Sci-Fi Storm

Yup, this is one of “those” posts…

Periodically, I look into the amount of work for this web site, and the amount of income it generates, and start to run through possibilities in my head. We’re closing in on 10 YEARS. That’s a long time for a web site without formal commercial support – but it also started at a time where I could not formally make money from it anyways. I solved that problem, but still, this is operates more like a hobby blog site than what I really envisioned – a news and discussion source. But what little income the site made over the years is WAY down now – no one is buying things from Amazon through our links, etc. Occasional free DVDs don’t pay bills.

Most obvious answer is to close down. I don’t like that answer.

Second answer – increase income. I hate begging though (even though I have done it). But one way to increase that is to increase traffic, and increase awareness. Are you telling your friends who may be interested in this site? Are you using the links below articles to repost the article elsewhere?

Of course, more, better content would help as well. My time is becoming increasing limited as I explore other potential web sites and such, and my actual job workload is ridiculous right now. I don’t cover every aspect of science fiction and fantasy I’d like to (since my commute changed from a 1+ hour train ride to a 10 minute car trip, my reading has gone WAY down). I once had plans for a short fiction section of the web site, but that didn’t work out so well (they stories were often amateurish, but at least someone was brave enough…). And I can only read so many other web sites, sift through the many unrelated press releases I get for the ones that belong, etc.

Now that I have WordPress in place for the site, I can now easily delegate roles of varying degrees. This weekend I will reestablish the test site so I better understand these roles, but if you think you have something to contribute, let me know! We could certainly use reviewers for current TV shows, films, etc. Occasionally I get solicitations for DVDs that I don’t have time for (or familiarity with the subject), music CDs, etc. that I can divert to a reviewer on those subjects. Convention attendees can post updates. And more news is good news.

I’d like to integrate a good forums system – possibly vBulletin – especially if I can set up a single sign-on between WordPress and vBulletin. phpBB is another idea by I’m not thrilled with the amount of problems I keep seeing – but it is cheaper (read: free). If I go that route, I’ll need moderators to help out as well.

If you’ve got any other ideas, let me know – privately if you want. I’d like it to keep going.