Similarly, the goal of the subscription option, from a business standpoint, is to both diversify site revenue and make it more consistent throughout the year, with the eventual goal of growing the site to include more writers and contributors and paid video and audio editors and producers. In a few years, website will be an archaic term used to refer to something that simply lives beneath a URL. To keep up the momentum, Crossing Broad needs to grow into a multi-platform outlet with video, audio, app and social content that is different, irreverent, funny, and what you’ve come to expect from CB. Those sound like buzz phrases, but that’s the way things are moving. In 5-7 years, I don’t expect Crossing Broad to be something you just type into your browser. It will be something you also watch on YouTube, read in apps, and stream through your TV and in your car. The subscriber option will allow us, through a more stable income stream, to hire the talent needed to grow. Though advertising and surveys (for non-subscribers) are not going away, having a subscriber base will lessen our reliance on those things and give us more flexibility to grow and stay ahead of the curve. I imagine the subscriber option will also extend to those aforementioned platforms in some way, shape or form.

How do you sign up? Simple: You can just click here, or click the link below the banner that says “Subscribe or login to disable surveys.” It’s been up there all week and the response, with no promotion whatsoever, has already been pretty incredible. Annual subscriptions outnumber monthlies roughly 2-to-1. It’s very easy to do. You may use your credit card, but you can also use PayPal, Amazon or Dwolla. There’s a good chance you use one of those latter three (probably Amazon), so you likely won’t even have to take out your wallet.

Here’s what the process looks like:

Your confirmation email will look like this:

And if you realllllly like what we do and want to support the site, you can choose to pay more. Tinypass reports that in many cases up to a third of subscribers offer some amount more when given the option. You don’t have to and that is of course not even expected – I am legitimately grateful for everyone who hits that subscribe button – but it is an option.

The transaction is 100% secure and managed by Tinypass – which works with many much larger websites as well as local newspapers and publications – and we never see your payment information. All we get is your name and email address, which will only be used occasionally to communicate news and updates related to your subscription, from us (no spam!).

Once you subscribe, Tinypass leaves you logged in by default. So as long as you don’t clear your cookies frequently or browse in private mode, you will always be logged in when you visit the site. You may have to do so once for each browser or device (computer, phone, Facebook, etc.). If you do log out, you can just hit the login link at the top of the site and sign in through Tinypass.

The comments on this have the potential to be ?, but know that this is merely an option if you want a better reading experience and to help Crossing Broad continue to grow. As always, thanks for your support!

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Note: If you’re a local business and are interested in being included in our discount offer – free of charge, with promotion in all subscription marketing – drop me an email.