ClimbingWeather.com Expense vs Income Report #1

I've been running ClimbingWeather.com since 2005 without any substantial plans for generating revenue. Up until the past 6 months, I had free space on a dedicated server and virtually no operating expenses. Six months ago, I moved to a dedicated node on Linode.com with backup, which marked my first real expense, other than a Nexus One that I bought early last year so that I could develop a native Android app. Since then, I've also ponied up for a paid GitHub account so I could have private repositories. I also purchased a MacBook Air for developing the iPhone app. Expenses are slowly creeping into the equation and with it the desire to re-coup at least some of the expenses.

The other hidden expense is my time. Although I work on the site because I absolutely love it, there is a certain opportunity cost that comes with spending time on ClimbingWeather.com instead of other possibly lucrative projects. Now that traffic has increased steadily over time, I'd love to be able to justify spending more time on the site, as well as have $$ for additional hardware or services, such as an iPad so I can develop an iPad compatible app.

This report is going to be the first in a series of reports on my expenses vs. income in this project. Although I remain committed to keeping ClimbingWeather.com fast and ad-free for the foreseeable future, I am looking at ways to bring in some revenue. Ideas include sponsorship, small text promo spots and others. Recently, I added a small text promo for TheClymb.com as part of an affiliate program. I did this primarily to test click-rates on something that might appeal to users of the site. Whatever I do, I want to make it unobtrusive and maintain the integrity of the site.

Current expenses:
Linode 1024 + Backup: $49.95/month
GitHub Micro: $7/month
My Time: 30 hours/month @ $100/hour x 50% fun discount = $1500/month
Total: $1556.95/month

I spent time contemplating how to account for my time. I started with a base rate of $100/month for consulting, then gave it a 'fun discount' of 50%. The 'fun discount' is how much I would work for on a really fun project. I thought of going lower, but I think it gives a good basis for expense calculations. Estimating that I spend an hour a day on the site, my monthly time expense would be about $1500.

Current revenue:
$0/month

As you can see from the revenue, the only way to go from here is up!
Is it possible to generate over $1500/month from the site without resorting to traditional advertising? That's a challenge I'm looking forward to taking on. Stay tuned to find out!
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