Can You Help Me, Help You, Help Me?

Dan Silverman: Citizen of the District of Columbia. Photo by Hugh Clarke

Update: The Patreon Page has been launched!!

So. So. So, how you doing? OK cool. You may have heard that local journalists have recently faced some setbacks. You may have also heard that I am not a journalist. These are both true. Having said that, I am something. A lot of people read whatever the hell it is I’ve been doing the last 11+ years. And I am super grateful for that. Honestly and truly. As I’ve said a million times this site is nothing without you guys. Segue into the ask. Well, amazingly running PoPville/Prince of Petworth has been my full time job coming on 9 years. Life and the world has changed an awful lot since 2006. Quite frankly – monetizing a website like this through advertising alone will not be sustainable forever. And I aim to be here forever. Actually I’m shooting for 19 more years when I can get the gold watch and retire to Hallandale. No, c’mon I’m not going to Hallendale and who wears watches anymore? My plan is to retire to Navy Yard. But enough about my geriatric years. Let’s talk about GETTING me to my geriatric years.

Let me start by saying, thankfully, we are very healthy today. I’m just one guy (though I’d like to add more freelancers) and it doesn’t take Washington Kastles money to keep me going. But it’s not nothing either. So, I’d like to plan for the future by starting a Patreon page to supplement our advertising and ensure PoPville’s long term health. I don’t want to wait until I’m in trouble to ask, my goal is to preempt that conversation from ever happening. As such – I’m gonna do the most awkward thing in the world – I’m gonna ask you for money. Well I’m gonna plant the seed anyway. The Patreon set up is pretty cool. You can pay $1 a month, $5 a month, $10 a month or whatever you feel comfortable giving. In addition to you making this site sustainable with such donations – I’d also like to give something back in return.

And this is where the Friday Question of the Day comes in – what rewards would you like? Of course I’ll probably do special edition t-shirts. But for the higher amounts, if I’m so lucky, what would you actually like? A big group dinner(s)? A group walkabout(s) (like I once promised but could never get the stars to align)? Help with your house/condo/apartment hunt? Other apparel? A video/podcast/daily/weekly round up just for subscribers? I’m open to anything. So, first of all – before I actually set this up and please be honest – do you think you’d be able to participate? For those who are willing – what “rewards” would you actually be interested in getting besides knowing that you will be integral in keeping this site going for the next 19 years? And with deepest sincerity, thank you for even considering.