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If there is one thing that demolition men and women are good at, it is extracting maximum value from their work.
Whether they specialise in the demolition of tower blocks or toilet blocks, petrol stations or power stations, demolition folk are past-masters at squeezing every last drop of value from each and every contract. They are expert at identifying any works that have been carried out that weren’t contained within the contract agreement and that can subsequently be charged as an extra.
They are skilled at repurposing, recycling and reusing materials that others might view as waste.
All of which is good business sense. And extracting maximum value is something we have tried to embrace and apply here at Demolition News.Virtually everything we do carries some form of advertising or sponsorship to ensure that our time, efforts and energies are paid for; and that our readers, viewers and listeners get to enjoy our content free of charge.
But there are a few key areas of our activities where we are not extracting maximum value. And we’re about to start addressing those now.
On DemolitionNews, our primary goal is to keep readers up to date with developments in the field of demolition, whether that’s in the form of the written word, in audio form or as video.
However, we regularly intersperse the news with our own comment and opinion. And without wanting to blow my own trumpet, those opinions and comments are generally among the most read and are by far the most shared content on the whole of DemolitionNews.com. But there’s a problem when it comes to advertising and sponsorship.
You see, as regular readers will tell you, my comments are not always in keeping with the opinions of others. And I do not want my views and my opinions to reflect badly upon an advertiser that has been kind and generous enough to support us. So our comments started as advertising-free and will remain that way.
Yet, as I said previously, these articles, essays and commentaries are without question the most-read and most-shared words on the whole of DemolitionNews. They clearly have a value, however small.
And so, in future, we are going to be monetising these popular articles by what I can best describe as a tipping system.
About a year ago, we started to use a system called Patreon which allows our followers to make a small monthly contribution to the running of our various demolition-related activities in return for certain benefits like behind the scenes access, free magazine subscriptions and so on.
While I am not likely to be able to retire upon the proceeds, the funds raised through Patreon helped finance the purchase of a new microphone and audio recording system when we started Demolition News Radio. And for that, I am hugely grateful.
Well Patreon has a new service that allows anyone to make what they call a “Custom Pledge” from as little as a dollar. (And yes, all payments to Patreon are in dollars).
So henceforth, if you read a comment or opinion piece that really resonates with you; that you believe is worthy of sharing with others; and which you believe has an actual financial value –
You can choose to make a small financial contribution.
All of this resides over at patreon.com/demolitionnews. But to make life easier, all future opinion and comment pieces will end with a navy blue animated band that you can click (like the one at the foot of this comment piece). You can then hit the Custom Pledge option at the foot of the page, select a value of your choosing, and by the magic of ecommerce, some money will eventually find its way into our beleaguered coffers.
The tipping system is entirely voluntary. If you feel like leaving us a tip – however small – then we will be enormously grateful. If you can’t afford it, if you don’t believe this part of DemolitionNews’ output merits a tip, if you prefer not to pay for information, or if it goes against everything you stand for as a demolition person and a human, then we fully understand.
We will keep producing these articles regardless.
Thanks for your attention and thanks in advance if you choose to leave us a tip!
THIS ARTICLE IS AN EXTRACT FROM A LONGER AUDIO PODCAST – YOU CAN LISTEN TO THAT HERE.
