If you’re a professional human well versed in the arts of “making money” and “management” and “success,” it’s probably a bit frustrating to observe the evolution of the Best Worst Idea of all time — aka Autostraddle.com. Hell, if you’ve ever run a lemonade stand you’re probably wondering what the hell we think we’re doing.
Just like our email inboxes are overflowing with emails, our brains are OVERFLOWING with ideas for making money.
But all we know how to do is write posts. We’ve built it, and rumor has it “they will come,” but now what.
We already know as much as you can know about these things from reading/research/trying to do it ourselves.
So we don’t need learners or interns or suggestions.
We need people who already know what they’re doing and are prepared to do it!
Maybe you know how to set up speaking engagements for our charismatic youngsters or maybe you know how to sell ads or maybe you know how to find investors or how to make money rain from the sky? Maybe you know something about search engine optimization so when people google “lesbian,” we come up within the first 50 pages of results?
We’re open to a situation where specific people are working on specific business-related projects, just whatever works.
This is what we need:
Business/Marketing Advisor – We don’t even know what this person would do, that’s how much we need it. Someone who can help us make money.
Ad Salesperson – This should be a really easy job because we have cornered an incredibly specific market and you can make commission! Our media kit is SUPER cute, also. Jen will help you but she is in Canada. Alex is learning too. We do sell some ads but probs about 10% of what we could be doing.
Really this advertising should sell itself! You should live in the United States! (Ideally in the Bay Area, the Los Angeles area or the New York metro area but if you don’t that’s okay.)
Sidenote: It’s gonna take us a few days to start getting back to people ’cause we’ll have to read/talk about them first. But we’re really liking what has come in so far, like a LOT!
What should you do if you want to do this?
Email laneia [at] autostraddle [dot] com, cc riese [at] autostraddle dot com. Tell us what you can do, give us a resume, link us to relevant evidence of your success. It’s up to you, really, just tell us what you think we need to know and why you want to do it/what your expectations would be.
I’m reading this because I read everything Autostraddle posts, but I am not a businessperson. What can I do?
We’re trying to raise at least $10,000 to keep going for the next two months, during which we hope to establish a more secure, less-dependent-on-you revenue stream. This is more-or-less barebones survival. I sorta half-mentioned this on our tumblr and people have started donating/buying things and we’ve raised about $8,416 (as of Sunday April 17th 6:20 PM PST) so far in donations/sticker sales. You can see our progress in the widget on the sidebar!
We’d like to take a moment to recognize how fucking kickass you guys are. We have tons of subscribers and donators — enough to keep us going this long! If you’ve donated anything, we would hug you if we could see you. You’re the best. Thank you.
Anyhow, we might look into indie-a-go-go (we can’t do kickstarter because we don’t have a specific “project”), but for now if you wanna donate or buy merch, please do!
Other ways to help out include buying things on amazon via autostraddle links (there’s a big button in the sidebar for easy access) — whatever you buy there after clicking out from us earns us commission. We get between 5% and 7.5% of your purchase, 10% for mp3s, and a $50 kickback for any purchases from the amazon wireless store.
ETA: By popular demand we’ve now added an affiliate account at The Book Depository. Also check out these posts which are heavily affiliate-linked, some may be relevant to your interests:
+
Shopping Guide Greatest Hits:
+ Boyshorts 101: Your Complete Guide to Successful Lesbian Underpants
+ Best Headphones: Autostraddle’s Headphones Shopping Guide
+ Headphones Shopping Guide Part Two
+ Feminism 101: Read Books, Become a Better Womyn
+ How to Smell Good 101: Cologne & Perfume Guide for Queers
+ How to Not Dress for Success: Top Fashions For Being Alone in Your Apartment
+
More Incredibly Awesome Shopping Guides:
+ 2010 Fall Fashion Guide for Various Shapes, Sizes, Gender Expressions
+ 2010 Winter Fashion Styles For Various Shapes, Sizes, Gender Expressions
+ Spring Style for Girls Who Like Dresses, Heels, and Flowers!
