I sent this week’s post a day late because TODAY is the official one-year anniversary of Cut Off the Spigot!
I started Cut Off the Spigot with the goal of making it my full time job, funded by the community I created and the larger community of people interested in making changes to their shopping and purchases.
I spoke to friends and family in those first few months, and they always asked me – “Do you get money from these companies you recommend?” or “Have you gotten any brand sponsorships yet?”
I kept telling them the goal is to be sustainable from community funding and support – not corporations and brand sponsorships. I came from a 15-year career in marketing and advertising, and I’ve seen the progression of sponsored content move from print advertorials to sponsored articles to now sponsored posts, and how editorial integrity has been whittled away.
I did not want to create that kind of relationship with my audience, where you’re wondering if they’re recommending something because they actually like it or just because they’re getting paid for it. I wanted to build trust based on integrity, because Cut Off the Spigot would mean nothing without it.
And so far – I think it’s working. Thank you to all of my paid subscribers and one-time supporters for showing me that this is possible. Your support truly means the world to me and if I think too much about it I start to tear up and cry. 🥹 I love you, thank you.
But – we still have a ways to go. My goal is to get to 1,000 paid subscribers by May 31st.
At that level, I will have enough income to not only pay my bills, but also invest more into Cut Off the Spigot. I’d love to be able to pay designers for help with social media and website graphics, and researchers for larger projects. I want to make Cut Off the Spigot even better for you, with more tools to make all of my research easier for you to use.
So I’m stepping up my game, and offering new monthly bonus content for paid subscribers! 🎉
I’ve created a new video podcast series, The Learning Curve, where I talk to experts and real people about how we can live, shop, & do business differently.
The first episode is on Shared Ownership Models – employee-owned, co-ops, and everything in between. I spoke with Matthew Epperson, a solidarity economy practitioner, educator, and community organizer by passion and by training.
The Learning Curve will be available by April 24th – more details coming soon!
I get asked a lot of questions, so I thought it’d be helpful to create a LIVE monthly Q&A session! You can bring questions about boycotting in general, approaches, or other resistance work. I won’t be able to answer questions about specific companies unless I’ve already done research on them, but there are plenty other aspects to discuss.
More details to come on the first live session, but I am aiming for the last week of April.
I’m so excited to celebrate with you for the whole month of April with new bonus content & more announcements to come 🙂
If you want to get Cut Off the Spigot a lil’ birthday something though, you can always donate or get your paid subscription now!
Get in on this goodness today!
Or you can celebrate by getting yourself some merch at CutOfftheSpigot.com
The only reason Cut Off the Spigot could even be community supported is because of all of you!
Thank you to everyone who found my content and subscribed or followed.
Thank you to everyone who shared Cut Off the Spigot with their friends and family or on social media.
Thank you to those who have made requests which help inform what I should cover.
Thank you to everyone who told me how much my work has helped them.
Thank you to those that supported me monetarily whether through a subscription or one-time donation.
Thank you to the volunteers who have graciously supported my work with their time and energy.
Thank you to all the people that have helped me in one way or another that I can’t even think of right now.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am so grateful for all of you.
Check out my interview with Jejune Magazine, including wonderful photographs from my friend Christina Visconti. I share more of my backstory and ethos, as well as tips on how I stay sane in this crazy world.
I was featured as a guest on Defiance.org’s live news show, Defiance Daily! You can view here on Substack if you have a paid subscription to Miles Taylor, or for free on YouTube. I join around the 22 min mark.
Cut Off the Spigot is entirely community-funded – support my work today!
Check out CutOffTheSpigot.com for resources, merch, and more!
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