The most frequent visitors here may have noticed that last month we managed to exceed our bandwidth allocation twice, requiring upgrading our webhosting bandwidth quota twice. Lauredhel and I have discussed several times over the last year or so how to fund the space, at least to the point of covering hosting costs every month. Some extra for a biennal cross-continental get-together would be gravy. Enough for an annual meet-up would be super. Enough to have some sort of fee structure for Hoyden bloggers? Seems like pie in the sky at the moment, but I won’t actually cross it off the wish-list.
The pitfalls of generic web-advertising tied to keywords for feminist blogs should be obvious – we don’t want ads for the consumerist self-doubt industrial complex popping up every time we critique beauty culture as just one example. I am lucky enough to be able to afford the (fairly reasonable) hosting fees, and occasional advertising revenue from my comedy website (hosted on the same account) throws some bucks into the kitty. Still, enough of you have asked at various times if you can kick in something to help out (an offer that is much appreciated every time) that I’d like to throw the discussion open.
While I wouldn’t say no to advertising from ethical, progressive and feminist-ally enterprises on the site, I realise that there isn’t much organised out there. Even BlogHer ads are full of designer handbags and other consumerist products that feel wrong to me for this space. So outsourced ads that just display according to their generic algorithms won’t fly. I am however open to hand-coded weekly/monthly ad spots, should anyone want to negotiate such.
I’m not entirely sure why I shy away from a simple Donate button, but I do. I like the idea of supporters getting something tangible in return. One of my thoughts is to do some Hoyden merchandise on cafepress or similar (want to ensure a decent sizing range), using a graphic based on the old logo on the front and the tagline defining a hoyden on the back (or vice versa, if any design mavens think that would look better). Would anybody want a shirt/coffee-cup/badge if I made up such a design?
Thoughts?
If you use something like commission junction or Project Wonderful you can choose which advertisers and which ads to display.
Also with Amazon ads you can actually select the books to advertise.
Re: the Donate button. I and probably others feel that we ARE getting something tangible in return from this space.
I love this blog and read it almost every day.
I pay to read books, your (and others) writings are worthwhile and worth money.
I would love to donate, I really appreciate this community, but I don’t really want a mug or shirt.
Maybe do both? (because I’m sure there are readers who would love a Hoyden mug)
Just my two cents :-)
I’d be happy to throw something in the kitty (I have the same view as Y), but I’d be quite keen to buy a hoyden mug (or maybe a set ;) ).
If you set up a cafepress/etc store, do you know if you can put a donate button in there, so that people can donate OR buy stuff OR both?
I third what Y said, and I’d probably be interested in a T-shirt as well (though I’d have to budget for it, at the moment).
I like the idea of specific feminist books being advertised here, I’m always on the lookout for decent books.
I also find it hard to resist a tshirt if the design appeals to me.
I have to admit that I shy away from buying more stuff because heaven knows I have more stuff than any one woman needs in a lifetime. And Don has as much stuff as I do. It’s very tragic, our problems.
On the other hand, I can understand the uneasiness about donation-drives.
I think ads are a bad idea because they slow down the loading time of the site (I’m impatient! and it’s all about me!) and can cause all sorts of other problems. I’m not sure how text readers handle ads, for example.
How about a “this is what a HOYDEN looks like” t-shirt? With the blog address maybe in small letters underneath. I’d totally buy one of those.
@ Jo Tamar:
I’m not sure, but I imagine that I would have a dedicated information page here for Merchandise which would include links to the online store and could also include a donation button.
I hadn’t thought of the wish to avoid more clutter angle, for people who would rather donate than buy. Thanks for everybody’s thoughts so far – I wanted to disclose/discuss with the commenting community before just going ahead with something.
I’ll fourth (or fifth or sixth or whatever it’s up to) what Y said. I would be very happy to donate, because it’s a way of supporting the community that I value so much, and that gives me so much.
‘Tho I would happily buy Hoyden mugs, and a Hoyden t-shirt. And if you can do child sizes, I have three junior Hoydens too.
T-shirts and mugs appeal to me as does the opportunity to support one of my favourite net places via donations. Plus I have a junior Hoyden too so I’ll put in another vote for kids sizes :)
I would be happy to donate and would also buy merchandise based on the Hoyden logo and description. As others have said, I get enough out of this site on a regular basis that I would consider a donation value for money rather than charity.