+ Queer Style: All The Small Things–Autostraddle’s Accessory Guide! Part 1
+ The Queer Style Revolution Will be Accessorized: Accessory Guide Part 2
+ NSFW Sunday Wants a Famous Fisting, Other Lesbosexy Gifts – Includes strap-on shopping guide
+ Period 101: Toxic Shock Station Stomps Out the Tampon Industrial Complex (Includes links to diva cups, tampons which are cheaper when you order them in bulk on the internet, etc)
+ Autostraddle Picks the Best Games of 2010 and Top 5 Anticipated Video Games of 2010
+ 19 Coolest Holiday Gifts for Geeks, Gamers, Tech-Nerds & Beyond
+ What Your Girlfriend Wants: Autostraddle’s Final Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide 2009
+ Also most of our music posts are affiliate link parties, especially playlists.
+ Ditto for books posts, such as Read a Book, You Stupid F*ck: Lesbian Lit for Spring 2010
Also if there’s a thing we could do for you that you’d pay money for — a ‘zine, copywriting, a card from intern emily, etc. — let us know and we’ll look into it!
Does Autostraddle have a link to buy things from the UK Amazon? If not I’ll just start paying overseas postage!!!
Off to donate please don’t dissapear Autostraddle!!
i’ve tried to look into this and as far as i can tell it does not. however someone else suggested we sign up for this so we did:
http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=autostraddle
I’m gonna have to start doing some math (I HATE math, this is my love for Autostraddle!!) as I reckon with a majority of my cheap book purchases you guys would get more money if I ordered from the UK and then directly donated what the additional shipping would have been rather than getting the 10% …
WHATEVS I’m drunk and giving information overload.. in short I will make sure every one of my scarce english pennys and pounds comes your way!!!
<3
I do the monthly donations, but I will step up my game and donate ASAP. Autostraddle is too valuable to lose!
I would like to help so much but I just can’t: I can’t donate because I don’t have my own credit card and I’m not a business person, I’m just a little math student and the only thing I know how to do to raise money is organize concerts but I can’t even do that because I’m in Montreal.
So powerless. :(
as far as I know, you don’t need a credit card! if you have a bank account you can donate via paypal! =)
Nah, they ask for credit card number to get a Paypal account.
If anyone has the cash but not the card, in the US you can buy VISA gift cards in some of the big box stores, then use them just like regular VISAs online. (I know a few people who ask for these as holiday/birthday gifts instead of cards from specific stores.)
You can link your checking account or debit card. I didn’t have a credit card when I signed up. Also, like techalms said, there are always VISA giftcards and Green Dot/moneypak cards but they have small fees.
By the way, readers, if you can’t see the Amazon button, make sure to disable your adblocker for a second.
It would probably be best to disable adblockers on the site entirely. I don’t have oodles of money to donate, so the very, very least I can do is look at a few ads.
Just donated 20$, wish I could do more.
Fellow Europeans with €uros (and you lovely British with £): our currency is strong! It’s not 20€, it’s 14€!
Donate donate donate~
Ha, I’m so smart, should have read your comment first. ;) And yes, yes, our currency IS strong.
If I did not have an irrational fear of stickers and a bank account the size of Rhode Island I would totally chip in right now :(
Next monees is going to Autostraddle
I just donated – yay for getting a job. I’d definitely buy shirts/boy shorts/etc if you get more in.
Like I said on formspring:
I feel like people living in the euro zone – no matter how shitty the economic situation is right now – should donate because let’s face it, it is a bit “cheaper” for us to give $$. I always feel bad because I want to give more and then I do the math and it turns out I can, at least a little…
Also, I don’t know what I would do without autostraddle. Please don’t go away!
I really wish I could help you with something more long term but in the mean time, I donated for the first time yesterday & hope to keep doing so. Good luck!
(And yes – $30 is less that £20 – so do it!)
I JUST BOUGHT MERCH. PLEASE DON’T DIE!! I ONLY TELL THIS TO PEOPLE I REALLY LOVE AND PUPPIES/KITTENS, SO
I will donate/buy a shit ton of stickers as soon as I can figure out how the fuck to work paypal. Pinky swear!
oh gosh me too, paypal confuses the fuck outta me. it wants all sorts of information I’m afraid to give/don’t understand how.
One thing I did a couple of months ago was set my amazon.com bookmark that I use in my Chrome bookmark bar to the Autostraddle affiliate link, and I have amazon prime, so I use it pretty often. I figure every little bit helps, right?
yes it does, thank you!
Is there a way to tell if the link worked and your purchase is helping AS?
I don’t think there’s anything to check after you buy something, but look at the URL when you click on the link: it will say “autowin.”
