To Pay or Not To Pay?

So here is the thing...

We love doing CheapShow and will continue doing so until we get bored of it, it's had its time or one of us dies horribly in a penis related hoover incident (the odds are good). The one thing Eli and I didn't start doing CheapShow for, was for the money. Not really. We have continued to be "the little podcast that could" and thanks to the YouTube Channel "Barshens" with Barry Lewis and Stuart Ashen, we have seen an uptake of listeners to our show... And we love it. We love that we can now reach out to our fan base for comments, inquiries, show ideas and support.

However, it has made us think... Can we ask for a bit of cash from that fan base? Is that too cheeky? The way we see it, we are not asking for money like a threat, or think we can live off your hard earned pennies. No. We are asking, if possible, for you lot to hopefully help with the upkeep of the show.

Even without asking for your Dollars/Pounds/Euros, we will still crack on with CheapShow... But it does cost us (I say "us" but I mean me, Paul... I put my money into the website/Soundcloud expenses) a bit to keep the lights on. So here is what we are thinking, see if you like the idea.

We would like to start a Patreon for the show. It would keep the show advert free (not that we are expecting to be sponsored or have ads any time soon!) but also it would mean YOU, our lovely listener, would have more involvement in the content and become part of the process.

We haven't thought it all through yet, but if we ran a Patreon, we would only do so to achieve the following things: 1) Help pay for our Soundcloud account, which hosts the show.

2) Help pay for the costs of keeping the website up and running (including domain name)

3) Help us promote the podcast via social media/facebook etc and try to grow our audience

4) Maybe pay for some PR to spread the word (which is similar to 3, but, you know, whatever)

5) Take the show on the road. We used to be a live show, but that became difficult to carry on doing, so we would love to be able to (hopefully) pay to rent a venue and do a CheapShow/Barshens live event

6) Have a bit of cash to pay for the tat and treasure we use in the show

And that's it really!

And what would you get out of this?

Well, we aren't 100% sure yet, but we have had some thoughts. Depending on your donation, you could simply have your name listed in the show credits on the website, you could be invited to a special Google Hangout Session with Eli and I... We could even create a special exclusive podcast to those who offer us a higher donation (we were thinking of putting it on cassette tape, for extra CheapShow weirdness, but with an MP3 code so, you know, you could actually listen to it!) and if you throw us a tonne of cash, we could give you a CheapShow "Eli Box"... Like Loot Crate, but full of shit we find in charity shops, stuff lying around our house that we want to get rid of, items and food that we feature in the show or even what we find on the floor... All curated by Eli or myself.

These are just our thoughts for now. SO what do you think? If you have any thoughts, feedback etc on this subject, we would be keen to hear it.

Email us at thecheapshow@gmail.com

Tweet us @thecheapshowpod

Or open your window and shout it out into the cold night air.

Thank you for supporting us at CheapShow, you have no idea what it means to us that you listen, love and support our podcast. We just want to grow it and, frankly, take over the whole goddamned world. Now, what's so wrong with that, eh?

thanks

Paul