The original post was an assembly of thoughts from the fantastic team helping to keep CTH level and steady. It was accidentally published prior to my review.. /SD.
The Treehouse previously operated on the WordPress/Automattic platform without a lot of fanfare; a genuine labor of love. At first it was just a blogging platform, but as technology became more sophisticated, things got better for you, the loyal reader and the admin team. Specifically, CTH was able to monetize the site with advertising, which allowed me to spend more time doing research, writing articles and managing the direct concerns of the readers. Running ads was a checkbox, we turned it on and it just worked.
It’s safe to say that we were unaware of the amount of technical value, managing day to day technical issues, that blogging platforms like WordPress.com delivered. That all changed when CTH was deplatformed by Matt Mullenweg’s WordPress.com.
Fortunately, the software that operated the site was “open-source,” which means we had the option of moving the whole site to new servers without a lot of TECHNICAL issues. It was was really the scale of content and the goal to preserve the decades-long library (w/internal citations) that provided the greatest challenge. However, keeping the machines running is a different game when every page view now comes at a cost.
Within the migration process we also discovered the dynamic of cost driven by the commenting system; the conversation on the porch about the stories, research and analysis. As we have often repeated: it is the conversation that matters; that conversation is your comments and fellowship.
These lessons about self-hosting a website have been very expensive. It turns out the popularity of the site requires a six-digit annual budget just to maintain the technical status quo. Independent server costs, the cache system, the CDN and bandwidth allotments, the auto-leveling needs for stability, the software licenses, the email notification system and the support developers all come with an expense. Those costs do not include all of the unpaid effort by loyal moderators, tech support and volunteers that are managing these things right now.
The initial saving of CTH and the relaunch (a great accomplishment by some fantastic tech support) was also expensive. CTH was blessed and thankful to have people that care about truth reach out to offer assistance; and CTH readers were generous in offsetting those emergency costs. Many people stepped in to help save our little corner of the internet and with a core tech team (scruffy but smart) we stand on solid ground again.
My task now is to find a revenue model that works best for the important people, you; the Treehouse readers.
Advertising seems like the obvious move, but like many nowadays, we have long been suspect of things like covert tracking (3rd party cookies); and we accept the entire content delivery ecosystem is in flux at the moment. Privacy has been our CTH priority for years, and recent events -which include our own targeting- affirmed the wisdom of putting privacy at the forefront of our discussion.
As we are seeing corporations are now openly operating their businesses with the intent to influence politics, their advertising money is now a weapon they can use to generate leverage over website content. Not only is Big Tech making ideological determinations over monetization, but advertising companies are now using their budgets to align with Big Tech’s ideological goals. This is not a good outcome. Corporate fascism is on the advance.
As Scott Adams points out in the tweet below, ad revenue is now determining the type of information we can find on the internet. Many “conservative” information websites and platforms are increasingly making content determinations in the same way that MSM cowers to the almighty corporate dollar. You might be stunned to know just how prevalent this is; I know I was.
It won't be long before consumers of ad-based news media are seen as mental slaves to ridiculous narratives while the consumers of subscription-based news are the only free thinkers remaining to preserve our system. @RubinReport @ggreenwald
— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) April 19, 2021
My priority with content has always been to stay steadfast to the motto: “The Truth Has No Agenda“, and CTH has declined financial offers because we never wanted to be in a position where outside elements have any influence on our content or conversation. Additionally, our crowdsourcing efforts not only produce great results, but our community credibility is our strength.
With all of the operational costs in mind, here is what we need to figure out: What is the best revenue model for the readers of the Treehouse?
I need to figure this out soon, or there is a slight risk there won’t be a Treehouse. Fortunately, software is soft, meaning we can experiment with models until we get it right.
We like the idea that we are in charge of our own destiny in that we are running our own servers and out of the reach of Big Tech, so while other “Free Speech” platforms like Substack, Locals and Minds look very attractive, it’s always going to be somebody else’s platform, making the enterprise dependent on their viability (remember MySpace?).
Additionally, from the outset I have always wanted to provide information free to everyone; that remains my priority. I do not like the idea that information comes with a cost; as a result a subscription based website was always a non starter for me. That said, I foresee coming up against pressure to find a revenue model (which pays for the expenses) before it’s too late.
