feed the empire

Adrien is the insistent assistant that insists that I improve my income streams. So I'm shaking the dust off of a few projects, and I have three or four really exciting projects in the hopper.


Buy anything from amazon through one of these links and I get a kickback:

http://amazon.com?tag=fte12-20
http://amazon.co.uk?tag=fte12-21



Here are things that we made in the past, and we get 100% of the income from them now:

Here are the permaculture playing cards:
https://permies.com/cards



And here's the rocket mass heater 4-DVD set:
http://woodburningstoves2.comDigital Market



And the world domination gardening 3-DVD set:
https://permies.com/wdg




And there are lots of my podcasts, streaming videos and more in the NEW (Mar/17) Digital Market



Here are things with our buddies where we get a huge affiliate fee:


Here is a link to Marjory Wildcraft's DVDs about Growing Your Own Groceries (permies users get 20% off):
https://wdf87122.isrefer.com/go/25off/PaulWheaton/


And here is a rich buffet of book reviews with links that will feed the empire:

https://permies.com/t/31762/staff-reviews/Book-Review-Grid





And here is my rocket mass heater article complete with Ernie and Erica's plans (for which I get a FAT cut of the action!):

http://www.richsoil.com/rocket-stove-mass-heater.jsp




The cast iron article has a link to ebay, and several links to amazon: http://www.richsoil.com/cast-iron.jsp



The diatomaceous earth article has links to good DE and to amazon: http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp



And all of these articles have links to interesting things on amazon:
http://www.richsoil.com/sepp-holzer/sepp-holzer-permaculture.jsp
http://www.richsoil.com/electric-heat.jsp
http://www.richsoil.com/lawn-care.jsp
http://www.richsoil.com/wooden-spoon-care.jsp


A few other ideas:

get personal consultation from me
producing/funding/influencing podcasts
become a producer of one of my videos



Buy stuff from Maddy and I get a little something:

http://www.green-shopping.co.uk/

Buy any of Geoff Lawton's DVDs from this link (and even stuff that doesn't include Geoff) and I get a sweet kickback:

http://www.ecofilms.com.au/?ap_id=perm12


Yes, yes, yes, I will still give lots and lots of stuff away. I have three blogs in the hopper and a hundred videos that need editing. Adrien has us all caught up on podcasts, but I have dates set to record more. I'm giving a free presentation in Missoula on Tuesday. So there is gobs and gobs of free stuff still coming.

And the cash flow makes it so we can buy more stuff to give away more stuff.

paul wheaton wrote:

And here is a rich buffet of book reviews with links that will feed the empire:

http://www.richsoil.com/permaculture-books.jsp

I follow one of Paul's book links at Amazon for anything I'm purchasing there and he still gets a kick-back. Socks for the teen, a hook for the wall, etc. I think other affiliate links (e-Bay, etc.) are similar.

So even if you're shopping for non-permaculture things, it still feeds the empire!

So for instance, we will be ordering some outdoor solar lights from Amazon in the next few months, if I follow Paul's link he will get a kickback from the purchase? How do I make sure he gets the credit?

Barbara Rhoads wrote:So for instance, we will be ordering some outdoor solar lights from Amazon in the next few months, if I follow Paul's link he will get a kickback from the purchase? How do I make sure he gets the credit?

Nice! Just follow any of his links to Amazon, shop as normal, and I think that if you purchase within 15 minutes or so, he gets credit. I don't think there's any way for you to verify except for making sure it's within that time frame.

Yesterday somebody bought through my links:

guitar picks

a childrens game

a bluetooth contraption

an insulated cup

"The Tao of Dating: The Smart Woman's Guide to Being Absolutely Irresistible"

and three copies of "The Weekend Homesteader: A Twelve-Month Guide to Self-Sufficiency"

So I'm gonna get about $7 - and none of this has anything to do with permaculture!

The report shows stuff sold, but it doesn't say who it was sold to.

Pretty sweet!

I think it'd be worth considering putting one of those payback links somewhere super easy to find (e.g., on the first page of Permies.com or Richsoil.com).

We sorta have one at the bottom of all forum pages ...

