• hottips4u said on Aug 06, 2007....

  Might I suggest that the site be made an all adult site with premium features like the ability to share a cam, a video, or blog chat as we do currently.  I say all adult would improve usage because people would join knowing they are not being set up with an under age teen.  I would pay the $5.99 a month for that secure feeling alone.  I support a fee based usage, with the addition of an all adult site.
  
  As to funds, might I suggest you allow SC members to have an auction room for members only where we could buy and sell items, minus say an additional 10% sellers fee and a 10 percent buyers fee via paypal and sc collects the 20% of the selling price.  Might generate more revenue than you imagined.  That would give an opportunity for sc members to earn while blogging, perhaps even more than adsense ever intended.  Plus most of us become to kinda know one another so dealing would be alot more personal in one light, than say e-bay is so non-personal. 
  
  We have time t kick this can around ? I'll surely think on it unless you rather I did not, for what ever reason.   In any event, I have my fee ready when you are.
  
  Jessi.
  

• hottips4u said on Aug 06, 2007....

  Maybe sc could have its own sc girls on cam for a fee, giving members a shot to cam and earn.  All adult site just opens the sc door that much wider for revenue.
  
  Jessi.
  

• mobil said on Aug 06, 2007....

  Explain the problem better please

• mirrorimage said on Aug 06, 2007....

  I would rather have an annual fee than monthly fee if at all possible. 

• dailyachesandpains said on Aug 06, 2007....

  Yeah, I'm with Mobil.
   
  If OUR ideas are implemented is there profit sharing involved...real profit sharing?  I mean if we're helping you make bank, shouldn't we get a better kick-back than pennies?  I'm not part of Ad-sense here and I feel for the people that are. 
   
  I got an idea for you...no similar names in order to avoid confusion or corruption (if you will).  Something like when you sign up for an email address at yahoo to see if that user name is taken, if anything comes close to a current users name, don't allow it. 
   
  Thanks,
  Daily
   
  P.S.  This place has gotten me through so many ups and downs and I will never forget the people that got me through those times.  It's difficult when a teen or inconsiderate prick jumps in to tell you you're crazy for being upset over your child being sick.  Keep this place as far away from Livejournal/myspace/xanga etc.  Parent's, adults and well mature young adults would be better and I only speak for myself on this.

• Suddenrain said on Aug 06, 2007....

  I don't care about making any money. That's not why I come here. I definately don't want to see turn into a cheap adult porn site. I like it the way it is. However, I do agree with the soulcast garage sale idea. Always open, always accessable and you make 20% like hotlips said.

  I will be back soon with my opinion on the top 5 posts.

• Zayda said on Aug 06, 2007....

  Instead of completely doing away with Adsense, why not keep it and then add some additional affiliate advertising options such as Amazon and E-bay. (Other blog sites like HubPages offer an affiliate advertising program through Amazon and E-bay.)
  
  
  Also, why not add some options where each user can have a "links" section where they could link back to blog advertising sites such as BlogCatalog, which will drive more traffic to SC and perhaps more money from ad clicks.
  
  
  In terms of paying a fee, I would like to see the option to either pay a yearly fee or to pay monthly or perhaps pay quarterly, rather like Blizzard does for WoW subscriptions or SOE does for SWG subscriptions.
  
  
  

• 4lorac said on Aug 06, 2007....

  Ummm....I am a fairly new mwmber, just needed a place to vent and work out the things in my head. I tried reading a few of the other posts, and yes I have my favorites. I have found though that  sc is turning into more of a glorified chat room with out the real time things, kind of like an ongoing popularity contest type of thing. I have absolutely no idea if anyone reads or gives a dam about what I write, I write for me. I dont know if I am too old for this site or what, sometimes i feel like I am the antique, and a boring one at that, but then again, what does it matter.
  I hadn't though of the fact that underagers were in here or not, its not a dating site, so why even think of that.....hadnt planned to meet anyone anyway....hadnt thought of it as a money maker either...like I said, just a site to vent and get my shit straight. I suppose this site will go the way of some of the others..blink and yer gone.

• SoulCast said on Aug 06, 2007....

  @mobil and daily
  The problem: We've reached a point where we need to generate some revenue in order to continue developing the site. 
  
  
  The biggest problem is the idea of revenue sharing. There isn't a practical way to offer revenue sharing if we try other methods for advertisements. We want to know how the community feels about this.
  
  
  We also want to know how the community feels about paid premium accounts that offer additional benefits.
  
  
  And, we'd also like to hear any ideas for generating revenue. 
  
  
  @daily
  "I mean if we're helping you make bank, shouldn't we get a better kick-back than pennies? "
  
  
  We're losing money so maybe you should be giving us a kickback ;)

• hottips4u said on Aug 06, 2007....

  Because their affiliate programs suck and pay more often than not even less.  If the main purpose is to create a site where the blogger is paid, then it has to be geared towards profitability for sc and the real opportunity to share in the chance to earn income while earning for sc as well.  If your going to push the line you can't simply walk along it to grow any yardage.  If your going to be different, it won't mean stepping in line with and for others.
  
  Jessi.
  

• Zayda said on Aug 06, 2007....

  Hottips: If you are referring to the Amazon affiliate program sucking, you would be incorrect about that. I make good money through the Amazon affiliate program on another site. So, not all affiliate advertising programs suck.

• MsStar39 said on Aug 06, 2007....

  I would be willing to pay a yearly fee, every month would not work for me.
  I am not making enough from adsense to worry about them, do what you must to
  stay afloat.
  

• hottips4u said on Aug 06, 2007....

  You have a targeted market that works for you, and if I had put more into it, perhaps it would've for me also.  But for every one that does, theres 20 that do not.  I guess sc like us would have to determine their respective profitability for individual accounts.
  But hey I'm down with what it takes, I just say if your going to stand out as different as sc currently does, then you almost are indeed challenged to push the line for growth and achieving stability, yet maintain your image as innovative and different from the rest.  Make sc profitable for its users and sc is well settled as well.
  
