I'm pretty confident I would get to where I need to be if I keep plugging away for another six to nine months, but it's the familiar Catch-22 problem - I won't be able to keep putting in the time to keep plugging away for nine months unless I reach sustainability by...well, by yesterday basically, but probably a week from now would do at a pinch. It strikes me that my only chance of increasing the pace as dramatically as that is to devise some sort of promotional GIMMICK, and hold on to your hats, folks, because I think I might just have come up with one.
Barely a week goes past without me receiving at least one message or comment asking me to do one of two things: either a) start conventional text-based blogging again, or b) turn pre-moderation off for the comments section of the blog. The latter is often KC, and his request translates as "please allow me to totally wreck your comments section with inane Nessie content", but obviously there are also plenty of others who would much prefer to have free-flowing real-time discussion in the comments section. That would be my ideal too, if it wasn't for the fact that on a daily basis comments are submitted that are racist, homophobic, pro-genocide, defamatory about me or others, or that occasionally contain downright illegal content such as death threats.
As for conventional text blogging, some people are adamant that I would find that financially sustainable with a Patreon or Ko-Fi type funding model. I must say that wasn't my impression between 2021 and 2025 when I was still blogging regularly, but admittedly I was still relying on 'boom and bust'-style annual fundraisers at the time, so I haven't really properly put it to the test yet. In the readers' poll I ran a few weeks ago, a significant proportion of you wanted me to try a mix of YouTube videos and text blogging, and of course the only way to find out whether that will actually work is to give it a spin for a trial period.
So my gimmick to try to make a big move forward towards Ko-Fi sustainability is going to be a bonkers seven-day marathon (or should that be slog-fest) of text-blogging, very much like the good old days of Scot Goes Pop. The beauty of this idea is that text blogging isn't quite as time-consuming as video creation, and thus makes a marathon slightly more feasible. Despite the risks, I'm going to go the whole hog in trying to make this work by switching off pre-moderation for the whole provisional seven-day period. But please note this means you should NEVER assume that anything that is posted in the comments section has been actively approved by me, even if it's been up for quite a while.
False claims will undoubtedly appear for a period of time before I have a chance to delete them, so let me at least just pre-empt the far-right poster who regularly submits comments claiming I am "definitely gay and in the closet", seemingly on the basis of nothing more than the fact that the pitch of my natural voice is not all that deep (except when I say "hey Stew", obviously). The reality is that if I actually was gay, I would be embracing that and shouting it from the rooftops, because gay men tend to be exceptionally well-dressed and trendy. It should be obvious even at a cursory glance of the videos that I am in fact boringly heterosexual. Furthermore, when I was last in a relationship I once posted a photo of my then girlfriend on this blog. That led to readers giving her a nickname which became a running joke for two or three years. So, to put it mildly, you're barking up the wrong tree on that point, as on so many others.
And just a little thought for KC. For reasons that both common sense and science have so far failed to explain, this blog seems to be your entire life. In spite of the fact that I haven't published your comments for years (except for the special KC Amnesty Day), you without fail continue to submit several comments every single day as if nothing has changed. It's a tragedy in its own way. You now, if I may say so, have a golden chance to secure your heart's only true desire: the ongoing ability to actually get an audience for your thrilling "more chance of a confirmed sighting of Nessie", "give up on this independence nonsense you fools!!!", and "a de facto referendum would be good but I'd prefer a plebiscite election" comments, but *only* if I reach my challenging Ko-Fi targets over the next seven days - ie. to either get up to 60 regular monthly supporters, or to raise around £1500 in one-off donations. The latter should be an absolute doddle for you to arrange, because we all know your mates are all stinking rich Tory landowners in Surrey. If this seven-day experiment works, I'd be mad to change anything, so I would leave pre-moderation switched off if at all possible. But if the experiment fails and I fall well short of the targets, I will undoubtedly switch pre-moderation back on permanently, and you, KC, will be left for all eternity screaming into a void where no-one can hear you. Your fate is in your own hands and your rich Tory mates' hands. Is this a form of soft blackmail? Well, yes, I suppose it is, frankly. You're KC and you deserve nothing else.
For those of you who like the YouTube videos, rest assured that whichever way this experiment goes, the plan would be to continue making videos. But the next seven days will help me make a final decision about whether it's sustainable to continue with a mixture of both videos and blogging, or whether I should concentrate on the videos only.
These are incredibly difficult targets I'm setting in such a short timeframe, but I've got to the point where I need to start hitting those targets if I'm going to continue making content of any type. If you'd like to become a Ko-Fi supporter, please click HERE. On the right-hand side of the page, you can choose either "one time" or "monthly" depending on whether you want the donation to be recurring or not. You can either select one of the three suggested amounts, or manually input any amount of your choice (above the minimum of £3). I'll keep you posted over the course of the seven-day Retro Scot Goes Pop marathon on any progress made towards the dual targets of 60 regular monthly supporters or £1500 in one-off donations. Only one of the two targets needs to be met for the time being (or a midway blend between the two would also do the trick).
And again, a million thanks to all of you who have already contributed.
