New Site Host

Bonsai Nut

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We have moved to a new site host. The site should be much more responsive. There may be some additional maintenance work required, but everything seems to be working pretty well right now.
 

Vance Wood

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I know just enough about how computer programs work and don't work to realize what a monumental effort you have put into this site. I don't know how much income the advertisers afford you for access to your site but I suspect it is not enough to pay for the time you put in to keep it functioning as well as it does, for as many members and guests as you do. Thanks for the hard work.
 

qwade

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Redirect hit

Just got some redirects hits I believe from this site.
 

Bonsai Nut

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Just got some redirects hits I believe from this site.

It is most likely due to bad Google ads. Google Adsense has been struggling with this problem for weeks - and it is NOT just our web site. The next time you get a redirect, please let me know the site you are being redirected to. Needless to say, DON'T click on anything on the site.
 

jk_lewis

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Ads on a site don't usually bother me 6too much, but some of these are just flat out garish and annoying!
 

Bonsai Nut

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Ads on a site don't usually bother me 6too much, but some of these are just flat out garish and annoying!

I agree some of them are ridiculous. Unfortunately, it is hard for me to manage them because you see different ads than the ads that I see. At the end of the day though, they DO help pay for this site :) As the site owner, I am barred from clicking on them, but I have to admit that some of them I would click on if I could...
 

jk_lewis

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Well, with Firefox, NoScript lets me get rid of them.
 

Bonsai Nut

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Ads on a site don't usually bother me 6too much, but some of these are just flat out garish and annoying!

I just blocked some of the ones I find the most annoying (with the old man's head bobbing around, etc).

If you find an annoying ad, let me know and I will block it - and all associated ads.

I am keeping all the gardening/bonsai ads, naturally, as well as "general interest" ads like travel, cars, tech, etc. But I have blocked things like "diet supplements", "get rich quick", and similar.
 

Stiple

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WiredTree sounds like a perfect home (namewise) for bnut, or are you admin'ing things other than bnut?
 

Bonsai Nut

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WiredTree sounds like a perfect home (namewise) for bnut, or are you admin'ing things other than bnut?

This is the only site that I manage. As it is, it takes a fair amount of work given the fact that I lose money doing it :) I couldn't AFFORD to have more sites :)

I own other domains and sometimes use some of them for experiments or technical work, but delete the contents later. My kids sometimes make web sites for school or hobbies :)

It is amazing how much and how quickly tech has changed in the last 9 years. In 2006 when BonsaiNut was born, smart phones were just being introduced, and no one had even HEARD of a tablet. Some software features you just can't "patch in" - they really need to be built into the software from beginning, and mobile support is one example.
 

edprocoat

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Mr. B-nut with the traffic this site pulls in the thought you are not at least breaking even is hard to believe ! Does your site have a counter of people using the content. It would seem with the kind of traffic you have here it might even turn a profit. Would it help if your members here clicked on the linked ads ? Have you thought about a incentive where advertisers whose customers mentioned "seen it at B-nut" would get you a small bit of the transaction ?

ed
 

Bonsai Nut

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Mr. B-nut with the traffic this site pulls in the thought you are not at least breaking even is hard to believe ! Does your site have a counter of people using the content. It would seem with the kind of traffic you have here it might even turn a profit. Would it help if your members here clicked on the linked ads ? Have you thought about a incentive where advertisers whose customers mentioned "seen it at B-nut" would get you a small bit of the transaction ?

I have some ideas about selling some ad space in the future that may or may not help. I just bring this up because I think people have some misconception of this site as a money-making enterprise. It is not. I am far from breaking even - even when I work on it for free. Since putting the fund-raising button on the front page, some people have been very generous and have contributed to the site. Their contributions, generous as they were, did not even cover the cost of the software for the next site. (But trust me, EVERY BIT HELPS!)

I want to be careful because I don't want this to sound like sour grapes. I just think people have misconceptions about the costs of running a site that isn't hosted on a shared public server at GoDaddy and created with public domain software :) My expectation is that once we get the new site set up, if people don't turn ad blockers on and if they find some ads they like that they will click on, I should be able to get to a point where I break even (assuming I work for free). That's all I'm looking for :)

Don't forget... my Google revenues are taxed, but I can't write off my expenses. To establish a business license in California would cost me $800 per year, just to establish the entity, plus the requirement to file business taxes with the Feds and the State. Don't get me wrong - I know that most of this pain is self-created. I have never TRIED to maximize funding from this site, nor have I asked members for contributions until just recently. I am confident we will get there. I am just a better bonsai enthusiast than a fund-raiser :)
 
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