Dear Autostraddle,
I will buy things & donate really really soon, I promise my gold star lesbian status on this. In the meantime, LET US READERS KNOW when you find someone promising so we can stop having anxiety attacks about the sudden disappearance of all your smart queer political commentary, discussion of literature and poetry, formspring advice, hilarious recaps, raw and honest personal essays, interviews, and most importantly, the super awesome community of awesome lesbos who want you to stay alive so bad. Kay?
Love,
Me
P.S. #itgetsbetter
I’m so inarticulate that I said awesome practically twice in a row in my super ungrammatical sentence. Or maybe you are just so awesome that my fingers refused to type anything else except for the truth in all its thesaurusized glory.
Yup, that one’s it.
Just donated. I absofuckinglutely love this site and all the wonderful people who keep it up and running so I figured it was the minimum I could do. I also bookmarked the amazon link for all my future online purchasing needs. Viva Autostraddle, damnit!
I wish that I could do more for you because I really like this website. I have been buying all my Kindle books (which is a LOT) through the Autostraddle link and have finally become a subscriber, also I just donated some extra. If I had any kind of business acumen I would totally jump in and help. Alas I do not possess that quality. I hope that you are able to keep this site running.
I just bought a sticker and donated. Hope it helps! You guys rock. Advertisers and investors should be knocking all over your door!
Okay but will you accept donations in the form of ESPRESSO SHOTS?!?!??
jk i sent real money. good luck!
THANK YOU CARA WE LOVE YOU!!!
I bought calendars n’ stuff before, bring back the grey v-necks and I will buy some I PROMISE! Didn’t get a chance to buy one last time. :)
I love Autostraddle and the Autostraddle team! I even voted for you guys in the Bloggies! You guys are the best girl-on-girl site for real. Y’all have everything!
I’m a science-food person so unfortunately I can’t offer skills… and I’m jobless so boo… but I’ll donate a bit more. I’ll probably miss the Pride Dyke March again this year so I guess I’ll make up for it by buying a sticker? And plaster it on my Next To Normal hat! :-D
I’m in Canada. If I donate $20 can I get something from intern Emily? I like weird souvenirs…
~hang in there kitteh motivational poster~
People, remember when Autostraddle was down for around a week earlier this year?
Je me souviens.
Je me souviens du lis et de la rose.
Doesn’t the long version sound gay?
if i recall correctly, the guy’s granddaughter said that the actual quote was: “je me souviens/ que né sous le lys/ je croîs sous la rose.” (i remember/ that born under the lily/ i grow under the rose) which, i think, has something to do with being french but growing up under english rule once the brits finished the conquest circa 1759ish.
definitely! what do you want? a kitten or a unicorn? or hand drawn short story? (sidenote i’m almost definitely sold out of kittens and unicorns, they’re really popular)
$18 for LIFE (CHAI- LONG LIVE AUTOSTRADDLE)
*and three stickers bc I have a j-o-b and can afford to give good causes more dollars.
Aww, it’s like Autostraddle’s having her bat-mitzvah. Everyone donate in multiples of $18! L’chaim!
Donated and set up a monthly subscription
This honestly makes me want to major in business/marketing just to help you guys in the future.
Will autostraddle still need this kind of help in likeee 4 years or so (I factored in grad school & work experience)?
i am “working” on a zine article and if you give us $ i will mail you a zine and it will be the best thing you have ever gotten in the mail, unless you’re that person who i sent a drawing of a cat to.
<3 you autostraddle.
Ooh zine, if you’re out of cats and unicorns.
Or even, you could print the no fucks to give article (’cause I don’t have a colour printer for the AS logo )-: ) and draw on the back of the sheet if you like. No wait, can you do the 7-legged spider meme but gay?
this is totally unrelated, but i feel like i just saw brandy howard in a kia commercial? is this a thing?
lookin’ foxy as ever. HELL YA
I say you auction off “dates” with ladies of Autostraddle. We all know that there are creepy sugar mama readers who would bid lots of money to go out to dinner and a movie with the AS women. Haha.
AS an ‘older’ AS reader, I am interested in how “we (you?) all know that there are creepy sugar mama readers who would bid lots of money to go out to dinner and a movie with the AS women. Haha.”
I would bid money to help their cause and to converse with anyone in this talented group– a chance to tell one in person what a difference they are making, among other topics.
In meantime, I am off to make a donation despite that your comment kinda creeped me out.
