Support Icethetics
Saturday · Nov 22 · 2008 | 10:17 PM PSTFirst, I just want to thank everybody who's been visiting Icethetics for third jersey news and more over the past month. It's hard to believe Icethetics.info has only existed for 22 days now. Traffic to the site has been hitting all sorts of records lately and I couldn't be more excited.
However, with added visitors comes added costs. When I set up this new web site, I knew I'd have to shell out a little from my own pocket. Unfortunately, the more visitors dropping in and the more content being added, the higher that price is going.
The minimal advertising on the site provides a decent source of income that I'm able to put back into the site. However, it's not quite cutting it. Without going into detail, the cost of maintaining this site exceeds $50 per month, which is a lot when you consider I wasn't spending anything on the free Blogger account.
So I'm taking this opportunity to humbly ask that you consider donating as much or as little as you can to help with Icethetics' bills. There's a new button in the sidebar that reads Support Icethetics. If you click on that, you can complete a secure PayPal transaction. Supporters can choose to remain anonymous or be recognized by name on the site.
By the end of the year, I anticipate the launch of a new Concepts section which will include Featured Artists and tons of image content. This will increase bandwidth demand that will cost money.
I'm only able to spend so much of my own money on this site. So if you'd like to see Icethetics continue to grow and improve, I'm going to need your help. If you enjoy all that Icethetics has to offer, show it!
I appreciate your taking the time to consider helping Icethetics out.
Reader Comments (37)
done and done! Chris this is easily, to me, the best website around. For anything to do with hockey. There wasn't even a second thought to donating to help icethetics out, and will donate more in the future if needed. Keep up the absolutely amazing work that you do here!
Chris, As Much As I'd LOVE to help out, i'm only 12....
easy solution: befriend with a rich old chick who has no family, so when she dies you get the loot... problem solved
when i'm able to, i will definitely help out (gotta love this economy, eh?). this website has been amazing and it's been great to watch it grow from NHLToL.
a simple recommendation for you, to encourage more donations and perhaps a more organized process for you, check out the membership program at uniwatchblog.com. considering that there are 674 members, at $25 (minimum) a pop, that's been awfully successful. i'm proud to say that i'm a card-carrying uniwatchblog member, and i think everyone here would love to say that
"i'm a proud card-carrying member of icethetics"
even if it ends up being as simple as an image on flickr that we'd have to print up ourselves, i still think it would encourage more donations.
not to mention, if it is a yearly membership (as uniwatchblog's originally was), that creates a renewal, and new donations each year.
think about it, even if you don't publish this comment, think about it for yourself
I just donated $15.00US, I'm sure a few of you could donate a fraction of that!
Maybe you should go back to .blogspot then ... the site has gone downhill since you launched this newest version.... No logo tourney no ICEHL ... just boring old third jersey news that we have already seen ...
I fully support a move back to blogspot. Many of the features of the new site could be pulled off with a little creativity in setting up the site layout.
Personally, I'm glad the ICEHL has gotten little attention. I've always thought it was a stupid idea.
Honestly, I don't see people continuing to donate to keep the site running. It is a model that has never worked well on any scale.
Nah, I love this site. I will do everything I can to donate.. but considering I am a highschooler with little money it could be hard. I'll see what I can do though, since I am a daily user who fully supports this website. I would hate to see things go downhill because of money issues.
Dude, $50 a month? You're being utterly ripped off then, unless you're also running ad campaigns and stuff. Even for a site with this high traffic, it shouldn't cost you more than about $10 monthly.
Chris, I would, but I'm only 14 years old. My mom has a paypal account so when I see her next I will ask her to make a donation. Great site, Chris. It's grown so much since NHLToL and I'd like to help.
Thanks,
Frankie
I will see what i can do. I'll try to donate $20 dollars to keep this site going. It would be cool to like get a personalized membership card with a photo and the icethetics wordmark over it so no one can forge one.
That sure sucks that you have to pay that much Chris...I will try to see if I can help... I like the new site and while blogspot was free, this website has a lot more potential then the old blog did. I really like HockeyWeek's idea though, maybe it could keep the site alive? Personally, I think at least some of the heavy traffic will die down once the Bruins unveil their third and all the alternate sweater news is over. Hopefully Icethetics doesn't die!
i want to start advertising my company on you site. i will email you about this. this should bring in more money.
personally i think its getting a little stale.
its the exact same third jersey stuff day after day.
i miss concepts and the tourneys.
if there were 3rd jersey concepts it'd be more bearable
but now it feels like Eklund on Hockeybuzz
giving us the exact same stuff DAY AFTER DAT AFTER DAY.
chris, i respect you and greatly appreciate the time you've given and everything,
but it feels like we've come a long way from the good ol' NHLToL.
Wow, people. As soon as money is brought up, everyone runs for the hills and starts bashing the site.
He just moved us here, what, a month ago? Not even. How many times has he said that he's working on bringing the concept gallery and voting back? Dude has a job and wanted to keep us up on third jersey news. Now that the news is essentially done with, he can spend time on other stuff. Comparing this site to Eklund's is ridiculous.
People amaze me.
Chris, after Christmas (or possibly just mid-December), I will make a donation. I love this place. Thanks a ton for all your work.
I'm 15 right now so I'm looking to find a job. As soon as I get one I'll be donating 20$ at the least to the site.
