myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

Hi Steve

In answer to your posting regarding the costs of hosting this site (top of forum page), I have to say that we have all benefitted from your time, effort and financial outlay and if having a number of discrete ads helps to offset some of the costs, then I'm all for them.
They will also a help to myTobago visitors, looking for accomodation and other services.

Keep up the good work

Steve

I agree, having a few small adds on the site is no problem, and you have put them so out of the way that I hadn't even noticed them. As you said that you get paid when people go to them I will now make a point of clicking on them whenever I visit the site, so you should start to get some money in.

Peter

Hi Peter

Thanks for your support. Trouble is, you've said it all - "out of the way". How many people are going to take the trouble to read the post about funding and scroll down and use the ads? Time will tell.

Steve, you ask how many people will bother? Well, for all the large numbers who use this site regularly i'm quite sure they will 'scroll & click' and as for any new visitors,well when they find out what a great site this is and become 'regulars' themselves they'll be clicking away too. I feel sure we all appreciate the time and effort you put in & will help all we can. Stella.

Stella - every time I look you're on the board. Don't get me wrong, you're more than welcome, but I've had too many reports of marital disruption caused by the addictive nature of the forum and don't want to be cited in any proceedings.

The wife of one prolific contributor on Tobago recently told me that she thought her husband was up all night viewing porn on the Internet, only to find out that he was actually reading myTobago. She didn't know whether to be pleased or sad, as one would at least indicate that he was "normal". I didn't ask which!

Incidentally, the above pun was entirely unintentional.

Steve,

You have done a fantastic job with the website and I do not believe anyone could begrudge you trying to cover some costs. Fully support your idea of the google adverts.

Going off now to click on a few to try get you some com.

Keep up the great work. Long may it continue

regards
James

Steve,, Deeply,deeply wounded at your observation about my name always on board when you look!! Have most definitely taken umbrage. So---am considering re-registering using a nom de plume but i have a sneaking suspicion that with your technical know-how of all things p.c.and webwise you could very well 'sus' it! Anyhow,your beady eyes will miss my name for the next couple of weeks but i may condescend to write a report on B.W.I. on my return but ONLY if you grovel. Your concern about the possibilty of being 'cited' could well be a genuine problem for you though ,Graham may seize on any excuse,he's been trying to get shot of me for years!!! Stella.

p.s. As i always tell my family,'you'll miss me when i'm gone' whereupon 'G' usually offers to pack my bag!

Stella - shame on you! We expect you to visit an Internet cafe each day and post a daily report detailing your experiences and whether Graham has had any success with the birds.

Talking of which, did you manage to get a copy of fffffrench's Birds of Trinidad & Tobago?

Have a great trip. We shall miss your regular input.

Steve ,about ffffffffrenchs bird book, my kindly neighbourhood library knew i was looking for it and kindly got back to me with an offer of an ancient 1961 tomb by G.A.C Herklets.It 's got pictures and seems readable for an amateur to follow, probably lists less than half Tobago's birds,!! so i borrowed that one. I do thank you though for your kind offer of loaning me THE book.Will still try to get that one at the airport.
I know you'll be devastated but internet cafes are not on my 'to do'list especially after reading of one contributors experience in Tobago of sitting next to a person who was watching porn. Perish the thought, i'm much too genteel!! Stella.

Steve,

I host a website that gets insane traffic.

I set up a small charge for some users in order to stay on the air.

I have no idea what the hosting costs are to you, but I would be very happy to help meet them in some small way. It's safe to say you made me choose Tobago and you have helped me get ready for teh trip of a lifetime.

Feel free to contact me direct to see if a) I can help or b) point you at a webhost I am a reseller for to see if we can't hammer the cost down a bit (I say that having no idea where you host nor what you pay).

Hi Marc

Thanks for the offer. However, I have my own servers co-located in the Manchester Operations Centre. I'm not worried about the cost of the machines or the co-location/management charges, it's just that I obviously pay for all bandwith used by my web and mail servers. myTobago.info is now delivering more than 6GB of traffic per month. This is likely to double before the end of the year.

The Google ads will help a trifle, but to be honest, I'm spending half the revenue they generate advertising the site on Google. My main consideration is to get the traffic right up. I could do a ton of stuff on SEO work, if only I could find the time. However, I have to totally convince every businessand and all the tourism departments/trade associations on Tobago that myTobago IS the definitive guide to Tobago. To be honest, a levy of one or two dollars per bed, per year, would fund the site nicely, but the site's readership and influence has to be unassailable before this could happen. We celebrate our second birthday next week, so it's early days and I've just got to plod on for another few years until I achieve my goals.

Thanks for your input and support though.

My site generates about 25gb per month, amounting to 83,747 visits for last month.

Had you been looking for a server I would have helped

Offer still stands mate, if you want subscription only sections (not a great thing IMO) or just plain old donations, then holla.

Anything else I can do, again, scream away.

I think you need some way of getting to businesses on the Island to see people have found them via yourself. The problem is (as I see it!) the fact you are "non-commercial" is the best bit, ie it translates into trustworthiness. That's also your undoing.

All the best in nailing that conundrum mate!