  Jessi
  

• bloc said on Aug 07, 2007....

  I like the idea of amazon affiliate links. I've never tried it before, but it would seem that bloggers with avid readers could effectively target their affiliate products. I have no idea if it would generate enough clicks to make any real money. 

• D6fer said on Aug 07, 2007....

  I didn't join Soulcast to make money....I didn't even know that you could until months after I joined...I joined adsense just to see what would happen....and I actually have never logged on to check it.....I have heard that no one makes money from it anyway.....I don't care.....do whatever you have to do to keep the site up.....I joined because it was free.....so if you can keep it that way....all the better.

• kruuyai said on Aug 07, 2007....

  I don't think any of us have made money from Adsense, so that's obviously not what keeps us coming back.  It's the community.  I say, do what you have to do as far as using other banners or ad schemes, including Amazon, etc., but please don't put up anything that flashes.  That is so annoying.  And please do not turn this into an adult porn site.  I think from previous discussions, you know how most of this community feels about that.  And please do what you can to avoid charging us to be here.  That would really suck.  You mentioned that the biggest problem is revenue sharing.  Personally, I don't care about revenue sharing, because I don't see it happening anyway.  So, if soulcast is the only one that eventually makes money from this site, that's ok with me.  Just keep it going.

• lfbno7 said on Aug 07, 2007....

  I wouldn't pay any fee at all.

• destinydiva said on Aug 07, 2007....

  I wouldnt pay a fee either... not after alreadybeing a member for free.... would you consider charging only new members when this is in place???
  
  I wouldnt sign up for a monthly no way no how....
  I would consider a one off.... but isn't your whole angle.... FREE UNCENSORED blogging???
  
  I dont do adsense  i am not here or interested in making money on here.....
  
  your loosing money? in that case I would prob pay a one off donation....  like a keep your community alive donation :-)  I think soulcast would be worth doing that for...
  
  I defo agree it should be an adult site only....  tho I havnt personally come across any kids ...  or non that i am aware off  (unless  hottips counts as a kid??)  :-)  i was kidding ....
  
  posts .....  i am not sure what you want in that..... just 5 good posts??  what makes a good post???  the post or the comments on the post???
  
  I think its hard to pick out 5 out of so many....do you want them to entice advertisers??  or to show what being part of soulcast can be like???
  I'd say infernals front porch post gives a true sense of how this place is a community.....
  and the many posts where someone is down and we all jump in and cheer them up
  the funny posts.... such as eviltwins that read like a book.....
  what exactly are you showcasing with the posts???
  
  Destiny x
  
  ps thanks for my hello :-)
  
  pps   I think its great how you do involve us in your decisions...
  
  ppps   I have an idea......  there are a lot of good writers on here....  why not offer a fee based side to soulcast where you can submit your writing ..poems stories...etc...   and they are considerd for publishing??  that would entail a lot of conversing with publishing companys but I am sure that is possible??  soulcast gains a percentage of published???
  we have the choice to do that so it doesnt cut out those that want to go elsewhere to get published?? 
  just a thought that would need lots of polishing...  :-)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Ariene said on Aug 07, 2007....

  I don't think affiliate programs are that profitable, especially since there are always tracking problems. But, in my own personal experience, selling advertising space is a great way to generate income. I've designed banner ads for an additional charge or my customers have supplied their own text links. One ad can go for thousands of dollars. But, as much as I like soulcast, I wouldn't pay a membership fee and I think offering premium services would take away from the site's overall appeal.

• Suddenrain said on Aug 07, 2007....

  http://www.soulcast.com/post/show/80206/then-and-now%3F

  http://www.soulcast.com/post/show/75000/to-whom-it-may-again-concern

  http://www.soulcast.com/post/show/76903/I-got-trouted-%3A-%29

  http://www.soulcast.com/post/show/78308/On-the-nature-of-swooning....%28with-apologies-to-Silverwhisper%29#
  

  http://www.soulcast.com/post/show/74744/An-Open-Letter-To-My-Fellow-Soulcasters

  My five favorites

• botoni said on Aug 07, 2007....

  Like many others I came here to express myself for myself that made the free factor somewhat important to me. I would be willing to pay a mnthly fee for enhanced experience. I certainly dont want to see SoulCast become an adult site. Yearly fees would be fine but it might be more easily handled for some if it were monthly. Making money from blogging isnt an interest to me at this time. Flashing ads would reduce my use of SC.

• silverwhisper said on Aug 07, 2007....

  SC:
  
  1. that appears to be ground already covered given previous comments and i have no particular thoughts on it, myself: my presence on this site is not governed by commercial factors.
  
  2. i'd consider a paid account, i think, but that's contingent in part of course upon what features might be available and just want clarification that no features currently available to users are not lost. the $5/month seems reasonable to me. it strikes me as a pretty reasonable price point.
  
  3. i want to think about this a bit before recommending any particular posts. a number of them spring to mind but i need to go find them again. no wait: one does: kruuyai's first post and its resulting comments re: little box. i selected this one b/c i think that the greatest strength of this place is the community and in my travels here, i've found no single better expression of that strength than this.
  
  ed

• destinydiva said on Aug 07, 2007....

  just to be clear.....  I stated I think this place should be adult site....
  I dint mean the porn type adult site..... uuhhh I wouldnt like that either.....
  defo not a porn cam or anything like that..... 
  
  I meant maybe an age restiction like over 18's
   there are many discussions /posts I wouldnt want my daughter to read up on.....
  (some of them my own.....)
   
  I also think that there are a lot of life events talked about in here that may just be a little too much for younger minds to deal with just yet.... 
  
  I dont know? are there any really young kids here??? I didnt realise there was untill cam said something about a school newsletter..... maybe that is a whole otherside of soulcast I just havnt seen yet??
  
  anyways I guess by 18 masturbation oral sex....bitching...bullying.....  divorce...step familys...religion..... trout smacking..... ha ha ....everything that is discussed here, they have probley already been exposed to in real life.... but under 18's......  certainly under 16's .... shouldnt have to deal with a lot of this stuff yet......
  
  anyways thats just my opinion.....  I didnt want to be misread and somebody thinking i was agreeing with the porn idea of hottips......
  