That leaves CTH with a few paths forward to consider:
- Turn on 3rd party Advertising (we’re likely going to do that for now)
- Some kind of crowd-sourced sponsorship (PBS annual drives, Reoccurring PayPal or Subscribe Star)
- Subscription with tiered content (not all content is free) [I don’t like]
- Pay-to-not-get-what-you-don’t-want (Pay to turn off ads)
- Something else (because we are considering everything)
There also might be something else I just don’t know what it is.
As I look at the landscape I see in front of us, my goal would be to establish a proprietary system for revenue via ads that allows CTH to work directly with sponsors and not with 3rd parties. In that process we would have full control and retain 100% privacy. But to achieve that goal CTH would need to have seed capital to launch a business model and at least one person to coordinate it.
The Conservative Treehouse has always been about you, not me. For me the sharing of information is a labor of love; I truly enjoy the fellowship, the research and the writing assembly. Together with tips, crowdsourcing and research we put the information together and write articles about the ‘Occam’s Razor’ conclusions. Through the years CTH assembled a network of allies in the fight who form a deep rebel alliance of information. However, staying outside the reach of Big Tech and keeping the site anti-fragile to their attacks is a little costly.
So I turn to the experts… the people who really matter… YOU !
Before any decisions are reached I want to hear what scenario makes the most sense to you. Let me know, below.
Love to all,
Sundance
“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.” [Isaiah 54-17]
I would be ok with all of the above possible solutions. The Treehouse means that much for me. Whatever you need to do I’m with you!
I’d be devastated if the Treehouse ends up behind a paywall. My family is very low-income with periods of no income at all; I can’t count on having the money for a monthly subscription. However I do understand that’s the most popular course of action.
I like the ads/pay-to-remove-ads option best, personally. I have all my ad-blocking software preemptively turned off in anticipation of the Treehouse adding ads. (Do y’all get paid lump sum, per view, or per click, with ads?) I’m also seriously toying with the idea of launching a freelance proofreading/copy editing business, in which case I’ve already thought about taking out an ad on the Treehouse of my own.
From a cookies/tracking/privacy standpoint, I’m not (personally) too bothered; I clear my cookies and data on a regular basis.
(Sorry, didn’t mean to post a repeat comment. Skimmed the first page and missed my previous comment on the first read-through.)
I would pay for a subscription because I’ve been here for awhile and know the value of this site. I trust it. But I would hate to see that limit for those who are in the process of changing their views. I would think a key value of CTH is dissemination ie reaching the most people possible with persuasive arguments/the truth. I don’t mind American Thinker and how they do it. But their comment section deteriorated so I don’t miss it. Part of CTH’s value is the contribution of the comment section as well. I would go for paying not to have ads…also once or twice a year money drives.
I’m in agreement with you. What would my annual cost be?
I agree. Have been here now going on 8+ years. This site is still the best for exchange of ideas, learning and the great folks who reside here as well as site management.
Just spit balling a number, I pay about $50 annually for 6 issues of the printed periodicals I receive and would not balk at monthly payment via auto-pay off my credit card of $5-10/month including the credit card company fees I know CTH would have to surrender for the auto-pay.
Before we cancelled out of disgust, we were paying about $45/month for a DAILY copy of the Dallas Morning News, delivered to our door or about $1.50/copy. That number would be excessive, for an on-line subscription, but thought a high end number would be good to know.
It’s a tough decision another day Where I can say I’m glad I’m not in SD shoes..
I would subscribe . Yet I know some wouldn’t be able to and that sucks.
There are a lot of good folks here..
I don’t much care for ads. Nor their invasion of privacy.
Dammit!??♂️
What if you allow ads, but allow those who subscribe to view ad-free? I would subscribe.
Advertising by businesses that support conservative values especially the 1st and 2nd amendment. They need our support and the very fact that you allow them to advertise on your site would let us know they are on the good guy list without having to check other sources to verify.
I cherish the ability to read here without intrusive ads. I would not be against all but the ones over at Gateway are excessive and sometimes unethical.
I hate Gateway Pundit website but go there every day. I can’t tell where articles start or where they end and added videos or blocks begin. I hate it with a passion.
You go through all that garbage just to find a few paragraphs or even just a few sentences because so many articles are real short on content but still have 500 ads popping up sliding over and doing everything they can to get under your finger just make a penny per click.
