Besides giving away $1,500 worth of books last month as part of hitting our old $20
http://www.Patreon.com/slowboatsailing goal, the podcast and video series has had to incur a lot of costs.
In Season 1, Episode 1, I lost my iPhone which we film with. That was about $900+ to replace. Because of the filming, I got one with a 128GB hard drive ($200 more), which is always maxed out from the videos despite frequent backups and deleting.
We have bought external hard drives and a new laptop computer since the audio and video files maxed out the capabilites of the hard drive and the processor. We got three GoPro knock offs and lots of GoPro attachments. We purchased several HDMI storage cards. New selfie sticks and tripods add to the pile of camera gear we purchased for season 1. In total, I would guess the gear, hosting, and extra internet expenses abroad exceeded $1,000. When I do our financials, I’ll probably have hard numbers.
We also pay monthly hosting for the website and the podcast.
Through January 2017, we have earned about $150 from Patreon. Obviously, the vlog and podcast are badly in the red.
Below is some new filming and podcast gear that I purchased today. I get no money from these links. Amazon is in a dispute with Louisiana about sales taxes, and I could not set up an Amazon store if I wanted to.
The content does not pay for itself in direct costs of providing podcasts or video. I get no payment for my time. I give away books which I could otherwise sell. If the costs don’t cover the costs of hosting, camera and recording gear, hard drives, podcast and website hosting, I am volunteering my money to produce content that takes a lot of my time. I can think of many better charities than the folks watching sailing videos or listening to podcasts. The demographics of my listeners and watchers are people that can mostly afford to pay for the content they consume.
That being said, I am planning on giving away berths for free that are worth many times I will collect in Patreon pledges. This is similar to my giving away 10 times more books in dollar terms than I collected in pledges. It is a tremendous value being a Patron and the rewards outweigh the pledges.
Delivery estimate: Tuesday, February 7, 2017 by 8pm
Camera Camcorders, Besteker Portable 1080P 24MP 16X Digital Zoom Video Camcorder with 2.7″ LCD and 270 Degree Rotation Screen Sold by: Bestekerllc $65.99 Condition: New Add gift option Buy it Again
Delivery estimate: Sunday, February 5, 2017 by 8pm
AmazonBasics 50-Inch Lightweight Tripod with Bag Sold by: Amazon.com LLC $16.99 Condition: New Add gift option Buy it Again
Delivery estimate: Sunday, February 5, 2017 by 8pm
USB Microphone,Fifine Plug &Play Home Studio USB Condenser Microphone for Skype, Recordings for YouTube, Google Voice Search, Games(Windows/Mac)-K668 Sold by: Fifine shop $19.99 Condition: New Add gift option Buy it Again
SLOW BOAT SAILING 