It was a joke! Obviously my humor doesn’t carry over well via the internet. I didn’t mean to offend you. :/
I’m not sure if you guys want to know about this, since I have no idea how useful it would be to you. But along the merch lines… there’s this sneaker company out of the U.K. that does pretty cool work with custom shoes. Maybe there should be Autostraddle themed sneakers?
Just a thought.
http://www.mesfootwork.com
Autostraddle vibrators?
…. Just and idea.
(I would donate, but I don’t have my own credit card so that’s shot)
*AN, AN, I MEANT AN. CURSE YOU D KEY UGGGHHH.
GoodVibes and possibly some other places have affiliate programs for sex toys! That would be a good start!
CrashPadSeries has a pretty generous affiliate program too, you get 30% of signups.
our goodvibes account:
http://www.goodvibes.com/?kbid=104448 (for some reason this link isn’t working, so instead i am going to link you to this vibrator and let you navigate from there)
our babeland account:
http://www.babeland.com?kbid=1087
I love you and if I wasn’t moving in with my girlfriend in a month and a half I would be giving you all my monies. Please hold on until June 1st, I promise to donate boatloads of my dispensible income to you guys as soon as I can. You are so important – this is so important.
To clarify the Paypal thing: from Canada to USA, when Autostraddle receives the payment, there IS a cost deducted right? So I should donate a little bit more to cover it?
Subscribed. You guys, alongside everyoneisgay.com, were my most valuable resources and sources of comfort while I was coming out. You’re incredibly valuable, and if I wasn’t an editor with business skills similar to yours, I’d be all over this as a passion project.
MOAR MERCH
seriously though, I would buy shirts n stuff you should get lots of them
you guys i’ve been out all day and still am but i had to get on my laptop to tell you how wonderful you are. i feel like we’re gonna hit our goal, fingers crossed! YOU ARE THE BEST I HOPE YOU ALL KNOW THAT YOU ARE A THING
riese, can we get a thermometer-typeadeal thing? or is that too pedantic? idek. i think people need to vote on a thermometer type of barometer type of moneyometer to see how much us ladylovingladies are laying down the cash.
the thermometer has been implemented! I LOVE YOU RIESE
i started subscribing a few months ago and i just donated some more cause you guys are awesome and never seize to brighten my day. love autostraddle <3 <3 <3
Hi I bought stickers I love you.
freerepublic.com has received $20,000 in donations this year and they are ridiculous. I think we can pull 10k off.
Ha! Who can argue with that reasoning?
It’s going to take me a few days but expect my donation to come in midweek sometime.
<3
Payday this week part of my pay cheque is coming your way. AS makes the world a better place.
As a side note, I’m half way through an MA in marketing & business. I’m probs a little under-qualified & on the wrong side of the planet to be as effective as you’d need a marketing guru to be, but let us know if who ever you find needs helpers. I’m all over volunteering some time for something that I actually care about (because you kids win hands down over giant corporate supermarket chains).
Can someone please explain this Amazon thing to me? I am confused. I disabled AdBlock on Amazon (I already had it disabled on AS) and clicked on the link, and I just see the normal Amazon homepage and nothing in a sidebar. Is this what’s supposed to happen?
hi!! yes that is what’s supposed to happen. when you buy stuff then they will get 6% commission i believe :)
my credit card is maxed out, but once i pay my bill i will donate the rest of the money, i promise!
i need autostraddle, though. like, for realz. do not go away.
I have to deal with my own immigration paperwork/attorney, so money is tight, but I can offer my time as a photographer if needed. I m in sunny San Diego. Wish I could help financially.
Donated what I could! Thanks for doing what you do! I don’t comment much, but I read Autostraddle pretty much every day. I wish I could do more, but I’m a poor liberal studies major (that’s for teaching, not arts) and thus have no money and no useful skills in the areas you need.
Also, I would totally love a zine if you made one. I’m a sucker for things in dead tree format. Plus it would be easier to tell my friends about “this article I saw on Autostraddle last night,” if I could whip a zine out of my bottomless messenger bag and show them.
so, i buy a ton, literally a ton of books from bookdepository.com/.co.uk because i live in australia and amazon shipping is more than the price of content. BUT, i saw on the site that they have an affiliate program too!! (5% commission for purchases via paypal, after $40) if autostraddle becomes an affiliate with bookdepository i think you would be getting a lot (more) of my money. because they do free shipping almost anywhere internationally this could also be a good option to recommend for international readers of books and bookclubbers.
http://affiliates.bookdepository.com/affiliates/index.php
THIS THIS THIS
my family and friends have spent 500+ dollars here in the last month.
x 2 – another Aussie here who bookdepositories everything!
http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=autostraddle
Thanks for that!
