LRC In Trouble?

[Warlord]

Apparently its first losing year in 16 years. I've made a $20.16 donation

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/12/lew-rockwell/lrc-trouble/

[Ender]

Apparently its first losing year in 16 years. I've made a $20.16 donation

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/12/lew-rockwell/lrc-trouble/

I'll be donating, as well.

[NewRightLibertarian]

I know his antagonistic approach puts off many people, but few have contributed more to the cause of liberty than Lew Rockwell. I am starting a monthly donation, and hope many more will as well.

[Matt Collins]

I smell bullshit....

1 - Google is pretty neutral and unless you are trying to encourage people to do illegal things, then they will advertise on your site.

2- LRC has posted some shitty posts that are just of low quality which diminishes the overall credibility of the LRC


Why doesn't Lew publish his traffic data over the last 10 years? I am betting it reached its peak a few years ago and is declining.



Something here doesn't smell right, his expenses are practically nothing, and yet he says he can't make money? Nope, not buying what he is shoveling.

[Warlord]

I smell bullshit....

1 - Google is pretty neutral

2- LRC has posted some shitty posts that are just of low quality


Why doesn't Lew publish his traffic data over the last 10 years?

Lew wouldn't lie. He's reminding us to support LRC

[NewRightLibertarian]

I smell bullshit....

1 - Google is pretty neutral and unless you are trying to encourage people to do illegal things, then they will advertise on your site.

2- LRC has posted some shitty posts that are just of low quality which diminishes the overall credibility of the LRC


Why doesn't Lew publish his traffic data over the last 10 years? I am betting it reached its peak a few years ago and is declining.

Something here doesn't smell right, his expenses are practically nothing, and yet he says he can't make money? Nope, not buying what he is shoveling.

What doesn't smell right are the C4L email blasts in my and everyone else's spam folder that are filled with bullshit, hated by everyone, and give the liberty movement a bad name.

Lew, on the other hand, is a mensch and we should rally around him and all that he has done for the cause of liberty.

[heavenlyboy34]

I'm a Lew and LRC supporter/fanboy. Planning to donate again this year. :)

[Anti Federalist]

I smell bullshit....

1 - Google is pretty neutral and unless you are trying to encourage people to do illegal things, then they will advertise on your site.

2- LRC has posted some shitty posts that are just of low quality which diminishes the overall credibility of the LRC


Why doesn't Lew publish his traffic data over the last 10 years? I am betting it reached its peak a few years ago and is declining.

Something here doesn't smell right, his expenses are practically nothing, and yet he says he can't make money? Nope, not buying what he is shoveling.


Canary in the Libertarian Coal Mine

http://ericpetersautos.com/2015/12/07/canary-in-the-libertarian-coal-mine/

by eric • December 7, 2015

Even Lew Rockwell is having money problems.

That says a lot.

And it’s not good.

Lewrockwell.com is huge in terms of its audience; it reaches millions of people. Yet it is having trouble making ends meet – let alone making a profit.

I’ve posted here about my problems, which are similar. I am not alone. The financial strangulation of contrarian web sites such as LRC and EPautos (and many others) is a pervasive problem that’s getting worse. And it is getting worse because Internet advertising has become a virtual company town, with Googuhl the owner of said town.

Probably 90 percent of online advertising is not direct, a deal between the publisher/owner of a web site and the advertiser, but indirect, through Googuhl or a Googuhl emulator that pays only for “clicks” rather than the space/visibility. The payment per “click” is based on Googuhl’s secret internal formula, which we know is to some extent based on how highly (or not) Googuhl “ranks” a given web site.

This reduces the potential income of online advertising to almost nil. Or at least, an amount that’s so low it makes it very difficult to meet even basic expenses such as servers (you need heavy-duty servers, with back-up, when you have a lot of traffic; we are not talking about $50/month “blog” servers) and forget paying contributors or staff.

I posted the other day about this site’s traffic. According to Quantcast, about a quarter-million people read EPautos each month. Lew’s traffic is several times higher. In pre-Internet/print media terms, each site has the equivalent audience of a successful national magazine, or at least that of a medium-sized city’s daily newspaper.