I hate it with a passion.
I pay monthly subscription fees for just about every website and channel that I follow. I love the content on the conservative treehouse, and I would have no problem whatsoever paying a monthly subscription fee. I can’t even put a price on the value of the content that this site delivers on a daily basis. Totally enjoy reading the articles and find them extremely well written and value the opinion of the author. I do not know who Sundance is, but this person is truly a genius and I will gladly do whatever is needed to keep viewing and reading and enjoying the content on this site!
I would pay for a subscription to your site. Have followed you since Trayvon Martin case. Respect your research and devotion. Want to keep you in my life. Hardly ever comment but read you and others. Thank you for all you do.
I’ve been a daily reader for 5 or 6 years. I don’t subscribe to news outlets but would do so for CTH to continue. Its content has been eye opening and in the face of the corruption of the MSM its continued survival is imperative. Sundance, you are a star.
It’s not too late to get a $10M gov’t grant into the Biden infrastructure bill! I am against subscriptions, it’s not about the dollar amount but the idea of it. As one commentor noted, “why require someone to pay for information you want them to have.” Random ideas: a politicians page that allows candidates/politicians to buy pages to post their content/links (campaign money) on a much visited conservative site; subscriber pages that allow an entity to pay to have a tab on CTH with their content again ‘close’ to or connected with an active user base (potential for sites that got/get kicked off other platforms). I am not sure of the market – but basically sell us!
If it has to be collecting from readers, I prefer a once a year pay what you can – for your contribution CTH stays online, meaning no tiers, no special content, no contributor privilege. I donate to my Church and do not expect a reserved pew. I donate to St Judes and do not expect anything in return…. I would donate to an open forum CTH.
Don’t government grants come with strings attached?
“I donate to my Church and do not expect a reserved pew. I donate to St Judes and do not expect anything in return.”
Please do not conflate a private enterprise endeavor such as CTH with donations to a charity.
If you give alms to the poor, expect a reward from God; if you pay a subscription to a publisher, expect benefits to accrue to yourself.
“Why require someone to pay for information you want them to have?” Gee, why require someone to pay for a hamburger McDonalds wants you to have? Get a GRIP! How much have you donated to Sundance, in your “pay what you can” mode, so far this year?
Asking for a friend, of course.
I simply cannot see the line of logic that equates McDonalds with CTH, nor the CTH community conversation with a hamburger. I also do not equate CTH with Sundance, I know many do, my primary reason for visiting is to gain insight from others posts: links to topics I am interested in, points of views…. I understand Sundance’s role to be sure, however I do not particularly take to his writings. So if the reason for visiting the CTH site is compromised – less ‘regular’ folks posting their views and information because there is now a fee to post – I will be disinclined to visit.
Speaking for myself – it would be my expectation that no money would go to Sundance the person. All money would go to maintaining the CTH web site and the public platform ‘blog’ that it is and charters to be.
I suggest contacting Jay Valentine about his article on massively reducing costs of your IT operation.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/02/trump_versus_big_tech.html.
Probably need your head of IT operations to check this out.
I also still support the subscription plan to fund your operation. We need to spend big to fight the big corporate $
going to the dark side.
Thinking about a hybrid. Subscription w/ads and w/o ads + annual fundraiser for 1 month + host a PAC and keep a percentage. I’d rather give to that than any politician run PAC. Or some other process maybe like eBay where you recommend products good for conservatives and when they buy thru CTH a % falls to you?
That takes constant effort and bookeeping. I’d rather Sundance write articles.
Please NO PayPal.
Good mind, Mark Murray !
Mark, the Donate candle is in the most obvious place on this site, ALL the time. How much have you donated?
damn I hate snark
Please make an anonymous way to donate, whatever avenue is chosen. I don’t know if that is even possible but there are some who are afraid to join anything for fear the government is watching.
Yep or let us send by old fashioned mail..this way the prying eyes can’t track it .
I’ve been donating $10/month for several years. It’s worth it. But a broader base at $5/month for each household, and the other $5 to pay for those who have a genuine hardship.
Our country has been poisoned, IMO, with the idea of “free stuff”. It really started with Napster, the idea that the fruit of ones labor in the intellectual realm should be without cost. It’s a pernicious belief.
