Can we make any scratch $ with this?

[engineerkyle]

Hi all,

The wifey is looking over my shoulder wondering if I should try to set up a website that includes articles, tutorials, a gallery and so forth and accept credit card donations for it, to further the world's greatest hobby.

Maybe even charge a nominal fee for complete access. Has anyone done this? Is it easy to set up?

We spend many hours on our hobby, why not get a little compensation for our valuble time?

[r0bert]

trainorders
trainboard

[Chuck Prough]

Remember,  IT'S A HOBBY.

Chuck Prough

[Kevin Strong]

Sure you can. Don't expect to retire from your day job, but there's nothing stopping you from trying. Whether the income is worth the time and effort it takes to maintain it is solely up to you. I know a handful of people who run subscription-optional forums and sites. They all do it for the love of the hobby, not as a means of any significant income.

Another part of the equation is making sure you provide something of value for your subscribers. Articles and such are okay, but you need people to write them for you, and you need to keep them fresh in order to keep people coming back. They're not going to re-up if they've already saved the articles to their hard drives. I publish a quarterly magazine on the East Broad Top railroad, and it takes a good deal of wrangling to keep a moderate backlog, and that's even with a pool of regular contributors. The two independent large scale forums I belong to both offer web storage for their optional membership fee.

The last aspect to look at is the people aspect. All the site administrators I know really dislike dealing with all the petty bickering that invariably goes on between members. I'm sure Johann is saying a big "AMEN" to that. When you sign on for that kind of responsibility, you have to take the good with the bad. And the bad can sometimes be a pain in the rear. I serve as moderator on one site, and that can be enough of a headache from time to time. For me, I'll earn some extra hobby money by building and selling models or surplus equipment.

Later,

K

[jsmvmd]

Dear Kyle,

We had a newsletter for our business. It got very expensive and time consuming. Too, it generated little business, too little to negate the hassle. Kevin makes a very good argument. 

I would not be comfortable sending a cc payment over the internet. With so much free information, I do not think many folks would be motivated to contribute money. I will post a link from MR with an excellent article about RR maintenance that shows the quality of the stuff that is out there.

Good luck anyway!

Best Wishes,

Jack

[Terry Toenges]

Kyle -
You also have to be careful with what you post and that you are not infringing on copyrights, trademarks, etc.  Especially if you charging a fee.

[engineerkyle]

Thanks so much guys for all the valuble opinions. I have read all the responses to this post and wholeheartedly agree.

If you have seen my posts here and especially on The Gauge, the Bachmann Board and the Atlas Forum then you know I love to share photos of my projects and written reports on information I think other modelers will find useful.

My question was more an idle curiousity. My wife prodded me too. She said, "As long as you are spending all this time in the basement and writing about you r projects online, why not try to make some money off of it."

I hope my querry was not threatening. And I hope it didn't push any forum rules... thanks again!





Kyle

[jsmvmd]

Dear Kyle,

Have you thought about submitting articles to various model railroading magazines?  You could probably make a whopping 5 cents a word if an article is accepted. Won't get rich, but better than nothing.

Good luck and best wishes,

Jack

[Bojangle]

Several times in my life I turned my hobbies into businesses, and very soon the fun turned into more work than it was worth.  I even had my own website (Bojangle.com),   Soon I found myself webmaster to several foundations and companies. 
But having said all that, if you feel you have worthwhile information to help "newbies" like me, then go for it.  Just be prepared, being a webmaster can be a 20 hour a day job.   Personally, I would like to see more free info on the web,  I find many inviting links end up with someone trying to sell books.  Good luck
Bojangle

[r.cprmier]

Bojangles and Kevin Strong both make very good points-well worth considering.  I remember an article by Linn Westcott many years back, saying the same thing; how the hobby turns into a business, and then you wind up "out of the hobby" and into a business.

Me?  Electrician by day.  Owner, foreman, CEO CFO COO, etc etc etc of the Portland Terminal and Hoosic Railroad by night, weekend, and any other time I can scrounge.
And, to quote the poem "Treaty at Ghent";  "And never the twain shall meet!"

[thirdrail]

When information of the quality of this e-magazine is available for free:

http://www.prrths.com/Keystone%20Modeler/Keystone_Modeler_PDFs/TKM%20No.%2046%2005-07%20PDF.pdf

it is kind of difficult to charge for any model railroad material on the internet, although Kalmbach is trying. Do you think you can compete with the staff of Model Railroader?