Occasionally, I hear about someone grumbling over premium membership. Pay for a feature? Someone would dare to profit off of our beloved hobby? I know it's only a tiny minority of you out there who grumble about this, but this message is for you. I'd like you to look on the other side of the fence and explain why this really is not just a greedy attempt by me to profit off a beloved hobby.
The technical term is opportunity cost. I've made Atlas Quest my full time job for the last 3 1/2 years now. Granted, I don't work normal 9-to-5 hours. I might still be in bed, asleep at 9:00, but you might find me working at 2:00am in the morning. I usually work every day, weekends and holidays included, for at least a small period of time. It's a job, and yes, I do make an income from my job, but lest you start throwing stones, I don't see many other people working for free.
The fact is, this job has cost me--and this is just a rough estimate--about $200,000. That's how much I likely would have earned from a regular 9-to-5 corporate job for the last 3 1/2 years. My actual income from Atlas Quest during this time is about $15,000. While it's not money I paid directly out of my pocket, I can assure you, it's a very real cost I've paid to create and develop Atlas Quest.
I know AQ is often compared to LbNA, but sometimes I feel the comparisons aren't very fair. A handful of folks like to criticize me for profiting off of you, while from my perspective, I've already given up hundreds of thousands of dollars to make this site possible. And I'm the one branded the greedy traitor by 'commercializing' letterboxing.
Most features on Atlas Quest are completely free, as it should be. A handful of perks, none of which I consider 'essential' for letterboxers, are reserved for the premium members who pay to keep this site running.
I've given up a lot of money to create Atlas Quest, and will continue to do so for a long time to come, because some things are priceless. I like the freedom it provides, working when I want and from where I want. I enjoy the satisfaction of working on something I feel is important--a quality of life thing I never had experienced from my previous jobs. Sometimes I get the most wonderful messages, by a mom who tells me how letterboxing and Atlas Quest have brought their family together like nothing before. It's moments like those I would never want to trade for all the money in the world. Financially speaking, Atlas Quest is an unmitigated disaster, but there's not another job in the world I'd rather be doing, except perhaps for thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. ;o)
This message is not to convince everyone that they should become premium members--I'm happy to report, late last year, an amazing thing happened. For the first time since I was laid off in 2001, my income exceeded my expenses. At first I thought it was a fluke, but then it happened for a second month. And a third. And it continues to this day. It's a huge milestone--I'm actually cash flow positive! Granted, not by much. And I still want to purchase health and dental insurance, and eventually start funding a retirement account. I'm sure critics might consider such needs primal and a waste of money, but they're important to me. I have no intention of raising the cost of premium membership anymore except, perhaps, to account for inflation, because I don't need to anymore.
In any case, it's always bothered me a little bit when I hear about someone saying how greedy I am and how I'm ruining letterboxing through my greed. It's true, I probably earn more from letterboxers than just about any one person in the world, but only at an enormous opportunity cost that I suspect a lot of my critics have not considered. If it was just about the money, I'd have shut Atlas Quest down years ago--assuming I even started it at all.
