Hipstercrite: Sellin' Out

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Sellin' Out

So you know how I've been going blah blah blah about doing a blog redesign? Well, it's finally happening.
Throughout this process I've written a couple blog posts and sent out some tweets asking for your input because I need constant positive reinforcement in my life.

You guys have been great. Your feedback encouraged me to move to Wordpress and to not be such an f'ing pussy about this transition.

A few readers proposed the question, "Why change your blog at all? It's the content that matters."

I completely agree.

However, I'm changing the living shit out of this blog and here is why: I want to write more. I want to write about different topics. I want to write more than once a day. I want to write about what is going on in my life, what's going on in pop culture, social media, non-profit, AND what's going on in Austin or the World all in one day! I want to write about a cool new start-up venture I heard about in Austin or write about why I get constant charlie horses in my ass and why Nic Cage's hair haunts my dreams all at once. I want to be able to interact better with my readers. Comment on comments. Because of this, I feel I've outgrown my Blogger template and Blogger in general.

Now that I'm taking the next step, I would love your feedback on a few other items.

First, this is what the new template is going to look like What do you think? Be honest. BE HONEST, DAMMIT!

Secondly, how would you feel if there was advertising on my blog? It would be tasteful advertising and pertinent to the feel of my blog. None of this "Lose Weight Now" crap with an animated fat lady shaking up and down in weight hanging out on my sidebar. I plan on only having a few advertisements and I promise they'd be stuff that's interesting. Do I feel like a sell out for doing this? Abso-fucking-lutely, but a girl has gots to be smart. She's gots to pay the bills, you know? If you read my post on Monday, you will understand why. I'm curious as to what your thoughts are on advertising and blogs. Do you think it's selling out?

Thirdly, I hate asking people for money. I won't borrow money for anyone. The VERY few times I have, I felt like super duper tool. With all that being said, I was thinking of setting up a Kickstarter page to fund the changes I need to make to my blog. The campaign would be for $300 in total. There would be perks for anyone who donated. I'm very hesitant to do this and I would like your feedback beforehand. I don't expect any of you to donate to my blog. It would simply be something available if anyone felt so inclined to donate.

Yep, feel like a tool.

24 Comments:

At 9:42 AM, Cathy Benavides said...: First of all, that new layout is sweet. It's professional but unique and easy to navigate- I give it two very enthusiastic thumbs up!!

As for advertising and a Kickstarter account, I say go for it. Look sunshine, your readers love what you do. That's the reason we come back day in and day out. We like your writings and your musings and your general crazy awesomeness. Turning a blog into a business isn't easy. But your readers are your online family, and we are hear to not just enjoy, but to support. So I'm all for some ads and some donating if it means more Hipstercrite!!
At 9:56 AM, twoeightnine said...: I mean this in the nicest possible way, no one gives a shit if you have advertising on your site and if they do they're lying and/or an idiot. 99% of the time I don't even realize that there's advertising on a site. If you provide me with entertainment and laughs then you deserve to earn .05 cents for every time I visit.

Now please buy a tshirt from me.
At 10:26 AM, may said...: i am a new reader, but from what i can tell your content is great, and you have a strong following--advertising won't change what is special about your blog.

got to respect a girl who pays her own bills, bills, bills. xo.
At 10:28 AM, may said...: i am a new reader, but from what i can tell your content is great and you have a strong following. advertising won't change what is special about your blog.

got to respect a girl who pays for her own bills, bills, bills. xo.
At 10:34 AM, renee said...: This is one of my fave themes. I would love to use it, but my friend is using it. Check it out here: http://lpfdesigns.com/

I don't think there is anything wrong with doing a kickstarter. Your readers are really the ones that end up benefiting from the kickstarter.

As far as advertising. No one is going to stop reading your blog because you take on sponsors. If they do, that's ridiculous.
At 11:18 AM, girluntitled said...: well shoot i was secretly hoping that if you eventually did put advertising on here it would be the "lose weight now" crap with an animated fat lady shaking up and down in weight hanging out on your sidebar. i guess i'll settle for whatever else.
At 12:17 PM, bsimms8907 said...: I don't have a lot of money, but I'd be willing to donate to you. I love this blog and I'd rather donate to you than the drag rats on campus that yell obscenities at me on a daily basis.
At 12:33 PM, Hipstercrite said...: @Cathy- Awww...thank you so much! Man! That really made me feel good. Thank you thank you thank you.

@TwoEightNine- I guess you're right. I just read all these articles saying that you have to be careful and you should have started advertising in the beginning days of the blog and blah blah blah.

@Sarah May- Aw thank you!!! Yes, I needs to eat! Thanks for coming by!

@Renee- Oh wow! Their site looks wonderful! Thanks for sharing. Makes me feel even better about my selection. Thank you for your encouragement. I really appreciate it!

@girluntitled- Will you settle for an ad of a naked man shaking?

@Brittney- Awww...you're too sweet! That means a lot.
At 12:41 PM, ercwttmn said...: the content is what matters. you're a terribly witty and entertaining writer, and that's what matters. all you're doing, is doing what you love. it's a bonus if doing what you love puts a lil change in your pocket.

i don't often quote kanye, but i believe he once said, "50 said go ahead and switch the style up and if they hate then let em hate and watch the money pile up"

-best of luck
At 2:00 PM, Daniella Robin said...: sprucing things up can't hurt. I feel it is good to give a new design once in a while, it makes it fresh and beckons people back.

