It’s with considerable hesitation that I decided to write this post. As you’ll have noticed if you’re a regular reader, the SKWAWKBOX has been very quiet this month.
Some months ago, I set up a company along with an old colleague – offering services along the lines of my ‘day job’ expertise, with the aim of making a living for my family and me while gaining more freedom to write this blog.
That’s the theory, at any rate. The reality has been that the process of getting a new business up and running, and the need to make it pay sooner rather than later, have been almost all-consuming. Add to that the imperative to get to know my new grand-daughter, and to invest in my family relationships, and it’s been almost impossible to find the time to write.
The articles I write here take a lot of research – and then a lot of time to try to turn the research into something readable and relevant. I have no intention of giving up on the blog – I couldn’t, while this government is in office, intent on impoverishing and persecuting ordinary people, dismantling our NHS and routinely lying about it all. But it kills me to see things that need to be written and not be able to do it – especially because I see why this government wants us all busy with our heads down scraping to make a living: it makes it easier to keep people ignorant of what’s going on.
So I’m going, with some trepidation, to ask for your help.
I’ve never asked for a penny for writing this blog – and I don’t intend to start now. It’s important that nobody can (justly) accuse me of writing for profit, or of any kind of undue influence by those with money. There’s already far too much of that around.
But I will ask that, if you think this blog has value in exposing what’s going on and in the attempt to maintain some kind of just society, and any of the following services might be useful to you, then please get in touch with me via ccgwatch@gmail.com:
- a ‘print and post’ solution that will cut postal costs by 50% or more and the admin related to everyday office post by 90%, whether for single documents or multiple mail-outs.
- a health and safety solution that will reduce the time needed to create H&S audit reports from hours to about 3 minutes as well as offering a variety of other useful functions.
- sourcing of any kind of printed materials.
If – and only if – any of these would be of use to you, please drop me a line to let me know what it is. And if it’s something that might be useful to someone you know, please tell them.
And please do so only if it’s something that you genuinely need, and you feel that you will get value for it. This is not about asking for charity, but about a business transaction – an opportunity for me to support the blog and my family myself by providing you with something that will be useful for you (and should save you money).
That and using the system intelligently to help support exposing the darker parts of it.
Plus I think our services are pretty good – if they’re the kind of thing that will be of use to you.
Whether this works or not, I’ll continue to do my best to provide good, well-researched information here on The SKWAWKBOX so that we’re all that bit better informed about what this government is doing and trying to hide.
If you made it this far, thank you! Hopefully you won’t think it was a bad decision..
Reblogged this on Vox Political and commented:
Reblogged in a spirit of solidarity with a fellow writer who’s trying to make ends meet – and in the hope that we’ll see some juicy Skwawkbox material again soon.
Good luck Steve and look forward to more of your writing soon.
Good Luck! Steve in your new venture, I hope it really takes off, you really deserve it. I have shared on facebook & twitter and also shared your website on both as well..
Thank you!
Can only wish you all the best with everything and thank you for some really good info to get the old grey matter working
Ability to se the bigger picture, healthy scepticism, attention to detail, persistence, stickability, hard work and bare-faced cheek when necessary. Should stand you in good stead in business. Good luck – for all our sakes. And …congratulations on passing the half a million hits mark!
Thank you! Let’s hope I write enough good stuff to merit reaching the million mark!
Reblogged at SMILING CARCASS’S TWO-PENNETH
As a pensioner I do not need any services but I hope some of your readers can help in that way I have learnt a lot since receiving your blogs – i thought the RAdio 4 programme about statistics, something like More Or Less, dealt with with Jarman and SMRs today good luck, enjoy the grand daughter best wishes Jean
Ah, was that on today? They phoned me for my input – hope it had an impact. Thanks for letting me know!
I do genuinely think you aren’t doing anything wrong by writing this blog post. As someone who is starting up their own business as well, plus having monetary issues, I can appreciate what you are saying. At the end of the day, you need to make a living somehow, and what you have to say is clearly of value to many people, so if it helps you keep doing what you’re doing then I say go for it!
I wish yo the best of luck with it as well.
After looking at your site, I think my business may have use of some of your services (once it gets up and running), and I’ll certainly talk to my business partner about it too!
Wishing you every success with your new venture.
I would if I could.
I can only offer my best wishes for your Company success; and for your family xx
Shared and wish you every success. I know how tough it is to make an ethical living let alone launch a new business and run a blog, especially to the standard, consistency and regularity you’ve achieved.
Sincerely hope you get all the business you need and especially that you find time for family and friends, time to be happy, secure and considerately productive which is, after all, the ‘simple’ reward for which you’ve long been fighting.
Take care, very best wishes
John
All the very very best Steve, SSH have missed your blogs, thank you very much for all you have done for us, we hope your business takes off big time and that you will spend many many happu hours watching your lovely granddaughter grow up, we know she is in safe hands because you will be a very wise mentor. xxxxx
Indubitably the right decision. Shared. Good luck.
Patrons of the arts… patrons of journalism… the need is the same.
As Martin Amis puts it, in The Information:
“There is a beautiful literary law, slightly scuffed and foxed, yet still beautiful, which decrees that the easier a thing is to write then the more a writer gets paid for writing it.”
You cannot expect to continue doing earnestly probing journalism – honourably questioning and questing journalism – without seeking pay for it. That would not be writing for profit, as you put it. It would be putting food on the table. Make no apology for asking your readers to support what you do. But address them with the principle, from each according to his means:
Set up an *anonymous* donation facility: to allow people to make payments to you *quickly* and *easily*. Make your case on the donations page: your needs and your situation are a matter-of-fact reality.
Calculate time you have spent working on each article and calculate what it is worth against the median wage and, perhaps, your average number of readers per article. Stick somewhere on the article page:
Suggested Payment £_.__,
or
Recompense £_.__
or
Honorarium £_.__
or
Punctilio “£_.__”
Or whatever is the appropriate phrase.
Make it easy for your readers to pay something, suggest (unobtrusively) how much they should pay. On the payment page, suggest a subscription. Every little helps. What’s £5-a-month to someone with a salary?
If Skwawkbox even had £1-a-month from each of its followers, it would have enough money to support two journalists: “Subscribe for £1 .. Skwawkbox needs your support.”
And then this: how about making a pledge that when you reach the median wage, additional payments will be redirected to other causes. You do after all seek only as much as you need. You could fix the site (and the subs) so it simply stopped accepting money once it had reached the median.
Keep it tight.
What a very interesting idea. I’m thinking hard about it.
Excellent idea – go for it. Scriptonite has this set-up.
I have tweeted to all my contacts, best of luck with it, you deserve all the help we can give.
As a retired pensioner, I fear that I have little use for your services. However, should I come across anyone who does, I will recommend you without hesitation. Good luck with your venture, and all your future plans. Pete.
hi steve,i too am a pensioner,with know need of your services,but if you can set up a secure payment ie;paypal,i will gladly subscribe. keep up the good work exposing the evil bastards the misrule us.
I am not sure i need any of your services Steve ,but definately need to hear you blogs. & the labourer is worth his reward.. Strongly suggest you take Marklings advice small subscription would be worth every penny. As long as surplus is put to good use.. Like SPOILING your grandaughter rotten.. Whats the problem.. gods speed
I think the only option is voluntary donations. If you go subscription only you’ll simply lose 90% of your readers, and the extra info from occasional posters.
Indeed. It would also defeat the point, which is to get good info out to as many people as possible. I have no intention of charging for access to the blog!