Note to Our Readers: Please Support StogieGuys.com
12 Oct 2006
Our many loyal readers will notice some minor changes to StogieGuys.com today. For instance, there are a few (well, to be exact, four) small advertisements on our front page, and another ad scattered elsewhere throughout the site.
This is not a hallucination. Do not be alarmed, and do not adjust your monitors.
It’s just that the two guys who bring you the daily news, reviews, and commentary from the world of cigars you’ve come to love have decided it’s about time to start breaking even.
You see, October marks the six month anniversary of StogieGuys.com. And, looking back, we have much to be proud of: We sent a proposal to the Washington Nationals to create a cigar-friendly seating section; published tips ranging from lighting a cigar to proper etiquette; harped on the evils of senseless smoking bans; sent a lucky reader to Cigar Artisans 2006 in Tampa; and have reviewed dozens of cigars – just to name a few accomplishments.
Above all, I am most proud of the fact that we have published something new every single weekday for the past six months, and our content has never suffered. For our countless hours of work, our loyal readers have rewarded us with exponential growth in traffic, and I can’t express how grateful I am to you for that.
But I believe we’ve reached a point where it’s appropriate to start reaping some tangible rewards from the hard work, time, and money that goes into a great daily website – especially since there are planned improvements that will cost money.
That’s why I’m encouraging you to please click on our ads for all of your online cigar, coffee, and (coming soon) wine needs.
If, for some reason, you’re not currently in the market, there are other ways you can support the site, such as: purchasing gear from the Official Stogie Guys Store (we now have a cigar journal for sale); buying items from our Amazon store; or, if you prefer, direct donations (please click the button below).
Uh oh…Did I come off too needy? No worries – the best way to support the site is still to read it.
Please leave comments if you have any questions, concerns, or complaints. StogieGuys.com always values your input, and we look forward to bringing you more great daily content for years to come.
Patrick Ashby
Co-Founder & Editor in Chief
Patrick Semmens
Co-Founder & Publisher
George Edmonson
Tampa Bureau Chief
You guys have done a great job with the site so far. Keep up the good work.
You both deserve to be rich, but I'm not giving you a dime. : )
Anonymous#1 is obviously a Commie. Last time I checked people who offered free services always cost people more money. At least you're open about your capitalism. No shame here. I'll click on a few links for you.
Also, I just wanted to clarify how the ads work.
We get a small percentage of any sales that they generate. Since many of our readers smoke cigars (duh!), drink coffee or drink wine, we thought we’d make it so they could support us while making purchases they probably already make.
"You both deserve to be rich, but I'm not giving you a dime. : )"
LOL!
Sounds reasonable to me…
You guys just lost a reader…sorry but your shameless self promotion is a bit ridiculous…you give some good content but not content that couldn’t be found elsewhere and without the shameless self promotion. I thought you guys did this for the good of the cigar community and not to greese your own pockets.
While I feel ads on webpages are intrusive on any site, I don't see anything wrong with what the Patricks are doing.
Even at my site we've got new forms of content on the horizon and like the Patricks said, it takes a toll on your time and your wallet. Good luck guys!
Agreed (but I think James meant Anonymous #2). We don’t want commies around here anyways.
Yeah, I just noticed my mistake. Sorry Anon#1. Anon#2 needs to spend some love time with Ayn Rand. I mean, who goes on a blog to tell them they won't read it anymore? What an asshole.
Thanks everyone who left positive comments. I wanted to respond to comment #2:
“You guys just lost a reader…sorry but your shameless self promotion is a bit ridiculous…you give some good content but not content that couldn’t be found elsewhere and without the shameless self promotion. I thought you guys did this for the good of the cigar community and not to greese [sic] your own pockets.”
Dear Reader,
I’m sorry you say we’ve lost you as a reader, but I feel the need to respond to your comment. The purpose of today’s post and the addition of advertising on the site is neither to guilt you into giving us your money or so we can get rich.
Basically, as Patrick Ashby wrote, we spend considerable time, effort and money running this site and on top of that there are also improvements to the site and to its content that we’d like to make but will cost money.
We don’t feel anyone owes us anything (like cigars in general, we consider this site a hobby, albeit one that consumes a lot of time), but if readers do like what we write enough to want to support us, we’re not going to discourage that. While we have no illusions about getting rich from this… in fact, I doubt we’ll ever even make enough to collect what would even be a minimum wage for the many hours we put into this site… we don’t think it hurts to ask particularly since it is really easy to say no.
Instead of no longer reading the site, I would like to ask for your feedback (and the feedback of all our readers). Let us know your opinion of the ads in the next few weeks as we tweak where we place them. We want to make the ads accessible without having them interfere with your experience. More generally, let us know what content you think is missing, what you want to see a story about or what angle you want covered.
If you do leave for good that’s a shame. Just know that you’re always welcome back and you’ll never be required to pay to visit stogieguys.com.
Sincerely,
Patrick Semmens
Considering I pay $20 a year for 80 pages of ads in Cigar Aficionado 6 times a year, I think Stogie Guys deserves a few bucks. Just don’t run any luxury car ads!