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A place to relax and socialize - to muse, think aloud and suggest
TrutherInTX
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Posts: 102
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2011 12:38 am

Re: Forum Advertising

Unread post by TrutherInTX »

My preference would be a creative t-shirt. It would be like a badge of honor. I do not post much but I read often and I appreciate the hard work of all the sleuths on here. If there was a recommended contribution I’ll donate. Whatever option I’ll participate.
diagonal2
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Posts: 104
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:46 pm

Re: Forum Advertising

Unread post by diagonal2 »

Sell T-shirts and other accessories and ask for donations to keep the site afloat. There are systems that you can set up, nothing complicated (paypal is one example).

Edit: Found this simon: http://www.districtlines.com/home

Custom t-shirts with shopping cart functionality.
Last edited by diagonal2 on Mon Jul 09, 2012 5:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
diagonal2
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Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:46 pm

Re: Forum Advertising

Unread post by diagonal2 »

And don't waste your time with googles AdSense Program... they'll just ban your account for "dangerous content".
MsQ
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Re: Forum Advertising

Unread post by MsQ »

If selling t-shirts and stickers, you could set up a merch account at somewhere like bigcartel.com, where you can easily link the account to Paypal. Its free there for up to 3 kinds of items. I had a BC shop for a short while and it was easy to use.
My income jumps from being great, to ok, to being near non-existant at this point in my life, but I'll happily donate when I can.
I also like the sticker idea a lot.
Personally I am a bit fussy in the t-shirt department. If t-shirts were made small enough, (I'm tiny!) And in the "wife beater" style, I'd be keen to buy one, but I am guessing I am a minority here. Maybe if only regular t-shirts are made in larger sizes, I could buy one for someone else and insist that they wear it :)

I like 2 lines better than 3:
SEPTEMBER CLUES
Exposing Media Fakery
Or perhaps the other way around?

Actually getting t-shirts printed shouldn't be too hard to do, or very expensive. Just find a screen printer, ask for a quote for your design. See if they do a mix of t-shirt colours, sizes and styles, or just a one size fits all type deal. Check that their previous work and reputation isn't shoddy.
Most screen printers I know can supply good quality shirts, but some are ok if you want to buy your own shirts to use. It's worth checking the quality of their shirts if you do choose the option of using their supply, because it can vary.
One screen printer I know has a deal where you pay for him to make the screen, (I think it's AU$30.) Then he charges X amount to print of shirts, He will keep the screen and you can pick and choose when you want to have shirts made. Others I know only do bulk orders.
It's been a while since I had shirts made, so this may or may not be relevant... It used to be that single colour prints were cheaper than more than one colour, and printing on a white shirt cheaper than printing on black. There are different inks of course, but thats about as much as I know.

I am not a fan of lots of ads, but certainly wouldn't stop coming here due to advertising. So long as they don't slow the pages down, and are not really stupid sex ads with a girls face that pops up and says, "Hi, I'm online now, speak to me baby!" I think I am ok with it :)
fbenario
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Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2009 1:49 am
Location: Atlanta, GA
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Re: Forum Advertising

Unread post by fbenario »

My goal in spending so much time considering and formulating my two lengthy posts earlier in the thread was to convince the forum that collectively we need to start helping Simon with the forum's ongoing costs. The only way to institutionalize this process, and give it the approval of the Admins and long-term members, is to begin formal fundraising or internet advertising on our Home Page. Unfortunately, now I see that nothing has happened, this issue has no forward-motion, and apparently nothing will be done.

Simon, I owe you a big apology. I evidently did not write as coherently and convincingly as I should have. I'm mystified, however, how I could have improved either post.

If I may say this without long-term members taking personal insult, I think everyone not penniless who reads the forum on a daily basis, yet fails to contribute monetarily to insure that the forum will actually be there every day for you to read, should feel guilty. I can't think of a better way to show Simon you don't respect his time or his pocketbook. By now we all know that the more well-off members of society are the folks who feel the least empathy for others, and are least likely to help someone in need. Congrats to many of you for apparently being well-off.

I'm aware some of you contribute informally on your own, and you get my great thanks > you have good hearts. Shame on the rest of you.

Simon, I'm now done with this for good. I will continue to send you what little I can, when I can.
simonshack
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Re: Forum Advertising

Unread post by simonshack »

Dear Fbenario,

You certainly don't owe me any apology - I owe you many thanks for helping out with this pretty 'sensitive' issue.

I call it a 'sensitive' issue for the following reasons - which I hope everyone will appreciate:

1: I embarked in the September Clues research about six years ago without thinking for a minute to make money out of it. In fact, as I published my documentary online back in 2007 (simply uploading it on the now defunct, little-known Livevideo.com video portal - and not on Youtube, because it already seemed to me as a suspect, 'mainstream' channel) , I was very wary of conveying the wrongful impression that my research was yet another money-making "9/11 truth" operation.

