Recently I came up with a dilemma with my own scripts PHPads and PHPurl. Because they have been so popular, and I have been hosting the zip files on my own server, it has been eating up my bandwidth. Believe me this year, the downloads for both have skyrocketed compared to last year. Link promotion from many websites have been awesome, BUT… I have only received $60 in donations last year. I am lucky to have received what I have and appreciative. That is just 3 hours of my time….or even for those who want another smaller comparison – at minimum wage, which covers 1- 8 hour day.
I had to take the files off my server and host them at a free host. I am hosting them at FileHosting.org. I also found a lot of people were going directly to the page and not enjoying the rest of my site, which has a lot of articles that are very useful.
So… in the near future, I am moving it to another page, and putting 125×125 banners on my sidebar. By the way, the site is about to go through a bit of an overhaul. Nothing too extravagant, but something I feel is needed. People who have linked to the scripts in their articles, I will be going through and asking that they either link the Hotscripts listings for each script or my main site.
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I know I am not the only web developer that has had issues. Some have removed their free versions and re-posted to charge a small fee. Some simply removed their script for good. Some could not keep their sites up because of bandwidth from the downloads. Some no longer bother to answer support emails, even if there is a FAQ. The script might be free, but let me ask: If it has helped you quite a bit and you have a few dollars, you might consider pitching in a few dollars. It is not much and it keeps future scripts coming in, and staying free.
It also helps for web developers with smaller websites who might need more bandwidth and space, or even database resources.
Other ways to appreciate your web developer is to either check out their sponsors, or possibly become an advertiser. That way, you still get something for your money. You can also visit other parts of their site. If they blog, perhaps they might be someone you might want to connect with, or find that they have a lot of great information.
Have you shown your appreciation to your favorite web developer lately?
I think most of the downloads come from bots or something. But that's just me.
No, no bots click and download my links. Checked that first. I know that it is actual people. The scripts are at several script directories and have been mentioned on quite a few popular blogs.
You could publish online only trial free version of you scripts..
The other matter that promotion of your site via sharing programming products could give you more backlinks and finally lead to more success.
I have a deal to you/ how can I contact you?
I am not open to that as the scripts are simple and it is pointless to have a trial version of a script that I have put under the GPL licence. The scripts were never intended to be for purchase. However, in the future, when I do offer a upgraded version, I will be putting a price.
In this case you're completely right, but to get any profit you may ask not only donate but also share a link to your scripts.. or give you a backlink..
The problem is I am not looking for a profit for these scripts….mostly just something that minimally is able to keep the site funded itself. I already web design. I am revamping my portfolio. Perhaps as a better thing might be is to leave a link to my portfolio to hire, or just say if people want support, they will have to just pay a small fee.
Could you tell me about the way to keep in touch with you. I have a proposal for you.
My email is nile@blondish.net 🙂