Make Gun Nuts Ad Free

I want to make Gun Nuts ad free. Now, the easiest way to do that would be to just shut off the ads, but “Gun Nuts” isn’t just a blog, it’s a business that generates revenue and has costs associated with it, so I can’t just turn my revenue stream off. So I’ve set up a Go Fund Me page where you, the readers can donate to make Gun Nuts ad free for the next 5 years.

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Now, if you’ve clicked the link you’ve seen how much money I’m asking for, $100,000 and you probably have questions. That’s fine, I have answers. The first question is probably “Why go ad free? Don’t you work in the advertising sales business?” As a matter of fact, I do, and that’s part of why I want to take the site ad free. Gun Nuts is part of the GunUp network, which is owned by Media Lodge. I work for Media Lodge. I sell ads on sites all across the network, but I’d be damn liar if I said that Gun Nuts wasn’t always first in my heart. And it always will be, and that’s what we like to refer to as “a conflict of interest.” Which means the best way to keep the site running for the next five years is to shut the ads down, and ask my readers for donations in order to keep things going. So that’s the big part of the why.

The second part of “why” is because I want the site to grow, but to do that we need money. Money to pay exisiting writers to produce more content, money to get more writers to do more content, and money to cover expenses for sending people to classes, events, etc. I want to take Gun Nuts to the next level, but I can’t do that without your support.

Thirdly, and most importantly, going ad free allows me the editorial freedom to really say what I believe on any given topic. I’ve had to reign myself in frequently ever since this became a business with advertisers, and that means I’m not giving the readers the best content I can. It’s difficult to tell you that Blastomatic XYZ sucks without losing my credibility when there’s an ad for it running in my sidebar, you know?

The last reason why I want to take the side ad free is simple: you. I’ve lost track of the number of times over the years that people have come up to me and thanked me for an article I wrote, a review I did, or a video I made. I’ve also lost track of the number of times people have told me I’m stupid, an idiot, and shouldn’t be allowed to have an opinion on anything ever. Both of those are important, because they tell me that people are passionate about what they’re reading here, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I want to give you, my readers, the best content I can, because you are passionate about it.

Now to the elephant in the room. $100,000 is a LOT of money. I get that. But it’s also enough money to fund the site for about 5 years, which is an extremely long time in blog years. But it’s also a realistic figure, because it works out to about 20k a year to run the site and grow it. I know that about 10,000 people will see this post today, and if each of them dropped 10 bucks in the hat, I’d be done. Ads would go away tomorrow (except for ones I’m contractually obligated to run) and we’d be wild and free. I don’t think that’s going to happen, but if it did it would be awesome.

Bottom line: this is about you. Nothing that I’ve done here at Gun Nuts would be possible without my awesome readers, who have taken this site from tiny little blogspot blog into a well read, well know, and maybe even a little bit respected site. But to get to the next level, I need your help. Let’s make Gun Nuts a better blog, and donate today.

18 Comments

  1. Did you get hit in the head to hard during the combatives portion of your tech school?

    Seems kind of weird. Call it the pessimist in me. I will take a look at your “go fund me”. Maybe it has an exact breakdown of where every penny of my $10 will go…

    1. If I broke down where everyone’s $10 go, we’d be here all day. I can however peel back the curtain a little bit and show people where the money would go.

  2. Problems –

    No guarantee the site will get better

    No way for contributors to know how their money is being used

    You get $100,000 now and we get a post saying it’s worth it

    1. Risk is always going to be a part of something like this, sure. I could take the money and blow it all on coke and hookers and write about that, which you have to admit would make for some pretty great posts in the short term.

      In all seriousness though, the 100k gets broken down pretty straight forward. The money goes into a bank account, and the budget get sets for each of the five years at ~20k. It costs $3,000 a year to pay my existing staff writer, and I want to hire another guy. Actually you know what, I’m going to break this down in a post so people can read it.

      1. In the upcoming post, please also explain to your readers what you mean by ” I’ve had to reign myself in frequently ever since this became a business with advertisers, and that means I’m not giving the readers the best content I can. It’s difficult to tell you that Blastomatic XYZ sucks without losing my credibility when there’s an ad for it running in my sidebar, you know?” Does this mean your reviews to date have been bullshit?

        Thanks,

        1. No, I’ve never fluffed a gun or product here just because someone bought an ad. What I have done is not run reviews or content because I didn’t want to upset a valuable advertising client. Let’s say I got a holster in to review from a client, and the holster was a cheaply made bag of dogcrap. I wouldn’t publish a review that says “this is garbage and you shouldn’t buy it” I’d just never publish anything at all. I think that’s doing readers a disservice, because people deserve to know if gear is bad.

          But no, to answer your rudely phrased question, my previous reviews have never been bullshit. Although I suspect that me telling you that will be about as effective as telling the waves to stop.

          1. I believe you. Thank you for the clarification. I don’t think I was being rude, just asking a legitimate question in a straightforward way. If the BS word offended you, I’m sorry.

          2. Sorry if I came on a little strong with my reply, yesterday was a bit of a frustrating day w/regards to the fundraiser.

          3. I get this part most of all. Because my wife writes for three trade rags in an unrelated field. Just be sure, the “tail” of the advertising dept. to some degree wags the dog. It frustrates her too.

  3. This site used to be good enough for this. But you’re asking at what I feel has been the low of a months long slump in quality.

    I will be honest in saying that I find myself coming back mostly in the hopes that there will be some quality posts coming back. But with what is here now- I wouldn’t be too sad if the place disappeared 🙁

    That said- good luck, and I will come back more to try and see if things have stepped back up!

    1. Nate, thanks for the honest feedback. I just want to point out that for the last few months I haven’t been around; I’ve been on AD with the Air Force Reserve, so honestly I’ve not been able to put the time and effort into the site that it deserves. This campaign is part of “bringing it back” as it were, and it’s the best way I can figure out to do it.

      1. I was kind of thinking the same thing as Nate to be honest. However, I also am in the military (21 years and counting) so I know that certain times can be really tough to do anything but the mil. The sad thing is that this was all going on at the same time as Modern Service Weapons just essentially giving up and have virtually no content. However, I will donate in hopes of Gun Nuts returning to form.

        1. Honestly, in what little free time I did have, there was just no way I was going to be willing to invest that into writing blog posts. Writing, regardless of how much I enjoy it, is still work. And after spending 8-10 hours training, the last thing I’d want to do would be “more work.”

  4. Alright. I’m in since its a good cause.

    What are you going to with the donations if you don’t reach $100,000 and have to run ads? How do I get my money back?

    1. I’m keeping donor lists for now; if this doesn’t go the way I want I’ll reach out to everyone via email to begin the process of a refund.

  5. Just think of it this way – a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So you’ve taken almost 3 steps. In 5 days.

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