And yet…

As many of you already know, I used to work as an editorial writer and columnist at The Washington Times, back in the ’90s. I was a salaried employee, along with an entire editorial page staff of writers, editors, copy editors and graphic designers, plus an entire newsroom of reporters and support staff. The Times never had more than about 150,000 paid subscribers. Fewer people read The Times than read EPautos. Yet The Times could afford to pay for an entire newsroom/editorial page staff.

Because advertising paid.

Thanks to Googuhl, it no longer does. Even when a site is very successful in terms of its readership.

Which is a very effective way to stifle contrarian news/opinion without overt censorship. They have become infinitely more clever than that. Simply destroy your adversaries’ ability to make a living and they will all go away.

No need to outlaw LRC or EPautos.

Just put ’em in the poorhouse.

What Lew did not mention in the article I linked to at the top of this rant is that the weapon being used against us is the narcotic of freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I have mentioned it numerous times – and figure now’s a good time to mention it again. Googuhl’s strangulation tactics depend on the majority of readers electing not to support sites such as Lew’s and mine. If they did support LRC and EPautos and other such sites, Googuhl’s power would be smashed at a stroke.

And that is the key to everything.

We could have a powerful alternative to the mainstream media. Imagine what Lew could do if he had the means to pay contributors and staff.

If EPautos could do the same.

Our ability to reach an ever-wider audience, to put Libertarian ideas before people who’ve probably never encountered them before, would be infinitely greater. The debate might actually shift from left-right/blue-red to something different.

But as long as Googuhl controls the company town, sites like LRC and this site are in perpetual peril of going under and even if we manage to survive another month and gimp into the next one, our effectiveness is greatly reduced.

It’s all so sad – because so not necessary.

If even 10 percent of Lew’s audience and this site’s audience tossed in $5 or so a month, the Internet company town would become what it was supposed to be: An agora of ideas, with the best ideas taking pride of place. Instead, we have – for the most part – the same old ideas. Because – notwithstanding the demise of MSM print media – MSM online media has both the support of Googuhl as well as the support of the same entities (the cartel capitalist power brokers) as before.

I will give you an example – and share some inside baseball.

Most of you have probably heard of The Huffington Post. It is one of the biggest online gorillas. And why? It is not because of the sparkling brilliance of the writings you’ll find there – which for the most part are as predictable as Pravda during the Brezhnev years and not even clever on top of that. Yet HuffPost is huge. Can afford a staff.

Why?

Because Arianna Huffington, the Zsa Zsa Gabor of the MSM, is extremely rich and well-connected. She became a “writer” using this money, which she did not earn but rather was awarded in her divorce settlement from Michael Huffington, her extremely wealthy ex.

Arianna was – still is, in my opinion – a socialite. So why is she now a famous columnist and pundit?

When I worked at The Times back in the ’90s, we all of a sudden began to receive submissions from this person. Who had no more standing or competence to offer an opinion than any other hausfrau – and whose opinions were expressed poorly, at about the level of a typical American high school sophomore. Much re-writing was necessary. I ventured to ask why we were bending over backwards to accommodate this Arianna person, to make space for her dreck on the editorial page. To give her space rather than to an actually deserving (but not rich/connected) writer who’d written something worth reading.

The answer was, simply put, that powerful interests (i.e., money) wanted her byline in print. So we were obliged to publish her (after re-writing her) and the rest is history. Arianna is now a national level talking head and famous pundit and she is both of those things because she and those backing her had the means to vanity-press her to national prominence. Having achieved national prominence this way, it is assumed it was achieved on the merits. I assure you, this is not the case. Read her stuff yourself and see. Better yet, read her stuff before it gets re-written. Probably by someone who is being paid nothing or next to nothing.

Anyhow, this is what we – Lew and I and other Libertarians who are trying to upend the coercive collectivist applecart – are up against. The truth is we can’t do it without your support. When you have a quarter-million people visiting your site (or millions, as in the case of LRC) and you still can’t meet even basic expenses via advertising, you have a serious problem. Precisely the problem Googuhl intended.water images

So, it’s up to you guys. If you want Lew to survive, if you want EPautos to survive, don’t assume we will survive. That what you are reading today will still be here tomorrow. That things are ok, that someone else tossed in a few bucks. Each of us, in our everyday lives, exchanges value for value. We gladly pay $1.50 for a good cup of coffee; do not expect the coffee to just be there – much less just take it because it is there.

