Steve, VDare really needs to get smarter about fundraising.
First, web fundraising 101 will tell you that people want a progress bar. I guess Brimelow might not want to disclose how much is needed, but it's sort of a matter of public record for those who care to look. You could initialize it at say $100k with the goal to get to the $500k level.
Second, this super long essay with the Paypal link at the end is not going to be that effective. You want the money link *right* there with nice graphics with a recommended donation amount in red.
Third, there should be one (1) recommended donation at the top which comes with a free copy of your book or a VDare t-shirt. It should be an order form that someone can fill out in page and as close to an impulse buy as you can make it. You can have a small font thing below it for the people who want to give more than say $100.
Fourth, you need to have some kind of snappy motivating headline. "The bad guys donated $100M to La Raza last year. Can you donate just $100 to VDare?" Something like that, which gets people's competitive juices flowing. If you could do a little Javascript, put an immigration meter or something like that alongside the donation bar and make it react and shrink as donations increase.
Take a look at how 37Signals does signup forms to get some idea of how a successful web business does this kind of thing.
I give $100 a couple times a year, but I suppose I should donate on a monthly basis. I pay more annually in storage fees for my motorcycle. VDare is an extremely worthy project -- and like the United States, you'll miss Vdare when it's gone.
I can believe it that the sovereignty haters are pressuring funding agencies to cut Vdare off. And something tells me the White House knows all about Steve's book -- and it really pisses them off.
Steve, I don't know how much of a compliment this is, but you are definitely (along with Paul Craig Roberts) the best writer on that third-rate waste of a server farm.
And they *still* have a web-site that looks like it was put together by my 8 year-old nephew. Wait, that's not fair ... to my nephew.
With approx. $500,000 in annual revenue (IIRC) you think they'd be able to do better.
It's really irritating, and as much as I hate to say it, it suggests incompetence on the part of Brimelow at some level.
To be fair, I think the VDare Foundation (?) was involved in launching AlternativeRight.com, but my guess is that says more about Richard Spencer than anything else.
Peter Brimelow needs to leave a little more money on the table. Paying himself over half of Vdare's revenues (more than $300k) doesn't motivate me to contribute.
Please suggest that Peter Brimelow respond to these allegations.
That's why I'd contribute straight to Sailer. But it's strange to see the SPLC accusing Brimelow of profiting from a cause. I mean, why draw attention to yourself?
I find it hard to believe that a website like Vdare requires almost $400,000 a year to run. Brimelow would garner more donations if he was more upfront with his business decisions. The fact that his website is so poorly designed suggests Brimelow doesn't know what he's doing with the money. Perhaps, he should hire someone that is more web savvy to handle the online content?
I just looked at some of Vdare's expenses and there is room for improvement.
*Sending several of our writers the The Writer's Workshop conference in October [This should not be necessary, I would hope that their writers know how to write, if they don't, then don't accept their articles.]
*Travel for speeches and debates, etc. [As long as they are only paying for their A-list writers like Sailer, Fulford, Burns then it doesn't seem like a problem. There is no need to pay for someone like Roberts since he can pay his own way or someone like Brenda Walker who has only contributed (1) article this year.]
*Webhosting fees [Seems reasonable but they should look into getting ads on their site if it is getting too costly.]
*Office Supplies (including software) [Is there really need for an office if they are just running a website? I could understand if the website in question was huge like Politico or Huffington Post, but Vdare is just a blog with an article archive. Maybe they need the storage space for their books?]
*Utilities for the office (telephone, internet connection etc.) [Use cellphones if you must. Who even really calls Vdare? I imagine if they ever need to, they can contact Brimelow directly.]
*Additional office help when needed [Why?]
*Postage [A reasonable expense.]
I don't think Brimelow is pocketing all this cash but he doesn't seem to be aware that you can run a slick website without burning this much money.
The conception of VDARE as "slick website" is part of the problem. It's easy to argue that process improvement is possible until you are actually forced to implement your improvements and take responsibility for the results, especially when you don't have experience in that industry. To make a fair criticism of Brimelow, you would need to see the P&L, the justifications, and see whether they are standard in the industry. But the broad explanation (many VDARE expenses are paid through him) makes sense to this (former) small business owner.
I accept your explanation but the point still stands, if Vdare is taking in almost $400k in donations a year, they should be able to build a website that doesn't look like it was created in 1997. Personally, I think Vdare is piggybacking off of Steve Sailer's popularity and genius, so I don't see why Steve fans should donate to Vdare when they could just donate to Steve directly. Let's face it, most of the writers on Vdare are nobodies and their written work doesn't even compare to quality we see here on iSteve.
Steve, VDare really needs to get smarter about fundraising.
ReplyDeleteFirst, web fundraising 101 will tell you that people want a progress bar. I guess Brimelow might not want to disclose how much is needed, but it's sort of a matter of public record for those who care to look. You could initialize it at say $100k with the goal to get to the $500k level.
Second, this super long essay with the Paypal link at the end is not going to be that effective. You want the money link *right* there with nice graphics with a recommended donation amount in red.
