BallReviews
Equipment Boards => Storm => Topic started by: Luke Rosdahl on February 19, 2018, 09:19:41 AM
-
First, this isn't advertising or propaganda designed to squeeze money out of anyone, just letting those who are interested know it exists now. Have had several people ask me if I would create a Patreon, which is basically a place where creators can post their work for a monthly subscription. Nothing is changing on YouTube, not going to start restricting stuff, the Patreon thing is just extra if you'd like to contribute for some extra perks. Here's my "pitch" or what the whole thing involves:
What I've set up first is the Master Line Tier, and it's a basic "membership," but hopefully one that is worth it. First, you'll have access to the feed here, while I'll post some occasional generic public updates, most of it will go into the feed that only you as a patron can see. Behind the scenes info/pictures, occasional blog posts with updates or tips or information or specific topics, etc. Next, whenever new balls come out, it takes several days to get videos done. The filming, writing, editing, rendering, and posting all takes a long time. Before I get to serious work on the videos however, I'll put together a short teaser trailer with several shots from me, several shots from Angel, and some initial thoughts that will be released only to you so you will be able to get an early look at the new stuff a couple days before the reviews and opinion videos go up. Next, there's a live chat function where I can choose to go live, and you'll be sent a notification (make sure to turn them on!) when I do so you can get on and chat with me and others live. As I spend a lot of time out on the road and in hotels for my day job, I should be in the chat quite a bit! Finally, once a month I'll have a live Q&A with a guest, just like we did for the Beer Frame Live, except it will be restricted to patrons only, so the crowd should be smaller and we should be able to have more of a discussion than a strict Q&A, not to mention get to the questions faster. Hopefully that all sounds good and we can have some fun here, thank you!!!
Once I get set up, I'll include live streams from leagues, tournaments, and while I'm filming videos so you'll get an even earlier and unedited look at the equipment. That's going to require a laptop and new camera though so it will likely be later this year before I get the funds for that. The idea is also eventually to try and get interviews with higher profile people and professionals in the industry, hopefully travel to some professional tournaments, Bowl Expo, stuff like that, so that's the idea of where this is all heading, if the interest and support is there of course. If this all sounds uninteresting and/or ridiculous and you're fine with what I already do, don't sign up lol, not gonna hurt my feelings, this is just extra if you're interested.
However, not to sell myself short, I'm pretty passionate about what I do, I will always try to go above and beyond, and while I'm not where I want to be yet, hopefully it won't be long before I can have some legitimately top shelf content featuring top shelf guests and better production values and some really interesting stuff. Just a lot of time and money to get there, and I'm grateful for those so far who've shown their support for what I already do and where we're hopefully going. Here's the link to the page, thanks: https://www.patreon.com/LukeRosdahl
-
Cool, I signed up. I appreciate the amount of work you put into this and it has helped me a lot with deciding on a new ball.
-
I will, say, AT LEAST you know your stuff, you're very informative and not afraid to speak your mind. I will definitely check out and consider the patreon.
I'm a huge fan!
-
I'll sign up just for #hellokitty
-
A sucker born every minute
-
I've never heard of Patreon, but took a peak at your link and the web app looks like it's made just for you.
I've been in the web business for 15 years now as a programmer and online business analyst and I'll be surprised if you can sell 100 subscriptions on an annual basis (1 year subscriptions) at $9 USD each. This is based on a quick analysis of read counts for your post and You Tube views divided by viewer repeats and bots. It would have to subsidized by targeted advertising.
But it's certainly worth a try for you.
$9 per month.
$108 per year...if I'm reading what u said correctly, it's that much per year.
-
A sucker born every minute
And an a-hole every 30 seconds.
-
It's not $9, it's $5, what you saw was the total pledges up to the point you visited the page, the subscription link is on the right side of the page with the info.
I've never heard of Patreon, but took a peak at your link and the web app looks like it's made just for you.
I've been in the web business for 15 years now as a programmer and online business analyst and I'll be surprised if you can sell 100 subscriptions on an annual basis (1 year subscriptions) at $9 USD each. This is based on a quick analysis of read counts for your post and You Tube views divided by viewer repeats and bots. It would have to subsidized by targeted advertising.
But it's certainly worth a try for you.
-
Nah, read it wrong, it's $5, not $9.
I've never heard of Patreon, but took a peak at your link and the web app looks like it's made just for you.
I've been in the web business for 15 years now as a programmer and online business analyst and I'll be surprised if you can sell 100 subscriptions on an annual basis (1 year subscriptions) at $9 USD each. This is based on a quick analysis of read counts for your post and You Tube views divided by viewer repeats and bots. It would have to subsidized by targeted advertising.
But it's certainly worth a try for you.
$9 per month.
$108 per year...if I'm reading what u said correctly, it's that much per year.