If you value LRC, if you value EPautos (and other such) then please support what we’re trying to do. It doesn’t take much, individually. But it does take each of you, as an individual, deciding to support what you think is worth supporting.

[Ender]

Canary in the Libertarian Coal Mine

http://ericpetersautos.com/2015/12/07/canary-in-the-libertarian-coal-mine/

by eric • December 7, 2015

Even Lew Rockwell is having money problems.

That says a lot.

And it’s not good.

Lewrockwell.com is huge in terms of its audience; it reaches millions of people. Yet it is having trouble making ends meet – let alone making a profit.

I’ve posted here about my problems, which are similar. I am not alone. The financial strangulation of contrarian web sites such as LRC and EPautos (and many others) is a pervasive problem that’s getting worse. And it is getting worse because Internet advertising has become a virtual company town, with Googuhl the owner of said town.

Probably 90 percent of online advertising is not direct, a deal between the publisher/owner of a web site and the advertiser, but indirect, through Googuhl or a Googuhl emulator that pays only for “clicks” rather than the space/visibility. The payment per “click” is based on Googuhl’s secret internal formula, which we know is to some extent based on how highly (or not) Googuhl “ranks” a given web site.

This reduces the potential income of online advertising to almost nil. Or at least, an amount that’s so low it makes it very difficult to meet even basic expenses such as servers (you need heavy-duty servers, with back-up, when you have a lot of traffic; we are not talking about $50/month “blog” servers) and forget paying contributors or staff.

I posted the other day about this site’s traffic. According to Quantcast, about a quarter-million people read EPautos each month. Lew’s traffic is several times higher. In pre-Internet/print media terms, each site has the equivalent audience of a successful national magazine, or at least that of a medium-sized city’s daily newspaper.

And yet…

As many of you already know, I used to work as an editorial writer and columnist at The Washington Times, back in the ’90s. I was a salaried employee, along with an entire editorial page staff of writers, editors, copy editors and graphic designers, plus an entire newsroom of reporters and support staff. The Times never had more than about 150,000 paid subscribers. Fewer people read The Times than read EPautos. Yet The Times could afford to pay for an entire newsroom/editorial page staff.

Because advertising paid.

Thanks to Googuhl, it no longer does. Even when a site is very successful in terms of its readership.

Which is a very effective way to stifle contrarian news/opinion without overt censorship. They have become infinitely more clever than that. Simply destroy your adversaries’ ability to make a living and they will all go away.

No need to outlaw LRC or EPautos.

Just put ’em in the poorhouse.

What Lew did not mention in the article I linked to at the top of this rant is that the weapon being used against us is the narcotic of freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I have mentioned it numerous times – and figure now’s a good time to mention it again. Googuhl’s strangulation tactics depend on the majority of readers electing not to support sites such as Lew’s and mine. If they did support LRC and EPautos and other such sites, Googuhl’s power would be smashed at a stroke.

And that is the key to everything.

We could have a powerful alternative to the mainstream media. Imagine what Lew could do if he had the means to pay contributors and staff.

If EPautos could do the same.

Our ability to reach an ever-wider audience, to put Libertarian ideas before people who’ve probably never encountered them before, would be infinitely greater. The debate might actually shift from left-right/blue-red to something different.

But as long as Googuhl controls the company town, sites like LRC and this site are in perpetual peril of going under and even if we manage to survive another month and gimp into the next one, our effectiveness is greatly reduced.

It’s all so sad – because so not necessary.

If even 10 percent of Lew’s audience and this site’s audience tossed in $5 or so a month, the Internet company town would become what it was supposed to be: An agora of ideas, with the best ideas taking pride of place. Instead, we have – for the most part – the same old ideas. Because – notwithstanding the demise of MSM print media – MSM online media has both the support of Googuhl as well as the support of the same entities (the cartel capitalist power brokers) as before.

I will give you an example – and share some inside baseball.

