used to be in the fire service. I was an assistant fire chief for a very small rural town. We really spent more money than we tried to earn (100% volunteer) on the community more than anything. I feel like more people should do that.

 

[Tracy]

For me...my site is simply my giving back to the community. Currently it's not so large as it kicks my finances in the arse. If it reaches that point... then I'll look at alternatives to helping finance it... but as long as it's below the $250 a month range.... I'll continue to do it out of my pocket.
Whenever anyone has offered to donate to the site... I refer them to a few Dachshund sites that I am a member of... for some reason...those stubborn little shits have a big place in my heart, and I'd rather see them benefit instead of me, since I can afford to support the site.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

If it reaches that point... then I'll look at alternatives to helping finance it...

I think that's a good plan.

If you don't really look to profit from it, at least have a plan to raise enough funds to let it pay for itself.

If you do start to profit, I'd recommend making that extra money your marketing budget.