Also, what Y said! I’d like a shirt or similar, too. :)
Chally’s last blog post..Talking about it.
If there are “This Is What A Hoyden Looks Like” t-shirts, I want one! Actually I want one for my dog, too.
I’d be happy to throw in whatever you choose. I kinda like the idea of a mug though.
I’d LOVE to buy a shirt (this is what a HOYDEN looks like is a killer idea!) or a mug. :)
Maybe you could do a range of generic feminist slogans on T-shirts, mugs, badges, and other merchandise?
I’m happy to throw into the cyberhat. :-) Give me some account details! And yes, hear hear to the above commenters that we receive something very tangible indeed from this great blog.
Thanks everyone, for the feedback and ideas.
The mixed donation/merchandise model seems to be good. I’ve only really looked into cafepress and zazzle (which goes to 2XL in women’s T-shirts, and also has an organic cotton option). It appears that once one registers a shop account and uploads a design then shoppers can get that design placed on just about anything the merch website provides. I’ll check out a few more and come up with a couple of different designs.
I quite like FireFly’s idea of including a few classic feminist slogans as well – why not do so through a reputable merchandiser so long as we’re not impinging on anyone else’s intellectual property rights? We’ll do due diligence on IP and see what we can offer.
Lauredhel’s foresight in grabbing the hoydenabouttown.com domain (which currently just redirects here) a while back looks ever more awesome – that URL will look much better on merch.
Re slogans for shirts in kids sizes … I’d much like one targeted for brothers/sons of hoydens. But someone with more creativity than me will have to come up with a catchy slogan.
And partners / husbands / fathers of hoydens… We’ve got some feisty-minded girls growing up in this house, and while that’s due in large part to me, it’s also due to their daddy.
Agree with Y and I’m in for the donation/ merchandise or any combo of same.
How about a Hoyden logo or slogan on a simple fabric tote bag? I’m always carrying something like that to hold shopping, papers etc. Highly useful and won’t cause too much clutter.
Must say I like the idea of flashing a Hoyden coffee cup around the office.
Hi. I’ve been reading here a little over a year, but hardly ever comment. You guys are on my daily must-read list, and, like Y and the others, I personally do feel I get something tangible out of this site. I would absolutely buy a tshirt /coffee mug / whatever with Hoyden-specific or general feminist messages. However, if I knew you guys were only getting like $3 from a $20 shirt, I’d rather just straight up donate the $20.
I’m not a big fan of banner ads and it would make me sad to come around and see ads for Chanel or something. I guess I wouldn’t mind amazon ads or something targeted, relevant, and not, well, evil. But I’d rather support a community I believe in directly.
Tigtog, I think the short answer is, “You decide what you are going to do (donations / mechandise / wev) and we will support it.”
Ooh ooh – i SO want a kiddie t-shirt that says “Hoyden Manque” (there should be an acute on the e there, but I don’t know how to make one). How about a thread with t-shirt/mug tagline suggestions?
I’d support what ever you decided to do, but I looove to have a Hoyden Tee.
[...] orlando said: How about a thread with t-shirt/mug tagline suggestions? [...]
Looks like fairly strong support for at least a bit of merchandise available, and for those who’d rather straight donations I will set up a paypal account and a donate button.
Tee, zazzle have a few tote bag options, although I think I’ll have to set up a cafepress to get the dog-t-shirt for slave2tehtink. There’s no reason I can see not to have options available at both, anyway – better to have overlapping availability, I suspect.
I’ve set up a tagline suggestion thread.
(and I meant to hit the send button on this comment several hours ago – sheesh)
I’d happily donate, because I can donate a few dollars at a time, and do it regularly, but buying stuff is a bigger commitment, that has to be planned and budgeted for….
http://www.redbubble.com/
Try Red Bubble as well, if doing t-shirts, greeting cards, photos. The tees go up to XXXL, and the customer can choose a greater range of colours as well.
Ohhh I want a mug and kiddy t-shirts.
What does Hoyden Manque mean?
Mindy – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manque_(disambiguation)
I guess strictly speaking it should be Hoyden Manquée