Most of you have probably heard of The Huffington Post. It is one of the biggest online gorillas. And why? It is not because of the sparkling brilliance of the writings you’ll find there – which for the most part are as predictable as Pravda during the Brezhnev years and not even clever on top of that. Yet HuffPost is huge. Can afford a staff.

Why?

Because Arianna Huffington, the Zsa Zsa Gabor of the MSM, is extremely rich and well-connected. She became a “writer” using this money, which she did not earn but rather was awarded in her divorce settlement from Michael Huffington, her extremely wealthy ex.

Arianna was – still is, in my opinion – a socialite. So why is she now a famous columnist and pundit?

When I worked at The Times back in the ’90s, we all of a sudden began to receive submissions from this person. Who had no more standing or competence to offer an opinion than any other hausfrau – and whose opinions were expressed poorly, at about the level of a typical American high school sophomore. Much re-writing was necessary. I ventured to ask why we were bending over backwards to accommodate this Arianna person, to make space for her dreck on the editorial page. To give her space rather than to an actually deserving (but not rich/connected) writer who’d written something worth reading.

The answer was, simply put, that powerful interests (i.e., money) wanted her byline in print. So we were obliged to publish her (after re-writing her) and the rest is history. Arianna is now a national level talking head and famous pundit and she is both of those things because she and those backing her had the means to vanity-press her to national prominence. Having achieved national prominence this way, it is assumed it was achieved on the merits. I assure you, this is not the case. Read her stuff yourself and see. Better yet, read her stuff before it gets re-written. Probably by someone who is being paid nothing or next to nothing.

Anyhow, this is what we – Lew and I and other Libertarians who are trying to upend the coercive collectivist applecart – are up against. The truth is we can’t do it without your support. When you have a quarter-million people visiting your site (or millions, as in the case of LRC) and you still can’t meet even basic expenses via advertising, you have a serious problem. Precisely the problem Googuhl intended.water images

So, it’s up to you guys. If you want Lew to survive, if you want EPautos to survive, don’t assume we will survive. That what you are reading today will still be here tomorrow. That things are ok, that someone else tossed in a few bucks. Each of us, in our everyday lives, exchanges value for value. We gladly pay $1.50 for a good cup of coffee; do not expect the coffee to just be there – much less just take it because it is there.

If you value LRC, if you value EPautos (and other such) then please support what we’re trying to do. It doesn’t take much, individually. But it does take each of you, as an individual, deciding to support what you think is worth supporting.

TWO THUMBS UP

[Mad Raven]

What is so expensive about these high traffic sites? Is it the bandwidth?

I just use cheap $15/mo shared hosting for my sites that I make a living on. I have looked at Virtual Private Server (VPS) options, and a fully managed VPS with a 4TB monthly limit, dedicated quad core, dedicated 4GB memory, 200GB space, is only about $200/mo. Is that not enough resources? I'm sure self hosted videos, or streaming video, will skyrocket the bandwidth needed, but does LRC do that?

Or is it a matter of the salaries for tech people to administer and improve the site?

[The Gold Standard]

1 - Google is pretty neutral and unless you are trying to encourage people to do illegal things, then they will advertise on your site.

I'm pretty sure everything he encourages on there is illegal in some way or another.



I smell bullshit....

I do too. Why do you give a fuck about LRC? Aren't you a Republican? Don't you despise Lew and those who read his work?

[Ronin Truth]

LRC web stats: http://www.similarweb.com/website/lewrockwell.com

[Sola_Fide]

Maybe its because of the Trump-pumping?

[Bruehound]

Maybe its because of the Trump-pumping?

He should ask Trump for a contribution for all the positive coverage. I'm done with Lew.

[Ronin Truth]

He should ask Trump for a contribution for all the positive coverage. I'm done with Lew.

Ron still likes Lew.

[Suzanimal]

Apparently its first losing year in 16 years. I've made a $20.16 donation

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/12/lew-rockwell/lrc-trouble/


I'll be donating, as well.


I'm a Lew and LRC supporter/fanboy. Planning to donate again this year. :)

Me four. Donated.

