As all of us navigate these loopy instances, I’m making an attempt to the touch base each week or so to let you know the way we’re doing right here at AJ. The quick reply, in the intervening time, is that we’re wonderful. We run AJ extraordinarily lean: no exterior workplace, little overhead, print within the USA, ship magazines from our dwelling workplace, maintain extraneous prices down, and spend on the standard of our journal. We’ve had just a few subscribers cancel due to modified monetary circumstances, however for each a type of, we’ve had a brand new reader step up and subscribe.
Like several micro-business, although, I’m spending a LOT of time desirous about threats, particularly existential ones. We don’t see any on the horizon, so I gained’t get into the main points of what they’re and particularly how they’d have an effect on us, besides to say that my largest concern is a lack of advert help from the outside trade. Now we have superb model companions, however instances are powerful and altering, and nothing is assured. AJ’s future is reliant on reader/supportors, and primarily reader/supporters, that’s why I’ve lengthy requested you to assist shoulder the load.
A lot of you do, however let me offer you one information level: If simply three % of our month-to-month guests subscribed to AJ in print, we might afford to run the web site and print the journal even when we by no means offered one other advert. We might be fully reader supported, climate any storm, and convey you AJ as it’s for the remainder of our lives, which is the dream. As a substitute, simply 1.2 % of our month-to-month guests subscribe and we’re solely 40 or so % of the way in which there.
Over the following few weeks, I’ll proceed to disclose extra about how we construction the enterprise, how we see digital vs. print, and even what it prices us for sure things. I can be as clear as I can, with out gifting away proprietary particulars.
I’ll shut with two remaining gadgets:
• We lastly have established our Patreon program for all these of you who’ve provided to help us you’re so beneficiant. It’s very a lot in beta, as we haven’t designed our rewards but, however if you wish to assist us construct it, give us suggestions, and change into a supporter weeks earlier than the general public launch, simply e-mail me for the hyperlink, [email protected].
• We’re strongly contemplating a digital model of our print quarterly, each to make it accessible to worldwide associates and to open these sold-out again points to individuals. Nonetheless, the one platform we’ve discovered that provides an incredible studying expertise is an app that prices $16,000 a 12 months. We’d must promote practically 300 new subscriptions at $60 simply to interrupt even. May we pre-sell that many, then launch? Would you be psyched to learn AJ quarterly in your cellphone or pill? Would current print subscribers need each variations? I very a lot welcome your ideas on this.
Thanks, everyone. I imagine that now we have one thing distinctive right here, and I do know that it’s a particular group of people that make up the AJ household, from our subscribers to our trade colleagues to the manufacturers who’ve been vocal and materials supporters from day one. Your type phrases and help imply the world to me, Joni, Justin, and the remainder of the AJ staff.
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