Website finances and our options

[Meshon]

the winner could be on the cover of the 2017 calendar, or a centerfold or something.

Just to be clear, you're talking about the winner's map, right? Or is this a different kind of calendar than I thought it was?

Hmmm… I wonder… no. Anyway.

I'm sure there's lots of others here too, but I used to work in an office designing printish things with software. I haven't done it professionally since I started grad school, but I still dabble from time to time. I'm saying I could help with layout and design if there's a book project. Maybe calendar too.

cheers,
Meshon

[ChickPea]

Just to be clear, you're talking about the winner's map, right? Or is this a different kind of calendar than I thought it was?

*snorts* A round of applause for Mr. July!

But seriously, I do hope the calendar happens because I'd love to have something like this hanging on the wall. I think J's idea for other merch like mugs would be a good idea too. I mean, who doesn't want to drink coffee out of a Cartographer's Guild mug? That would look super cool sitting on my desk!

I had one other thought about raising revenue, but not sure if it's worthwhile or not. Would it be worth setting up Amazon affiliate links? I used to listen to a podcast (from Jupiter Broadcasting) and they were always encouraging you to go to their home page and click on a link before shopping on Amazon, and anything you subsequently bought would earn the podcast a small amount of money. They have links at the bottom of their home page to the various international Amazon sites, plus a few other sites as well. Because it's a bunch of tech geeks who listen to their podcasts, someone actually developed Firefox & Chrome extensions, so that you didn't even need to click the link, though that's probably a bit much for us. Don't know what sort of monetary value is involved, probably not much, but it might go some way to offsetting the dwindling ad revenues. If you're going to buy something at Amazon anyway, why not give the Guild a tiny kickback? I'm not certain of what's involved in setting up something like this though, and it may be more trouble than it's worth, but thought I'd throw the idea out there anyway.

[- Max -]

I really like the calendar idea and I'd be willing to donate art to it. I might even create something brand new for it.

Heh. That could be next year's Annual Challenge right there - a themed map, and the winner could be on the cover of the 2017 calendar, or a centerfold or something.

Just to be clear, you're talking about the winner's map, right? Or is this a different kind of calendar than I thought it was?

Hmmm… I wonder… no. Anyway.

Actually Diamond is probably speaking regarding a first calendar experience here at the guild. That's a private CL's calendar, where he won and he has a nice centerfold double page. Of course we're not talking about maps here No need to say we won't monetarize it (though I'm pretty sure that people would pay a lot to check those awesome centerfold pages!!!)

[TK.]

Actually Diamond is probably speaking regarding a first calendar experience here at the guild. That's a private CL's calendar, where he won and he has a nice centerfold double page. Of course we're not talking about maps here No need to say we won't monetarize it (though I'm pretty sure that people would pay a lot to check those awesome centerfold pages!!!)

Hawt! How many souls do I need to put my hands into this?!?


Seriously though, a difficulty that I see with physical Stuffz®, while I assume the majority of people here might be from US, many of us are from all over the globe and thus logistics to actually deliver whatever we might decide to be an additional step. Maybe the company that will actually produce and/or print the art on the mugs could take care of delivering them?

[J.Edward]

Hawt! How many souls do I need to put my hands into this?!?


Seriously though, a difficulty that I see with physical Stuffz®, while I assume the majority of people here might be from US, many of us are from all over the globe and thus logistics to actually deliver whatever we might decide to be an additional step. Maybe the company that will actually produce and/or print the art on the mugs could take care of delivering them?

It depends, TK, on who is chosen to do the POD. Red Bubble does the supply side stuff and I know they deliver most everywhere.
I think they originated out of Australia, though they have location in US.
Only real problem with POD, print on demand, is the somewhat high base cost of items.
Base cost of a t-shirt is something like $12-15 US and then with the artists percentage on top of that products can be a bit pricey.
But you are getting the ease of someone else doing the work and distribution so it's a compromise.

[Robbie]

So, I've been reading your posts, and haven't had a lot of time to respond...a LOT of great ideas here.

I wanted to mention that our search position has probably suffered due to the demise of VBSEO, a PAID plugin that used to really optimize the URL structure of vbulletin. They completely abandoned the project and support fell off so that it was no longer compatible with the updates to vbulletin that you HAVE to take to avoid getting hacked. The good news is...since donations are up right now, and if they continue, I could probably see myself upgrading the site to vbulletin 5 and I think that has better SEO optimization and some other new features. Other good news, we'll probably be going through a server migration early next week, which will put us on newer hardware and a newer backbone out of Portland, OR (currently Irvine, CA). There will probably be some downtime in this migration...especially with search, since I'm using custom DB optimization software that is not supported (or moved) by the host on major server changes. There's also often some trickiness with nginx on moving as well.

I'm going to look into creating some subscription donation methods...and start reaching out to others that have volunteered some additional help. Thank you all so much for your incredibly gracious support! You guys are great, and I'm so glad I still have this community going.

[Diamond]

...Much as I'm sure you'd all like to see a scantily-clad Diamond in a calendar, uh no. I was talking about the winner's MAP.

[ChickPea]

...Much as I'm sure you'd all like to see a scantily-clad Diamond in a calendar, uh no. I was talking about the winner's MAP.

Well that's my day ruined!

[J.Edward]

There is a certain merit to exclusivity - a set print run, buy it now or lose the chance - that prompts faster purchases than when it is just sitting there and you can buy it whenever... like maybe next year... when you have more money.
So physical print runs are good for that. Upfront cost and distribution are your enemies there though.
With a kickstarter, the Guild would be responsible for a lot. Running the KS, getting everything printed, packaged and sent out to all the right people who paid.
I've talked with some people who have done KS and it isn't always a well run picnic.

I know Robbie wanted something that would be minimally invasive, time wise. So some ideas hit that better than others.
But it is his circus so he will decide on what he feels serve him/the guild best I assume.
But I am enjoying all the ideas being put forth. This has been a really good group convo so far.

[Cirias]

Hi Rob,

Sorry to hear about the site's difficulties. I donated this year for the first time and will continue to do so when I can. This is a fantastic community and I credit the Guild entirely for getting me started with fantasy cartography and helping me to develop my abilities.

For me, and many others, the forums are not only a great place to share our maps and discuss mapping techniques, but they are also one of the only places on the internet to advertise for fantasy cartographers. If the Mapmaking Requests forum was ever put behind a paywall or discontinued, I'm sure there would be a whole host of disappointed folks. I'm not saying you are planning to do that, I just wanted to express my thoughts.

A web store would be a cool idea. We could sell some items that could make great gifts, all showing off the Guild's excellent maps. Sites like Spreadshirt or Zazzle have been good for that in the past for my own projects, but I don't know how cost effective they would be. Maybe we could look at getting the site sponsored by someone within the fantasy arena? No idea of how such a thing would be done - sorry!

Anyway, really hope you get this sorted out. Hopefully we have given you some ideas

All the best,
James