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The Donation Model

I see the donation model as a business model for the web site owner and content producer to use when like him, you are starting up and you will appreciate a helping hand to cover costs and keep things going until you are in situation where there is a strong enough business there, that doesn’t need that type of support. All well and good if you were giving the support at the beginning and feel that you are getting a good deal that you want to show your appreciation still and keep on paying. It is all about choice after all. I am not telling you what to do with your money.

He just put out this blog post at Posterous telling people that although he doesn’t need the money, because of other income coming in, he would have these donations pay him his salary. he would use it as a gauge as to whether he was doing a good job with the Twit Network. I look at what he wrote more cynically in terms of he was probably looking at the donations dropping due to the financial climate and his statements of having income of 1.5 million from podcasting, and put out a blog post to perhaps give the donations a boost. Judging by the comments I saw on the blog post, it worked.

Twits are happily still giving him money to put in his back pocket or wallet. Well done Leo. Good business move!

Twitter Discussion

What I started the conversation on Twitter with was a a suggestion that people would be better supporting the up and coming podcasts that need some help rather than handing more cash to Leo Laporte. I did not say at any point in the chat, I wanted the money specifically even though my podcasts are in that category same as a few others. The discussion went back and forth quite a bit and some of the comments were not logical in terms of argument. Some started talking about quality of content and I don’t know if they were making a personal comment or not about Mac20Q but I think not as I strive for high production values. I know that my content is better than some due to the care I take with the editing process.

Some started talking about having to have passion in what you are doing with a podcast, with the inference that because I was talking about business and money that it was not possible to passionate about the podcasting content. Balderdash is the answer to that ! So logically that same argument if applied to Leo Laporte must mean that he is not passionate about podcasting and is only in it for the money ?? Some of these statements came from the hobbyist podcaster that seem to think that all you need to do is to enjoy making the podcasts and have fun. They have no business plan and probably don’t care anyway as they have other jobs to put food on the table.

Seeing as I mention other jobs people have – do they enjoy it and if they do do they work for free. “No boss I had fun working for you this month, you don’t have to pay me.” In my discussions with podcasters recently on Mac20Q they have told me that they know it is possible to make money with a web site and they expect to make money by providing content too. They have a business plan and live off they money that comes in from what they do. Marcelo of New Media Studies for one Gary Rosenzweig of MacMost Now for another and of course Don McAllister. They are passionate about their work producing content and rightly so get paid for producing high quality content.

Admiration for Leo Laporte

Has to be said though that I admire Leo Laporte for his podcasting business and how well he has done with it. The head start he had because he was a TV and radio personality before he came to podcasting is down to him also. So there is every reason to say “Well done Leo!” I just object though to him  continuing to use the donation model for Twit when he patently has no need of it. It is the same as if you are walking down the street and a guy with a new Ford Mustang with all the bells and whistles and paid for, with a Rolex on the wrist and a flash suit gets out of the car and asks if you can spare 2 quid for a cup of coffee. If that were to happen I dare say you would be inclined to tell the cheeky git to take a running jump.

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I was looking for an audio book to enjoy and I thought a spy novel by a retired Major might be the thing to captivate me for a while. The first episode was short and not really enough to evaluate the novel and so I downloaded the next two episodes. On listening to the second episode I find myself getting annoyed with the reading of it as much as with the story.

The author Val Patti reads ‘The Onion Files’ himself and probably did the audio editing too. Far too often in the reading he doesn’t take a breath between one paragraph and the next. He probably edited out some of these natural pauses and perhaps forgot to listen to it himself after making the edits. Perhaps even waiting a day or two before listening with a critical ear.

As for the story, I am still unsure. I might get into if I can get past the slightly tedious setting of the scene in this first proper episode. There is a chance that I will listen to the next episode and reserve my judgment after that. I think that listening to other people reading their stories is a brilliant idea before really getting into narrating your own. Planning to do one of my short stories so I can only hope that being critical here will transpose into my own reading. Mind you I do have a major disadvantage to start with, as there is no getting around my Brummie accent.