First â?? my thanks for your comments in this thread..! They are probably more appreciated then you know.
For that, I also want to express my sincerest â??thank youâ? to those that e-mailed while I took this Forum off-line from Saturday evening until Monday evening. I guess â?? in my world â?? it was simply â??the right thing to doâ?. Thatâ??s just me.
However â?? Iâ??m not sure that I ever stated publicly or privately that the reason I didnâ??t solicit funds/sponsors/members â?? was for tax reasons?! (Where did you EVER come up with THAT one!!!
) LOL!!!!!!
To the point, this Forum rides â??off the backâ? of my other sites, and Jenâ??s and my paychecks. Now, please understand â?? that isnâ??t a â??slightâ?, as I pay for this each month as Lugers. Luger collecting and enthusiasts are both my passion and my hobby. And the community that exists here isnâ??t paralleled in any other gun or weapon Forum that Iâ??m aware of. But rather reality, after â??hostingâ? both the site and itâ??s costs for 5 years â?? Iâ??m at a personal crossroads.
The crossroads are to take â??Sponsorsâ?, or Memberships or some way to help defray the increasing costs of this site. In short â?? thatâ??s why I made a very few folks â??LugerForum Patronsâ?, as they have done something to assist either me, or with the monthly costs, or simply made a gesture of assistance â?? and those acts should be recognized. On my other site, I have â??Membersâ?, which is voluntary (anyone is free to post, etc.), but â??Membersâ? get some special privileges and features. Does that â??modelâ? make sense here? I donâ??t know â?? Iâ??m still thinking about it.
I guess in short â?? there is â??no pot of goldâ? running/hosting/programming an Internet site â?? and Iâ??m not in it for that reason, as you probably guessed. If I were, you would have seen this site go â??Members Onlyâ? or have Banner Sponsors, or something â?? and Jen and I would have quit our â??real jobsâ? from the proceeds from any of our sites. We havenâ??t, but it doesnâ??t negate the fact that this site costs real money each and every month. Ergo â?? the crossroads â?? as some how, this site needs to be self-supporting, in some way.
Anyway, those are my issues, and Iâ??ll continue to think about how to handle it best for everyone here.
Again â?? my best to all â?? and my thanks again for your comments and supportâ?¦.!