“$1.00” CAMPAIGN TO LAUNCH
by Sharon Rondeau
(Jan. 14, 2016) — On October 19, 2015, The Post & Email was converted to free access following nearly four years as a subscription website.
While taking subscriptions was not optimal, highly time-consuming, and deterred many would-be visitors, it provided an immediate remedy to the almost-daily hacking by migration to a private server with high security costing nearly $300 monthly.
As our long-time readers are likely aware, last summer The Post & Email was offered a unique opportunity with a different host to raise its profile by becoming free and open to the public once again. As anticipated, because of our considerable content amassed over more than six years, the migration process has been gradual and complicated, although with no “downtime” to our readers.
We are pleased to report that over the last three months, our website traffic has increased fourfold. The majority of readers on an average day now represents new visitors, the opposite of which was true before the conversion.
We have had considerably more time to publish new content since the paywall was removed resulting from fewer administrative and technical responsibilities.
As many of you know, some of the website’s previous capabilities have not yet been restored. Many of you have asked about the “Comments” feature, which has not functioned since October. We understand that the restoration of the ability for readers to share their thoughts on the content of our articles would be a considered a “plus” and would also increase our website traffic and thereby our advertising revenue.
Under consideration now is an add-on Comment program which would not restore old comments, but rather, would begin the function anew.
Last summer, when the new business plan was put together, The Post & Email considered asking for $3,000 to “go public” but instead asked for $1,500. As soon as that amount was raised, we informed the readership.
That amount has now been expended.
At the same time as the conversion was under way, we additionally met the annual recurring expenses of renewing our Reagan.com account for the Twice-Daily News Alerts, Editor’s Note and special announcements and the renewal of our domain names (4). It was also necessary to purchase a new email program to interface with the migration and to upgrade the website’s WordPress theme.
Ongoing expenses include postage, fees to request certified copies of government records, one of which was mailed just today as the result of a helpful tip from a reader which will make an exclusive story; our monthly hosting fee; telephone and fax expenses; post office box rental; business cards; office supplies; and funds to pay for ongoing upgrades to the site.
Income-wise, our advertising revenue has increased as a result of the higher website traffic but has not yet reached the point where The Post & Email can be entirely self-sufficient, as is our goal.
Since opening to the public, The Post & Email’s Alexa rating has risen dramatically both nationally and internationally. On October 19, a Facebook page was launched by a generous volunteer; all of our published articles are automatically posted there as well as on our Twitter feed. To increase our visibility, please “Like” our Facebook page and retweet our stories if you have a Twitter account.
The Post & Email wishes to thank all of its readers who have maintained their “subscriptions” despite the fact that they are no longer necessary in order to access our material. These have greatly assisted us in making the progress which we have made to date. We also thank all who donated to the “go public” campaign, for without you, it would not have happened.
While the mainstream media is now forced to address the issue of “natural born Citizen,” The Post & Email has researched, interviewed, and reported on this very important constitutional question since the site’s inception in August 2009, remaining unafraid despite hacking, death threats and known wiretapping.
In order to close our current financial shortfall, we would ask all new readers who appreciate our unique reporting on the presidential eligibility issue; the Arpaio Melendres case, which necessitates a paid PACER account to access court documents; our wide-ranging and very busy Editorial column; and exposure of corruption at all levels of government to donate $1.00 here.
Thank you very much.
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This story was updated at 9:31 a.m. ET on January 15, 2016.