This was a big cause of my divorce…He believed that the best things in life are free (including marriage), and I believe that the best things in life (other than salvation in Christ) come at a cost.
That said… I’ll go with whatever works. Hate the ads, but many small patriot businesses need exposure as we disengage from Big BLM.
SD, We all love you and rely on your perspicacity and tireless research. If you need those of us who are able to front seed $$ w/o strings you just have to tell us.
Advertising on the pages and paying a monthly subscription are fine with me. If possible, make subscription paybale via auto-pay with credit card.
I already pay for a couple historical and educational periodicals that I highly value as sources of entertainment and knowledge.
This would be like adding another subscription to source of information and entertainment that I highly value as well as being highly valued for sustaining my ability to reason and express critical thought as part of exchanges with some great compatriots..
See my post above with cost numbers. I would not balk at a $5-10/month subscription drawn by auto-pay off a credit card, with the fees I know CTH would owe the credit card companies included.
$5-$10 a month you think would keep ANY enterprise afloat? And including the credit card company fees Sundance would have to pay? Maybe that would work at Campfire Girls weekly meetings, without the credit card company fees.
Adds are ok with me but with the cancel culture and woke corporations the universe of advertisers for CTH would need some work. An annual subscription is probably the most realistic although it will limit the audience size. CTH is good value, would be the only site I’d subscribe to as of now. I’m getting more out than putting in at the moment.
“Puzzled” makes a great point about the wokeists. Today’s centrist corporations, and those that have no stated political positions, can change overnight. They respond not to their marketplace but to the pressure they feel from the tax authorities, and from the CEOs’ peers out there in the Hamptons. Your friendly advertiser today may garrote you tomorrow. So I’d recommend no ads, just subscriptions. Try this for a while, run your costs, compare them to your subscription revenues, and consider give “free” subscriptions to needy folk your reader base recommends.
I don’t think audience size would be limited by subscriptions. Or maybe I am the only one addicted to this site? This is THE Last Refuge, for heaven’s sake! How many other places can you name where you get curated news by a superb writer and you can also comment like on
Twitter, only with a much more educated crowd? And you can learn from some stellar characters who are virbrant and current and have really interesting and influential jobs. That’s what’s most important to remember;the bang you get for the buck. Priceless, really, so far.
The Substack writers are growing, and although I don’t ascribe the philosophy of some people (like Greenwald), they do good work and we need their voices.
Ok, from the not overly wealthy but cast a wide net information consumer, I’ve been unhappy with my inability to spread the wealth. When I was a youngster we had a newspaper delivered each day at a nominal cost. But that was all we had delivered. That was a big city, but how many papers did they deliver? Maybe several hundred thousand.
Now most of the news/information sources I visit are view by far more people. I’ve always thought, why can they just charge a small amount so that I could add my loot to many sites. But that doesn’t seem to be practical because of the mechanics of sending money anywhere in small amounts.
What I would like to see is some entity that could manage the small donations to multiple destinations. Like an account in my name, and a structure that would let me automatically send small amounts to multiple locations. My thought has been that many sites would not mind receiving small amounts from a lot of people if the mechanism of transfer had some efficiency.
Let’s say for example that someone wanted to send small amounts of money regularly to CTH, and Legal Insurrection and VDH. The entity could gather from all their clients a modest monthly deposit that varied for each person, along with instructions for who gets what proportion, and then the entity could pull together whatever it’s customers allocated, say for CTH, once a month and send it to CTH. Aggregating the donations to simplify the accounting for the websites and to allow small donation to become larger ones.
If the entity say took 1%/month, there would be some revenue to cover costs.
Beyond that if the entity specialized in supporting free thinking, conservative web content, it might add a resource of value to the entire community. On top of that, who says people or companies could not make larger donations via the same method?
My best wishes to CTH and its team.
>What I would like to see is some entity that could manage the small donations to multiple destinations.
Yes! There are so many people I’d like to support, but I don’t have $5 a month for all of them! I would love to be able to donate $300 a year and give 1% to some people and %10 to others. But in CTH’s case I’m down for a $50 annual membership. I read CTH more than anything else (patriots win being second).
Check out Brave (the browser).
It facilitates this kind of relationship with your favorite websites.
