Indie Biz: I wish you had a tip jar!

8/13/2015

The musician said, whenever her band performed at a venue in the area she grew up in, an old friend always came to sit a spell and listen to their music.

He'd not always stay for the entire performance. He was a farmer, and usually up and working before dawn. The early-morning schedule didn't deter him from showing up to spend a bit of time enjoying their music at least for an hour or so and before he left he'd stop by to leave a $20 in their tip jar.

Thanks, Desco. ☺ She never forgot that. When she told me of it, I easily picked up on how much she appreciated it and how special it made her feel.

WarnerWords recent Spin on e-tipping

CLICK HERE to see the article

Victoria Warner of WarnerWords recently published an excellent article on buying a cup of coffee for favorite online participants in the indie biz community. She cited the option being available on Pixabay contributors' pages, explaining how and why she loved it and is using it as a means to support, encourage and thank the contributors there for sharing their awesome work, that's free to use for me, for you and anyone else.

Usually the photos incorporated into WarnerWords editions are Vicki's work, my work or my sister's work (Alicia Phillips of On Story Street). But, when an image is needed that we don't have in our own supplies, Vicki tends to go with Pixabay images and she's often inclined to buy a coffee for the contributing photographer or graphic artist. It's a simple, painless process that's a wonderful way of benefiting the contributor financially as well as encouraging them to continue with their work.

A few fav sites I wish had virtual tip jars

Aside from my regular haunts in the Weeblyhood which mostly include, WarnerWords, BraveWarrior's Feathered Pen, marcoujor's musings, On Story Street, Graceful Intentions, Bumpkin in the Burbs and The Carolinian's Archives, there are several others that I'm a dedicated fan of and sincerely wish they had cyber-tipping options installed on them for guests to put to good use.

Stan Courtney

CLICK HERE to visit StanCourtney.com

Thanks to Alicia's tip, I've been a fan and follower of Stan Courtney's work for several years now. He's a cryptid research expert and his site is packed with fascinating data in forms of text, audio and visual inclusions.

Stan, your site rocks and I wish it had a tip jar!

holistic-healing-information

CLICK HERE to visit holistic-healing-information's website

holistic-healing-information is a new-ish site that I visit often and refer colleagues, kith and kin to for information illnesses and holistic healing options. This site is consistently growing as a data base and includes not only information researched and being used by Dr. Tarrin Lupo (also of TarrinLupo.com) but also some stellar information on holistic dental healthcare options provided by Kate Parker, RDH, BS-DH, RF.

Tarrin and Kate, I love the site and I wish you had a tip jar option on it!

molometer's blog

CLICK HERE to visit molometer's blog

It's been several years since I became a fan of Michael Mulcahy's (molometer) photojournalism. His work includes off-the-wall articles infused with a dry sense of humor. His videos are just as witty and narrated with his catchy-Cockney accent.

Mike and his family have lived in some exotic places and gotten to engage in the sort of adventures that lots of us have only dreamed of. Being a professional educator, he's accustomed to delivering his information in a blonde-friendly fashion that's consistently engaging and boredom-free via literature, photo and video content.

molometer, your posts are awesome and I wish you had a tip jar!

Finish Line

How 'bout you? If you've got a site that you love that doesn't have a "buy me a cup of coffee" option, a virtual piggy bank or a tip jar, give 'em a shout and maybe we can get readers, bloggers and vloggers to be able to earn some coin for the awesome work they provide for the rest of us to enjoy, without making a huge dent in our wallets.

I'm certain I'm not the only fan out there who'd like to have an easy opportunity readily available to submit a monetary gratuity easily when visiting the websites I love to frequent and hope the idea catches on and becomes as common as the guitar cases I love tossing coins into for the street musicians.

Makes them feel appreciated and me feel like I was able to give back in an affordable manner that took nearly no effort. An easy-peasy way to be supportive and extend thanks for a job well done.

That's it for this one!

God bless you, thanks for the read and please don't forget to thank a veteran at your next opportunity!

femmeflashpoint

18 Comments

Vicki

8/11/2015 01:19:29 am

Yeah, girlfriend, I'm really happy to have you bouncing your thoughts off my last article! It's about time some of us got the opportunity to throw some little coin into the violin case when we really appreciate the work that went into a particular article or other creative endeavor on line.
Loved this, and thanks so much for your plug about my article! I'm with you all the way on this one, and dang, can't even toss a coin your way to show it!

femmeflashpoint

8/11/2015 01:27:18 pm

Hi Vicki,

All things in God's good time. I'll see about having some violin cases, tip jars or even piggy banks installed, lol.

Thanks so much for the visit and the comment. I hope the idea sweeps the blogging and vlogging sector. Even small bits of change can add up to a decent amount of earnings if one produces good content and has a dedicated readership.

femme

Shauna

8/11/2015 05:27:12 am

Femme, this is the perfect segue (in reverse) to Vicki's article. Likening the virtual tip jar to a musician's open guitar case really drives the point home. I'd never thought of adding a tip jar to my site. Something to think about...

8/11/2015 01:30:32 pm

Hi Sha!

I think tip jars, or coffee cup or a virtual guitar case are fun and creative ways to allow our guests and fans to leave tips and like I said up top, even small bits can become decent earnings for a job well done.

I'm way happy you like the idea and looking forward to seeing tip element on your site!

femme

Michael Mulcahy link

8/11/2015 07:20:33 am

This is such simple and obvious idea that it is baffling that we didn't think of it sooner.
Like all the greatest ideas, it is simple and easy to understand.

You have my total support and gratitude for inclusion in this important blog.

