patrick.net

Just try it.

Agreed, may try paid stock research

mell says

Agreed, may try paid stock research

Buy AZZ!

Sorry to be a downer, but Patnetters insulting each other or posting memes will not attract many paying customers.

If we are a bit more serious, perhaps something like what is suggested could have worked years back when people here were discussing real estate and when Patrick got some media exposure. I myself found Patnet in ca. 2010 when I was trying to understand what the hell is going on in real estate, and I think there was a link to Patnet on Peak Prosperity or a similar blog. Edit: found it here: https://housingpanic.blogspot.com/

You need to write another book @Patrick and get invited to talk on media again.

Bd6r says

Sorry to be a downer, but Patnetters insulting each other or posting memes will not attract many paying customers.

I don't know, I see more insults on facebook than here. And the vast majority are not anonymous on FB. It's generally been pretty clean here the last two years plus.

At the end of the day it's a business idea. You HAVE to know you'll get sued for something. Is that a risk you're willing to take? Stage 2 would be marketing Patnet. If it were to become a thing everyone and their brother will be wanting to suck that tit. You'll get all sorts of people coming out of the woodwork claiming they can do X, Y, or Z for you for $$$. Friend, family, etc.

Between regulations and the public, running a business is not pleasant is all I'll say. My old job we had a negative yelp reviewer destroy us online and it was all a lie. NOTHING we could do about it. Trolls wanting to ruin your business are the biggest concern in this format. And you can't get rid of that. A past user will come out of the woodwork and trash you even if it's fabricated.

If it's a dream to monetize this place go for it. I'd do whatever I could to support it, but forums/blogs in my opinion are still the wild west of content. You can strike gold or get fucked over. Kind of an OTC/Penny Stock gamble.

HunterTits says

They'll shut you down, period.

Well, my purpose in life is kinda to be a voice of dissent against censorship, so if they try, it's kind of proof that I'm doing something right.

It's not all that hard to try. I don't see what I could be sued for exactly, but maybe I'll be surprised.

mell says

Agreed, may try paid stock research

Sure, this is a great example. There are probably a lot of people who will pay for coherent stock analysis.

At one time I thought I had a viable business showing houses for sale on a map as red, yellow, or green monopoly markers depending on the expected rent vs the purchase price. The problem there was that I was dependent on Craigslist for the rents and they cut me off. End of business. So the lesson learned was not to be dependent, at least as much as possible. That makes payments hard, because cutting off payment processing is one way that the oligarchy suppresses dissent. Worst case, people could mail in a $5 bill, though that is slow and awkward. But it's still possible at least.

There are ISPs who specialize in giving a place to free speech.

I've also discovered that credit unions are much safer places than corporate banks. They tend to be pretty local and much less ideological.

Patrick says

mell says

Agreed, may try paid stock research

Sure, this is a great example. There are probably a lot of people who will pay for coherent stock analysis.

At one time I thought I had a viable business showing houses for sale on a map as red, yellow, or green monopoly markers depending on the expected rent vs the purchase price. The problem there was that I was dependent on Craigslist for the rents and they cut me off. End of business. So the lesson learned was not to be dependent, at least as much as possible. That makes payments hard, because cutting off payment processing is one way that the oligarchy suppresses dissent. Worst case, people could mail in a $5 bill, though that is slow and awkward. But it's still possible at least.

It has to be done with micropayments. People don't like to subscribe or pay a lot at once.

Thanks @mell

It would be pretty simple to do arbitrarily small micropayments from a user's money in hand to the authors of the relevant posts. I could just track all the payments in the database. So I suppose people would have to sign up with $5 or whatever and then use it up.

So then what is a good censorship-resistant way to accept that $5? I kind of like paper money in the mail actually, but would people mail me $5? I think they might. They have to find an envelope and a stamp, but they don't have to give away any credit card info either.

Another viral effect not to be underestimated: If I post how much each article and each author has earned, that would be very interesting to readers as well. Though it could be depressing or embarrassing if they don't earn anything.

The success of the http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/ was due primarily to people being interested in how much money the guy was earning - and that interest is exactly what got the attention that allowed him to sell the advertising in the first place!

So I think it is important to publish income amounts somehow.

Patrick says

Thanks @mell

It would be pretty simple to do arbitrarily small micropayments from a user's money in hand to the authors of the relevant posts. I could just track all the payments in the database. So I suppose people would have to sign up with $5 or whatever and then use it up.

So then what is a good censorship-resistant way to accept that $5? I kind of like paper money in the mail actually, but would people mail me $5? I think they might. They have to find an envelope and a stamp, but they don't have to give away any credit card info either.

That would be the best way to stay anonymous and probably not more expensive than the payment processor taking a cut. Plus you can use no postage needed if mailed within the US prepaid envelopes you haven't used ;) I wonder if the trick still works not to stamp it but use your address as sender so it gets "returned" to you. Anyways, I digress. Sending $5 via mail and providing username (or email) should be enough to get started.

mell says

That would be the best way to stay anonymous and probably not more expensive than the payment processor taking a cut.

The anonymity of cash is a good point! People who want to pay an author could remain completely anonymous, except that they would have to tell me their user name so I can credit that "account".

On the other hand, to pay out to authors, I would need somewhere to mail their payment to. And I'd probably be obligated to issue them a W-2 to them. Anyone know the laws about this?

And how would I pay out exactly? Mail cash? Write a check?

Patrick says

And I'd probably be obligated to issue them a W-2 to them.

More likely a 1099 for those who earn over $600. A W-2 would only be for employees of yours.

@Patrick

I have a suggestion - make a page on this site (or elsewhere) where people can privately send you ideas.

I have plenty of (stupid?) ideas I will never implement, but I don't want to hand them out willy nilly to the public either.