Hmmm ... maybe a link to this thread? What would the link say?

paul wheaton wrote: What would the link say?

feed the empire

paul wheaton wrote:We sorta have one at the bottom of all forum pages ...

Hmmm ... maybe a link to this thread? What would the link say?

I am thinking of a link directly to Amazon from the Permies.com top page or the forums top page (for example, where you have the social media stuff) -- not through another list or a link to a thread. It could say "Feed the empire when you shop at Amazon" or "Support Permies when you shop at Amazon."

I don't see a link like that on the forum pages -- there's a link to the books list, but that's less direct than what I mean. And to be honest, until you mentioned it, I had never noticed that link at the bottom of the page, and I actually wanted to do the click-through thing before and gave up.

Speaking just as a ordinary net user, it seems like every additional click you put between the Permies top page and the Amazon link decreases the likelihood that people (including me, to be perfectly honest) will follow through from (1) I want to buy something at Amazon to (2) going to Permies.com, finding the appropriate link, then going back to Amazon and making a purchase in time for Permies to get its cut.

There are two sides to this: one is simply remembering how to click through (am shopping -- wait, oh yeah, want to help Permies -- have to go to Permies, then to books or a thread -- what's that called again? -- oh yeah -- then click a title ...); the other is the possibility of getting distracted, etc. while doing that.

It's easy to "share" Permies on Facebook, which (AFAIK) doesn't directly generate cash. I wonder if making it equally easy to get to Amazon through Permies might not bring in a bit more money.

Just a thought.

I added a link at the top of this thread that is a direct link to the amazon home page.

I prefer the idea of having fewer links in general. And I am concerned that if I make a link that is prominent that says "give me money!" that it ends up bringing in four dollars per month - thus not really earning its real estate. On the other hand, if I put it up there and it brings in $400 per month - then yeah, that was awesome!

Another thing is that I have put a lot of time and money into Alex's venture. We talked and got excited and thought hundreds of people would want to buy shirts and mugs. And it has been just a handful. Bummer.

So rather than an amazon link on every page, I like the idea of a link to this thread on every page. Then people can learn about lots and lots of things that can work. Plus, some people buy from amazon.uk instead of amazon.com.

I suppose I should mention that I've been using the code rs12-20 for a long time now, but I just now set up fte12-20 to see if this page does anything (as opposed to the hundreds of rs12-20 links all over the place right now).

Added a link to the top. At this moment, this thread has been read 183 times.

paul wheaton wrote:I added a link at the top of this thread that is a direct link to the amazon home page.

I prefer the idea of having fewer links in general. And I am concerned that if I make a link that is prominent that says "give me money!" that it ends up bringing in four dollars per month - thus not really earning its real estate. On the other hand, if I put it up there and it brings in $400 per month - then yeah, that was awesome!

Another thing is that I have put a lot of time and money into Alex's venture. We talked and got excited and thought hundreds of people would want to buy shirts and mugs. And it has been just a handful. Bummer.

So rather than an amazon link on every page, I like the idea of a link to this thread on every page. Then people can learn about lots and lots of things that can work. Plus, some people buy from amazon.uk instead of amazon.com.

I suppose I should mention that I've been using the code rs12-20 for a long time now, but I just now set up fte12-20 to see if this page does anything (as opposed to the hundreds of rs12-20 links all over the place right now).

Of course, it's your site and you need to do what you think is best.

Here's an odd thing: I know that there are a lot of people out there that set up wills so that all their stuff goes to the nature conservancy. Which infuriates me because the nature conservancy sprays pesticides on their lands. A lot. More than almost any other organization.

If I had that money, i'm sure I could do far better things. So people could put me in their wills.

....

At the bottom of some of my articles, I have put some "tiptheweb" icons. I like the idea that if somebody reads an article and finds it of value that they throw five cents my way. Even better is the idea that they pony up $2.00 per month and hand out 40 nickles per month to the best stuff they find on the internet.

After more than a year, all of those buttons have added up to about $40. I think most of that was from people that put in a lot more than a nickel. So that didn't quite turn out the way I hoped.

......

Some people have found my paypal account and sent me money. One person sent me a hundred bucks! To the people that sent more than $50 I asked what i should do in return. And they told me I already did it.

