Why the Buy-Me-a-Beer Plugin is Not “Internet Panhandling”
In what is no doubt a linkbait scheme, blogger Ben Cook writes, “…I just can’t get past the fact that you’re essentially panhandling. Instead of a busy street corner you’re using your blog. Instead of a hat or a cup of change, you’re using this plugin. Bottom line though, you’re begging for money.”
To answer those that argue they are providing a valuable service to their readers, he has this to say, “It’s either valuable or it’s not… period! If you don’t place enough value on it that you don’t think you can sell it, then why in the world would I value it enough to donate money after the fact?”
So sad, really. He makes some interesting arguments, but unfortunately he is 100% wrong. That’s old-style thinking. Sure, it’s still applicable in many situations, but, in others, it’s just the old way of doing things.
All About Sharing
You see, long before anyone had ever heard of blogging, there was this concept of “try before you buy” called shareware (not to be confused with crippleware or demos).
You could use the software, make sure it worked for you, and then send the author the requested shareware fee for the software. If it didn’t work, you didn’t send money.
This later expanded to websites too, where authors might ask their readers for a voluntary subscription to help support the site.
So, now we have the “buy me a beer” plugin, where bloggers can ask their readers for a voluntary contribution.
The Ultimate Try Before You Buy!
Some see that as begging. Others see it as a “tip jar.” I like to think of it as try before you buy.
With information, how do you know it’s useful until you’ve read it and tried it (where applicable)? Sure, I could close up my blog and ask people to pay a subscription, but then why blog at all? If you charge a fee, you’ll have returns. No matter how fantastic your information may be, you will always have people that won’t be satisfied and will want a refund. So, you’ll have to take time to deal with that. And, what if someone’s browser can’t view your blog properly? You’ll have to deal with that or issue a refund. That can be too much work, especially for a small blogger.
Determining Value
On top of those problems, there is also the issue of determining value.
Let’s say you run a bricks and mortars business and that I have a tip that can save you $10,000 per year. What would that be worth to you? Maybe 10%? So, I could charge $1,000 for that info, right?
Okay, but what if you own ten businesses? That information is now worth $100,000 to you? Should I charge $1,000 or $10,000?
Should I have an application process before I let you buy my tip, so that I can determine how much you will pay?
Or, maybe I price it based on how many businesses the average person owns. Let’s say that number is two. So, now the business owner with ten businesses is getting a heck of a deal, but the business owner with one business is getting ripped off.
Now, on the other hand, what my tip offers is a savings of $10,000 per year and an additional $10,000 per year in profits. So, if you’re business is struggling, while $10,000 in savings will be an enormous help, you still may not be able to afford to pay me $1,000 for the tip. Perhaps you can only spare $100.
Of course, I could give you the tip, and ask that you only pay what you feel it was worth to you, or what you can afford. That way, you–the customer–have little chance of getting ripped off, but I risk getting nothing at all.
Wouldn’t you say that’s a rather customer-focused approach? Let the customer use the information, let the customer determine the value of that information and let the customer pay according to his own schedule or ability. And, unlike a “make no payments for 12 months” offer, the customer will never need to worry about hidden fees or interest charges or a balloon payment at the end!
More Than Meets the Eye
When was the last time a begger gave you something more valuable in return for your contribution to him or her?
That’s the other thing that separates the Buy Me a Beer plugin from panhandling.
You see, there are a number of bloggers that use the plugin that (sometimes secretly, other times not so secretly) reward their contributors with something more valuable in return.
For example, if you want John Chow to post about you, it’s going to cost you $400 for a review. Or, right now, you can buy an ad for $200. But, Blog Sonar got a mention and a link for being the Biggest Beer Giver of the Week. Not a bad deal for $30, eh?
Conclusion
Panhandling? Nah.
In his conclusion, Mr. Cook asks, “However, when’s the last time you watched a TV show and at the end they said, hey if you liked the show please send us $5.” I guess Mr. Cook has never watched PBS!
Besides that, is there really much of a difference between asking for a voluntary contribution or asking people to buy something from your sponsers?
