There are three changes coming to Forward Kentucky, and we want to tell you about them. Some may affect you, some may not – but in any event, keeping all our readers up to date is important to us.
1. Adverts on the site
For a long time, we have resisted putting ads on the site. We think they make the site look a little trashy, and they obscure the content to some extent. Nevertheless, we are adding them to the site.
Why? For two important reasons:
- To add a revenue stream, small though it may be.
- To encourage people to become paying members – because paying members don’t have to put up with ads.
Which leads to our second change:
2. Membership levels and perks
We considered ending the free membership, in hopes that more people would become paying members. But, after studying the readership numbers and habits, we learned that a goodly number of free members are regular readers on the site. Even so, we want there to be a clear value difference for each membership level (free to patron to partner). So, here are the membership levels with perks.
| Level | Not a member | Friend | Patron | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | None | Your email address | $5 a month or $55 a year | $9 a month or $99 a year |
| Articles | Can read up to 9 a month |
Can read all articles on the site except the few Paid-Member-Only |
Can read everything on the site |
Can read everything on the site |
| Ads | Sees ads | Sees ads | No ads | No ads |
| Available newsletters |
None | Weekly Member Update Action Alerts |
Weekly Member Update Action Alerts Daily Headlines |
Weekly Member Update Action Alerts Daily Headlines Bruce’s Take KYGA Update |
| Other benefits |
None | Add comments to articles | Add comments to articles Use Bill Trackers Use Election Central |
Add comments to articles Use Bill Trackers Use Election Central Personal Bill Sheet Free entry to special events |
3. A “Daily Headlines” or “Daily Summary” newsletter and article
A number of readers have indicated they feel overwhelmed with the amount of information hitting them every day, both on our site and in general. Therefore, I am considering doing a Daily Summary newsletter and article. (Doing it as both a newsletter and an article means you could either get it in your inbox, or read it on the site, or both.) It would contain the headlines for that day, focused on KY, with links if available, and the list of stories published on our site that day. As you can see above, it would only be available to paying members.
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Okay, that’s the summary. Thoughts? Feedback? Feel free to leave them below. Thanks! And thanks for being a reader of Forward Kentucky!
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