See Brave Rewards and Tipping. https://brave.com/features/
We don’t want a bookeeper here, we want SUNDANCE. Every other entity on the web that spews news and asks for money does it by subscription you pay up front, for a year. it’s enough that he spends MANY hours a day gathering behind the scenes details you won’t find elsewhere, where can you find someone who writes EVERY day, beautifully, with tid bits on each article you won ‘t find any other place where you can also comment , and he will even answer you if you want. Do you think when he publishes photos or other graphics and/or court papers he just has a magic telephone that orders what he wants for that day? He has to scramble and find what those joker “journalists” would n’t be bothered finding because they might have to get off their butts and WORK!
“There are more of us than there are of them.” Surely that must be true among the world of potential advertisers as it is among the general public. You won’t get Coca Cola but maybe My Pillow, and hundreds of other like minded businesses, who would be happy to support you while getting their message out to a like minded audience. But sell to the advertisers directly, not through a 3rd party like AdWords.
Maybe some Trumpian adds…for the golfing afflicted, in Florida?
I would gladly sybscribe. The truth, sanity, and fellowship here are worth their weight in gold.
I would pay for a subscription. Please don’t do ads…they are annoying at best, lead to cancel culture at worst; and they clutter up the place like dirty socks and dust bunnies. And a subscription based services might do us all the favor of getting rid of or minimizing trolls. Just my two thoughts from my small twig of the tree.
Yes, the trolls have affected the quality of discourse here for the last year or so. Its REQLLY declined at AT.
Announce that the treehouse is installing transgender bathrooms, which are awkward and expensive to install in a treehouse.
Gofundme
Pay to turn off ads is my vote. Thank you for all you folks do at the beloved Treehouse!
Is their a way that people that subscribe/contribute get additional posting privileges or a way to communicate specifically with other subscribers, maybe a private forum of sorts? I want to see everyone get the stories, but maybe being able to interact with the community at a higher level should require some skin in the game. My $0.02. May not be all of the revenue you need, but something to consider.
Also, another contribution option for those that have sworn off PayPal would help.
Sundance,
Have you or your staff run the numbers on subscription based revenue based on a meager monthly contribution, supported by ad revenue?
I would gladly pay or subscribe to CTH to keep it afloat. What if you charge $5.00 per month? Multiply that times 100,000 and you have just paid for your six figure O&M budget. The ad revenue would be the gravy / profit.
Just thinking out loud……
A $5 subscription I could probably commit to, even in difficult times. I’ve seen other people saying $50+, which I could pretty much never do.
Ditto, that Tree-climber!
The Treepers who post, I think are a minority…crunching the clicks might be the way to go…knowing there are many lurking but remain silent…putting a dollar amount on them might work.
One way to get a product moving, is to have it popular but ‘scarce’…(can we say covid vaccine?)…limited supply makes it desirable…very desirable. For example, last month in Chicagoland, people were so desperate for the limited coveted covid jab, that they were lying, in order to get it.
The psychology or marketing….dishonest, probably. Lots of ideas though, to make it affordably profitable and functional.
I would pay for a subscription. I’m a former techie. I know what this stuff costs.
I am humbled to have been able to read this content this long.
Only you can figure out what that subscription cost should be.
If it’s low, more will join. If it’s high, many won’t. But again, y’all need to run some numbers and figure that out.
Godspeed Sundance.
I am not tech savvy but I would definitely subscribe to a monthly subscription. I tried earlier but I don’t have a PayPal account. I love this website and would be devastated without it.
I would say the ad route if you can choose the companies; promote American patriot companies, i.e. MyPillow. Not sure if the list is long enough.
Annual subscription works for me, but with a severe downturn in the economy most likely ahead, many might be unable to participate at a crucial time, thus going against the open principles of Sundance’s intentions from the beginning.
All that being said, perhaps a quarterly or every six month drive would be the most balanced way to address all concerns.
I will support whatever Sundance decides. God Bless all the Treepers and our Head Treeper!
Paid subscriptions! I pay to support my favorite creators on YT and various blogs because their content is consistently worthwhile. CTH is no different. Suggest you mimic the Patreon model – not Patreon itself, mind you – and see if you can replicate it, without the oversight of the leftards at Patreon.
Suggest you mimic Patreon…
I saw that and thought oh this is going to be a classic post .??
Patreon is part of the hipster cancelistas. They dumped Jordan Peterson early on before cancel culture was cool.