[Matt Collins]

Maybe its because of the Trump-pumping?
I'm sure that's part of it

[Matt Collins]

Lew, on the other hand, is a mensch and we should rally around him and all that he has done for the cause of liberty.What, by creating a blog? :rolleyes: That's funny.






What doesn't smell right are the C4L email blasts in my and everyone else's spam folder that are filled with bullshit, hated by everyone, and give the liberty movement a bad name.No, not at all. C4L passed Audit the Fed in the House, and is on their way to passing it in the Senate.

[NewRightLibertarian]

What, by creating a blog? :rolleyes: That's funny.

Have you heard of the Mises Institute? It's a great libertarian organization founded by Lew, and they'd never under any circumstances give a political leech like you a paycheck. That's another feather in their cap.


No, not at all. C4L passed Audit the Fed in the House, and is on their way to passing it in the Senate.

Yeah, you guys should really pat yourselves on the back for legislation that hasn't passed yet. Are you gonna take credit for Rand's poll numbers next?

[loveshiscountry]

donated

[Matt Collins]

Have you heard of the Mises Institute? It's a great libertarian organization founded by LewYes and they do a good job of educating a small select group of people, which has ZERO effect on any policy changes by the government (to be fair, the Cato Institute doesn't change policy either)

[heavenlyboy34]

He should ask Trump for a contribution for all the positive coverage. I'm done with Lew.

Meh. Your loss. You won't find a better libertarian site on teh interwebz.

[klamath]

Wah wah WAH! you mean Rand isn't the only one that is having trouble this year???????????????????????????????? money sucking whiner is getting enough money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[fr33]

The fat ass can go get a real job. Fucking baby huey looking motherfucker. He has as much pride as any other grifter rattling his cup on the corner. His favorite candidate, Trump, doesn't act like this type of loser.

[Badger Paul]

"Apparently its first losing year in 16 years."

I find that hard to believe.

I used to be an avid reader of LRC. Then it decided, because of its fanatical libertarian dogma, that an article attacking teachers who were injured or killed when a tornado hit their school in Oklahoma, just because was (gasp!) public was just a okay with them. Then I stopped reading LRC. Enough was enough.

[r3volution 3.0]

LRC in trouble

http://www.zeptosystems.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Flash-to-HTML51.jpg

flush it


He should ask Trump for a contribution for all the positive coverage. I'm done with Lew.

indeed

[heavenlyboy34]

"Apparently its first losing year in 16 years."

I find that hard to believe.

I used to be an avid reader of LRC. Then it decided, because of its fanatical libertarian dogma, that an article attacking teachers who were injured or killed when a tornado hit their school in Oklahoma, just because was (gasp!) public was just a okay with them. Then I stopped reading LRC. Enough was enough.
Link to said article, plz? Doesn't sound like something LRC would publish.

[heavenlyboy34]

The fat ass can go get a real job. Fucking baby huey looking motherfucker. He has as much pride as any other grifter rattling his cup on the corner. His favorite candidate, Trump, doesn't act like this type of loser.

:rolleyes: Define "real job". In the real world-where entrepreneurs work and earn money-selling any product or service is a "real job"-infinitely more "real" than "politician".

[heavenlyboy34]

Wah wah WAH! you mean Rand isn't the only one that is having trouble this year???????????????????????????????? money sucking whiner is getting enough money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wut? RP asks for money regularly to for C4L(much more often than Lew). Is he also a "money sucking whiner"?

[fr33]

:rolleyes: Define "real job". In the real world-where entrepreneurs work and earn money-selling any product or service is a "real job"-infinitely more "real" than "politician".

Imagine my lack of sympathy. Lew has led a cush life compared to me but I'd never ask people to give me money. It could be worse for him. He could be me and work 6 and 1/2 days a week at manual labor and not be guaranteed to be profitable. A real job is one where we don't ask for handouts. A real job is where you respect the people who are physically earning their income. I mean shit, if I were just a blogger, I wouldn't expect to keep the same basic 1990's template and stay relevant. He's probably got more money than me but he's begging people like me to give him some money. He's not really useful to me.

