There is a mountain of good information on the Internet (as well as lots of rubbish) and all for free with no request for payment. As I see it if anyone was posting something really special, and of great benefit, they could ask for a set subscription.
To be honest I almost feel embarrassed when I see some of the pleas for money with big donation buttons on run of the mill posts.
There are, however, a few cleverly written requests around that are done almost tongue in cheek and with a sense of humour. These I like.
One of the first I saw like this was on Rhys's blog The Gospel According To Rhys. Following his blog post he has a small icon of a glass of beer and next to this is written: If you've enjoyed this, why not buy me a beer? If you haven't, why not contribute to my death by alcohol poisoning by buying me a beer?
I think that Rhys can get away with this perfectly because he has developed a relationship with his readers and writes in a relaxed way. This wouldn't work though on every blog, it's the character of the blogger that is important.
When talking about donations, as a way of making money with blogs, most people seem to throw up the name of Jason Kottke .
His story is that in the early part of 2005 he decided to quit his employment to take up being a professional blogger for one year.
His blog doesn't offer any form of service or product, and there is no advertising. His income, I'm told, is (or at least was) purely from donations. In February of 2006 Jason revealed that roughly 1450 'micropatrons' had donated over US$39,900 over the course of his one year experiment of being a full time blogger.
In this case Jason already had a good following and donations were to become a micropatron. He also had that relationship established with his readers.
To sum up: For me donations are a 'no no' unless there is something of 'real' value on a blog or it's done in a fun way by a blogger who is known, established and respected. It's definitely not for newbies.
There are always exceptions ...
Following the dreadful bomb attempt at Glasgow Airport a website/blog has been set up in the name of John Smeaton. He's the guy that tackled one of the terrorists at the weekend. On the blog, as appreciation for what he did, you can buy John a pint of beer. The idea is to get 1000 pints lined up for him at the Holiday Inn near Glasgow Airport. Having just been to the blog they are already through the 1000 pints target. This is a nice idea and much more worthy than giving to some anonymous nondescript blogger. Just my opinion of course!
Good luck,
Mike.
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