I’ll definitely be using the link from now on.
Thanks Riese! I am putting in an order today, great timing :)
I’m going to buy stickers and I’m about to spend a significant amount of money at Amazon ($100 for a graphing calculator is RIDICULOUS but at least I know some of the money is going to Autostraddle). Autostraddle is my favourite thing ever and I actually look forward to reading your articles. <3 I don't know what I'll do if you go away.
Going to go donate now. ;)
I donated $10. It’s not much but it’s all I can give right now. I’m at the tail-end of studying abroad so ALL of my monies have been spent on traveling and food (it’s expensive here). I’ll be working again in June though so I’ll donate more then! I only started reading AS recently but LOVE it. Like seriously I think I’m addicted and maybe perhaps it’s a problem. :)
I donated yesterday when I realized that I will never be able to afford the plane ticket I am saving for but I can def afford to donate 2 hours of pay to AS. I totes read AS for more than 2 hours a week. It is not much but the pound is strong, I can just have salad for dinner and every little helps. When I get a real job I will subscribe.
I’m also hoping that you get more shirts soon, you always sell out of my size before I wake up!
Good luck :)
hey i saw riese’s formspring answer w/r/t Alex not having that much time to implement the whole merch thing. luckily, i have no irl friends and don’t have much to do this summer. i would love to spray paint tshirts/tote bags/hoodies/sweatpants/boyshorts for you guys to sell (and would do so free of charge). i really love what you guys do and know people are always clamoring for merch so i figured i could help you give the people what they want :)
i’m not that artsy though, so alex needs to send me her stencils right soon.
also, i bought some stickers and a calendar, so if this idea blows, i still helped haha
just got paid so i got stickers and a calender to gay up the barracks. and as soon as yall get more shirts I WANT :)
ahhh i think i am leotarded i can’t figure out how to add lovely merch into my cart on the thingy. help. i want to give you monies.
I cant help but wonder, is that Topanga in your avatar?
why, yes, yes it is.
Stickers for meeeeeee ahhhh!
Hi, was not aware that you guys earn a commission on Amazon purchases when clicked through your link to Amazon. Pretty much other than food, everything i purchase I get through Amazon (read $$s). Amazon loves me, and now AS can share the love (hugs, kisses).
Will tell my friends and family as well to click through AS to Amazon.
+ $20
Good Luck!
Donating like yeah! Please don’t pull an OurChart and disappear. Im a Management major (and a Marketing minor) but im still in school and my experience is limited, otherwise i’d do this for free. HANG ON THERE AUTOSTRADDLE!
I still don’t understand what happened to OurChart.
Neither do I. All i know is that i lost contact with really great -and hot, tbqh- people and it blows.
If anyone is legitimately interested in what happened to OurChart, I could tell that story one day
YOU GUYS PLEASE WE’RE SO MUCH BETTER THAN OURCHART
Riese I have been waiting months for that article you promised me on why lesbian businesses/bars/websites don’t exist or don’t survive! Please reveal this mystery to us!
sorry i shouldn’t have said that about the ourchart article. it’s actually the first thing we want to do when we have enough funds that we can look into it thoroughly before saying anything definite.
but i mean basically it was a really poorly executed concept, the site was clunky and hard to navigate, the “chart’ aspects of the social networking were unclear from the get-go and inconsistent with what people saw on the show, the friend-accepting process was technically cumbersome, leisha and kate invested and then really stopped putting any time into it or caring beyond just having their names up there and stopped making content for the site, showtime wanted a lot more control over what IFC was producing and she got frustrated playing by their rules, “the competition” wanted to kill it because that’s what you do when you are competition and the competition more or less successfully killed it, ilene put up too much stuff about herself and made people feel weird, they were strange and misguided about what they’d let their writers publish (laneia could tell you more about this, i was a guestbian writer there but not a regular), they failed to really distinguish themselves from AE in any meaningful way besides that OC didn’t work as well as AE and sometimes published sort of mediocre articles about politics and AE doesn’t even go there, they were a bit scattered about what their target market was, exactly, and basically that it’s really really really really difficult to make significant bank in the lesbian online media market. I actually don’t know of any site that does which hasn’t been sold to a giant corporation, and even then they might not really make money, they just survive off the money made from the male-targeted sites owned by the same company. But one of the most significant problems was truly that Max never made that shit work and people got sick of trying.