I have to admit that this felt a little weird to me. On the one hand, I like the idea that what I have done has gotten a bigger tip than some random pizza guy gets. On the other hand, it bothers me that what they get is exactly the same as somebody that has not thrown anything into the hat. I have a powerful need that goodness gets candy and badness gets sadness. I need things to be fair-er.

I have it posted out at my bio page that I charge $160 per hour for consultation. Nobody has ever paid it. Which is fine. The point I try to make with it is that folks should ask their questions in the forums - not through a private consultation. Because people actually want private consultations to be free. When they see the price tag, I like to think that they will show a little more respect for my time and then ask their question in the forums.

But I suppose there could be a first time.

So if somebody would want to feed the empire, and visit with me on the phone for an hour, that would be possible.

.....

I have received about 20 different emails asking me to interview one person or another on a podcast. It seems that I would need to contact that person (which can be a challenge in itself) and line up dates and times and stuff like that. i would also need to make sure I am savvy about that person before the interview.

I had a thought: what if somebody paid $200 and said "I want you to interview Joel Salatin and ask him these questions." Then I could ask Adrien to make all the arrangements, then re-browse Joel's books and ... do it! Without the $200 thing, I keep putting off trying. I feel like I have 40 other podcasts to make that are much easier to arrange. But if somebody ponied up $200 + Adrien is around to do the legwork, then it has to get done!

I suppose if we didn't want to interview the person, or if we could not get it arranged, then we could return the funds.

Along those lines, about four months ago i tried to contact Bill Nye the Science Guy and interview him. I contacted his agent and asked "How much would it cost to have him on my podcast?" And they just said that they would check and see if this was possible and never got back to me. I even wrote them again and got no response.

If somebody ponied up $5000 I could try again. The thing I liked was the idea of having him look at some of my articles - mostly the rocket mass heater stuff and getting him to give his feedback on it.

I suppose for really famous people we would have to pay something like $5000 to get an hour or two of their time. Maybe we should start a new thread just to get a list going of famous people that we might want to interview, and guesses at how much it might cost to get them on my podcast.

Along those lines: I know that if I encounter somebody that has listened to all of my podcasts, I encourage them to make a list of questions and we will do a podcast together. I think these make the best podcasts.

I hereby offer that if somebody sends me $100 they can pick a topic and I will make a podcast on that topic.

Further, if somebody has listened to all of my podcasts and pays $100, they can make a list of questions and I will record a podcast with them going over the whole list via skype.

I have the video footage of 140 videos on my laptop right now. Most of them are ready to go and just need the editing and uploading and stuff. Give me $200 and I will fast track a video and add your name/biz as "produced by" at the end.

Have you looked at skimlinks for this site? It will make any link to Amazon, ebay, or a plethora of other stores an affiliate link so you will get a kickback. That way if other members are posting links to these sites you still get the credit without having to go in and edit their link to make it a special affiliate link. Pinterest used them for a long time.

Hi Paul - I posted an "Alternatives to Kickstarter" thread here: https://permies.com/t/18819/projects/Alternatives-Kickstarter

I didn't know to post the info here, and I thought it was good to do since if your goal is not reached in Kickstarter, you won't receive the funds. But with others, you get the money even if you don't reach the goal. I hope this helps. Hoping everyone has a great solstice!

When I remember that I can contribute to Permies when buying at Amazon, I think I'll remember the "feed the empire" link, but I think I'm going tp have to see something like this:

"Buy anything from amazon through one of these links (hitting Place Order within 15 mins of clicking the Amazon link), and I get a kickback."

Because I doodle around on Amazon, and kill lots of time before finally purchasing. I really want to do this, and will try to remember, but I need all the reminders I can get

If you buy from Amazon within 24 hours Paul will get credit. You are not limited to 15 minutes. Also if you place something in your cart and buy it within 90 days Paul will get credit for that too. Amazon makes it pretty easy to earn, especially during the Christmas season.

The 24 hour rule is in Section 7 of their Associates Agreement for any who are interested:

https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/agreement/

I wonder is there a way for others to add your affiliate link, like if we link to something.