  Destiny x
   
  
  
  
  

• CreativeWoman said on Aug 07, 2007....

  I doubt that I stay at SoulCast if  we have to pay to blog here.  I love this place, but I doubt I'll pay especially if there is no chance to earn any money at all.  I did hope to make money when I came here, but I stayed because of the community.  My hope is that you will explore all other options before charging us to blog.  Whatever you do, I hope it is fair to everyone here at all income levels.
  
  CW
  

• Zayda said on Aug 07, 2007....

  If I am reading SC's original post correctly, Soulcast will stay free. You would only pay for an account that included premium features, which would not be available to those using the free accounts.
  
  
  I have to wonder how many people would pay for a premium account though. Would it be enough to make SC money so improvements could continue to be made on the site.

• CreativeWoman said on Aug 07, 2007....

  The problem I have with premium services is that it usually means you are very constricted on a site if you don't use them.  You can't participate fully in the community because you are on the fringes of it.  I don't like the idea at all.
  
  CW
  

• mobil said on Aug 07, 2007....

  I think SC will loose users and gain few new users if you go to a fee for using the site. It wasn't "get payed to blog" that brought me here.
   
  That there was something set up and in a user friendly way to begin blogging right away. That is why I came and haven't left.
   
  I don't know anything about internet marketing, so I won''t try to tell you folks how to do that. I will say, the adds here look pretty lame compared to what I see going on at other internet sites............Thanks for allowing my input.

• evil_twin said on Aug 07, 2007....

  I might be willing to pay a small fee, if the premium features were interesting enough. The only feature right now that I would like, would be some way to have certain posts only viewable to people on my users list. Kind of like a 'friends only' feature. I realize this would somehow screw up posts going to the featured page, because then not everyone could read it. But for me, some posts I make, I'd prefer to only share with people I know here. That would be nice.
  
  As for additional ads, that's fine with me. Just no pop ups or flashers. I think that will be annoying and drive people away. And I personally don't care about making money here, so that's not something that motivates me. But obviously you guys need to make money, so whatever you can set up so that happens for you, is alright by me.
  
  I know that places like LiveJournal have free accounts and paid accounts. And I think quite a few of their users do choose to pay so they can have more pictures and the freedom to design their journals like a webpage. That's something you could consider as an option, but I personally like the simplicity of this site the way it is. But if you're looking for features to add, that's something to think about too.
  
  -evil_twin LA
  

• hottips4u said on Aug 07, 2007....

  Turning SC into a porn site was being sarcastic and suggested as such.  SC is well aware of my position on porn Destiny, which you do not hesitate to enjoy yourself, so grow up already, and SC is already a porn site....for FREE
  
  Whatever, I am down to help and that was my message.  I don't need the money, thats not why I joined.
  

• Mamie said on Aug 07, 2007....

  I think the soulcast staff should put on their selling shoes and go out and make some calls on advertisers who have marketing budgets to pay for these kinds of things.
   I think it is a little offbase to fund the site through the users themselves.
  Like any "product" that is sold, there are people who invest in its "venture"...a magazine has its ads, a newspaper has its columns...you don't have to pay for a subscription to any of those either if you preview it online....this site should remain free as it is. There are plenty of people who are/add the heart of the site itself who cannot afford to pay to play.
  The ideaof the "garage sale" could be profitable for those who engage in that...but your revenue stream (your part of it) would be too small for its upkeep I think.
  The premium services idea won't be sustainable either....get the people who blog here to be a source of ideas for you. Surely there are sales, marketing and fund raiser experts who will be happy to help. Good luck!!
   

• evil_twin said on Aug 07, 2007....

  I have one other question I forgot to ask in my last comment. What is the purpose of picking out the top five posts? What are you going to do with them? I wasn't clear what you meant when you said you wanted to 'showcase' them. Is that to showcase them in a special category on the site as a tribute? Or to entice people to join up? Or to present to advertisers as an example of what the site is about? I'm just curious about that aspect before I recommend my favorite posts. Plus, I'd have to think about that one too! It's hard to pick...
  
  -evil_twin LA
  

• gingersoul said on Aug 07, 2007....

  I was asking the same question as Evil Twin: why this 5 top bloggers? Explain better, thanks.

  About the fee to pay...i wouldnt care pay a little fee at year, not monthly, if it would be a way to keep this site alive. But i doubt you can attract new users if they have to pay. You will have to update this site a lot, a lot more .

  And, as Mamie said, i don't like the premium concept either. And i would hate flashing banners or invasive ads.

  When i came here i got intrigued by the Adsense thing. I signed in but since i had "sex' in some of my first posts title they refused me the account. How stupid is that? So i dont' actually have an Adsense account but it seems obvous nobody is getting rich with it. And actually i coulnd care less about Adsense: i am here for the people, not for the bucks.

  What i wouldnt absolutely like is Soulcast turning in another MySpace. No under 16 restriction seems reasonable. Webcamera? Bah, if somebody needs them....but i would be extremely careful with such upgrades....

  The selling-buying section might be interesting but i would expect a lot of money making from that.

• dailyachesandpains said on Aug 07, 2007....

  Soulcast:  You're funny.  I'll give you a kickback!  I'm not going to toot my own horn (yes I am) but I've brought another site into a money maker.  It's complete opposite of this though. 

  The Administrator gave me ideas of what he wanted (people that would NEED his site, businesses that would NEED it and what places to target advertising his site). Why he was losing money, where did he go wrong, etc. I researched and it took me about 5 months to put a plan together.  These things don't happen over night. I'm sure you know and it's great that you're asking users.   