I like the template.
At 2:30 PM, Barbara said...: Love it! Looking forward to the new and improved hipstercrite.
At 2:35 PM, Jessica said...: Dude, you have to do what's right for you, so if anyone complains about advertisement, fuck 'em.

I will follow you to whatever format, even if it's crayon drawings delivered by carrier pigeon.
At 2:57 PM, Randall Nichols said...: I don't think anything you're considering is particularly damning, and if you'd like to try and crowd source the money for these changes, I think that's a fine idea, and a lot of us would probably be willing to chip in money to help. You have quite the audience, quite the readership, that's valid and no one who legit comes here for your perspectives on things are going to accuse you of selling out.

Ads are really no big deal. These days, those especially offended by ads will just block them.

I still worry you're going to run yourself a little ragged operating the sort of site you're talking about, with many posts a day, with no other staff on board. I know you, like me, struggle sometimes just not having anything to write, or being able to write, and switching from high content posts to just high content is probably not going to make that better. But it might, and I'd be glad to see where it goes, and excited to support it in any way I could.
At 3:02 PM, Big Mark 243 said...: Look, this is a great idea and I think the layout will benefit you and your talents!

And as far as asking for some help, please, please let me know how I can make a donation!!

L&R
Mark
At 4:39 PM, Unknown said...: Q1: Not in love with the template. It feels busy to me and I am easily overwhelmed.

Q2: Don't feel like a sell out. Advertising is fine. You've said before you want to be a pro-blogger. Most of them have at least some amount of advertising on their sites. NO BIG DEAL. (Trust me, if my audience ever gets big enough to bother with advertising I am totally going for it. Big IF.)

Q3: I can't promise donations (since I am poor as fucking hell right now) but I love kickstarter. I think it's a great idea. I haven't used it because I am not sure what I want from it yet. But I seriously intend to once I figure out the best way for me to utilize it for the projects in my head. Do it.
At 5:16 PM, Anonymous said...: And not to point out the obvious, but be sure to put some ads in the RSS feeds for those of us who enjoy your writing, but never see the site.

I think ads are fine. Speaking of - there's probably an opportunity for the "hipster ad network".
At 8:05 PM, Hipstercrite said...: @ercwttmn- ha! your kanye quote made me laugh. thanks for the kind words.

@penny- thanks, penny! yeah, change always feels good!

@barbara- thanks, barbara!!!

@jessica- you made me smile! thank you for your constant support!

@randall- what can i say? you've really hung in there with me and for that, i will never forget. your thought out comments mean so much to me, even if i don't respond- which i am sorry for. thank you from the bottom of my heart.

@mark- and you too! you've been amazing. thank you thank you thank you! i always look forward to yours and randall's comments.

@brooke- thank you for your input! you should totally do a kickstarter page. i'll let you know how mine goes if i do it. are you still in australia?

@tim- ha! you may be on to something!...;)
At 8:07 PM, hmla2599 said...: If everything we ever did to make money was selling out, we'd be in a whole lot of debt if we didn-

oh, that's right. we both are.

Make the changes you need to make. And never apologize for asking for money for what you put your heart into. Other people put their hearts into reading you too.
At 6:34 AM, I'm a Mess said...: I completely support this Kickstarter idea. That's fantastic. I'd even help drum up support for that (though I doubt you'll need it).

Go for the change, it's gonna be good.
At 8:29 AM, Christopher said...: What happened to you? You used to be cool. It used to be all about awkward situations and cool 80's mustaches. You changed man.

Seriously though,

1) If you feel like another format will allow you more freedom to be creative then what the f*** are you even asking us for? You're funny, interesting, and just narcissistic enough to make us tell you that!

2)I've been blogging for about a year and a half now and when I got on blogger you were one of the first pages I came across. In that year and a half, you've always had consistently interesting content. You taught me that all you need is a plain white background and a Jeff Goldblum obsession to be relevant. I don't stalk you as much as I should, but, when I am stalking you, I would totally click on your ad even though I probably wouldn't buy anything.

3)I'm poor.

You've got a plan, follow it.
At 8:40 AM, Hipstercrite said...: @Hannah- Thank you for that. I want to catch up with you. I'm going to send you an email.

@Kelly- Awww, Kelly! Thank you so so much!

@Christopher- Good question. I'm sad that I've gotten away from the pop culture stuff recently too. I'm hoping to get back into that, especially once the new blog is up. Right now I feel like I'm in a holding pattern.
At 6:02 PM, Unknown said...: Still in Australia. Ten more days. Very mixed emotions about going home.
At 12:49 PM, MeanDonnaJean said...: As far as the new format goes, I really like what ya got goin' on over here. I dunno, its just clean, uncluttered, fresh & just plain ol' nice lookin'. Besides, I hate change...ANY kinda change. But I hate pretty much everything anyway ('cept for this here place) ;-) so don't go by me. Oh yeah, and speakin' of change...since I just donated a month's worth of server time over at that OTHER website I write at (http://MeanDonnaJean2.deardiary.net/) nope, sorry...I ain't got any of THAT for ya. However, the GOOD news is that I DO got one of THESE http://www.tshirthell.com/funny-shirts-stock/yes-i-have-plenty-of-change-you-homeless-piece-of-shit/ but it'll cost ya to borrow it (hey, *I've* gotta pay bills 'n eat TOO ya know!) ;-) Best of luck with whatever ya decide to do, kiddo.
At 5:31 PM, hmla2599 said...: I'd love to catch up also. And meet over the summer, if that's possible.

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Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Sellin' Out

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