I think there’s more behind-the-scenes stuff that went down there but we don’t want to get into it until we’re financially secure enough to risk talking about that kind of stuff. ANd you know, the scientologists.
However it kills me b/c if we had the kind of startup cash that OC had, jesus christ i can’t even imagine. All that money down the drain.
thanks for the extensive response! i hope you reach a point soon where you can do the kind of in-depth article you/we would like to see! and i donated on top of my subscription this month <3
Almost 8k! Can that graphic link to this post?
Also yes I’d like to hear these stories.
The graphic can’t but the little headline above it can!
is there anyway to get julie goldman to just say my wife’s name on video? she would die, and i would be wife of the century. how much money would it require?
Donated + buying some stuff through the amazon link.
I am an accounting/finance person, so I’m not sure that my skills would directly translate to what you need, but if you all needed something along those lines in the future I’d def be willing to donate some time as well.
I JUST got a job after 5 months of unemployment and almost no monies coming in so I can’t donate YET! But, as soon as wife and I get our bills caught up and get settled with the money coming in on a regular basis I SWEAR I will donate! I SWEAR!
I LOVE Autostraddle! Don’t go away! If there is a threat I will HAPPILY go without food/roof/clothes to donate if death becomes imminent! That’s how much I heart AS! :)
this is a good post from autostraddle. Keep it up!!
Why do u guys need $? Just wondering… what are u paying for?
Are you serious?
Umm YES. Good content but… are the writers paid? THATS MY QUESTION.
IndieGoGo is pretty good, though of course like any other crowdfunding project it’s not the platform that’s important it’s getting attention to it. That said, it’s great for something like A/S because it’s not all or nothing and you get the money as it comes in, so you don’t have to wait for $10k to start implementing things.
Donated yesterday, and will be using the AS amazon link with the gift card I just got for my birthday.
Just curious- are these expenses tax-related, or does it cost this much to keep the site going year round?
Tax season has brought our dismal financial state into focus and the fact that to continue down this road is a terrible idea. also, taxes are draining most of what we’ve got left.
$5K a month is actually waaaayyyy less than the minimum-monthly-operating budgets we’ve laid out with various experts (ranging from $8K to $40k/month, depending on what we hope to accomplish/grow). We don’t run as well as we should, at all, and the fact that we’ve never had a full operating budget is why we don’t. We cut a lot of corners and have a lot of debt. I feel like we can do this though, that if we raise this money it will be enough to get us through until we start generating more revenue.
this is kind of like npr…except for lesbians…totally supporting!
In about three months I’ll officially be a licensed Commodity Trading Advisor(CTA), So when the time comes and you Autostraddle is still looking for some help, and interested in investing, even a small amount of money can go a long way in the Futures Market. I love Autostraddle and it would be so exciting to use my skills to help out!
Even though I never pay for any entertainment-related things, I do read your website everyday and you guys asked really nicely. I’m on a fairly strict month-to-month budget, but if I can forget about it when I get hammered on a Saturday night, I can buy a bumper sticker for you guys. Every little bit helps, right? This is the same feeling I had when I donated $20 to Obama in 2008. That was a big deal to me.
Also, I will whitelist AS from my ad blocker program if you get money when ads load on your page. (If not, I will keep them blocked. I hate ads. Especially ones where you need to shoot 50 Cent or a baby is dancing.)
our ads are really gentle and not obnoxious, we promise! we used to have obnoxious ads from this one ad network that we don’t use anymore wherein the gentleman in charge totally fucked us and we never got paid for anything, but moving on!
the thing is that when we do sell ads, we promise the advertisers a certain amount of impressions. if everyone is using an ad-blocker, then they think we padded our stats to sell the ad.
so yeah, the impressions matter.
I did it. These ads don’t even feel like ads. They are very on-topic (see: gay). I agree that you guys probably could sell more ads than you have on the page. Hope you find the businessy person you need. If you guys ever decide to go into politics, hit me up!
thank you!
Can you tell me how to whitelist AS on my adblocker? I’m trying but it’s so confusing! :-/ I have Firefox with AdBlockPlus and the Easy List filter (hrm. not so easy).
Check the toolbar for the Adblock icon, which is like a little stop sign with ABP on it. Click on that to bring up a menu, which should include an option “disable on autostraddle.com” Once you click that, it should allow ads for the whole of AS and the icon will turn green.