  From what I'm getting from you right now, which I'm still confused about a little, is that I would allow people to put banner ads of their own choice from companies that offer affiliate programs.  Don't forget, I'm medicated so I do get confused a LOT. :-)

  As I've been here for about a year, I know many more have been here longer, I think we should be free members and new members can pay.  That might cut off half of the insults and prevent others (paying customers) to start a smoke show. 

  If you do have paying customers, you would know who they are and that would cut out the "Anonymous" part of Soul Cast, because SC would know.  What if someone in the office running the payments notices that they know someone?  Yeah sure, everyone can sign an agreement, but that NEVER stops anyone from talking outside of SC in their private time.  I would imagine you would have to start IP tracking due to payment/credit card/ paypal fraud??? 

  Daily

• evil_twin said on Aug 07, 2007....

  Daily, that's very true about it not being anonymous anymore if you give them your credit card info. That might deter people from paying right there. That's a really good point...
  
  -evil_twin LA
  

• hottips4u said on Aug 07, 2007....

  I use paypal all the time and so far without incident.  As to the Anon thing, the username would still provide a form of being anonymous.  And, lets face it, if homeland security wanted to trace you, it can, even here in sc.   
  
  I would not fear SC having my address, e-mail, hell this is a progressive world now anyways and most do a lot of on line business, hell, I pay most my bills on line.  SC as a company could be trusted and should be until proven otherwise, respectfully.
  
  Jessi.
  

• dailyachesandpains said on Aug 07, 2007....

  E_T, it just worries me more about fraud than anything!

  Jessi:  I've been taken 2 times by 2 different set of thieves.  Neither of which had anything to do with phishing emails and one of them actually happened when I was using it while shopping outside my home.  I had to speak to the SECRET SERVICE!  Never in my life did I ever think I would be on the phone and meeting with them!  I had to deal with the Japanese Consolate, as that's where my money from my debit card theft was spent, in Japan.  It's just way too scary for me, personally.  I hope you understand where I'm coming from.  I agree with you, if someone wants to find us, they can find us here if they have to.  However, I'd imagine that SC would have to be served with papers before any information was turned over about it's users. 

  Daily

• dailyachesandpains said on Aug 07, 2007....

  Soulcast:  Might I add, you would need a fraud department to review every payment, suspicious payments (i.e. double payments different users, whey would anyone want to pay twice fro 2 ID's) and that would put you in the hole even more. 

  How about you sell some jewelery <wink, wink> on the home page!

  Daily

• hottips4u said on Aug 07, 2007....

  All my cards have protections against loss anyways.  I know it happens.  But you have to live, and I refuse to do it in fear.  I live, period.  You want to rob my cards, they are insured, car ? insured, home & contents, insured.   So, I do not fear, I pay insurance to protect myself.
  
  Jessi
  

• Suddenrain said on Aug 07, 2007....

  Hottips, there are people on here who can't do that or afford that. So they also have to be thought about. Jewelry shop would be the death of me Daily! LoL

• hottips4u said on Aug 07, 2007....

  Duh Suddenrain...Soulcast and several other fellow observant members, you might note, already said repeatedly, even if a premium SC existed, there also would always be a free Sc as well.  The premium being an individuals choice as with any additional service related businesses, worldwide, deary.
  
  20 % of something is better than 20 % of nothing.  Of course using every utility that is viable to increase revenue should be considered, I see nothing being etched in stone here.
  
  Jessi. 

• hottips4u said on Aug 07, 2007....

  Is it possible to build partitions in SC that would give leave to have a tab for different portions of SC...like a blogg area, a video area, a picture tab, an members auction tab, Cam tab...ect., and that way use a multitude of a variety of products as a source to advertise, increased usability, increased advertising, increased membership, and increased revenue.
  
  And, if it becomes an all adult site, 18 years of age is an adult in America, not 16.  Most buying customers would probably be an adult with a job and money in any event rather than a child, respectfully.  You have to be 18 to sign a legal contract anyways, like subscriptions to premium sites, for example.
  
  Jessi. 

• hottips4u said on Aug 07, 2007....

  Please Pay To Advertise ...thats exactly what I was talking about.
  
  Jessi
  

• Suddenrain said on Aug 07, 2007....

  I was talking about the credit card thing you bitch! Relax!

• dailyachesandpains said on Aug 07, 2007....

  Jessi,

  If you've been there, it's crappy.  Coming from the credit industry myself, we are all insured against theft and most people don't know that you don't have to pay for that "special insurance offer" that the creditors try to upsell people on, you're already covered.  I got my money back, but getting your entire life back once your total identity is stolen, it follows you forever and can take years to clean up, insured or not. 

  Suddenrain, I completely agree with you. 

  Soul Cast, I apologize for veering off topic here.  I think you need to find out first, the audience you want to target.  Mommy's?  Porn Stars?  Professionals?  Authors?  All of them?  Then create your ideas for an ad campaign to target each audience on an individual basis, pimp it out.  Not a lot of people (including myself) know much about html/code and I believe if you include in your ads that no code or html is needed, you will draw more people in.  After you have your audience, or during the process, implement some of the ideas here.  I wouldn't want to pay, to be honest.  If you haven't read a lot of blogs out here, there are people trying to MAKE money, not give what little they have up to write.  Blogger is free and one could create an anonymous name there. 

  I still say market that jewelry site, lol ;-)

  Daily

• muckpar said on Aug 07, 2007....

  I have no problem with soulcast advertising to raise revenue.  But if you ever advertise porn, I will be gone.

• hottips4u said on Aug 07, 2007....

  Hope you don't venture too deep into the post at the back of the sc bus, porn has been advertised here for a couple of months now at least.  Theres is active porn in the post..lol  Wake up, if your going to support posting of adults nude, then ya can't bitch about an ad or a video either.  I say, make um pay to post that material, SC has inadvertently been doing it for some time now for free, I say its time they charge the bastards stealing SC service to advertise free.  
  
  Jessi
  

• Suddenrain said on Aug 07, 2007....

  And we all know to come to you to learn about the back of the bus obviously cause I didn't know that little tid bit of info.

• hottips4u said on Aug 07, 2007....