2: When Hoi Polloi joined me here in my house in 2009 (a six-month stay during which we put together the Vicsim research), we decided against putting a donate button on Cluesforum (which Hoi helped me set up). Again, because we both agreed that our research might thereby be questioned for being yet another for-profit operation. So, instead, we opted to just have a discreet donate button on the septemberclues.org website (at the bottom of this contact page). Not a very visible place to put it, you might say, but that's what we did - in order to avoid being labeled as "yet another FOR-PROFIT 9/11truther op".

Now, there's a pretty tricky dilemma here. You may get people asking (and that has actually been the case, lately) questions to this tune: "where does the September Clues author get his funding from? He doesn't even seem to care much about funding! He must be very wealthy - or get his funds from the CIA or ...(as the LetsRoll clowns say)... the Binladen family!"

Well, I just recently put up a donate button on Cluesforum (at the bottom of the index page). I hope it will be understood and appreciated by everyone as a natural need for covering the expenses to uphold our common efforts at Cluesforum.

Now, ever since the first donate button was placed on the "contact author" page of septemberclues.org (back in 2009), I have received approximately 3000 euros. I hereby wish to WARMLY AND RESPECTFULLY thank every single donator who has supported the "September Clues enterprise"(which actually started in 2006). So yes, I've been working at this for about six years now - covering all of my web hosting expenses, my (self-financed) travels around Italy to present SC in conference halls (invited by friendly, yet penniless youth orgs), and my personal time - all of this with a total 'income' (over 6 years) of 3000 euros. You are free to believe in one of the following options:

A: I am completely inept at marketing/advertising September Clues.
B: I am a fool. (For working six years with a measly 3000 euro donation budget)
C: I am a complete liar.

I dearly hope you will choose option A ( or, perhaps - option B ). Now, not to dramatize all this: Cluesforum itself is not in peril, there's no way it's going to die - due to funding issues. Yet, I would certainly appreciate any financial support for our common endeavors, to keep improving the visibility of this forum, to allow some 'legroom' to implement further ways of diffusing its findings - and also, quite frankly, to lighten the financial burden I have been sustaining on my own ever since 2006.

Sincerely yours

Simon Shack
burningame
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Re: Forum Advertising

Unread post by burningame »

Simon, I would like to ask how much does it cost to host SC - are we talking in the ballpark of around 100, or 500 euros/year? If you could be clearer on the figures, we could get an idea. I'm of the view that you should definitely not have advertising on the site. You and Hoi were right - the credibility factor is very important, if not essential. It would be better to simply ask the participants to part with $20-30 each/year. There would have to be at least a core group of 20 people who would contribute. And then there are the sympathetic readers (lurkers) - that group would surely be at least the same size, if not much bigger.

Maybe put a status bar of funds received on both the SC front page and board index, next to the donate button, so we can all see how much you have/need. That way we can see instantly if you need bread.
simonshack
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Re: Forum Advertising

Unread post by simonshack »

burningame wrote:
Maybe put a status bar of funds received on both the SC front page and board index, next to the donate button, so we can all see how much you have/need. That way we can see instantly if you need bread.
Dear Burningame,

I think time has come for me to shove aside my 'pride' and tell you (and anyone interested) about my current, personal financial predicament. It is of course a tough/tricky issue for me to address, as I have strived in these last five years not to appear like yet another 9/11 profiteer... As you'll know, I uploaded September Clues online for free viewing and download, and I have not had anything up for sale other than my SC soundtrack - the income of which (we're talking about a couple of hundred euros) I've been splitting with the members of my five-piece band, 'The Social Service'. Yes, as previously stated, I've also received SC donations over these last five years (approx 3000 euros) - and that's it.

Now, the sad and unfortunate side of my SC research (at a personal level) is that my increasing (and eventually full-time) dedication to it was a direct cause of my band falling apart. This, at a time when The Social Service was starting to take off, our first album getting rave reviews in the Italian press - so we were all hoping that we'd start touring and stuff. I still feel bad about having let down my four music partners - in favor of pursuing my SC efforts.

So, to make a long story short, I currently have no income other than occasional jobs in my home recording studio - which hardly cover my house bills. In other words, Burningame, I hope that you won't ask me (on top of my daily, selfless dedication to this forum) to also keep a diligent accountancy of whatever donations people send my way - so as to keep them 'aligned' with my webhosting expenses only!
fbenario
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Re: Forum Advertising

Unread post by fbenario »

simonshack wrote:Now, the sad and unfortunate side of my SC research (at a personal level) is that my increasing (and eventually full-time) dedication to it was a direct cause of my band falling apart. This, at a time when The Social Service was starting to take off, our first album getting rave reviews in the Italian press - so we were all hoping that we'd start touring and stuff. I still feel bad about having let down my four music partners - in favor of pursuing my SC efforts.
As much as I love music, the continued existence of this forum into eternity is much, much more important to the world than any music. Music makes life worth living, but it doesn't stop the military killing civilians.

As a group we have to make sure Simon stays afloat financially.
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