So far, to date, this new affiliate link has brought in $0.54! Progress!

Shawn Harper wrote:I wonder is there a way for others to add your affiliate link, like if we link to something.

So if you click on either of these:

http://amazon.com?tag=fte12-20
http://amazon.co.uk?tag=fte12-21

And then pick out 20 things and buy them, permies.com gets a kickback for all 20 things.

Here is a link to a particular item at the two sites:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1591862027/rs12-20
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1591862027/rs12-21

The "1591862027" is the ISBN or ASIN number. Everything on amazon has a number like this. Just replace "1591862027" with a number you want.

Note that amazon.com stuff has to end with "-20" and amazon.co.uk stuff has to end with "-21".

paul if you odnt mind me asking, i have set myself up an affiliate account on amazon and im curious how you post an affiliate link to the amazon.com site itself?
it seems easy to link to products, stores and search results but to the main site itself... im just a little confused

Devon Olsen wrote:paul if you odnt mind me asking, i have set myself up an affiliate account on amazon and im curious how you post an affiliate link to the amazon.com site itself?
it seems easy to link to products, stores and search results but to the main site itself... im just a little confused

Did I cover that well enough in the previous post?

So I wanted to report here: all time income from the fte12 stuff: $14.83

So, it's nice that people used the links to buy stuff. But you kinda get the idea how this sort of thing isn't like crazy big bucks.

so, would it just be ending the link with user ID and a 20 than?
like this?
http://amazon.com?tag=wwwzazzlecomf-20

edit: that seems to work, you did cover it and thank you:)

A series of odd events led to the need for $20,000 in 25 days. So I am going to try to pull that off.

So there is all the stuff currently in this thread. (BTW fte12 is now over $50)

For the last year I've been working with Alex on a project that is nearly done. So I'll kick off a kickstarter in a few days for it.

I have an idea of selling the name of some things on the land. For example, there is a draw through the middle of the land that looks like it was a creek bed many years ago. But I was recently up there have a big snow followed by a big rain and there was nothing flowing. I am going to restore the creek. And somebody could buy the right to name that creek. I'm thinking that somebody might give their family name, or the name of a loved one. i would really like to get some feedback on this idea. I was thinking of doing this over ebay.

Any other ideas?

picture of the dried up creek

paul wheaton wrote:A series of odd events led to the need for $20,000 in 25 days. So I am going to try to pull that off.

So there is all the stuff currently in this thread. (BTW fte12 is now over $50)

For the last year I've been working with Alex on a project that is nearly done. So I'll kick off a kickstarter in a few days for it.

I have an idea of selling the name of some things on the land. For example, there is a draw through the middle of the land that looks like it was a creek bed many years ago. But I was recently up there have a big snow followed by a big rain and there was nothing flowing. I am going to restore the creek. And somebody could buy the right to name that creek. I'm thinking that somebody might give their family name, or the name of a loved one. i would really like to get some feedback on this idea. I was thinking of doing this over ebay.

Any other ideas?

How about a raffle for a $100 gift card to Amazon?

I would like to buy a t shirt, but homesteadgear.com brought up nothing! Where can one purchase a t shirt?

I would like to purchase the right to carve my name into a rock somewhere along that [nonexistent] creek, whenever I get a chance to visit the property.

If I am too damn lazy to actually carve my name in it, it will say "W." Possibly twice:
\/\/
\/\/

You can tell people it stands for 'Water.' Or 'Wheaton,' or 'Whatever you Want.'
If you have a nice Weathered rock face near the West property boundary, I will happily take suggestions as to Where the carving is applied.

Do you want to quote me a price, or shall I just send moneys and collect later?

Yours,
Erica Wisner

Gail Saito wrote:

I would like to buy a t shirt, but homesteadgear.com brought up nothing! Where can one purchase a t shirt?

It looks like there's been a run on certain sizes and colors. Alex, can you give us an updated link to what's currently in stock?