[heavenlyboy34]

Imagine my lack of sympathy. Lew has led a cush life compared to me but I'd never ask people to give me money. It could be worse for him. He could be me and work 6 and 1/2 days a week at manual labor and not be guaranteed to be profitable. A real job is one where we don't ask for handouts. A real job is where you respect the people who are physically earning their income. I mean shit, if I were just a blogger, I wouldn't expect to keep the same basic 1990's template and stay relevant. He's probably got more money than me but he's begging people like me to give him some money. He's not really useful to me.
When did you see Lew's balance sheet and schedule? Do you realize he's asking for donations to LRC and not to him personally? Like I said before, you should be hating on RP many fold more because of the ridiculous amount of donation requests RP sends out.

Now, where did you come up with that definition of a "real job"? You're describing (mostly) unskilled labor which anyone in decent shape can do. Going by that definition, only a very tiny portion of the Western World's people has a "real job".

In market economies, a "real job" is any that provides a product/service market actors want/need/desire.

ETA: I sense a tinge of envy in what you're saying. Not good-it will definitely keep you from viewing situations rationally.

[Peace&Freedom]

LRC has noted that one of its main sources of revenue (commissions from Amazon sales performed through click-throughs from the site) dropped because of changes Amazon recently made this year, so that could account for its dip in income.

[specsaregood]

He should just get out of the business now before Trump gets elected and closes his site off the internet anyways.

[NewRightLibertarian]

He should just get out of the business now before Trump gets elected and closes his site off the internet anyways.

Maybe that's why he's been talking so good about Trump. Trying to hedge his bets.

[Badger Paul]

In many ways Lew has come full circle again. Trump is the kind of candidate he envisioned with his so-called "paleo-libertarian alliance" back in the early 90s before Ron Paul got back into politics in 1996. Now he's back to a candidate like Trump (and it could have been Cruz or someone else too) after falling out with Rand. I suspect there may be some bad blood between the two over the newsletters and Jesse Benton.

[Sola_Fide]

"paleo-libertarian alliance"

Ha....I don't want anything to do with that. What that boils down to is a culture war, which is promulgated by the state. No thanks.

[r3volution 3.0]

In many ways Lew has come full circle again. Trump is the kind of candidate he envisioned with his so-called "paleo-libertarian alliance" back in the early 90s before Ron Paul got back into politics in 1996. Now he's back to a candidate like Trump (and it could have been Cruz or someone else too) after falling out with Rand. I suspect there may be some bad blood between the two over the newsletters and Jesse Benton.

Except that there's nothing remotely libertarian about Trump.

...or paleo, really; he's a New York left-liberal at heart.

[heavenlyboy34]

Ha....I don't want anything to do with that. What that boils down to is a culture war, which is promulgated by the state. No thanks.

It's what RP has long been trying to do. And I agree with you-which is why I quit playing the political game. LRC, however, is still a great resource. :)

[heavenlyboy34]

From an article published on LRC:


An important question is: can a really rich person find and be comfortable with peers who are not themselves really rich? If not, then Trump is not our man. But if Trump wants to save our country, he has the money and the ego, and he can find enough people to help him.
This opportunity doesn’t mean that it will be seized or that it would pan out. If Trump is our best choice, imagine how deplorable our situation is.
This is the general theme I've seen in the LRC posts about Trump. More a "he's better than the alternative" than an endorsement. You guys don't seem to be reading what is actually written on LRC. Oh, well. Haters gonna hate, Statists gonna State. Libertarians will march on without y'all. :)

[T.hill]

I don't like disparaging Lew, but he is simply a polemicist and nothing more. He contributes nothing intellectually to the libertarian movement, and he probably is one of the biggest encouragers of dogmatic moralists among libertarians -- those that allow no nuance whatsoever, while under the impression of being heroic or principled. The kind of people that have no humility and never doubt the validity of their own beliefs.

[T.hill]

He's just too dogmatic for my tastes.

[r3volution 3.0]

I don't like disparaging Lew, but he is simply a polemicist and nothing more. He contributes nothing intellectually to the libertarian movement, and he probably is one of the biggest encouragers of dogmatic moralists among libertarians -- those that allow no nuance whatsoever, while under the impression of being heroic or principled. The kind of people that have no humility and never doubt the validity of their own beliefs.

Yes, prior to jumping on the Trumpwagon, that was his specialty.

