By: Ben Welnak

Hello Mountain Bike Radio Listeners, Friends, Members, and Supporters,

First off – Thank You. Thank you to everyone who listens, supports, and has anything to do with Mountain Bike Radio. It’s grown beyond what I could have anticipated because of all of you. I appreciate the help, support, money, time, and everything that has contributed in any way. You’re all the reason that we are at this good place now.

BUT, the trains moves on and we need to keep it going. Without your continued support, Mountain Bike Radio goes away. 

What do we need money for?

– Basics: Hosting, storage, programs, software
– Work: If you’re a regular listener, you know that Matt has been working for me full time this summer. Matt primarily does Mountain Bike Radio related work, along with some other things that I have going on. Matt makes it possible to do a lot of things that I couldn’t do previously. He is also helping to develop some important processes that need to be put in place.
– Other expenses: Like any business, there are always other expenses – design work, images, Quickbooks, and more. I also have donated small amounts to several organizations this year too (probably more than I’ve given myself actually).

Questions and Answers

– Do you do this as your full time job? Do you pay yourself? What else do you do? Yes, this is part of how I “make my living.” I was taking small amounts from the business, but have not recently. All the money that comes in goes back into Mountain Bike Radio in the form of pay for Matt, new ideas, new shows, new designs, expenses, and growing it all. I’m sacrificing a lot personally for the benefit of Mountain Bike Radio in the long term. I also am one of the two people behind Ridinggravel.com and then I started and run Gritevents.com.
– Doesn’t iTunes pay you for all of the downloads? No. We do not get paid from iTunes one dollar. We do not receive any money from anywhere for the downloads – it’s not like a website and clicks. In fact, we pay Apple yearly to host the app.
– How do you make money with Mountain Bike Radio? We make money by 1) Memberships 2) Mountain Bike Radio Gear/Product purchases 3) People buying through our Amazon Links 4) Advertising
– Why don’t you just get more advertising? I don’t think the long term answer is inundating you with annoying ads. Will there be some? Yeah, for sure. Will it be 5 minutes at the start of every episode? Hell no.

How can you support Mountain Bike Radio?

First, Go HERE.

– For no money out of your pocket – Shop through our Amazon link. IT’S FREE TO YOU. This is for ANY goods that you normally buy – not just cycling goods. Amazon does not tell us who buys what, so it’s anonymous. You don’t need to worry about anyone snooping on your purchases. You simply click on the link and shop as you would normally.
– Become a Member. This is the best way to support Mountain Bike Radio.
– Buy something. We have an ever-changing list of items in the store. Keep checking back for more goods.

If you value Mountain Bike Radio in any way – whether you get tips or it just saves you on your wretched commute, please consider any of the ways to support it.

Below is a recording that we did in April, in which I talk about a lot of behind the scenes things, including a lot of thoughts about the business side of things.

If you have any questions about anything, please feel free to email me at [email protected].

Thank you again,

Ben