Do they have a specific gripe against Jordan, like he is a Consevative so dump him?
I currently “pay” for a sucscribtion to a couple of other sites and I would gladly add the Treehouse to that list. I would much prefer that to “ads” which usually involve some type of tracking…just my two cents worth.
Don’t have any other subscriptions but would happily subscribe to the Treehouse. Been here daily, sometimes several times a day, since the day after the ride down the escalator. Found you when Lucianne mentioned you the day after that.
For a subscription, could I have a sticker advertising ‘Conservative Tree House, The Last Refuge’ please?
Lynn
Preference…….
1) pay for no ads
2) subscribe by the month or semi-annual
3) semi-annual drives/plea
“every page view comes at a cost”? then divvy it up among your viewers
In today’s direction to corporate and government Fascism, PRIVACY RULES! Please don’t lose that premise.
I don’t know how, but insulate yourself from being thrown off a platform again. This is crucial as it will be how they come after CTH.
I echo your last paragraph, shootin’dog (ich spreche eine kleine Deutsch – veile kleine!). Sundance and team, please consider gravely the aspect of external financial hooks of any sort as strategic weaknesses. You know the cost.
I’m fluent in German. ‘Schutz’ means protection or protected, so it translates to guard dog. ‘Kleine’ means ‘small’. Ein bischen deutsch means very little German. Sounds like you have an interest in knowing some German so just thought I would chime in 😉
Thank you winn – I was always the German when we played war as kids. I think all I ever did was run around shouting Achtung! Achtung! I am fascinated by languages in general, particularly Latin, but master of none.
Straight up subscription is fine with me, however you lose a lot of traffic.
Why would he lose alot of traffic? We ancient folk who outlived our retirement funds are living on precious little, but we would pay a premium to stay on this site. There are quite a few of us, ancient but invested here.
Lucianne used to be a gusher but is now a trickle
WHATEVER IT TAKES/
❤️?? THE LAST REFUGE!
Wolverine Pancakes!
How about putting up links for conservative company products? My Pillow, for example. CTH gets a little something for promoting Mike Lindell and Mike gets a sale too. We have to stick together and control our buying power.
Do a one time (now) “Founding Fathers” drive for initial capital needs.
Then do annual Spring and Fall fundraisers. Quarterly strikes me as too often.
If this doesn’t cut it, then add recurring subscriptions with commenting privileges.
Please provide non cyber ways to pay (check or MO). I would not want to become totally dependent on a payment processor who could decide to abandon you.
The further you can stay away from advertising (and dependence on those who may not share our values) the better.
Thank you for expressing my own thoughts more succinctly. I concur 100%. You cut straight to the nut of it.
I read that closer. I revise and extend my remarks. Do not throttle the comments, the fellowship is the most important thing.
I like the “Founding Fathers” drive!
Add to it, “Betsy Ross-buy a Star”…
“[R]ecurring subscriptions with commenting privileges.
“Please provide non cyber ways to pay (check or MO).”
I heartily agree with both points!
Alternatively, offer to accept payment through a debit card to avoid having Citibank deny the credit card transaction.
That requires he have a bookeeper. (fundraisers). I don’t think a writer and news gatherer liike Sundance shoud have to sink to having to grovel for funds. Set a price for a yearly subscription and we will pay, because that’s the way the Wall Street Journal and the Epoch Times and several others operate. Think what you pay to get what you want on your TV. They don’t hold their boss hostage to quarterly fundraisers.
Whatever you decide is fine. Maybe it will turn out to a combination of methods. Whereas some people can’t do a subscription, they might be able to do a semiannual smaller donation. Ads are OK if you can control the number of them. One of the things I like best about CTH is the clean site. If you go with advertising, please don’t let it take over the site. Thanks as always for your devotion to the truth.
I do agree with the annual drives to get cash to the site. I remember when Citizen Free Press made it over the mountaintop with donations. And also, I do agree with the comment that we need to keep this open to people considering transitioning over to our side, we DON’T want to lock them out of this geyser of information. And it’s all of the moving parts, the culmination of people, ages, experiences that make this site exceptional. Please open it up, Sundance, to people willing to gift funds. Wells Fargo Bill Pay, checks, whatever it takes. Please.
