UPDATE: September 27, 2012
Thanks to visitor Rex P. for the suggestion to use Google Wallet's ''Support Button'', I have another option for anyone who wants to help keep the site running. Earlier this week I added the CafePress.com store option so you can make a purchase to help. Now you can choose an amount to contribute using Google Wallet. Below you'll find the button and the suggested contribution amount. You can make that number anything you feel is fair. Thank you for your support.
UPDATE: September 25, 2012
Okay, I've come up with a possible solution to my problems with Amazon Payments and Paypal. Both of them have closed my accounts for idiotic reasons. Their rules are very vague and trying to get customer service to respond with a consistent answer is nearly impossible. Here's my possible solution... Re-opening my CafePress store with inexpensive items that are marked up at various levels that you can choose. For instance, there are some ''I Heart MarksFriggin.com'' buttons that CafePress gets $1.49 for but I'm able to mark them up at any level. So if you want to contribute $10 to MarksFriggin.com you pay $11.49 for one of those buttons through my CafePress store. If you have any suggestions for the store, please let me know.
I realize this isn't an ideal solution but Amazon will not allow me to accept voluntary payments for a service I'm providing, even though their vague rules claim businesses can do this (A quote from their 'Simple Pay' page: ''Enables you to offer Amazon Payments as a payment option for a range of digital goods and services such as online publications, digital content, online services or a social networking application.''). They allowed me to do this for a year and a half before suddenly putting a stop to it.
If you don't have an Amazon.com account and you'd like to send something via mail, you can send it here:
Mark Mercer
PO Box 584
Lebanon, NJ 08833
UPDATE: September 21, 2012
Well, I've hit another obstacle in my attempt to keep this site running. Yesterday I realized that the Amazon payment buttons I had on this page had gone dead so no more contributions were coming in. I contacted Amazon and I was told that they had blocked my account. Here's what they said in their email:
''As stated in our Acceptable Use Policy the following product or services are prohibited from using Amazon Payments: Donations and Charitable Solicitations - includes charities and non-profit organizations without a valid 501(c)(3) tax exempt status, charitable solicitations, commercial fundraisers (including commercial co-venturers), or any activity associated with the solicitation of donations. While we appreciate your interest, the blocking of your account is a permanent action.''
So I can't accept any payments through Amazon now. I'm running out of options. Now I don't know what to do. I really wanted to keep the site going for this current contract Howard has but it looks less and less likely that I'll be able to do that. If you know of any other payment processing services that can handle a ''tip jar'' kind of service, please let me know.
UPDATE: September 20, 2012
I'm having some issues with my Amazon payments account so the links below aren't working correctly. I don't know what the problem is. I'm waiting to hear back from Amazon. I can't catch a break.
UPDATE: March 16, 2012
It's time for another update. As I wrote in October of last year, contributions have tapered off quite a bit lately. I wrote about how I was going to cut back on writing up Master Tape Theatre shows. Well it turns out they haven't played many ''new'' Master Tape Theatre shows since then. I've gotten by so far by just cutting and pasting what I've already written up for those replays. Once they do start playing shows that aren't in my archives I will not be writing them up.
I'll be cutting back on some other things as well. I've already removed my ''Who's Who'' section since it was pretty outdated. I have an idea for a business I may be starting and I'm going to do my best to make my hours work around the live Howard Stern Shows. If this idea works out I'll probably stop covering everything but the live Howard Stern Shows. That would mean no more coverage of This Date in Howard History or some vacation specials. That's only if my business idea works out. I won't say what that is right now and I don't have an exact time frame for when it might happen.
Things are still very tight money wise. I'm still asking for my visitors to help out in any way they can. Every little bit counts. I don't drink, smoke or take drugs so the money isn't wasted on any of those things. It helps pay some bills and supports the motorcycle habit I've had since 1985.
UPDATE: October 21, 2011
At this point a little over 10 months has passed and contributions have tapered off to just about zero. Today I decided that I'm going to start cutting back on how much time I put into this site. The first cutback I'm making is on Master Tape Theatre shows. I'm no longer going to write up Master Tape Theatre shows that are not in my archives. I will continue to concentrate on live show rundowns but I may start cutting back on covering specials next. At this rate I won't be able to keep the site going much longer.
January 2, 2011.
As everyone knows the economy has been in the shitter for the past few years. Things are tough all over. I've definitely seen how bad it is in the past 2 years. Many of you know that I haven't had a 'real' job since 2003. Since then I've been relying on advertising money and various side jobs to make money. The advertising money has all but dried up. A few big sponsors of mine have had to pull out for financial reasons. This is making it very tough to make money with the site. A few weeks back I broke down about what I make per hour working on the site. It turned out to be under $4 an hour.
About a month ago I posted something on my Facebook account about how I may have to stop doing this. I don't want to stop but I do need to start making some money to pay bills. My wife has been super supportive ever since I started this web site in 1995. She's been there from the beginning but I can't expect her to support my hobby financially.
I didn't start this site to 'make money.' I've always done this for the love of the show and to share it with the fans. Obviously I wouldn't have kept doing this for under $4 an hour if I didn't do it for the love of the show. I'm not looking to get rich from this, I just want to be able to justify spending 20-25 hours a week working on the site.
I know there are a few of you out there who have asked how you can help. If you'd like to contribute a few bucks then I'll have a link to Amazon Payments which is an easy way to throw a couple of bucks my way right through your Amazon account. I'd like to have a Paypal link on my site but I've tried that in the past and Paypal tells me that the content of the site is against their terms of service. I had to remove the links. (Email me if you would prefer to contribute via Paypal.)
How much am I looking for? Not much. I was thinking that if a couple thousand people contribute a dollar a month then I could justify doing this for another 5 years. In the past when I've asked for help the turnout wasn't all that big so a 'couple thousand' is a big stretch. My guess is that a couple hundred is more like it. Based on my past experiences it may turn out to be more like 20 people. If you use my site and you'd like to see it continue, and you can spare a buck a month, then you can help keep it going. I can even compile a list of names and post them on the site as supporters of MarksFriggin.com.
Thanks to everyone who has visited the site and who has tried to help by visiting my sponsors over the past 15 years. I really do appreciate it. I hope to be here another 5 years. This year I'm just going to take it one day at a time.
Mark Mercer
UPDATE: January 17, 2011.
I'm going to list the people who have contributed to the site since this campaign started. Last names have been removed. Very special thanks to everyone who has contributed in any way.
