Sponsors

Hi! I usually don't write about the financial side of managing this blog and my newsletters, and yet, here we are. I must admit it feels a little awkward, so let's just get to the point first; I'll provide some backstory if you're interested in it as well.

I work on stitcher.io and my newsletters solely in my free time. I used to have a large company sponsoring me for two years, but that partnership has ended. I'm now looking into other ways to get stitcher.io to break even again, and one of the options is to try out GitHub sponsors. If you're a regular reader and if my content helps you, I kindly want to ask you to consider sponsoring me on GitHub.

Finally, if you're a company looking into dedicated ad placements on my blog or newsletters, you can contact me via email.

# Backstory

I've been working on stitcher.io as a hobby project for over five years now, and I've been enjoying it tremendously. In the beginning, stitcher.io was just a static blog that I hosted on a cheap $5 digital ocean droplet (in fact, my previous employer provided it for free, thanks Spatie!).

Over time though, costs began to grow. I got a long-term sponsor contract, meaning I had a couple of hundred euros extra monthly income. It also meant I was now legally required to start a side business in my name, which of course, increased my monthly costs: paying an accountant, social security fees, paying taxes on that newly created income, …

I also started sending out a regular newsletter, meaning I had to upscale my cheap droplet, had to deal with mailing providers, etc. I managed to always break even thanks to that long-term sponsor contract, but I always knew that if they decided to pull the plug, I'd have to search for other solutions. I am still running carbon ads, but honestly, they earn too little to rely on: $50 a month on average.

So here we are: I've got a monthly cost of around 250 euros for hosting, mailing, accounting, and software, which doesn't take into account any yearly or biyearly costs such as social security costs, taxes, domain names, and of course all the time I spend on it.

Now, to be clear: I don't want to turn my blog and newsletters into a profitable business. And I will keep working on it regardless of whether it's making any profit. Though, it would be nice to be able to break even again. I also did consider other ways to finance this project, like, for example, by writing a new book, but I have to admit that my family situation right now (2 kids, a third is on the way) doesn't permit such a time investment in something that I don't know will work.

So, long story short: stitcher.io right now is making a loss, I'm fine with it, but I would like to see it break even. I feel a bit awkward writing about it, but on the other hand: lots of other people do it, so I figured I'd give it a chance. If you benefit from my work and want to help out on a one-time or recurring basis, you can check out my GitHub Sponsors page. If you're a company looking into dedicated ad placements on my blog or newsletters, you can contact me via email.

Thanks!