I’ve been very humbled during lockdown with the feedback I have had from some of my readers.
Now I blog for a couple of reasons, one it’s a place for me to remember what I’ve learnt and two to share about what I have learnt with others. If this then helps people that’s amazing and really makes it worth while.
There’s aways been a question about whether casual bloggers should/could accept donations and I’ve never wanted to add something like “if you’ve found my blog post helpful then please donate/buy me x”. For me there has always been too much admin or too many hoops to jump through and it’s just not been worth my time and not what I do it for.
I came across a company called “Buy Me A Coffee” a while back and it seemed to address the admin/hoop jumping concerns so I signed up and added a link to the home page. As I said I didn’t want to add a link to every post so there weren’t any clicks. Now I’m not sad about that, if people want to send something to someone they will find a way, but I did wonder if it was just a gimic.
They then made it super easy to add a little widget to a page which allowed clicks. It wasn’t “in your face” so I thought I would add it and see what happened not really thinking any of it, then it struck …
It was just before lockdown began at the beginning of March and I received a Paypal notification. Initially I didn’t read it. I then opened it and read it and thought someone had sent me money by accident. I then re-read the message again and the source and was blown away.
I am so proud that this happened and someone felt compelled enough to let me know. So humbled and flattered.
Full disclosure - with everything going on during March I did not accept the donation. After a month Paypay sent it back to the generous reader. I maybe down $4 but the feedback was invaluable. Thank you Steph!
Roll onto the first week of June and another notification came through from someone who also found the integration testing series helpful.
I was absolutely blown away by the feedback and the generosity of this donation. I was completely lost for words. Thanks Oliver!
Now as we know there is “something” going on in the world and I’ve not visited a coffee shop in 3 months. I have however been consuming, probably too much, coffee at home using various devices and gadgets. I usually use a metal insultated cafetiere, my filter drip or my Citiz nespresso machine (new lockdown purchase as old machine died). But the one device I’ve always wanted was a stove top. So for my first donations from my blog I have treated myself to something which can make me many coffees now and in the future.
(image courtesy of Amazon listings - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0000AN3QI)
Thank you for the generous donations, but most of all thank you for the feedback. I’m so glad my posts have been useful :-)
If anyone wants to reach out to me for anything (code, coffee etc.) then please contact me on Twitter @WestDiscGolf