If you can’t find the icon, then go to Tools -> Add-ons and you should see Adblock plus in the list, with an options button. Click that button to either manually add a filter for AS, or open the options menu and select “show in toolbar” and do the stuff above.
That’s how it should look in Firefox 3.6, hopefully isn’t too dissimilar in 4 if you’re using that.
Thank you! I had the button disabled on my toolbar, so I couldn’t find it. Now I am seeing beautious ads on AS (actually, some of them are kinda sexy! :))
I bought stickers! And I *WILL* donate, goddammit, as soon as I start work next week (fingers crossed). I’d donate now but just had to pay my student loan bill and send the state of Illinois two hundred dollars. :(
Bought stickers and a calendar – please make there be t-shirts (American Apparel sexyones) and I will buy some for me and all of my homogay friends! Please please please! Here’s a link to the merch service one of my favorite bloggers uses: http://www.zazzle.com/ It allows many customizations and lots of different products. Check it out perhaps?
This.
But also, this.
Sigh. Um, okay, so to clarify:
The answer to ppl screaming for AS stuff to buy is “hrm, we don’t have time” and/or “we nag our staff too much already so why don’t you ask them yourself” and then “hrm, we don’t have money”? I love y’alls but this makes me very very sad…mostly bcz you have an amazing product and a committed fan base and we would all be utterly devastated to see you go under :(
FUTURE AUTOSTRADDLE BUSINESS-SAVVY PERSON TAKE NOTE:
I bought what little AS stuff is available, and I did so with money I got from “donating” (aka selling) my blood plasma (a la Biolife). If that isn’t commitment I don’t know what is SO GODDAMMIT SELL US THE STUFF WE WANT TO BUY.
The End. I love you.
Destiny
I don’t remember where I saw this, but I read that for every $10 we spend on Zazzle they get $3. Also the quality of stuff from both places is not A+. So although they’d love to sell us the things we want, they’re holding out for better profit margins and quality profits, which I can’t fault them for.
I’ve been thinking about Autostraddle a lot lately and have been wanting to ask you to tell me exactly have skills/person you need and I will go to school and learn it all for the sole purpose of being able to support AS in whatever way you need me to.
If you had an office, I’d do janitorial things if that was necessary. I’m that serious about it!
Oh I thought this comment didn’t go through and went and copypasta’d it into the paypal’s ‘special note’ or whatever. oops.
alsooooo, how do you go about changing the amount of the automatic monthly donations? upwards, claro.
Hi Stiney! I asked Riese this a couple weeks ago. Apparently it is easiest just to cancel the subscription and resubscribe at the higher rate.
I am graduating from college with degrees that are not relevant to your interests… so! have some of my graduation $$ instead! I love you so much autostraddle… if only I wasn’t an idiot and could help. But for you, I will try to get a job that pays me moneys so I can give them to you!
Just here to say i finally got a real job. (also I hope this means the economy is improving!) I promised that once I got a real job, I would donate money and buy things. I get my first check on Friday at which point I shall gladly give!
Secondly, I want to say I had to move to Miami for the new job and I need some new friends! Do Autostraddlers exist here?!
Wish I could donate more, but it all adds up right?
Best of luck with the hunt/fund raising.
~ Christine
$1,584 to go. Running out of stickers yet?
Looks like you guys are getting close! That makes me happy. I really hope Autostraddle stays around for a long time.
why don’t you set up an account on Etsy, and do zines, postcards or little knickknack things to sell there? i realize that you already have a site for your merch, but Etsy would be easy because instead of advertising an abundance of things, it’ll be unique one time item
have an autostraddler pay you a couple of dollars to have their “piece” on Autostraddle’s account on Etsy. and then you sell it to for profit. so it’d be like a donation of talent and a couple of dollars from the artist. that way they get exposed to other readers, and you get some money.
also, like others have said, increase your merch. hats, different designs for shirts, sweats, socks*, jewelry etc… t-shirt design contest? in order to be in the contest, the person would throw in an entry fee, then a;ex can choose the best one, and it’d be part of the merch. the winner gets the joy of their shirt being designed.
you could also have someone pay you to write an article about whatever they want under certain guidelines via whatever they may be.
promote “This Story is True (Fuck You)” again#.
