Kickstarter Update: One Week In

One week ago we launched a Kickstarter project to get this site going. As you can see, it’s been successful. Thank you.

In just one week, 30 people have supported this project and raised more than $1,750. We passed the initial goal and went live with the site, and we hit our first stretch goal, which means we’ll get a local designer to create a professional logo.

But we’re not done.

Now we need another $228 to hit the next stretch goal, a monthly email newsletter. (And another $1,228 will get us to the next stretch goal, one I’m really excited about, guest columnists.)

So please consider backing the project and telling your friends.

Why?

So the site is already live. Why should people keep supporting this?

Well, putting a website up is the easy part.

Creating consistent, quality content is the hard part.

I need a solid base of support so I can justify the time it takes to create that consistent content. While I’m incredibly grateful for all my Kickstarter backers, West St. Paul Readers is going to need more than that. Down the road I envision some kind of membership system, like Patreon, to encourage recurring support.

This whole thing is an experiment, and I hope you’ll help me figure out what works.

3 Reasons to Support

Let’s make it simple with three reasons to support West St. Paul Reader:

1. Support local news: West St. Paul Reader can help you know what’s going on in your community.
2. If you’ve liked my local writing in the past: Over the years I’ve had so many people thank me for writing about West St. Paul. This is an easy way to do a little more.
3. Get some value: One of the rewards is a West St. Paul coupon book. If you back the campaign at the $25-level or higher you can get a coupon book with more than $350 worth of discounts and deals at West St. Paul businesses. You can support local news, support local businesses, and save some cash—everybody wins.

So please support West St. Paul Reader.

Thank You

And thanks to the many people who have supported this project already, from the backers to the folks behind the scenes who have helped with ideas, questions, coupons, and more.