  You mean no one told you guys on the short bus ?  : - \
  
  Soulcast has been invaded by parasites attaching themselves to post that remain at the rear, out of sight.  Point is, they do not look like paid ads, they look like someone taking full advantage of Soulcast not monitoring post as they arrive and hitch a free advertising ride like a hobo is to a train, but at Soulcast expense.
  
  I say make um pay and civilly go after repeat offenders for theft of services {if it determined they have anything to go after}.   Bottom line, why shouldn't you have to pay for a service your caught stealing.....?
  
  Beyond the free portion of SC, I would charge a premium, irrespective of content or material within the law to generate revenue.  People do go into business to make money, and SC is none the different.
  
  What if a member was awarded a fee for every new paying customer they brought into the fold ?
  
  Jessi.
  

• TheUndergroundEagle said on Aug 07, 2007....

  I vote for a rant by SithBorg
  (most memorable) - pick any,
  for a good example of ass-ripping fun.

• Suddenrain said on Aug 07, 2007....

  Ok I agree, If they are stealing. yes, then they should be forced to pay to use porn or...eliminated immediately.

• purple said on Aug 07, 2007....

  I am here for two reasons. The first one is I'm about to get my second check from Adsense which means I'd have eaned $200. I'm pretty sure most of that earning didn't come from Soulcast, but I came back here because it couldn't hurt to keep that money coming in. So if there was no Adsense, I probably would leave again.
   
  The second reason is Silver Whisper. He's always been supportive of my blogging here. If Silver left for another blogging venue or if soulcast closed, I'd follow him if he let me.
   
  I wouldn't pay to be here. I have over 20 blogs or sites I write content for, all of which either pay me a little something, or are free to belong to. The only service I pay for is Flickr, because I need all those photos to market my art. I have over 1500 photos on Flickr, so the $25 a year is well spent.
   
  As far as adult content, I did join Soulcast hoping to post more adult stuff, but found out Google Adsene can kill your account if you do, so that idea went out the window. What I need and can't find is a site that is for grown-ups, but not for slick porn. I guess what I'm saying is blogging sites seem to be G-rated or XXX rated, when I really need a site that is R-rated.
   
  I wish you good luck with trying to make it financially doable...if I was good at marketing, I wouldn't be trying so hard to earn a living. So I'm not much help in the how to make money topic.

• SoulCast said on Aug 07, 2007....

  2 things are for sure:
  1. As long as we own it, it will never turn into a "porn" site. It may have adult content, but will never be "porn" focused.
  2. The site will always be free. "Paid" accounts, if we ever have them, will have enhanced features/benefits.
  
  We asked for your top favorite posts in order to use them as featured posts to potential new visitors. Many of these great posts happened in the past and get buried in the site. There's no better way to attract new contributing members than showing them real posts!

• hottips4u said on Aug 07, 2007....

  That does not answer any question surrounding Adsense or get paid to blog since thats an obvious falsehood in actuality, and what many came for,and left, and others just came to hang out because it was free.  
  
  So actually your interested in nothing but finding post that you can use for your own advertising based upon current readers opinions as to what was a good post ?
  
  Well, thats cool.  If you take all those bogus ads off the back you end up with 3 to 5 pages of actual user post.  So yea, SC could use a boost up in actual users.
  
  Jessi
  

• Zayda said on Aug 07, 2007....

  Here are 4 of my top favorite posts. If I think of a 5th one, I'll add it later.
  
  Silverwhisper's On the Nature of Manhood
  
  TheNakedProfessor's America is the World
  
  Hunter Boyce Chandler's My Last Sermon
  
  Kruuyai's The Voyage of Little Box

• dailyachesandpains said on Aug 07, 2007....

  Zayda:  I LOVE Little Box by Kruu.  Such a sad ending though.  It was so much fun while it lasted and hopefully she finds her way out into the world again. 

  Who could forget HappyKat's Anonymous Only Blog...that thing has soooo many comments on it!  Some of them are moving, some just fun, some break your heart,some not much of anything, but it's a place where anyone says anything.  I mean, we do get to a point where we "know" each other and want to say something but not "out loud"

  Secretlife has a post about Random Acts of Kindness that was great. 

• Zayda said on Aug 07, 2007....

  I love Kruuyai's Little Box postfor the same reason Silver mentioned. I think it's one of the best examples of the sense of community that's been built at SC.
  
  
  Actually, I love all the Little Box posts and following her adventure. And yes, such a sad ending.

• Suddenrain said on Aug 07, 2007....

  Oh yes, Random Acts of Kindness was excellent post!

• mOOn_platOOn said on Aug 08, 2007....

  SC's desire to be inclusive of the wide scope of human experience is admirable, but perhaps too broad for marketing purposes. Most successful entities have a "niche" and the SC "niches" highlighted that brought many in here were the idea of (1) making money and (2) anonymous blogging. Both have proven confusing and even unreliable.
   
  THREE SUGGESTIONS:
   
  1. Anonymous = whistle blowing. Turn this into THE whistle-blower website. Allow government, corporate and any other whistle-blowers a forum to get the dirt out where it can be investigated.
   
  2. Change the name. "Soul" reminds people of either religion or the black community. How about SECRETCAST?
   
  3. Hire good lawyers to protect everyone from Homeland Security and such.
   
  Focus on the strength of anonymity. Become notorious.
   

• gingersoul said on Aug 08, 2007....

  I would have picked Scalywag's "River Trip", if Scaly would have left it on. But he deleted it before leaving Sc. Such a shame!

  I love Secret's post "Slow Hands" ...it involved so many bloggers and with such a light hearted and fun way that everybody was having a blast. Its an example of how this community can be just silly and attracting people

  I like "Dj Moonriver plays anon love notes"   because it has been a great, warm and lovely counterpart of the HappyKat anon blog.  

  I like any of SW's The nature of...because each of them is an example of good intelligent conversation and deep considerations.

  I still can't pick one blog that can showcase the storyteller side of Soulcast. I will be back.