*especially this
#make more recordings?
if we can buy our way into autostraddle, prepare yourselves for a terracottatoesocracy, bitches
oh god. i feel i should put on a raincoat. idk why.
maybe cuz i would MAKE IT RAIN
heyooooo
I presume that all official proceedings will be conducted in Canadian capslock and one of your first acts will be to commission a national flag with a very tastefully rendered beaver in a mounties uniform.
you’re catching on, goebbels*
*disclaimer: i mean this only in the “someone who is good at propaganda” sense, not in the “i don’t like jewish people” sense; back away from the pitchforks
if we could buy our way into Autostraddle, then i’d be Richard Gere and Autostraddle would be Julia Roberts.
donation = done.
subscription = coming soon.
(it’s the former Merch Girl here in case anyone was wondering whoTF this is)
a) Does the Amazon link work for Kindle too? Ebooks ahoy!
b) I love Robin’s photography work and would pay to have calender-esque photos taken by her if it was at all possible to have us in the same side of the world. Could that be an option?
c) Sell advertising to us! Sidebar or sponsored posts or This Week’s Column Brought To You or something. Surely there are other A/S biz owners out there.
just made my first donation! yay! you guys are made of win! hang in there!
sadly i am but a poor student, BUT when i’ve got some mo’ meneys to give, i will throw some in your direction..
I know you aren’t particularly looking for ideas, but just in case:
Fundraising Idea Number One:
Remember when Miranda July and Carrie Brownstein made videos that you could only watch if you donated to Obama’s campaign?
What if Autostraddle produced some more exclusive video content (Julie & Brandy, Riese & Haviland vlogs, etc) that you have to pay for to watch?
Fundraising Idea Number Two:
A Seattle paper, the Stranger, does an annual charity auction called “Strangercrombie”. http://bit.ly/7ddiID
They auction off not only unique gifts, but also parts of their paper – the cover, reviews, features, etc.
Things Autostraddle could AutoAuction:
• Feature article written by an Autostraddle writer of your choice, on subject of your choice
• Honorary Calendar girl for a day
• Star in an Autostraddle video
• Stef and A;ex will cover and dance to a Gaga song of your choice
Also, not sure how doable this is, but what if Autostraddle printed off a bunch of custom coasters with their URL on them (http://bit.ly/gHwTbi), and then sent them to lesbian bars to use in exchange for advertising?
Like shooting fish in a barrel, plus, many people are bound to pull out their smartphones and check it out – especially if the ad was done right.
I drive all around the Valley here in AZ. If you sent over an autostraddle approved sticker, I’ll get a giant one made and slap it on the back window of my xB. My back window is pretty much half the car so it would be pretty big and noticeable. Just a small idea to help promote the site more.
+ $50.
First time commenting. I’m older & haven’t wanted to be perceived as creepy (hello). Don’t want to date you youngsters, just incredibly grateful for the smart, funny, respectful, inclusive, informative resource that Autostraddle is. How I wish you had existed 25 years ago. Please exist forever now. xoxox
thank you!
It’s funny b/c i know our readership is actually super diverse w/r/t age, but our commenters and definitely our formspring followers tend to skew pretty young (which is reflective of the web in general) so people tend to think it’s just super-young’ens around here but it’s not at all
thank you for donating!
Ooh you answered me. Thank you. Now I kind of feel like I really exist.
Weird how even in an incredibly welcoming environment it’s still possible inadvertently to find yourself feeling invisible.
Thanks for the reassurance, Riese. And thanks again for everything you do. I know it must be unbelievably hard to keep this thing going. The work you are doing here matters SO MUCH.
So happy to find that I am not the only older person that frequents this website. I also hope that you stick around for a long, long time.
hello fellow older person
glad you’re here too
idea for broke students – the end of the semester is nearing and everyone will be selling back their textbooks. I don’t think you could really make AS money when you sell them back, BUT when you buy textbooks for next semester, get ’em through Amazon if you shop online. I think that Book Depository website has textbooks as well. Those astronomical prices can finally do some good for someone.
Have you thought about becoming incorporated in a larger business, such as 353 Media or other online sources? Can you receive monetization through more ad driven, gay friendly traffic, such as olivia cruise and other businesses? Running contests on your site via these other businesses? Do you have analytics to read how many hits a day various pages on your site get read?
I bought both my and my girlfriend’s Kindle using the autostraddle link and gave it to a friend, too. Hope that helps a little. :)
Just cancelled an UO order and donated $50, worth it.
I work with the Ghana Media Group as a videographer,but in the near future i will like to open my own company what are the things i need to consider.
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