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semi-regular business Q&A session
It's been a while since the last one, so ![[staff profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user_staff.png)
denise suggested that we do another Dreamwidth-the-Business Q&A session.
But first, some data. One of the things that we promised when we started this site - and still do! - is that we will be open with the details of how the business is run, how it's doing, where your money is going, etc. Given that, here's the breakdown of our first few months of operations (discounting May):
June: $7,500 income
July: $5,000 income
August (thus far): $2,500 income
This is pretty much what we expected. More people buying accounts towards the beginning of the site, tapering off as we come up towards the various renewal periods. We're comfortable with these numbers and trends so far.
Our current monthly expenses come to about $6,000. This breaks down roughly 50/50 into "server costs" ($3k/month) and "people costs" ($3k/month). We are presently paying a few people as contractors to do time-sensitive and business-critical work for us. (Systems administrators, ToS enforcement, and some development time.)
We are not, currently, paying any salary to Denise or myself. (Which is one thing we really hope to fix...but stay tuned for today's news post.)
Summary:
Dreamwidth is running slightly in the red, but has enough money in the bank to keep the site running for several years at the current run rate. We have a few things in the pipeline which we hope will allow for us to increase the attractiveness of the site to paying customers (features) as well as give us more sources of revenue (credits, virtual gifts, etc).
There will be more data about our next-6-months plan in the upcoming news post. But for now, if you have any particular questions about the business, things you want clarified, or anything, please comment. Denise and I will be happy to answer!
denise suggested that we do another Dreamwidth-the-Business Q&A session.But first, some data. One of the things that we promised when we started this site - and still do! - is that we will be open with the details of how the business is run, how it's doing, where your money is going, etc. Given that, here's the breakdown of our first few months of operations (discounting May):
June: $7,500 income
July: $5,000 income
August (thus far): $2,500 income
This is pretty much what we expected. More people buying accounts towards the beginning of the site, tapering off as we come up towards the various renewal periods. We're comfortable with these numbers and trends so far.
Our current monthly expenses come to about $6,000. This breaks down roughly 50/50 into "server costs" ($3k/month) and "people costs" ($3k/month). We are presently paying a few people as contractors to do time-sensitive and business-critical work for us. (Systems administrators, ToS enforcement, and some development time.)
We are not, currently, paying any salary to Denise or myself. (Which is one thing we really hope to fix...but stay tuned for today's news post.)
Summary:
Dreamwidth is running slightly in the red, but has enough money in the bank to keep the site running for several years at the current run rate. We have a few things in the pipeline which we hope will allow for us to increase the attractiveness of the site to paying customers (features) as well as give us more sources of revenue (credits, virtual gifts, etc).
There will be more data about our next-6-months plan in the upcoming news post. But for now, if you have any particular questions about the business, things you want clarified, or anything, please comment. Denise and I will be happy to answer!
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* There should be a small (profile) version and a larger, high-resolution version, just like LJ has
* They should be positive/uplifting (no joke or gag gifts)
* They should be entirely your work (not incorporating any photos/artwork to which you don't own the rights)
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That's actually a shame, 'cause I happen to like some of the joke/gag gifts on LJ (e.g. I've sent one of my closest and dearest friends a "steaming pile of poo" before, and it was happily received, knowing the intention behind it). That said, I wouldn't be extremely sad if they weren't listed either.
'S one of them "you can't please everyone all of the time" thangs, innit. *sigh*
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I actually need to make a post sometime about why options are bad! Or, well, not bad, but something we should view with Great Suspicion.
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I can see a quick and easy way to make pretty good vgift content control but still allow infinitely wacky ones. It does involve some settings, but they're fairly broad.
Vgifts: on or off.
Predefined vgifts: who may send them? Everyone (allows anonymous), Circle, Access List, Custom Security Group.
Custom (user-uploaded into their own pic storage area) vgifts: who may send them? Everyone (allows anonymous), Circle, Access List, Custom Security Group, No one.
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I would feel far more relaxed about steaming bags of poo if I knew they were only coming from people I'd granted access to; and ANY gift, no matter how nice, can be made creepy and offensive--I not only don't mind the occasional flaming bag of poo from a close friend, but also DO NOT WANT roses from my crazy ex on Valentine's Day.
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I'm not sure how much of the thread you have read, but the ability to only receive vgifts from registered or trusted users will be implemented on DW.
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