-
Gotcha. Thx
-
Well and that's ok, I figured I was going to get some blowback. Again, nothing is changing on YouTube, it's not like I'm all the sudden making people pay for what I'm already doing, this is just extra for those that are interested, and if you're not, lol don't sign up . .
I don't want to get defensive or arrogant either, but this costs me a ton of money and time, and it's getting to critical mass. Between all the forms of social media, I've fielded over 2000 comments and questions this year, 1400 on YT alone. I love doing it, but it's getting harder and harder to justify and especially explain to the wife why I'm spending 40-50 hours a week and a few hundred bucks a month making videos and answering literally thousands of questions at all hours of the day and all days of the week. It's got to at least sustain itself or I've got to quit, those are just the facts. Now that's not anyone else's fault, lol I'm the idiot doing it, but nobody gets upset at writers for selling books or musicians for selling music. All the expenses did however completely offset my tournament winnings and then some on my taxes, so . . .
A sucker born every minute
And an a-hole every 30 seconds.
-
Well and that's ok, I figured I was going to get some blowback. Again, nothing is changing on YouTube, it's not like I'm all the sudden making people pay for what I'm already doing, this is just extra for those that are interested, and if you're not, lol don't sign up . .
I don't want to get defensive or arrogant either, but this costs me a ton of money and time, and it's getting to critical mass. Between all the forms of social media, I've fielded over 2000 comments and questions this year, 1400 on YT alone. I love doing it, but it's getting harder and harder to justify and especially explain to the wife why I'm spending 40-50 hours a week and a few hundred bucks a month making videos and answering literally thousands of questions at all hours of the day and all days of the week. It's got to at least sustain itself or I've got to quit, those are just the facts. Now that's not anyone else's fault, lol I'm the idiot doing it, but nobody gets upset at writers for selling books or musicians for selling music. All the expenses did however completely offset my tournament winnings and then some on my taxes, so . . .
A sucker born every minute
And an a-hole every 30 seconds.
I feel it Luke and honestly respect the ambition! Don't feel any remorse for trying to get a Patreon page off the ground for your work.
-
Luke you're great at what you do. My favorite YouTuber does the same patreon thing. He includes physical things, etc as well as others. He just hit 500k subs.
Keep pushing. Your supporters and fans give a d@mn.
-
Thanks. Part of the idea too is that the cost is kind of a deterrent for the more toxic crowd you might find on a Facebook forum or something. I want it to be a place where people can go to get away from that kind of thing. There's a community page too, where anybody can post anything, it's not just me posting stuff for silent viewing, should be lots of interaction. I do want to start doing drawings and giveaways and stuff too. Lol this isn't to make a buck, I picked the wrong sport to try to get rich with, it just allows me to do more.
Luke you're great at what you do. My favorite YouTuber does the same patreon thing. He includes physical things, etc as well as others. He just hit 500k subs.
Keep pushing. Your supporters and fans give a d@mn.
-
Seriously though, I had a thought. Like I said, I want to create a really positive and good community, somewhere you can go to get away from the nonsense and get good quality information and communication, and the monthly "membership fee," helps deter toxic people, but $5 a month does sound kind of stiff . . would say $2 a month still provide the same effect, but be more agreeable? And then once I get all the streaming equipment and get set up, then that can be the $5 a month level?
-
Seriously though, I had a thought. Like I said, I want to create a really positive and good community, somewhere you can go to get away from the nonsense and get good quality information and communication, and the monthly "membership fee," helps deter toxic people, but $5 a month does sound kind of stiff . . would say $2 a month still provide the same effect, but be more agreeable? And then once I get all the streaming equipment and get set up, then that can be the $5 a month level?
I think $2 a month would produce a higher turnout and filter out those that are like people passing by on a FB thread trolling because they don't want to pay anything at all. $2/$5 tiers would be a good starting point in my opinion. Maybe in the future you add a $10 that includes a monthly entry into a mid tier ball raffle (HP2/Thunder Line)
-
So a 4 paragraph post and a link to sell something isn't advertising?
-
Absolutely not. ::) ::) I'm not entirely sure how you notify without advertising though . . I guess I think of advertising as something designed to try and influence you or persuade you to buy something. I'm just notifying everyone it exists. If you're interested, cool, if you're not, don't buy it, and if anyone has a problem with it, I'll gladly remove the post. I know that wasn't exactly what you were getting at, but you know how I like to drone on . .
So a 4 paragraph post and a link to sell something isn't advertising?
-
Absolutely not. ::) ::) I'm not entirely sure how you notify without advertising though . . I guess I think of advertising as something designed to try and influence you or persuade you to buy something. I'm just notifying everyone it exists. If you're interested, cool, if you're not, don't buy it, and if anyone has a problem with it, I'll gladly remove the post. I know that wasn't exactly what you were getting at, but you know how I like to drone on . .