• StoneMaster said on Aug 08, 2007....

  
  Why not just refer to Featured Posts under All?
  Isn't that where the most interesting end up anyway?? Just have THAT page pop up instead of TODAY for a good overview of what people like to read and comment on.

• StoneMaster said on Aug 08, 2007....

  
  These are the top 5 from FEATURED / ALL
  
  Post anonymously only
  
  happykat posted on Sep 26, 2006 | views: 8482
  
  That's right. I'm starting an entry about nothing.... read entire post
  1723 comments
  The Naked Professor Shows His Credentials: ANATOMY 101
  
  TheNakedProfessor posted on May 01, 2007 | views: 3547 |
  The Naked Professor. Naked. Photo(s). WARNING: contents are bigger and closer than they appear. May cause excess reactions in susceptible bipeds.... read entire post
  370 comments
  
  Greetings from Rush North Shore Medical Center!
  
  GrapeKoolaid posted 12 days ago | views: 976 |
  
  I've been in the hospital since last Saturday, and it looks like I'll be here for a little while longer.... read entire post
  159 comments
  
  fuck you camdaman20...
  
  queenparanoia posted 13 days ago | views: 883 |
  
  yeah you heard me right. you miserable piece of shit. what the fuck is youre problem??? just because me and sweetcookie are speaking in our native language you call us rude??? what the fuck is wrong with you??? are you paranoid that we were talking about... read entire post
  118 comments
  
  on the nature of user names
  
  silverwhisper posted on Aug 11, 2006 | views: 1473 | Tags: user names, identity, handles, personality, soulcast, bhalah, Creative Woman
  the tenth installment in the “on the nature of series”. today’s feature: user names... read entire post
  106 comments
  
  So there's a fair sampling....

• mOOn_platOOn said on Aug 08, 2007....

   
  Having witnessed your behavior, cops, I would offer the observation that what happened to you was the same as the bouncer taking the loud and obnoxious drunk out of the pub. Getting in everyone's face with arguments and slander seemed to be your undoing. And now you seem unable to face the concensus about that behavior, pretending that it's "them" and not you. Remember that character Martin Short used to play on Saturday Night Live, where he would go on and on about someone, utterly exasperated, and then ask "Is it me or is it them? It's them, right?" and then continue obliviously making the same erroneous assumptions.
   
  As an (up til now) impartial observer, I hope you'll take this the right way when I say:
   
  Cops: it's you.
   
   

• hottips4u said on Aug 08, 2007....

  Um...thought you wanted post suggestions ?  Why the hangmans post set-up ?
  
  Jessi.
  

• Suddenrain said on Aug 08, 2007....

  Soulcast, How bout an assh*le rule? 3 Strikes you're out maybe? Please? With cutesy pie sugar on top??? LoLoLoL  No Seriously!  :-/

• Beautiful_Wreck said on Aug 08, 2007....

  My  favorite posts:
  
  Silverwhisper's On the Nature of Manhood, which Zayda has already linked.  *Heck, almost anything from the "on the nature of" series
  
  HappyKat's Anonymous thread
  
  Zayda's Let Me Go Easy
  
  Gingersoul's Goodnight Soulcasters
  
  
  

• silverwhisper said on Aug 09, 2007....

  suddenrain: booting users is kinda contrary to the objectives of having the site grow. to the best of my knowledge, CU is the only user ever booted from SC, although it's entirely possible someone other than him has earned that ignominious distinction. it's a subject that's been discussed a number of times on SC, albeit not recently.
  
  ed

• Suddenrain said on Aug 09, 2007....

  I don't care if the sight grows, but when a couple cells turn into cancer, don't you remove it? It's been going on for a long time I'm told and SC has lost users or should I say newbies (potential permanant Soulcasters)  who don't want to deal with it or are to timid to deal with it. There's no discussion with cancer. It goes where it wants and does whatever it wants at the hosts expence. *sigh*

• silverwhisper said on Aug 09, 2007....

  FWIW, i happen to agree with you, and while i agree that blocking & ignoring are good things, sometimes it isn't enough.
  
  ed

• SoulCast said on Aug 09, 2007....

  he's the only one that's been booted for something other than spam.
  
  
  @sudden
  Please stop with the cancer talk. Let me say this one more time; It's impossible to prevent someone from coming to the site!!!
  Is that clear? 
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

• destinydiva said on Aug 09, 2007....

  soulcast that was a bit harsh?  

• Zayda said on Aug 09, 2007....

  @Soulcast: FYI: In case you are considering keeping Google Adsense as an option in addition to adding other advertising options, here is a link about new Adsense ad formats that Google is testing.
  
  @Destiny--It may seem a bit harsh to those newer to the site, yes.  But Soulcast has repeatedly over the last year noted that even if you ban a specific account tied to a username from the site, that the person can come back to the site under another username.  Copsunited came back as CopsExtrodinaire.  If they ban that account, he can simply recreate another one.  There is no way to really get rid of him, he can create as many userids as he wants.  It's really up to the rest of SC to ignore people like him and shut him out. He thrives on the attention and responses he gets. He stirs up trouble just to get the attention because ultimately he is a bully and an attention whore. He's also enough of an egomaniac that any user name he creates will clearly identify himself, well except the Blackplague one that he created.  But those of us that have been here long enough knew Blackplague was him because he used that because someone called him a plague and he joked about being a black plague in comments on his own blog (blog posts that  have been deleted since).  He even at one point admitted Blackplague was him, but the posts in which he admitted that have been deleted too. So now he lies about Blackplauge being his username. 
  
  The point is, Cops cannot be permanently banned from the site.  No one can really be permanently banned from the sight. Anyone can create however many usernames they want too.  This happens because SC does not track IP addresses from which people login/post.  So, they cannot ban by the IP address but even if they banned by the IP address there are ways to get around an IP address ban if you are savy enough to know how to do so.
  
  Also, despite usernames being linked to email addresses, a ban via email address wouldn't really work either as it's easy as pie to create dozens of free email addresses through yahoo, google gmail, or hotmail, to name a few.
  

