Whilst looking at options to add a ‘tip’ service to my blog, I looked at what felt like a never-ending stream of them. There are no shortage of options, ranging from full on monthly subscriptions, to occasional buy me a coffee type platforms. I went for the latter to see if I can monetise the work I do with my ‘How To’ posts. I found reading the marketing copy on these websites really eye-opening, and it started me thinking about monetisation of the content I make.

One such website Buy Me A Coffee has the tag line ”A supporter is worth a thousand followers”. Which sums perfectly up the outlook of those looking to gain something back for the work they put in. My self included, of course. I have been trying to get something back, if only to cover the costs of hosting, for almost a decade with very little success.

As I wrote at the start of this year, “The web is much different now than even that brief time ago”. It is still a little hard to accept that the number of people making a living from writing on the web is so small when compared to a few years ago. A few dedicated supporters well outweigh, in terms of revenue, thousands upon thousands of page views.

I am still overwhelmed when people read my posts, even more so when people give me feedback, and amazed that anyone ever felt enough motivation to donate to me. I value all of these people equally. The anonymous readers that never say a word, read the advice they need from a post and then leave. My followers on Twitter that occasionally like and retweet my nonsense. Or the people that I have met online that I now consider friends.

Sure, it would be nice to motivate more people to support me, but that is not why I do it. I am already a success because that looks very different to me in comparison to whom these tip services are primarily aimed at — but supporters do help!