I'm Always Full of Helpful Advice ...

... and today's helpful advice was just sent (via a contact form) to Indiegogo.

The advice:

Offer gift certificates or gift cards, spendable on any campaign on the site.

A lot of bloggers and other "content providers" make at least some of their money in the form of non-cash donations. I'm among them. Thanks for the mic, Clayton! Thanks for the trip to PorcFest, Greg! And so on and so forth.

I think that's probably especially true of writers who review new stuff and tell you whether it's good or not. They might get a review copy from the maker, or perhaps a supporter who'd like to see it reviewed buys it for them.

For example, one of you might really, really, really want to know what I think about this, but actually getting it to me would involve a bunch of communication regarding my email address. It would be so much simpler if I mentioned that the "Basic Starter Set" is $599 and then I checked my email and saw that someone had sent me a $599 Indiegogo gift certificate, wouldn't it?

Of course, the gift certificates wouldn't just be good for things like that. If your father is into the latest gadgets, etc., give him one for Father's Day, etc.

I think it's a good idea.

As far as the particular thing I picked out for an example, it's right up my alley: "Permissionless" solar.

Since I'm a renter rather than a property owner, I'm not eligible for one of those "we install the system, you pay for it by letting us collect the money the utility has to (by law) pay you for excess generation" deals.

And I'm certainly not going to invest several thousand dollars in a bunch of stuff that I can't take with me.

But this system ($599 for the bare basics, but there are other versions with more stuff) functions entirely "behind the meter," doesn't feed back into the grid, and can just be plugged into any power outlet in the house, without having to get permits, hire licensed electricians, etc.

Instead of putting the panels on the roof, I'd put them at ground level (since the landlord took out 90% of the trees around here, I have plenty of space that's never in shade), run some cord/conduit under the trailer and up through the same hole the cable coax comes in at, plug into an outlet, and be getting up to 300 watts taken off my metered electric consumption during sunny weather (which is most of the time because Florida). So when I moved, it would be as simple as unplugging, packing up the panels, and taking them to use at my next residence.

Naturally, I'd review how easy it was to set up, how well it worked, how much it reduced my power bill, whether there were any problems, etc.

Of course, I'd do that review even if I paid for it myself.

But I still don't know when or if I can comfortably pay for it myself.

If Indiegogo sold gift certificates, they would be among the "support" options in the sidebar.