So a 4 paragraph post and a link to sell something isn't advertising?
You have to admit that what Luke posted is a hell of a lot less advertising than the reviews the average staffer post.
-
What I will admit is he wrote an advertisement for his page and in the first line he claims it's not an advertisement. Just call it what it is.
Here ya go, courtesy of Merriam-Webster- something (such as a short film or a written notice) that is shown or presented to the public to help sell a product or to make an announcement
-
Says "One of the Suckers "
-
What I will admit is he wrote an advertisement for his page and in the first line he claims it's not an advertisement. Just call it what it is.
Here ya go, courtesy of Merriam-Webster- something (such as a short film or a written notice) that is shown or presented to the public to help sell a product or to make an announcement
It is sort of an advertisement but who cares? I want announcements from those trying to promote bowling on this site. If I check them out and decide to purchase or not it's all good. If it's not good then we can mock.... 8)
You know there are those like CTD products, I don't have a problem with the advertisements I have a problem with the overpriced shit products. And will mock them every chance I get.... Luke I believe gives a great product for free on his YouTube channel and if he does more I won't have a problem subscribing. If it sucks I will mock him too! If it's good I will give him his props. All good.
Honestly most in bowling do a horrible job of making their products, tournaments, services known to the public. I bowl in one house where it turns out there was a tournament this past Sat. I didn't know about it as there were no flyers given out to league bowlers and they only ended up with 20 entries. Bowler at my PSO's shop told us about it yesterday. My thought is they could have easily had more bowlers if just a little effort was done to advertise. So I like sites like this where I can find out anything about bowling, bowling products, bowling services, bowling sites on the internet....
-
Some unnecessary backlash on here towards someone that provides more utility to this site than most. If you've ever bought Jordan's, YouTube fitness persons product, etc you've supported someone's craft - same concept.
-
Imagine that, "bowlers" who don't actually bowl bitching about someone who does bowl trying to do something positive for bowling.
Oh yea, that's a first... :o
-
Nah, no biggie. It's kind of the first number you see when you hit the page, so lol no harm no foul. I HAVE also decided against a higher tier when I get the livestreaming set up, once the equipment is paid for, it's just the extra time to do it, so it's just going to remain a flat 5 a month, and I'll do my best to make it worth it.
It's not $9, it's $5, what you saw was the total pledges up to the point you visited the page, the subscription link is on the right side of the page with the info.
I've never heard of Patreon, but took a peak at your link and the web app looks like it's made just for you.
I've been in the web business for 15 years now as a programmer and online business analyst and I'll be surprised if you can sell 100 subscriptions on an annual basis (1 year subscriptions) at $9 USD each. This is based on a quick analysis of read counts for your post and You Tube views divided by viewer repeats and bots. It would have to subsidized by targeted advertising.
But it's certainly worth a try for you.
Luke, I apologize for typing or stating incorrect information about the price. I was compiling software when I looked at it and the 9 stuck in my head. Please accept my apology, I did not intend to make the price a subject.
My wrong number made me think the price point was too high compared to say Washington Post, New York Times and their pay wall pricing of $2, but I didn’t want to flat out say it in plain English. But somebody else made a point of it first.
I think it’s worth a look at for me and worth a try for you. You will the first staffer to take it to this level. It’s a lot work to do, but passion and heart will be your driving force.
-
You're not wrong. Everyone else, I get what he's saying, and I try to be the transparent up front guy, so I definitely don't want to be misleading. It's definitely advertising, maybe not heartless cloying advertising, but truthfully advertising, and to state that it's not, and then throw a pitch out there is . . disingenuous at best. Changed.
What I will admit is he wrote an advertisement for his page and in the first line he claims it's not an advertisement. Just call it what it is.
Here ya go, courtesy of Merriam-Webster- something (such as a short film or a written notice) that is shown or presented to the public to help sell a product or to make an announcement
-
That's all stuff they don't teach in high school, so there's a definite need for it. My daughter just turned 22, when she graduated she thought she knew it all and moved out, and a couple months ago she finally admitted she didn't and moved back in to repair the damage. She's actually mad she didn't get taught the stuff in high school, now her mom and I tried pounding it into her constantly, but she still thought she knew better, so . .
That’s called a press release, or a heads up. You can call it marketing research as well so you can get constructive feedback and then alter your business plan to better suit the needs of you and the consumer.