• bloc said on Aug 09, 2007....

  most people have dynamic ip addresses on their home dsl or cable services. This means that you'll get a different ip address every time you turn your cable/dsl modem off and on. 

• evil_twin said on Aug 09, 2007....

  On the subject of IP addresses, bloc is right. And also, it's pretty easy to use a web proxy too to mask your IP, so even if you were blocked that way, it's not hard to work around it if you really wanted to.
  
  -evil_twin LA
  

• bloc said on Aug 09, 2007....

  @evil
  shh, I wan't going to tell them about proxies ;)

• evil_twin said on Aug 09, 2007....

  Oops! I spilled the secret :-P Well, Soulcast doesn't track IP's anyway, right? Yet...
  
  -evil_twin LA
  

• Suddenrain said on Aug 09, 2007....

  Well then you may lose alot of new accounts on account of one or two cancerous users. Were you trying to censor what I was saying? If you do that, then you would also most definately have to censor a few others in here. Cancer is not a bad word and it is my view on some in here who like to make it miserable for others. It's a good word for them.

• Suddenrain said on Aug 09, 2007....

  Thank you Zayda for clearing that up. NOW I understand. Being a NEWBIE SC I didn't know that. Ok so blocking would be the only solution other tahn ignoring. *sigh* Hugggsss Des. xx

• bloc said on Aug 09, 2007....

  I think they were saying that they are tired of hearing the same "cancer" complaint over and over again. I've seen it many times since i've been around and the truth is that it's simply the nature of the internet. 
  
  
  I've blocked cops a long time ago and I never go to his blog. 99% of the time I'm not even aware that he's still here. Why do you guys keep feeding him? Just read his blog and it's obvious that his goal is to get a reaction out of people. Why give him the reaction? 

• Suddenrain said on Aug 09, 2007....

  Bloc, at times it comes back to enough is enough, you know? And  you are right, I'm tired of the fight. He and Hotlips don't exist anymore. Thank you.

• Zayda said on Aug 09, 2007....

  @Soulcast--I'd like to make a small suggestion here. So the blog posts that people are linking as their 5 favorite posts don't get lost in all of the rest of the discussion, maybe it would be helpful for you to make a separate post making just that request.

• purple said on Aug 09, 2007....

  I nominated this one http://www.soulcast.com/post/show/81904/blocking-a-person-is-very-very-irksome-indeed#comment_305932

  Blocking a person is very irksome indeed. If you haven't read it, it's hysterical.

• Zayda said on Aug 09, 2007....

  I have a fifth to nominate; my other four are in a comment earlier: BeyondtheVeil's Most Beautiful Words in the English Language

• bloc said on Aug 09, 2007....

  why are you speaking in the 3rd person ;)

• silverwhisper said on Aug 09, 2007....

  i'd like to nominate this by labyrinth. while not active now, i think it demonstrates a measure of honesty and openness that isn't as frequently seen.
  
  ed

• destinydiva said on Aug 09, 2007....

  silver thanks for posting that....i just read it...and delved around the blog.....how i wish they were still here......
  what a nice and very interesting person....whatt happened??
  

• silverwhisper said on Aug 09, 2007....

  i wish i knew, destiny. labyrinth was always a very interesting person to read, i thought. he just stopped blogging after a while. i am concerned sometimes that he did tell his wife and that his time sudenly became a lot more limited.
  
  ed

• gingersoul said on Aug 09, 2007....

  Ed.......i forgot about that post and that story. I remember now how much all of us have been tangled in his confusion and his pain and how much each of us were trying to help him with our own experiences.

  A very good example of how this community is always been more than a collection of silly or ego-inflated posts.

• mOOn_platOOn said on Aug 09, 2007....

  LOL bloc
   

• Suddenrain said on Aug 09, 2007....

  LoLoL @ Bloc

• moonriver said on Aug 10, 2007....

  i can name dozens of favorite blogs, but for soulcast's purposes, i list the ff:
  
  
  1. for expressing the impact of the sc community on an individual blogger -- gingersoul's goodnight soulcasters
  2. for an inspiring story of growing up -- gingersoul's sailing away series, starting with sailing away part 1
     
  3. for a stunningly simple love poem -- kruuyai's something in your laugh
  4. for an endearing story of seeking love -- kruuyai's pirate series, and especially farewell to jolly
  5. secretlife's he is close -- the first blog which absolutely convinced me that soulcast has awesome writers i can proudly associate with
     
  obviously, this is not to say that these five pieces are the only ones i liked, or even that they are the best of the lot. they are my personal choices for sc's showcase.
  
  
  

• moonriver said on Aug 10, 2007....

  other feedback for soulcast:
  * so long as the basic sc account remains free and also improves over time, i wont take it vs sc to offer premium accounts with high-end services.
  * so long as the ads (non-adsense) are not obtrusive, then that's ok with me too.
  
  

• moonriver said on Aug 10, 2007....

  sorry about the wrong link to the first item on my list of nominees. that should have been:
  
  1. for expressing the impact of the sc community on an individual blogger -- gingersoul's goodnight soulcasters

• Bosun said on Aug 11, 2007....

  SoulCast - Keep Adsense for your free users. For your premium service users who pay a low monthly flat fee, give them the option of adding their own registered advertertizers such as Amazon at the bottom of their posts, avoiding that nasty tangle of figuring out who pays whom.

   

• silverwhisper said on Aug 11, 2007....

  i second the nominations of GS's goodnight soulcast and zayda's let me go easy blog entries.
  
  ed

• kruuyai said on Aug 11, 2007....

