Democracy For Nepal

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Activism And Entrepreneurship

The Nepal movement is a career move for me. I have been presenting Nepal as the Democrats' answer to Iraq for 2006 and 2008 in the US.

Your Many Identities
Blogalaxy For Global Democracy
Money, Message, Organization
"Robin Hood Im Internet"

2/1 sucked me in, true. I did not plan to get sucked in. But 2/1 hit me on the head. I had not realized how bad things had gotten in Nepal. 2/1 also helped me discover I cared about Nepal more deeply than I had so far known.

When I moved to New York City last summer, I did so to cultivate some of my business ideas. But instead I have been doing Nepal work full time, more than full time. I don't even take weekends off. I sleep till late though. Mornings are weekends.

My Nepal work tells me I am cut for political work, not business. But then the boundary is not obvious. It is possible to jump around. You can not separate the market from the democratic process. One can not be imagined without the other. The haat bazar in your village is the market in action.

I have been eating into my savings. That is something by definition you can not do forever. So I have been thinking of ways to make money. I don't much enjoy spending money. My needs are few. I have deliberately kept my costs low. And so I crunched a few numbers.

Say if 1,000 people were to visit this blog every week and click on an image ad when they do so, and if each such click were to bring me 20 cents, do the maths. You are looking at 200,00 cents is $200. Four of those a month, and my bills are paid.

I am the only Nepali in the diaspora I know of who has been doing this Nepal work full time. If I were your MP in Nepal, you would be paying my salary. Maybe not out of your pocket or your immediate family budget, but indirectly you would. Think of me as your MP, visit my blog, and click on the ads. That is the least you can do. Don't you think? You can click from anywhere in the world.

Word of mouth is the best advertising. Pass on the blog to people you know who have not yet heard of it.

I have also been building a mailing list. It is 400 strong now. I am hoping it will be 2,000 strong by the end of April, something like that. If you are not signed up yet, go to the bottom of this page and sign up.

Google Video will also make pay per view possible, and then I hope to have my own online talk show. Pay per view. But Google is not there yet.

Say I put out a clip that is 30 minutes long, and I charge 50 cents, and I get 100 views over a week, and I put out two such clips a week. I am looking at 100,00 cents. That is $100. Four times that is $400 a month. 500 views and you are looking at $2,000 a month. That is an up and running talk show.

I am ready, Google is not.

Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2006 08:43:52 -0800
From: "Google Video Support" video-support@google.com
To: paramendra@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: [#46813418]
Hi,

Thanks for your interest in selling your videos through Google Video. At this time, we are testing our purchase feature with a select group of Video providers. We are unable to add more sellers at this time.

Please note, you may still set a purchase price for your video; however, your video will only be stored in your account and won't be displayed on Google Video. If you'd like to display your video, you must offer your content for free to all users.

Once this feature is released, you will be notified with further requirements and information on how to accept payments. We are unable to provide a specific date as to when this feature will become available, however, we hope to make this feature available to the public soon. Please check back for more updates.

Sincerely,

The Google Video Team

I also have a PayPal button, and today I added an Amazon button. But so far I have not received any donations. People have been reading my blog entries on the cheap. That adds to my public service credentials, sure, but that does not help in the bills department.

I have yet to prove myself. And I did not exactly plan this. But the numbers look good. I think I have bumped into a sound business model.

I have also been trying to help turn Mero Sansar and Blogger Nepal into full fledged businesses. Don't get me wrong. Those guys were there before I showed up. And they were already doing a few things. I have just tried to help take them to the next level so they are doing their work standing on their own two feet.

Umesh, Turn It Into A Business

Some suggestions I have made. Some have been implemented, some are in the works. And Umesh and I are both desperately waiting for Google Video pay per view to become possible. When that happens, Umesh becomes rich. That is my prediction.

Donate. Do it. Go to their blogs and donate. These two offer audio and video and raw stuff you can not get anywhere else. PayPal and Moneygram come in handy.

Google ads, Bidvertiser and Yahoo are other options. Display ads. Local ads can also be sought like some of the other Nepali sites do.

Google Groups allows you to create a mailing list for your blog. I have recommended it to them.

I have also suggested they reorganize the layout of their blogs.

Seeking sponsors is another idea. For equipment, for broadband. Some of them might like getting displayed at the blog as sponsors.

But for the short term, they rely primarily on donations. So go donate. Help the cause.

In The News

No Compromise With Values Of Democracy: Deuba Kantipur Publications
India withholds Rs 2b dues it owes to Nepal
115 political detainees released
SC moved to release NC spokesperson
Moriarty meets Koirala, Thapa
Govt deregulates retail prices of petrol, diesel
शाही घोषणाको नैतिक आधार सकिएको छ’
सशस्त्रद्वारा एमाले मुख्यालय घेराउ
भारतले दुई अर्ब भुक्तानी रोक्यो
नवनिर्वाचित मेयर बहिष्कृत
उर्लंदो जनसागरको भुमरी
सकियो निर्वाचनको नाटक
एकै दिन तीन ठाउँमा आक्रमण
माओवादी धरापमा सेना
प्रत्यक्ष अन्तर्वार्ताको अन्तरकथा
माओवादी

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14 February