This may be the start of something very special.

I am happy to be a part of this next evolution on the web.
I will investigate creating our very own tip jar software.

Many Thanks

Michael (molometer)

8/11/2015 01:32:22 pm

Hi Michael,

I'm happy you stopped by and glad you're good with the idea of tipping our favorite bloggers and vloggers!

I think the concept has excellent potential.

Thanks for the visit and the comment!

femme

Tarrin Lupo link

8/11/2015 08:55:14 am

I really need to at least put one up on my youtube videos, I heard you can do it but I am not sure how. I need to get more organized and figure it out.

8/11/2015 01:33:58 pm

Hi Tarrin,

I agree. You could add one to your YouTube channel. I've not added one to ours yet either, but will look into it soon.

If you get there first, pass word back.

Thanks for the visit and the comment!

femme

Maria link

8/17/2015 09:18:52 am

Dear femme,
Once again, you have me thinking - and I totally get this concept of tipping.
I am loving the idea - as it could be connected to more 'giving back'.
'When' you discuss adding a tip jar to my site, I'd be honored to donate any potential support to my favorite group - K9s for Warriors.
Love you and your big heart, mar

8/17/2015 09:53:51 am

Prof. Mahreer,

You're definitely slated for an approach regarding a tip jar. I've just not made it quite that far yet but getting there soon.

So glad you like the idea and I'm looking forward to making rounds in the Weeblyhood to get them set up here, there and yonder!

Thank you for the visit and the wonderful comment and hooray for the focus on the K9s for Warriors org!

femme

Martie link

8/21/2015 05:22:11 am

Angelia

I like the 'Tp Jar' more than the 'Donate'-button, although I know there are room for both.

One day, when I'm finish with my novel, I will get my Weebly-site up to date.

Thanks for sharing this brilliant idea :)

8/26/2015 06:18:58 am

Martie,

I'm with you, sistah! I like the tip jar more than a donate button. I have it in my head that a donate option is a charity, as opposed to tipping for a job well done, which is what I always aim to deliver.

We'll be happy to see you circulating in the Weeblyhood again and hopefully installing your own tip jar too. :)

femme

Gail Sobotkin

8/26/2015 12:06:25 am

Hi Femme,
Never noticed tip jars on websites before, but now that you made me aware of them, I'll look for them more often.
Gave my first tip to you, today, when I read your latest post and doing it through Paypal was easy!
Hugs,
Gail

8/26/2015 06:25:36 am

Boomer, thank you so much! Woohooo!!!

I hope tip jars become a common thing on websites, especially writers' sites. Historically, writers have nearly always been either under-paid or not paid, lol! Maybe this will be the way to change that.

When we break the possibilities down into decent numbers, a writer who has a website and just 2K dedicated readers, and they publish only once a month, and each of those readers tipped a single dollar ... that's $2K a month!

If they only tipped 50¢ each that'd still generate an earning of $1K for the month. That'd be more than enough to compensate a writer for all sorts of fees incurred by their work, and it doesn't leave a dent in the pocket books of their readers.

Wish we'd implemented these things a few years ago, but now is better than not at all.

Thanks so much for mentioning that using PayPal to tip with is easy! Much appreciated!!

femme

Angie

8/27/2015 01:16:50 am

Hi, Femme -

I sure have gotten slow about making my rounds! This is quite interesting. I'd seen it once before on another writer's site, and used theirs.

Thank you for always touting others' work - yours is more than worthy to have us do the same...

~Angie

8/27/2015 05:55:39 am

Hi Angie,

I feel you pain about being slow to make round, lol. I tend to do it in spurts when I've got schedule gaps to accommodate it.

I appreciate your visit and your always interesting and helpful feedback, not just for my sake but for the flashPress readers who check the comments as well.

Also, thanks for mentioning that you've seen this on other sites too. I think this is a thing that can be so beneficial to website monetization that allows them to be independent of SEO, once they gain a good number of steady readers who are geared to share the news about why they like the site and encourage their kith and kin to visit and subscribe to them as well, if they have shared interest in the content.

Makes it easy on everyone, especially bloggers, allowing them more quality time to focus on their content rather than selling ad space.

femme

Christy B link

7/2/2017 05:22:57 pm

I have only seen this so far on one or two sites... I do have a donation button on mine.. it's nice to give readers the opportunity to give back and keep the sites going.. Sadly many bloggers are not being paid enough for their efforts so it's a good way to help out!

Angelia

7/3/2017 11:34:41 am

Hi Christy,

Sometimes it takes a while for some things to catch on, especially when they're going against the grain of counter-culture, the current one being writers writing for nothing, or donations.

The concept of tipping establishes writers as actually writing to earn and since this article, there are more who've come on board as indie biz owners, who write to generate income.

Here are a couple links of more recent posts on this subject if you'd like further info...

This one is via Graceful Intentions website, owned by author, Sunnie Day: http://gracefulintentions.weebly.com/pen-to-page/tips-for-talent-club-encourages-the-art-of-giving

This one is via here, on flashPress: http://flashpress.weebly.com/pumpkin-run-pulse-blog/literary-buskers-the-tips-for-talent-club

And, this one is via marcoujor's musings, owned by author, Maria Jordan: http://www.marcoujor.com/inspiration-station/marcoujor-the-workings-of-weebly

I'm sure the ezines don't want us to succeed, but in spite of the opposition, we're gaining ground and earning money for our work. For me, it's a sincere answer to prayer. :)

Thanks for your visit and comment! I'm grateful the post caught your interest!

Pumpkin Run Pulse