Thanks,
Erica W

I could help "feed the empire" Anyone who wants to buy anything from our ebay listings we could PayPal Paul 10% of the total if you message "Permies" on the sale in the next 25 days. We have some cool Permaculture Organic cotton t's, plus hemp socks, water bottles, sporks, 400 environmental products to choose from. Directions : go to Ebay.com next to seach click "advanced search" scroll down to "show items from seller ID" check that and type in treehugger760 and all items by us will be there in a list with photos. As long as its from treehugger760 in the next 25 days and you reference "permies" in the message, Paul's empire will get 10%.

Paul - are you planning on running courses (PDCS or similar) on the land?

If so, maybe you could sell advance tickets for them.

Can I just write a check I dont want anything in return? I give annually to the American Farmland Trust but Im starting to think my donation would be better served here.

Aaron Festa wrote:Can I just write a check I dont want anything in return? I give annually to the American Farmland Trust but Im starting to think my donation would be better served here.

We have had some people donate up to $100 via paypal. For stuff under $50 I said "thanks!" - i sorta think there was something I did or said that saved that may have been worth more, so it's all good. For the bigger stuff I've said "did you want some consulting or something?" For the bigger amounts I eventually picked something that seemed like something more I could do. Usually they are pod people so I would record a podcast on a topic of their choosing.

The larger amounts are for 5% interest. My impression is that those folks are getting more interest through me than where they have put it. One person has said they trust me far more than their bank.

I know if Adrien stops by, he'll want folkd to put money toward me reading Mark Shepard's book and then doing a podcast with him. Adrien brings that up about every two weeks. It keeps sliding backwards because things seem to be a higher priority than reading a book.

I guess the answer to your question is: for amounts over $50, I prefer that there be some sort of exchange. Surely there is something that can be figured out.

Burra Maluca wrote:Paul - are you planning on running courses (PDCS or similar) on the land?

If so, maybe you could sell advance tickets for them.

Yes, workshops at the very least - see 6 the "potential workshops" threads in the paul's farm forum.

We kinda need basic systems and a few key people in place before we can offer tickets to these. And then set a date(s) with enough time for people to plan travel and time off work, etc. We'll announce and get those rolling as soon as possible!

You know how to carve your name into a rock? I think this could be the foundation for a workshop.

Now watching youtube videos on how to do this ....

I think that i like the idea of having named points throughout the property so that we can talk about where something is going on.

There are definitely big cool rocks at base camp. I'll look around at TL.

Burra Maluca wrote:Paul - are you planning on running courses (PDCS or similar) on the land?

If so, maybe you could sell advance tickets for them.

I think that once we close on TL we will open things up for several workshops (as Jocelyn pointed out - and jocelyn will be running point on nailing down dates and stuff on those).

I do think folks are itching for a paul wheaton pdc ... maybe we should put one of those in the hopper. BC has a room that could seat 100 people ....

I like the idea of someday, maybe a year from now, housing a guest artist each month. I feel like I am terrible at art - at the same time, without art this project will seem a bit hollow. It seems like there could be some sort of fund to be able to make this happen.

You could do some serious work camps--100 people, BYO wheelbarrow and shovel and tent. Get the classroom training in exchange for manual labor. It kind of sucks when people run classes that way without telling the students up front (and charge full price), but if you make it clear up front I think you will get plenty of willing minions. You should be still able to charge enough to cover food and materials. You have to figure maybe 10% of the people could actually work and see if you think it is worth dealing with the other 90.

I think it would be really cool to run a couple classes that way, with various limits on power used-

1) nothing but people power and wheelbarrows.
2) a small pickup or horse/mule for hauling stuff around. Maybe a chainsaw if using a pickup. What the average person could have when buying land for the first time.
3) small utility tractor like a homesteader could possibly have--loader and plow or backblade for dirtwork.
4) full on trackhoe contractor. Or at least have really good cost estimates on it to compare to the above.

I have done 1-3 on my place, but with only my family as people power. I wonder how much more a hundred could get done.

I apologize that I haven't had time to read through all of the background and ideas, but could you "sell" special visits to your compound for the future? Like, donate $x now, and we will host your special donor visit sometime in the next Y-Z years. I suppose your compound may be open to visitors anyway, but perhaps these visits could be in some way more special, like, the compound provides the tent and feeds them and maybe takes them on some walks on the land or nearby or something like that? Just an idea...