Time to take the chat much deeper

Happy Thursday! Ready for an invite?

Today we formally kick off the inaugural Just Wright Citrus subscriber’s page to take our conversations to another level.

The JWC Inner Circle is an opportunity to go even deeper on the subjects in Citrus County that matter to us most. (Thanks to JWC reader Chris Blydenburgh for that excellent name suggestion.)

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While the blog’s mission has always been one of conversation, the Inner Circle will ensure we’re staying on track in the broader mission of a greater, stronger, and more compassionate Citrus County.

The particulars: Subscription fee is 99 cents/month. It’s purely a Facebook deal; if you’re not on Facebook, you can't subscribe to the page.

I purposely set the subscription rate at the lowest amount possible. While my business aim is always to earn income, what matters equally is widening the net for conversation. 

Also, VERY important: The blog website and Just Wright Citrus Facebook page remain free. Nothing changes: A daily blog to spur community conversation. Everything that the blog contained yesterday is still there today. And tomorrow.

The Inner Circle simply expands on that. For pennies, anyone can join.

How did we get here? Let’s walk through it.

I have a very simple business model. Sponsoring advertisers pay for space on the website. I cannot express how vital that is. Not only do I survive financially, those sponsorships encourage me each day to keep up the good fight.

About two years in, I started hearing from readers who wanted to help. I added links where individuals could send donations. Two readers did just that on Wednesday; I’m so humbled and it is much appreciated.

But it wasn’t until the last few weeks did I realize the tightening relationship between blog and readers. 

Your reaction to the 491 mess is extremely impressive. I’ve spent nearly four years writing about the importance of understanding how the county government operates, that strong policy makes the trains run on time, and by golly, you’re paying attention.

The 491 mess is a little complicated, but most JWC readers picked up on the nuances right away. It suggests readers are more in tune than perhaps I’ve thought.

It also suggests we can go deeper. That’s what the Inner Circle will do. Along with the daily conversations that accompany each blog, at least once a week I’ll pose topics on the Inner Circle subscription page to determine their value in our community. I don’t want to waste time on noise if it doesn’t move the needle.

Someone once said that Just Wright Citrus is the Citrus County think tank. Well, the Inner Circle is Mike Wright’s think tank. Who better to ask about whether we’re on the right course than the very people who help chart it?

As with everything else around here, it’s a work in progress. I’m not as prepared to kick this off as I’d like, which means glitches along the way. 

A few other tidbits:

— I’m changing a very significant rule for the Inner Circle regarding posting access. On the regular FB page a reader cannot post individually of me. In other words, the only way to post a comment is to respond to something I wrote. There are no independent posts.

To encourage deeper community discussion, I’m leaving that spigot open on the subscriber’s page. If someone posts something unacceptable, I can always delete it as the administrator. I doubt that’ll be a problem. I’ll deal with it if it gets out of hand.

— We have a great logo in the works. I know that because my friend makes great logos for me. But she also has a real job, which means I sometimes have to wait. (First Inner Circle discussion: How long should we wait for logos?)

— Serious subjects, yes, but we’re gonna have fun.

— I sent out some invites Wednesday and will keep that going. I could be wrong on this (ha!) but I think invites are limited to Facebook followers. I have more than 8,100 followers, but also thousands of other regular readers who are not formal followers. If you’re not a follower but want to join the Inner Circle, simply click the blue “subscribe” button atop the JWC Facebook page.

— Finally, a specific goal. I’m reluctant to do that, but I want an idea how well this is going. Here it is: 500 subscribers by July 1. I ended Wednesday with 41, so only a few more to go.

I have a very good feeling about this. Not only for the blog, but also for our community. Please consider joining the Inner Circle. We need all hands at the table.

With that, have a tremendous Thursday, friends.

Join the discussion on our Facebook page. And please consider subscribing to the JWC Inner Circle Facebook group.

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