...nurturing the religious fanatic type ancaps and telling them not to vote.

[Ender]

From an article published on LRC:


This is the general theme I've seen in the LRC posts about Trump. More a "he's better than the alternative" than an endorsement. You guys don't seem to be reading what is actually written on LRC. Oh, well. Haters gonna hate, Statists gonna State. Libertarians will march on without y'all. :)

My POV as well. ;)

[Tywysog Cymru]

I've been very disappointed with LRC recently with their constant praise of everything Donald Trump does.

[Ender]

I've been very disappointed with LRC recently with their constant praise of everything Donald Trump does.

Not much different than many on this forum, of late.

[r3volution 3.0]

Not much different than many on this forum, of late.

http://weknowmemes.com/generator/uploads/generated/g1333060359684120787.jpg

[juleswin]

He should ask Trump for a contribution for all the positive coverage. I'm done with Lew.

The man does it all for free, I wouldn't be surprised if he donated some of the LRC money to Trump for doing such a great work fighting the establishment.

[TaftFan]

Drop the stupid health articles.

[Ender]

Drop the stupid health articles.

Being a health nut, I like the articles.

[Badger Paul]

"Except that there's nothing remotely libertarian about Trump.

...or paleo, really; he's a New York left-liberal at heart. "

I absolutely agree with you. But for Lew, any candidate spouting this stuff (and doing so while being "anti-establishment) is better than none.

[Rad]

Save the white nats fund. Seriously, if Austrian economics is such a huge success then why is Lew in trouble? The morons basically sunk Ron's campaign with their childish newsletters.

There are too many crummy sites that beg for money while quality ones barely get by: http://www.antiwar.com/

[KingNothing]

LRC is a fine site, that should use this as push to improve.

Lew should view this as a notice that he needs to work even harder, and act with even more intelligence, if he really wants to stay in the game.

I'm certain that he will.

[KingNothing]

Based on the link posted here, http://www.similarweb.com/website/lewrockwell.com#overview , virtually no one gets to LRC via social media, search, or referral.

Seems like they have plenty of opportunities for improvement, and that if they take advantage of those opportunities, they'll be just fine.

[KingNothing]

I don't like disparaging Lew, but he is simply a polemicist and nothing more. He contributes nothing intellectually to the libertarian movement, and he probably is one of the biggest encouragers of dogmatic moralists among libertarians -- those that allow no nuance whatsoever, while under the impression of being heroic or principled. The kind of people that have no humility and never doubt the validity of their own beliefs.

This is the most accurate description of someone I've ever read.

[fcreature]

What is so expensive about these high traffic sites? Is it the bandwidth?

I just use cheap $15/mo shared hosting for my sites that I make a living on. I have looked at Virtual Private Server (VPS) options, and a fully managed VPS with a 4TB monthly limit, dedicated quad core, dedicated 4GB memory, 200GB space, is only about $200/mo. Is that not enough resources? I'm sure self hosted videos, or streaming video, will skyrocket the bandwidth needed, but does LRC do that?

Or is it a matter of the salaries for tech people to administer and improve the site?

For these types of sites, nothing. They're serving mostly static content utilizing some sort of content management system to do so. It's not like it's a custom job with a lot of heavy processes, I/O, or even many database reads/writes.

I've been a professional web developer/programmer and internet marketer for 15 years, and now I'm an executive at a cloud hosting company, so I do have some idea of what I'm talking about.

Now I don't know if the fundraising call is for just the website or other associated organizational costs. I couldn't really tell from the posted article. Typically with these types of fundraising calls, the money isn't really for the hosting costs. If it is then they really don't know what they're doing and they should probably hit me up. Usually it's because they want to earn a full time salary off the website, or they have others who are earning a salary off the website as as such the "expenses" are high.

By the way, all this nonsense about google cutting CPC rates on liberty/anti-state websites and/or rankings is pure hogwash. That is not how it works. Usually if a website with this kind of traffic can't be monetized it's the fault of the website owner. I can't tell you how many times I've bought websites that make nothing and implemented a few small ad changes resulting in those same websites earning thousands/month. Maybe they should seek some help/advice in regards to that. The fact is that if their ad space is worth anything, then they'll get paid well for it. If Lew really believes that google is screwing him over then he should sell advertising directly to media buyers. There are plenty of them out there who will scoop up every single impression you have if its profitable on their end.

