Dear ArticleRich.com member,
I am writing this post to get your help.
I have been getting a number of emails over the past weeks from members complaining on the delays of getting their articles approved in my directory.
I have put together this post to explain why there are delays in free article approvals.
This article directory has been running since 2005 and over this time it has grown substantially. This has meant that the demands I have had in article submissions have grown substantially and so has the costs of running this website. (increase in hosting costs as well as editor costs)
At the moment this directory is receiving well over 300 article submissions per day and this article directory currently approves over 200 articles per day, but this still is not enough to keep up with demand.
The financial viability of this article directory is now under threat as I try to balance the costs of running this website against the reducing profits obtained from an advertising model.
Due to this financial strain I have had no option but to lay off all of my editors because quite frankly, we do not make enough to pay their wages anymore. This has meant increasing delays in getting articles approved (some have waited for up to 1 year).
To try and counteract this decision I have tried introducing a user pays system where article authors get their articles approved, improved and publicised within 24 hours.
The purpose of this policy was to help increase profits so we could keep our editors working and to grow our business.
For the members that have taken advantage of this I thank you, I have appreciated your support and in return you I am sure you have appreciated the extra value I have given you.
Some people have even written to say their articles have reached page 1 in google for their keyword in 24 hours all for less than a cup of coffee.
However, the purpose of this was not to replace free submissions for all of our other members because I wanted to do the right thing by them as well.
In order to keep this directory running I have also requested donations from members and I thank the few that have taken the time to send a couple of dollars in appreciation, but this has also failed to raise the required revenues to keep this site open.
I have also tried to increase the advertising revenue through various means, but again this has failed.
So, where to from here?
Well, ArticleRich.com is getting to the point where it will be no longer be viable for me to spend all of my time approving articles and this means increasing delays in getting articles approved, stopping all new article submissions and the strong possiblity of closing down this directory.
The only way this site will survive is if it can increase it’s revenues and this means either reverting to a full user pays model or increasing revenue through other means.
I understand that a full user pays model will not be a popular decision, and that a few of you have made it clear that you do not pay for article submission services, and that is fine, but without your financial suport this service will not be around for you to use any longer.
Well, the future of this directory is now up to you.
If you wish to use the free service I ask you to take the time to send a donation every now and then to help keep the site alive. This can be done through the members page.
I also appreciate all of you who have supported the gold submission service, this has helped, and I hope more of you will take advantage of this.
I will also be reducing all free article submissions by placing a limit on how many each free member can submit.
I am also considering charging a small amount (5 – 10 cents) for each and every article that gets reviewed, and I would like to get your opinion on this.
So please let me know what you think about the above possiblity or if you have any ideas on what I can do to keep this site viable (do I ask for members to help approve articles?)
But please keep your feedback constructive and do not use any profanity.
I look forward to your response.