ProjectGuitar.com Funding 2015

[ProjectGuitar.com]

Hi everyone,

ProjectGuitar.com is now into its thirteenth year online and there's been some serious thought behind the scenes on how to take everything to the next level without undermining the things that make the site unique, independent and fundamentally about its community. Various ideas have been thrown around about crowdfunding, however since we like to pride ourselves on our freely-available content with no paywalls, subscriptions or other things which restrict access, Patreon seems a far more appropriate road to travel down.

For anybody that isn't familiar with Patreon, it's essentially a funding mechanism which rewards content-creators for creating content. Instead of one large funding campaign or a yearly drive, patrons contribute a small amount (anything from a dollar to whatever) for each new work or simply per-month. We're ramping up our regular original work publishing to weekly long-format site articles, information-rich tutorials, complete CAD plans, how-to's, product reviews you can use and eventually weekly YouTube videos from a purpose-built teaching studio.

We think you'll agree that this fosters the best kind of growth for ProjectGuitar.com; producing more of the high-quality original content that our thousands of monthly visitors have come to expect, but most importantly keeping the entire site ad-free, independent and beholden only to you guys!

As always, we are humbly grateful for all of our donating members who have helped (and continue) to maintain ProjectGuitar.com since 2002. Concentrating on the production of regular new content and making that the motivating force behind our funding, we can produce a self-sustaining site with plenty of scope for future growth, all based on what you guys want us to be publishing. One whose quality of content is truly buoyed by its members.

ProjectGuitar.com's plans are always open to democratic public debate. We want your input! Suggestions and contributions to the bright future of ProjectGuitar.com are warmly encouraged; if you would like to go that one step further and want to play a greater role then let us know. It is hoped that a Patreon-based funding option would allow ProjectGuitar.com to pay writers and content-creators for their contributions, creating an open productive and democratic community.

 

Your thoughts?

[a2k]

How do I get my cool patreon badge added below my name?  :)

[ProjectGuitar.com]

Just like that 

I forgot to do this because of the downtime over the weekend. Sorry about that!

[a2k]

Awesome. I'm getting a ton of help here and want everyone to know I give back too!

[ProjectGuitar.com]

I have nothing to add to that sentiment really! We'll soon be able to start feeding more information and news about the developments that are going on "behind the scenes" in the Patreon creator feed. We'll be publicly announcing everything here as time progresses anyway. That said, since PG is supported solely by its patrons I think we have a responsibility to keep you guys in the loop on decision-making processes and milestones as they happen.

This week has mostly been investigating whether any project development grants are available; any initial investment will bring the dates for the workshop setup and all that good stuff forward! The first thing we'll be starting with is a weekly vlog on anything from scouting out premises, developing a working shop layout, sawmill timber site visits, etc. Community input, opinion and knowledge is all part of this process as much as any other.

[rhoads56]

Fantastic idea. Signed up for $10 a month to help out. PG was a wonderful resource for me when I was starting out.

[ProjectGuitar.com]

Genuinely, thank you Perry! Your support is a highly positive vote of advocacy in the future of ProjectGuitar.com; if anything, your suggestions and ideas a couple of years back is how this campaign and development arc was seeded.

Many people around here have taken inspiration from your works and journeys over the last few years....even if they don't realise it. Having you onboard is fantastic! 

[ProjectGuitar.com]

A quick update on our current state of play: we're a few dollars short of our December goal, but that's great news however you look at it.

That people are willing to get out and push is a positive statement saying that we're headed in the right direction. We're seeing visitors from a diverse number of countries worldwide, which is a large reason why we threw the idea of a "membership fee" out of the window. People have vastly different income levels; access to informational/educational resources shouldn't be constrained simply because of where you live, your employment status or affordability. For the most part, a dollar or two is within everybody's reach which is why Patreon is a great method for making this work. Some sort of "$200 per year for Gold Access!" simply isn't an option for anybody at school, out of work or living in a country with the pressures of lower incomes.

ProjectGuitar.com is fast becoming a full-time engagement for myself and site contributors, demanding hundreds of hours of coding, research, discussion, writing, editorial time and planning. If you would like to contribute content, help with editing or any of the heavy lifting then do PM me. We will try and figure out some form of compensation and support for doing so.

That we are able to do this without any form of commercial interest, income from advertising revenue or outside sponsorship is truly unique. For this, we salute you!

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Our next key goal is to have enough cash in the pot each month to buy items for product reviews....which we will donate back to the community as random giveaways!