Are you currently in a relationship going nowhere? Have you been let down by someone you once respected? Have you gotten a job offer you don't know if you should take? Does any of that sound like something you're going through with Woot? Whether Woot-related OR not: write into us for some solid advice! Read on for this week’s letters:
Here's my lamentation:
Do you think it would be in poor taste for me to try to run a funding site for about $20k to solve the problem below - I don't know what else to do and am pretty desperate... What Would Woot Do?
Signed,
Pretty Desperate
Hello friend! I removed your "problem below” because I don’t think it’s necessary. I think we can all assume the gist is that there is a genuine need, and you see the best way out through crowd funding.
That being said, $20K is a LOT. A lot, a lot. In general I feel like anything anyone wants to put up on crowd funding sites should feel free to do so, that the market will decide if your cause is “worthy”. I would suggest anyone going through with this assume that a large percentage of the funding will come from friends who are aware of and sympathetic to your particular cause- so ask yourself, do those friends have a combined $___ to donate? If not, you have the trickier job of marketing what is a very personal problem to a wider, likely more judgmental audience. Are you ready for that? If so- you might also try enlisting local news outlets or non-profits related to your issue to spread the word (broadly, I mean organizations like the ACLU, etc.).
Beyond that- stave yourself for the potential of judgmental commentary and for the possible failure of your campaign. I don’t say that to in any way diminish the severity of the problem you’re facing, but to encourage you think realistically about the state of crowd funding which is: competitive, sometimes catty, and full of way more stories of failure than of success.
Here's my lamentation:
Recently I’ve made friends with a small family of hummingbirds. They’ve come to rely on my porch feeder as their source of food. However, today I noticed they were refusing to land. When I looked, I discovered that a wasp had taken over the feeder and was scaring away the hummingbirds. How do I get the wasp to share the sugar with the poor hungry birds?
Signed,
Hmmingbird
Hello friend! The obvious answer is to do something to the actual feeder like add less sugar water so the level’s at a place where wasps can’t get to it so easily, or maybe set up some sort of trap nearby to deter the moochers. But maybe even more obviously, though harder to properly complete: find the head wasp. Maybe ask other wasps coyly to figure out who’s in charge- be judicious with your trust in these drones. Once you’ve gotten a good grasp on who the lead wasp might be, follow known henchmen to see if you can find their hideout, be prepared to run a stakeout- you’ll see why you want to be sure! Once you’ve successfully confirmed the head wasp’s location, and this is incredibly important, bring any and all fire-starting equipment you can find. Yep, you’ll be setting their lair on fire! I can assume if you’re on Woot, you’re familiar with fire, so go with your gut on execution, but don’t skimp! When you’re sure the head wasp has died a terrible terrible death, drag what's remaining of its charred corpse back to your home and lay it below the hummingbird feeder. Those wasps will quickly get the message and the hummingbirds won’t know the difference!
Did I miss something? No doubt! Correct my terrible advice in the comments, or send your own questions/comments in!
Images from Wikipedia pages here & here!