The more I think about your endeavor, the more it reminds of the post I wrote last week about the last of a dying breed, in which written content will be on a pay wall and will no longer be free. The internet was invented to be free so advertising was used to supplement the cost of development, production and servers. All those annoying ads we see pays for the content or simply pays the bills and makes the payroll. But advertising dollars have shifted to social media in which there is. I professionally written content, and just icon buttons that represent yes or no attached to a picture and a phrase. I
I have plans to create a pay wall website in the future. Call it something like Urban Pioneer, a spin on Rural Pioneer but for those that live in the city or suburbs of America. It will teach the younger kids the truth about how the world really works, how to budget and save money and then how to invest it. The history of currency and precious metals going back a 1000 years. Not to buy things made of plastic. Why new cars and which cars depreciate the fastest and how to score a deal on them for half price. The history of banking, interest and financial charges, and not to pay them Stuff like that. I think for $60 a year, I can help a kid save thousands and live in financial comfort and not stress about money.
Work out the details Luke and get it going first. I endorse the endeavor.
-
itsallaboutme is looking for this response: You win
-
I usually do
-
I usually do
You usually do what? Make it all about you? Oh that makes sense now.... :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o
-
Usually not wrong . . lol you just never sugarcoat anything.
I usually do
-
I must say, I hope you do well Luke.
I do find it interesting though, how much of a bad rap Ron Hickland Jr. gets on here for providing a subscription model that has content, coaching, and actual products that pass USBC approval (not cheap to do). A lot of it from some of the very posters in this thread.
It would be nice to see the same level of respect and support across the board for all content creators in bowling. We should be a big family.... But we all know how family can be.
Best of luck.
-
I usually do
To weed out People like you, is the exact reason I would pay a subscription fee.
Keep doing what you do Luke. Can't wait to see the final product
-
Well, Hickland is a different story . . there's several things I'd really like to say but shouldn't. I don't want to be one of these guys that dances around stuff so much trying to not step on any toes that no one really knows where I stand, but there's a more professional way to do it. The big thing with what he does is that he takes advantage of the misconceptions and misinformation that's been much too prevalent in bowling really since reactives came out. I can't in good conscience recommend or endorse anything he's involved with. Hook Juice actually makes me angry, to be quite honest.
I must say, I hope you do well Luke.
I do find it interesting though, how much of a bad rap Ron Hickland Jr. gets on here for providing a subscription model that has content, coaching, and actual products that pass USBC approval (not cheap to do). A lot of it from some of the very posters in this thread.
It would be nice to see the same level of respect and support across the board for all content creators in bowling. We should be a big family.... But we all know how family can be.
Best of luck.
-
He's an accessory brand at this point. He does have one of the better private FB groups that I've seen online for his members devoted around in person + online coaching, equipment evaluation, and Team CTD meetups. There's much more value in his products than the cleaners (which I rarely use. I need these new balls to lay off, not hook more).
I guess I see a lot of similarities in the model of building a subscription based community. Do you plan on evolving it into actual product as well?
-
I have no idea. I've got no issue with the guy trying to make money, there's a lot of time and cost and experience and a lot of value that people too often expect for nothing. When I was in the pro shop, it was my profession, was getting paid for it as a regular job, and that was just that. Now it's the same commitment, it's just all on my own time and own dime. Love doing it, but eventually stuff just catches up to you.
If I did product, it would just be accessory/apparel type stuff if there's a demand for it, I have zero interest in cleaners/polish/treatments. Again, I'm not trying to make it a business, just want it to sustain itself. Plus the idea is just provide kind of a private, more passionate community, and the cost is kind of a filter for that. Some of the Facebook forums drive me insane, now I enjoy the vast majority of the people here, but it's more a forum than a content driven thing. I've got tons and tons of ideas and a lot of ambition, and I guess I don't know why I should feel bad for charging for stuff that really shouldn't be just given away, but I do. Lol if you offered anyone here a 40-50 hour a week job with the hours spread out 24/7, no holidays off, and that you had to pay them to let you work, they'd either laugh or stop to make sure they heard you right first. I REALLY don't want to be seen as somebody trying to work an angle to milk extra money out of people though. I don't know. Maybe it doesn't matter what people think. I charged what most people would consider high prices in the pro shop, but I made sure I backed it up and made it worth it. The YouTube thing is costing me a TON, and I guess the saying, "if you're good at something, never do it for free," applies here? I don't want to sell myself short, but I don't want to be "that guy." I also don't want to contribute to the cheapening of stuff in the industry. There are people incensed over paying $40 to drill a ball, and to me that's not even worth my time, yet I'll spend hours a day making videos and answering questions for nothing lol . . well, not exactly for nothing, it cost me 40+ hours a week of time and a couple thousand dollars . . I don't know. #internalconflict.
He's an accessory brand at this point. He does have one of the better private FB groups that I've seen online for his members devoted around in person + online coaching, equipment evaluation, and Team CTD meetups. There's much more value in his products than the cleaners (which I rarely use. I need these new balls to lay off, not hook more).
I guess I see a lot of similarities in the model of building a subscription based community. Do you plan on evolving it into actual product as well?