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Donations For LEA
Alright so here's my general idea, since LEA has saved most of us a large chunk of change over the years or helped us with a project in some way, I have a suggestion:
I don't know what LEA does for a living, I assume its working a job, but what if the community contributed money to a pool to help him with whatever funds he needs to keep LEB/LET working, even if it means hiring someone to take care of the site in his absence.
I'd be willing to throw $5, $10 or even $20 into the pool... anyone else agree?
Comments
Wait let me make [email protected] and verify it on my Paypal real quick so we can begin.
Considering he says he makes $500/mo from ads, I'm pretty sure it's not money, it's the time it takes to keep it going.
Yes, but can you hire a reliable person to manage it for you for $500? Plus I know I would quit my job if I only made $500 a month.
@Naruto - Ha Ha... no I think it'd be better if LEA collected them himself.
o.O This isn't LEA's job, it's a hobby, and it's time consuming/he just doesn't have enough time/desire to do it anymore.
"This site fetches just ~USD$500 per month on the ads". LEB pays for itself, so I don't think donations can change his decision, nor is it sustainable.
.....
It was more of an example, if LEA feels he spends too much time working on his site, then its a job and not a hobby... I mean if you went somewhere 8 hours a day and "got paid for it" but you lost interest in it... it'd be a job right?
You said you'd quit your job if you only made $500 a month.
I don't think he "goes somewhere" to work on LEB, nor do I think he spends 8 hours a day on LEB. You described a job exactly, then said...it'd be a job. Of course! Anyway, he could spend as little as 10 minutes a day (probably more), but from his post, he doesn't enjoy it much anymore.
^ This
Personally I think LEA should sell the site... While I would love for the site to stay within the hands of a community member. I think it LEA deserves the $$$ he could fetch at an auction for his hard work over the years.
If you want to donate $10K for his hard work and time to keep it within the community, then that's fine... But the man deserves a payout for all his hard work.
I honestly think if enough people contributed/cared $10k would be found...
and yes IF my job only paid $500 a month I'd quit, but that's because it'd be hard to find housing for $500 a month let alone live off it. It isn't a job if you enjoy it. As for the "going somewhere" statement if you mentally check out for the day and sit in front of a computer working you might as well be going somewhere physically.
Sure, the site has been up a while. It's popular and has a good ranking... but it's just a vanilla forums and a title. You could easily setup the same thing and get the name out there. $10,000 is a LOT of money. Those sites that show domain worth via what you could get from ads are ridiculous.
URLAppraisal.net says my site is worth $5,844.43 but I sure don't think so.
I guess that there are significantly different scales of $$$ here. $10k might be a huge sum to sum, but to others not so much. In the web world paying $10k for a site that makes $500/mo is a lot. However, I think that LEB/LET could be monetized for more than it's making now.
It's easy to set up a site. It's hard to get the traffic and a forum needs enough traffic to hit a critical mass of posting kind of effect before they become successful.
From LEA's exit(0); blog post on LEB I would guess that he made a six figure income. At least that's what his job description tells me. Now he has left that corporate job and is doing the entrepreneur thing. Normally, that means working at least 12 hour days. He just can't give LEB the time it needs. It's distracting him from what he needs to focus on.
At this point I feel pretty sure that the site will continue.
Doesn't he get "spammed" with e-mails from cheap companies? :P
$2000/month and it would be a REAL job IMO
EDIT:
It shouldn't be given to someone of the community, it would end up as a mess.
He should sell it so he got some $$$ of it and we are sure it will stay good quality.
@LowendAdmin cleared that he does not want to be part of this community anymore because its taking a lot of his previous time (LEA, correct me if I am wrong here).
So hiring someone and doing the job is the same as doing it yourself, LEA does not have time, he wants to move on with his products, startups, job etc
...family time.
@Naturo Whats to say that you don't pocket the money.
That's the joke.
Yes family time. Time with friends and other projects -- might not be even computing related.
I thought I've stated very clearly that money is not an issue with me. I much prefer giving the site away to make it thrive, than getting $10k for it. Seriously, if $10k exit is what you work for over 4 years, you are in the wrong business...
But you could use that 10k to start a lowend provider! <_<
Seriously though, best of luck @LowEndAdmin. You've more than earned a rest.
You must got ripped off. Last I heard you only need something like $100 by taking advantage of dedicated server providers' honeymoon period. [/sarcasm]
I've been in a similar situation before, and it's tough to give up on a project you've started and ran for so long. Eventually you outgrow it and it stops being enjoyable, and you'd rather allocate the time to new things in your life. It would be nice to see the project stay alive, I can't see it going well if someone were to purchase it.
What about a poll from the community, or something to vote for someone (or multiple people) to take over?
While a vote would be nice I'd prefer that multiple people manage it and that LEA still has full access to monitor things... I mean just because he isn't interested now doesn't mean a year from now he won't be like "I miss doing that..." so I'd like to leave him the option of coming back.
A suggestion: why not add a "Donate" button in LEB so that all (clients and also providers using the site) can show support, and I'm sure LEA will feel better, and probably can be able to get enough for living solely out of LEB (that substitute having a full time job for living) ? I don't see any issue with that solution when I look into projects like Wikipedia running based on donations for their full time work. It just needs a statement from LEA, to clarify the situation with his full time commitment to LEB during years! What others thinks?
Read his post on LEB...
Thanks, posted in same topic http://www.lowendbox.com/blog/exit0/#comment-60500
Was thinking the same thing. I know that there are a few folks here who a $10k check to take over such a business would pretty much be petty cash.