Just a random guess as I obviously haven't seen any of his metrics or demographics, but it's a strong possibility that he's seeing a lot of revenue lost due to the decline in desktop web browsing and the move into mobile. The monetization/advertising game does change quite a bit in the mobile space.

I'm not the biggest fan of the LRC these days, but I do hope they remain online. So I wish them luck in their fundraising.

[TNforPaul45]

Not much different than many on this forum, of late.

Spot on. And until they eliminate the severe strain of racism and sexism that is peppered throughout many of the LRC's posts (not necessarily Mises.org), then I will not be supporting them at all.

[Mad Raven]

For these types of sites, nothing. They're serving mostly static content utilizing some sort of content management system to do so. It's not like it's a custom job with a lot of heavy processes, I/O, or even many database reads/writes.

I've been a professional web developer/programmer and internet marketer for 15 years, and now I'm an executive at a cloud hosting company, so I do have some idea of what I'm talking about.

Now I don't know if the fundraising call is for just the website or other associated organizational costs. I couldn't really tell from the posted article. Typically with these types of fundraising calls, the money isn't really for the hosting costs. If it is then they really don't know what they're doing and they should probably hit me up. Usually it's because they want to earn a full time salary off the website, or they have others who are earning a salary off the website as as such the "expenses" are high.

By the way, all this nonsense about google cutting CPC rates on liberty/anti-state websites and/or rankings is pure hogwash. That is not how it works. Usually if a website with this kind of traffic can't be monetized it's the fault of the website owner. I can't tell you how many times I've bought websites that make nothing and implemented a few small ad changes resulting in those same websites earning thousands/month. Maybe they should seek some help/advice in regards to that. The fact is that if their ad space is worth anything, then they'll get paid well for it. If Lew really believes that google is screwing him over then he should sell advertising directly to media buyers. There are plenty of them out there who will scoop up every single impression you have if its profitable on their end.

Just a random guess as I obviously haven't seen any of his metrics or demographics, but it's a strong possibility that he's seeing a lot of revenue lost due to the decline in desktop web browsing and the move into mobile. The monetization/advertising game does change quite a bit in the mobile space.

I'm not the biggest fan of the LRC these days, but I do hope they remain online. So I wish them luck in their fundraising.

Thanks for the reply!

What about the DP? What was so expensive about that site that even with the tons of Amazon book ads, affiliate banners and clickbait banners, Michael had to do fundraisers to keep it going?

[angelatc]

The man does it all for free,.

I did not know that. How does he make a living?

[juleswin]

I did not know that. How does he make a living?

The free part was referring to the all the positive coverage he has been giving Trump. The post I was replying to was asking why doesn't Lew go hit Trump up for some money for all the positive press he has been getting from LRW website.

Lew Rockwell and Molyneux alone have given Trump at least $3 million in free advertisement in the last few months.

[A Son of Liberty]

My take - and I haven't spent much time at LRC lately - is that his advocacy of Trump is more of the iconoclastic bent than actually supporting him... I've taken it that what Lew likes about Trump is mostly that he's up-ended the Republican establishment. More than willing to grok that's not an accurate interpretation, however. I have no allegiance to Lew... or anyone, for that matter. ;)

[Ender]

My take - and I haven't spent much time at LRC lately - is that his advocacy of Trump is more of the iconoclastic bent than actually supporting him... I've taken it that what Lew likes about Trump is mostly that he's up-ended the Republican establishment. More than willing to grok that's not an accurate interpretation, however. I have no allegiance to Lew... or anyone, for that matter. ;)

I grok with you. ;)

Here's an article from today that pretty much says what position LRC holds on Trump.

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/01/paul-craig-roberts/trump-worry-cheer-us/

[Galileo Galilei]

Apparently its first losing year in 16 years. I've made a $20.16 donation

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/12/lew-rockwell/lrc-trouble/

All they do at LRC is bellyache about Rand Paul. No wonder their numbers are down.