I’m giving you fair warning that this is my version of NPR’s pledge drive
Cut to the chase
Consuming Louisville is a little bit over three years old as of this writing in May 2010. It has been a great joy in my life to publish Consuming Louisville and I hope to continue the site for a long time. While the site is a joy I take it as seriously as I do a job. I post very nearly every weekday (excepting Jewish & Federal holidays), I go through more emails and press releases than you know to find good stuff to tell you about and I’m always actively trying to make the site and our community better. That takes time, it takes effort, it takes money. Trying new restaurants and services in Louisville and hosting the site are all minor expenses but they do add up over time. Maintaining the backend of the site, writing all the posts, going through all the submissions, trolling the interwebs, bulletin boards in coffee shops and risking life and limb to stop in traffic to read signs for new businesses so I can find out about cool stuff for you take a serious amount of time.
Consuming Louisville has had very little advertising over the years for a few reasons. The two most important ones I think are:
1. I don’t accept ads for products I don’t think would be of interest to Consuming Louisville readers.
2. I don’t sell cheap ad space* or offer ads in exchange for a kickback on products sold through the ads. My reasoning is simple. If Consuming Louisville readers are going to see ads then the revenue from that ad must be sufficient enough that it will allow me, in some way, to make Consuming Louisville better. That might mean I don’t have to hustle for as many freelance jobs this month so I can devote more time to the site or I can afford to have a meal at the newest gastropub or what have you.
The exception to the cheap ad space rule is the Google AdSense ads I’ve been running lately. I monitor the ads and the rule about products I don’t think would be of interest still applies and I block any ads that don’t meet that standard.
Why am I telling you all this? Well, to quote Aloe Blacc: “I need a dollar.” Times are tough all over as everybody knows but they’ve gotten particularly tough for me at the moment. I’d share all the details with you but 1) my lawyer won’t let me and 2) Even if somebody has done me wrong I don’t want to put their dirty laundry in the street.
So I’m asking for your help. I can’t recall ever asking Consuming Louisville readers for money in the past other than when I was fundraising for a charity but now I am asking you directly. If you dig Consuming Louisville, if it’s helped you find some kick ass restaurant you hadn’t tried before or helped you have a great time at a cool event or even if you just love Fairdale Bigfoot’s weekly column then I’m asking you to chip in a little bit if you can. $5, $10, $150? The site’s annual hosting bill is coming due soon and if you want to step up and pay for it, well you’d just be awesome then wouldn’t you (my host sells hosting gift certificates as well)?
When the unfortunate situation I’m in gets resolved I’ll chuck this donation request out the door with the quickness. I’m thinking of this kind of like the NPR pledge drive. If you don’t dig Consuming Louisville and it’s not worth anything to you and you don’t donate, that’s cool. But if you do like the site and what I’m trying to do for our city then I’d really appreciate it if you’d kick in a little something.
Now, if you own a business or you’re in charge of ad buys and you want to support Consuming Louisville the very best way to do that is by advertising on the site.
Cutting to the chase: If I don’t get a little money in ye old bank account soon I’m going to have to get another job (I’ve been working a steady part-time hustle for a while now in addition to my freelance work) and time left to dedicate to Consuming Louisville is going to get minimized. I don’t want that to happen. I hope you don’t want that to happen.
So please consider donating:
I’ve seen many people comment lately that they wish Broken Sidewalk was updated more often and I agree. I’d love to see a new post there every single day but I understand that blogging in a serious way takes more time, energy and money than many people think.