  Aaaaarghhh!  It's impossible to narrow it down to 5!  Maybe 10 or 20.  Oh well, I wanted to second some of the suggestions already made, but in order to fit more suggestions in, I decided to only mention posts that have not been mentioned yet.  And I still couldn't do it!  Okay, I got it down to 6 though, so I'm going to commit my first soulcast crime and submit 6 suggestions.  I just can't do any better than that... so sue me.  And let me just say... there is so much more good stuff out there, and I couldn't get through all of the pages in My Conversations.  The number of options would have been too great.  But it was fun looking over some of these old posts.  Here goes:
  
  1)  For a humorous look at evolution, hotaka's Origin of the Feces
  2)  For a beautifully transcendent metamorphosis of her self esteem, queenparanoia's Second Look
  3)  For his clearly thought-out and lucid arguments, bloc's Torture Doesn't Work 
           (actually, just about any of bloc's political posts would be great for a showcase)
  4)  For its universal appeal, social relevance, unique slant, and special appearance by his confucious persona, moonriver's the chances of finding my soulmate here are
  5) To showcase our multi-cultural bent and to recap on the theme brought up by hotaka's post above, moonriver's life with indigenous pigs
  and last but not least
  6) For its shocking reality and compassion, botoni's When and What do We Teach?
  Sigh... I've had to leave out so many of my favorite bloggers.  Life is just not fair. 
  
  

• kruuyai said on Aug 11, 2007....

  I'm sorry, I'm sorry.  Can I add one more?  I just have to.  You can remove one of my other ones if you want, but this one is just too good to pass up.  For its sublime, almost detached beauty in describing the human condition, sheissilent's Seducing Santa and Other Thoughts.
  
  "She" is without a doubt, one of SC's finest writers, and though she hasn't been around for a while, she is not forgotten. 
  

• TheUndergroundEagle said on Aug 11, 2007....

  As someone who's more a reader here than a writer, I can only say that nothing compares for sheer entertainment value to one of those rare SithBorg rants on the rotten state of modern affairs. I think we love to read about how bad we are when he writes it because it's never exactly person-specific, so we can all assume at the worst moments that he's talking about someone else.
  http://www.soulcast.com/post/show/37939/S.O.U.L.C.A.S.T%3A-Such-Obvious-Useless-Losers-Collective-Assholes-Spouting-Trivia

• TheUndergroundEagle said on Aug 11, 2007....

  SoulCast-related humor... This is LOL http://www.soulcast.com/post/show/12962/What-you-are-about-to-read-is-true.--The-names-have-been-changed...

• GreenTaz said on Aug 12, 2007....

  Does this mean that noobs like me will have to eventually pay for some site improvements on SC? I have enjoyed blogging, commenting, and having therapy here since day one and I wouldn't want to pay to be read and be appreciated for my lunacy like moonriver. People here (the INSANE ones) are helping each other go through each day of their artistic dementia. Having them pay for their therapy would be completely insane.
  
  But then again, I wouldn't want to loose this minefield of creativity. One false step and boom! --I'm glued to the monitor seemingly paralyzed  by an artistic mine.
  
  Here's my suggestion but I don't know how SC will pull this off.
  
  Why not have publishing rights to publish original works like poems and essays from the community? Writers retain their copyrights for their works and SC gets publishing rights. That way, we all get to  have therapy for free! :D
  

• solamente_me said on Aug 13, 2007....

  My  picks:
  
  Zayda's Let Me Go Easy
  
  Silverwhisper's My Misgivings About Christian Fundamentalism
  
  Hunter's Bread of Life
  
  
  

• mom said on Aug 13, 2007....

  I was first brought to SC because of the Adsense notion of making money, as time went on I literally forgot about that and focused on the people here. I think I am a much richer person for the friendships I have gained here.
  As far as the money making aspect of it.  I have no problem with affiliate links, so what ever is decided is fine with me.  I would be willing to pay to use Soulcast, but I prefer a yearly membership fee rather than a monthly one as it is one less annoying small bill I would have to worry about every month.
  

• moonriver said on Aug 15, 2007....

  cops -- i read that one, and i noticed your exchange with mobil. right now, i'm using sc's new search facility using the search words "magic mirror" and "mirror+mobil" ... i got zilch. i'm afraid the blog has been deleted, most probably by its owner. (can't remember who...)
  
  

• wild-ting said on Aug 15, 2007....

  Do text link ads, content ad links.
  
  Also, get sponsors for special monthly posts/chats (asynchronous form or chat) to discuss something topical. Something like a webinar but on a much smaller, informal scale.
  
  
  

• anonymous said on Aug 22, 2007....

  I was reading a blog the other day, not sure who's it was now, but someone left a comment stating that they see the adds around other peoples blogs but they don't click on them they just ignor them. How many other people take this approach? We have to support each other which in turn helps support Soulcast.

• bloc said on Mar 18, 2008....

  why don't you just say, "the child that booted me ...". You are a terrible liar for someone that claims a superior intellect. 

• silverwhisper said on Mar 19, 2008....

  the child that booted copsunited was actually copsunited. everyone knows the real story, maynard. nobody's buying what you're selling.
  
  ed

• bodyandsoul said on Jun 26, 2008....

  someone read my posts!

• bloc said on Jul 02, 2008....

  it's obvious where the foul stench is coming from. 

• silverwhisper said on Jul 14, 2008....

  bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
  
  i see the hilarity never ends with you, maynard. thank you for continuing to prove why everything i ever said about you was exactly right. please, do continue.
  
  ed

• silverwhisper said on Jul 19, 2008....

  [pats maynard on the head]
  
  shush, the grown ups are talking.
  
  ed

• silverwhisper said on Aug 01, 2008....

  bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! you're a never-ending joke--please, don't ever change, maynard!
  
  ed

• silverwhisper said on Aug 17, 2008....

  ah, maynard...please, go right on proving just how pathetic you are with every ridiculous little comment you post. :>
  
  do me a favor and never change, little boy!
  
  ed

• StoneMaster said on Aug 18, 2008....

  Are you guys high or something?

• silverwhisper said on Aug 19, 2008....

  just on life, at least for my part. :>

• Zayda said on Aug 19, 2008....

  Do you have any idea how ridiculous and childish you both look by still carrying on like this?

• bloc said on Aug 19, 2008....

  lol
  
  
  
  

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