Thank you for your kind comments, responses and donations. The financial problems are very real and I wouldn't consider GoFundMe unless there was a serious issue. Over the years, ST has been very successful and profitable. Mainly because I made a committment to build a nestegg. This was in part because I was seeing nice ad dollars coming in but because I knew some day, the ship would come home and the good days would slow down or come to a end. Instead it was a lot worse than I even thought would happen.
The problem in online advertising is distribution of the quality ads is not fair and the distributors mainly Google, controls the amount paid to the publishers. This is the heart of the problem. about 5 or 6 years ago, we were make over 100 times more per day than what we are today. Yes, that is correct, over 100 times. Over this time, I reduced expenses down to the bare minimum. We still are losing money today.
Last, only a few people know but I had a heart attack. At first I didn't think so and thought I had a chest cold and allergies. I even drove myself to the hospital. Boy was I wrong. I ended up with 3 stints that night and 4 more the next month. This had a big effect on ST also. I feel pretty good now but a little less on the daily work amount in part becuase of medication. Still a good trade off.
I haven't post on ST yet in part because I was communicating with a white knight who was looking at what we were doing business wise. While this white knight will likely not be able to help, I did receive good ideas about online advertising and how to correct the issues that Mr. Sweepy faces.
There is more to this but this give you the big picture. I am looking to buy some time so I can fix this mess. No guarantees I can fix it but has you know me, I will not quit without trying everything to safe my love, passion and family, you the members of ST.
Craig
Mr. Sweepy