I would buy you a keg! Actually only a pony keg, because you bought and ate the linkbait. Cook was only fluffing his own tail, and you sent him $1,000’s worth of traffic!
It’s good for linkbait karma.
Hey, thanks for checking out the site! The article was definitely intended to generate conversation but I think it’s a good discussion that’s going on.
A few things, first I do realize this sort of thing started with the programing community and continues on to this day. However, this is something entirely different. Yes, you are providing a service to your readers. However, they are also doing you a favor by reading your content. The more subscribers you have, the more you can charge for advertising etc. PBS is different in that they are a nonprofit organization. How many blogs that have the Buy Me a Beer plugin installed are nonprofit?
Also, I don’t ask people to buy anything from my sponsors. I ask them to check out their site or sites. If they chose to buy something, that’s great. They are paying the sponsor for their product or service. The Buy Me a Beer plugin is the equivalent of Oprah asking her viewers to send her a few bucks or some radio dj asking for people to pay his salary this week. It just doesn’t happen.
Now, if it’s for charity or something (as a comment on my blog mentioned) that’s something different entirely. But, for the most part, on sites like John Chow and hundreds if not thousands of sites like it, it’s nothing more than begging. As I said, if your content is good enough that people should pay for it, then charge for it. If you choose not to, then monetize your audience by selling ads or writing reviews. There’s value in traffic without having to beg for change from your visitors.
Just my opinion but I think I’m right.
Thanks for the response though. It’s always good to have both sides of the discussion represented well and your post definitely details the opposite side of the coin in a well informed manner. Cheers!
Thanks for stopping by!
For large blogs, maybe. But small blogs may have too little traffic for advertisers to want to bother with. And, the amount that you can earn from Adsense is often little more than a joke. Yet, those small blogs still have to pay their hosting fees (unless they are on a free service) just like the big guys.
They are also funded by tax dollars, which means you pay for them whether you watch or not. But, they still ask for contributions. Sometimes they’ll even pull a show if it doesn’t attract enough contributors.
But, there too, you have an entirely different animal. In the U.S., you have 5 networks. If you count cable channels, we have maybe 1,000 channels. Maybe more. As for radio stations, there are several hundred of those. Initially, someone hired Oprah. Paid her salary. They saw dozens, maybe hundreds, of candidates and picked Oprah. Same for that DJ. Someone took the risk and hired him or her.
Oprah and the DJ doesn’t ask for people to pay their salary. It’s already been paid. They’re doing what they were hired to do. (Granted, Oprah is now her own industry, but it wasn’t always that way.)
By contrast, there are millions of blogs out there. Most of those are not people hired by any media corporation to do what they do. Surfing through blogs is not the same as surfing through cable channels. On your cable box, each of those stations are getting a cut of what you pay for your cable bill. As for bloggers, they don’t get a cut of what you pay for your Internet access.
So, the situation is different. If a blogger says, hey, if you like blogs like mine, please consider making a voluntary contribution to keep it going, that’s not begging. He or she could just simply quit and focus on their regular job and find a different way of spending their free time.
And all the Buy Me a Beer plugin is is just another method of monetization. It’s also giving your audience a choice: If you don’t value this information, you don’t have to pay. Or, If you would like to continue to read this type of quality content, please make a voluntary contribution.
You could also think of it as advanced negotiation, where the consumer holds all the cards. No one ever pays more than they can afford or want! You think this content is worth $100? Send $100. You think it’s worth $10? Send $10. You think it’s worth $1? Send $1. Don’t think it’s worth anything? Send nothing.
Before retail stores became established, it was certainly not unusual to negotiate a price. How much for that barrel of apples? $5? Those apples don’t look plump, I’ll give you $3. $4? Okay, I’ll buy them for $4. But, now, the buyer can jump right to their low offer and give the seller exactly what they think the apples are worth. The buyer has already received the product and need only send in what they feel is a fair price for that product.
If they choose nothing at all, that is their choice.