Well, if I may, let me tell you what I do. I use one of my online payment accounts to donate $25.00 per month. I’ve quit the magazines and the newspapers. I found three blogs I feel are unique and important voices. CTH is one of them. The quality of the information and the novelty of the research are not found elsewhere.
If you can’t do $25 do $20. If you can’t do $20, do $15. If you can’t do that do $10 or $5 monthly. Or do $1.00 if that is all you can do. But something, we MUST do. If you take the long view, we will pay for it one way or the other if sites like CTH go silent. It’s up to you to do your part. That’s all I am trying to do.. just trying to what I can, every month, automatically.
Join me, however you can, whatever you can do, do it monthly.
Sundance: Take a close look at how they do it at Newsalert: https://nalert.blogspot.com
“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” – Psalm 23, King James Version
He makes me lie down in green pastures….(sanctuary)
He restoreth my soul.
I was raised on the KJV, the Good News versions took away all the mystery and majesty, IMHO.
I don’t post very often now, but always read the articles and discussions regularly. I would definitely be open to a subscription model, with no ads, or at least the option to turn them off!
This is the go to site for any real news and updates, along with the Epoch Times which can be a good read.
This site is the gold standard as far as I am concerned. I could not be without it. Always refreshing to read articles, that are well researched, insightful and reveal so much truth that is missing from the main stream news.
Keep up the great work! 🙂
I’m in for whatever you decide
Patreon or subscription. This is one of the last best sites on the internet.
Thomas Wictor recently posted:
Let blue cities and states burn. Stop caring about people who don’t care about themselves AND who hate you for no reason whatsoever. You’ll feel a lot better.
confused
?
I’m thinking this was meant to be posted on the Chauvin thread.
Rush showed us a viable way, which may or may not work for the CTH. He selectively chose business’ that wanted to advertise on his show, and vetted them. I suggest that there are patriotic business owners that would love to sponsor this site for the opportunity to reach us.
You know your internals. Market them. Just make the advertisers earn our clicks instead of letting them glean our info from site cookies.
Why can’t you piggyback on GAB with torba? I am sure he would welcome you and us, he is the only tech person I trust.
Strength in numbers.
He believes in free speech,has infrastructure and needs all out support.
We can build our own.
Concerning the idea of paying a subscription.
Least favored by you.
Perhaps if it becomes necessary it could come with 3 months free to new users so they can get exposed to your high quality analysis. To those that have been here awhile, we could start off paying if it becomes necessary.
To those that are struggling financially but have been here, perhaps a special costs to them.
Im agreeable to whatever you best decide.
What about a nice big(fish) banner at the top to set up a recurring monthly donation. See how much you get. If there is 100k daily viewers and everyone (I know it doesn’t work that way) just gave $1 a month that’d be a great start 🙂
Reduce the friction, have $2 (lets get real, it’d take $2 to make a $1 a month donation factoring in credit card fees), $5 $10, $20, and Other (enter your own amount) buttons in the banner. If someone wants to donate $5 a month, they just click on that button to where they’ll enter their e-mail address and payment method, done: easy and simple.
Then leave that banner up with a message to the affect of: “this site is ad free due to the generous monthly sponsorships of individuals like yourself, please consider make a small monthly donation to keep this site ad-free and offer the best privacy protection”
Hi Sundance:
I definitely understand your dilemma. I have been with the Treehouse since 2015, and I would definitely pay for a yearly subscription. However, is there a way to possibly be able to pay by check? I know that sounds outdated, but we have had our credit card number stolen 4 times in the past 5 years, even when using reputable sites. We are very leery of using our credit card again online. I also am not a fan of the pop-up ads because they do track you and mess up the page. Just my 2 cents.
I would like a mail in option as well..less able for nefarious types to track..
I would like the option of paying an annual subscription by check, however, you would have to deal with keeping up with all the bookkeeping. I don’t know if that’s feasible.
I’d like to see you explore possibilities with Frankspeech.com. I’m impressed with the content of Mike Lindell’s site and think it could be the beginning of real competition to big tech. There’s power in numbers. We’ve been picked off one by one long enough.
Companies need our eyeballs and our dollars. If all truth tellers and open thinkers are affiliated with one site, we’d have more value and power.
I’m open to subscription – I pay for several sites – but would like to see more alliance between the conservative, free speech sites.
How about Crowdfunding for seed money. It’s worked great for The Chosen. Just a thought