Third, there should be one (1) recommended donation at the top which comes with a free copy of your book or a VDare t-shirt. It should be an order form that someone can fill out in page and as close to an impulse buy as you can make it. You can have a small font thing below it for the people who want to give more than say $100.
Fourth, you need to have some kind of snappy motivating headline. "The bad guys donated $100M to La Raza last year. Can you donate just $100 to VDare?" Something like that, which gets people's competitive juices flowing. If you could do a little Javascript, put an immigration meter or something like that alongside the donation bar and make it react and shrink as donations increase.
Take a look at how 37Signals does signup forms to get some idea of how a successful web business does this kind of thing.
http://37signals.com/svn/posts/1525-writing-decisions-headline-tests-on-the-highrise-signup-page
http://37signals.com/svn/posts/1867-design-decisions-new-signup-form
I give $100 a couple times a year, but I suppose I should donate on a monthly basis. I pay more annually in storage fees for my motorcycle. VDare is an extremely worthy project -- and like the United States, you'll miss Vdare when it's gone.
ReplyDeleteI can believe it that the sovereignty haters are pressuring funding agencies to cut Vdare off. And something tells me the White House knows all about Steve's book -- and it really pisses them off.
Do y'all accept anonymous money orders?
ReplyDeleteSteve, I don't know how much of a compliment this is, but you are definitely (along with Paul Craig Roberts) the best writer on that third-rate waste of a server farm.
ReplyDeleteI second everything Anonymous #1 says.
ReplyDeleteAnd they *still* have a web-site that looks like it was put together by my 8 year-old nephew. Wait, that's not fair ... to my nephew.
With approx. $500,000 in annual revenue (IIRC) you think they'd be able to do better.
It's really irritating, and as much as I hate to say it, it suggests incompetence on the part of Brimelow at some level.
To be fair, I think the VDare Foundation (?) was involved in launching AlternativeRight.com, but my guess is that says more about Richard Spencer than anything else.
Ugh.
Will send some this time around. Revenues still crimped by the economy (hey, it's Ohio...), so it'll be a widow's mite sorta thing.
ReplyDeleteFeel special. Feel very special.
VDARE would get more donations if the site was less ugly visually.
ReplyDeleteA bit OT
ReplyDeletePlease suggest that Peter Brimelow respond to these allegations.
Peter Brimelow needs to leave a little more money on the table. Paying himself over half of Vdare's revenues (more than $300k) doesn't motivate me to contribute.
ReplyDeletePlease suggest that Peter Brimelow respond to these allegations.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I'd contribute straight to Sailer. But it's strange to see the SPLC accusing Brimelow of profiting from a cause. I mean, why draw attention to yourself?
Brimelow already responded last year.
ReplyDeleteI find it hard to believe that a website like Vdare requires almost $400,000 a year to run. Brimelow would garner more donations if he was more upfront with his business decisions. The fact that his website is so poorly designed suggests Brimelow doesn't know what he's doing with the money. Perhaps, he should hire someone that is more web savvy to handle the online content?
ReplyDeleteI just looked at some of Vdare's expenses and there is room for improvement.
ReplyDelete*Sending several of our writers the The Writer's Workshop conference in October
[This should not be necessary, I would hope that their writers know how to write, if they don't, then don't accept their articles.]
*Travel for speeches and debates, etc.
[As long as they are only paying for their A-list writers like Sailer, Fulford, Burns then it doesn't seem like a problem. There is no need to pay for someone like Roberts since he can pay his own way or someone like Brenda Walker who has only contributed (1) article this year.]
*Webhosting fees
[Seems reasonable but they should look into getting ads on their site if it is getting too costly.]
*Office Supplies (including software)
[Is there really need for an office if they are just running a website? I could understand if the website in question was huge like Politico or Huffington Post, but Vdare is just a blog with an article archive. Maybe they need the storage space for their books?]
*Utilities for the office (telephone, internet connection etc.)
[Use cellphones if you must. Who even really calls Vdare? I imagine if they ever need to, they can contact Brimelow directly.]
*Additional office help when needed
[Why?]
*Postage
[A reasonable expense.]
I don't think Brimelow is pocketing all this cash but he doesn't seem to be aware that you can run a slick website without burning this much money.
The conception of VDARE as "slick website" is part of the problem. It's easy to argue that process improvement is possible until you are actually forced to implement your improvements and take responsibility for the results, especially when you don't have experience in that industry. To make a fair criticism of Brimelow, you would need to see the P&L, the justifications, and see whether they are standard in the industry. But the broad explanation (many VDARE expenses are paid through him) makes sense to this (former) small business owner.
ReplyDelete^
ReplyDeleteI accept your explanation but the point still stands, if Vdare is taking in almost $400k in donations a year, they should be able to build a website that doesn't look like it was created in 1997. Personally, I think Vdare is piggybacking off of Steve Sailer's popularity and genius, so I don't see why Steve fans should donate to Vdare when they could just donate to Steve directly. Let's face it, most of the writers on Vdare are nobodies and their written work doesn't even compare to quality we see here on iSteve.