Not everyone is going to find all content valuable. They may not want to pay $10 per year for a subscription to a blog. It may never be worth that much too them. But, if they can read it for free, and choose to contribute only if they find something of value, that’s a different situation isn’t it? An individual post may not be worth a cent to them, but one specific post might be worth $1. In that case, a person might be willing to spend $1 a month to contribute to posts they found helpful to them, rather than spending $10 per year on a subscription.
If you pay for something, you expect something of value in return, no? So, if you subscribe to a blog, you’re going to expect that every post is valuable to you, perhaps regardless of how much you paid for the subscription. You’ll read every post with a critical eye. I’m paying $10 a year for this!? On the other hand, if you’re not paying a subscription fee, you’re not going to look at every post that way. Instead, you’re going to say, hey, that was a great post. That was worth $1.
But, again, all the choice is in the reader’s hand.
So, I still think you’re wrong. But, I appreciate you stopping by and making your case here.
How much does hosting cost? $5 a month? Plus as you mentioned there are all sorts of free options. Don’t give me that, I need to pay my expenses crap.
I think we look at blogs fundamentally different and that’s where the disconnect is. When I read a blog I don’t think of it as the author is doing me a favor. There is an exchange going on. I am exchanging my time and the author is giving me knowledge or entertainment in return. I have a feeling you’ll disagree with me here but let me ask you this, why did you start a blog? Was it because someone was asking you to start one? Was it because you had people begging you for your expertise?
I started blogging because it was an easy way for me to publish my content. The internet allows me to generate a following of readers. I didn’t have anyone asking me to start one and in fact, I constantly have to prove to my readers that my blog is worth their time. I have to EARN their loyalty. Now, if I earn enough people’s loyalty, I can monetize my site in all sorts of manners. I can sell advertising, I can use affiliate offers (great for sites with lower traffic numbers), and on and on. In fact, some bloggers are able to parlay their large online audience into book deals or columns in magazines or newspapers. So, as you can see, readers have a value all on their own.
With that in mind I don’t see why anyone would expect readers to contribute financially as well. They are already doing me a favor by reading my blog! And, if there is no expectation then why have the button at all? By having it you’re telling your readers I expect at least some of you to donate money to me. That’s what a tip jar on the bar tells me and that’s what this plugin is saying. Not only do I want you to do me the favor of reading my blog, but I also expect you to give me money for it.
I guess I’m just either not that audacious or I place more value on a reader that I don’t expect or need them to contribute further.
Hi!
Thanks for the link to Blogsonar.com!
I think $30 bucks to John Chow was a very good deal, given that he did mention and linked to the blog. That same day I had 6 blogs that signed up for and a total of 155 visitors.
It was a very good andcheap way to start promoting the site
Cheers!
Fabián.
Hi! As you know, I have a “Buy me a cuppa” link on my blog. If cuppa buyers want to get a mention in my blog, they get one (a whole post in fact!) so I consider it a form of advertising on the cheap for my readers
See to me that’s different. If you say, hey, buy me a beer and I’ll write a post about you that’s essentially selling a service and becomes a different matter entirely.
There are pros and cons for every action. Did you take out the beer plugin for the computer one?
No, it’s the same plugin. I just modified it so I have a wider variety of options to choose from.
As someone who has tipped a few bloggers myself, let me say that I don’t do it out of a sense of obligation or pity (as I might do with a panhandler, say). There’s so much information out there, but every now and then I come across something that really helps me out or makes my day. It could be just a nugget of information or a piece of advice or a funny story that stands out among the morass of content on the Web. That kind of experience makes me want to reciprocate in some way–by more than just a comment or a stumble or whatever. It makes me feel good to tip or buy a coffee or whatever when I feel like I got something really special from someone who obviously works very hard to provide valuable content for their readers. So, I give that same benefit of the doubt to my readers—I hope that someone may be inspired or excited or just really tickled by something I write and might like to show their appreciation in the form of a tip. No obligation. It’s an option for those who feel moved to use it. And maybe nobody ever will, but I like to keep it out there.
I think this is an issue that will forever divide bloggers. It’s good to have discussions, tho, and see how everybody else feels.