But seriously? This is the first time I've seen anybody bash this site in a long time. Suddenly when money comes into play the whole move wan't worth it. The IceHL is still running (it's one of the sections up top). And if you don't like it then no one is putting a gun to your head saying you had to visit the thing. And he's said countless times that he's going to get concepts and the '98 logo tourney back up after this whole 3rd jersey wave is over.
i think a "membership", even if it doesn't involve anything but perhaps a name on an online roster, would be an easier sell for some of these kids to their parents. am i right?
People, people, people, the man spends countless hours providing FREE and up to date information about the third jerseys and we should be grateful for Chris' efforts. this site has evolved quite impressively since its time as a blog. the LEAST we can do for Chris is help him out with the maintenance of Icethetics. Just a suggestion.
Chris, once I get my next paycheck, I'll donate some money for your site.
I love this site, but unfortunately can't donate right now. I will hopefully donate some amount in the near future, once I have the means to do so. Keep up the good work, this site is awesome!
1) go back to blogspot (can you say low cost great alternative)
2) run ads, the internet is running on them, why try to be different? seriously
3) yes, some people will donate, but i'm sure you know in these economic times, most people won't, it's just jerseys and they'll get to see them for free in a mtter of time. not to mention, alot of the people using the site are kids..
4) best of luck to you.
I think a membership is a cool idea. I think I would subscribe immediately if it would offer some exclusive stuff.
Oh and I'm sorry that I can not donate as I do not have a paypal account. But I really hope that people donate money to keep this awesome site alive.
Greetz from Germany
Chris I just want you to know I love the site, I do however agree with some other members that traffic will ultimately die down once the third jerseys are done. I think if we included a history section on the site or include more leagues (AHL, USHL, WHL, OHL, NCAA) the site would flourish even more. I do however realize that would greatly increase your workload, but I would definitely pay a monthly membership or donate if that were the case. Keep up the great work Chris!
Jeff is right, this site shouldn't be costing you more than $10/month to run...
why dont u just use blogger i dont like this new site compared to the old one
and you should just use a different provider for hosting i know of plenty that have unlimited everythhing thats not even close to 50$ a month
i could understand u wanting money for ur work but who really cares about this site now the jerseys are all leaked
i feel if there is a pay membership, can we have a free membership also? hockeybuzz...
The shelf life of this site is coming up, all the third jerseys have been seen or been leaked so what the heck are you going to show for the next 10 months?
The reason I believe it iscosting 50 per month would be the fact that the framework for the site (and it's a really good template) is included with the hosting, rather than just being given hosting and nothing else.
kory, colton. after all the third jersey stuff is done it will go back to what it was before. tournaments, concepts, etc. the stuff that was up for most of last season and the summer.
Chris is working really hard on this site and all you guys can do is bash him? WOW
Yeah, the negativity here is just appalling. The amount of time and effort, and personal funds that Chris puts into this site is amazing (for lack of a better word), and most of us just criticize.
I don't know why everyone uses GoDaddy any ways. There are a tone of hosting sites out there. Personally I run several sites for friends of mine, and it costs only $25 a YEAR to host and run every site.
Also, the site is nowhere where it used to be. It seems like now you just want to make money. And everyone praising Chris for his hard work.... hardly. Most of the info can easily be found else where on the web.
This request for money only proves that money will bring out the worst in people. If it costs $50 to run THIS, run.
You're being a little harsh Scope, I dont think he's trying to profit, just break even. If he's shelling out 50 a month, perhaps advice alone could cover those costs.
Godaddy is like what, 40 a year?
People, if you don't like the site, then why are you still visiting it? There is always something to complain about. If tomorrow, Chris decided to move back to the blog, people would complain about not having the ability or the ease to do things that are more readily available for a stand-alone site.
I don't know how many times Chris has said that he is trying to get every part of this site up to date so that everything from the blog is here now. If you visit the '98 tourny page, there is a note saying it will resume when 3rd jersey new is over. At that point, the tourny will start back up, and I'm sure the IceHL will pick back up, and concept art and other news will come back.
People just have to have patience. I for one enjoy everything Chris has done to this point (I've been visiting since the beginning for the most part). If you don't want to donate, then don't. I'm sure I will (probably not this month, but next). Besides, I think I'd trust Chris with a donation than some of these big sites that require some sort of subscription just to register (when they probably don't need the money from subscriptions to survive). At least Chris is asking for donations and not requiring you to pay money to register or even view the site.
Good job with the site so far Chris. Keep up the good work.
If it wasn't for this site some of my work would not get noticed, and i thank you for that chris.
I will happly donate somthing.
Stop it with the bashing some of you! True members of Icethetics, my fellow members, actually care about the tourneys and will stick around through thick and thin. ME!, to compare Chris to Eklund is absolutely disrespectful and completely unclassy. Chris is actually accurate, unlike a certain phoney hockey blogger that comes to mind....
To the person who said it as the structure of the site, Chris uses a new blog customization system that is freely available (forget the name, I found it in the source code a few weeks back).
I like the blog, but either Chris has awful abilities to choose a host, or he's lying.
I run several sites of my own that defintely combine to Icethetics' traffic, and I'm not even close to using up my Bluehost account's specs. They cost like $90/year, and even then its a bit much considering you don't need much.
And while I'll continue to visit, I have an odd feeling the next 10 months will indeed be a bunch of polls basically. Really, I think Chris sees the window closing and he's trying to cash in now, simple as.