With turkey/tofurkey coma successfully behind us, we have to tell you… that you only have seven daysss ….to back us…..
We have just entered the final week of our crowdfunding campaign on Beacon Reader to build a new platform for Bushwick Daily called Village. That is right, friends, exactly on Sunday December 7, 4:53pm the gate closes and we all either will be very happy drinking champagne with you, and distributing the coolest roster of rewards in the history of the mankind…..
….or we’ll be kinda sad…
….and this thing will like totally crawl from your computer…..
(….no seriously, do you guys remember that horror The Ring? Than you know how important can seven days be!)
But for realz….
We’re calling all avid Bushwick Daily readers
Yes, you! We totes know of you! We have 75,000 monthly readers, 50% of which returns to our site every single day! We need you guys, all of you!! Pledge $5. Everyone can afford that and it can mean a tremendous difference for us! It’s like a cheap beer we saved you from drinking!
We’re calling all our story subjects!
Guys, over the course of four years, we have published close to 3,000 articles. If we have covered your party, gallery, or business, or you are trying to get coverage right now, well, you should return the favor and absolutely back us! Guys, don’t take us for granted. We are not some big, mysterious news organization; we are simply a handful local folks, who have been working their butts off to bring you daily coverage of this neighborhood. Now is the time to show your love, friends!
We are like answering all your questions! Yes, even the dumb ones 😉
Are you considering backing us but still have questions about our project? Are you worried it’s a silly question? That’s okay, we won’t judge you, just leave us a comment below and we will answer! Feel free to re-read our campaign description on Beacon Reader where we gave a TON of details as well.
As to some of the questions we have received….
Why are you changing your name?
One of the questions a reader has recently asked us was why the name change. Actually, we are NOT changing our name at all. Bushwick Daily stays, Village is just the name of the platform. Like a project name. Get it?
Why do we need $25k to build a website? Aren’t those like really cheap?
Actually, yes, websites can be really cheap (like WordPress.com or Squarespace.com) but the thing is that we’re NOT just building your regular website. We are building a website and an app with a special functionality that literally doesn’t exist out there.
So what will Village do?
In addition to the stream of articles as you know them today, we will add an interactive map of local business who will be offering local rewards. As you spend more, locally, you earn badges and the rewards get exponentially better. The idea is to foster local loyalty, and feeling like you found your tribe where you get treated like a king/queen.
Yes, events calendar is coming back!
We are also bringing back our events calendar where everyone can add their events or RSVP free of charge. I am sure you remember us having an events calendar in the past. Unfortunately, it was a shitty piece of third party software, which was taking down the entire website. Can you imagine how that used to make us feel?
Yep, just like that.
So we’re sticking to the concept, just building the calendar properly.
It will take a team of coders and UX designers to make this possible. And we have to pay them.
Will only new businesses benefit from Village?
Guys, absolutely untrue. Every good local business will benefit. Actually, thanks to Village, even businesses who can’t afford advertising with Bushwick Daily right now will be able to connect through Bushwick Daily with their customers aka you because the full Village membership will be really cheap and really local. That way awesome mom and pop shops will get new customers and will be able to stay in this neighborhood.
What about other services out there?
Guys,Village will help you to discover and rediscover what good businesses are around you and what good events are happening. You say you have Yelp, Facebook events and other services? Yes, we love those too but we will provide editorial touch to where it wasn’t before. Village will be more relevant as it will be truly local, and every information you are looking for about this neighborhood will be in one place. Nothing more, nothing less. Just this neighborhood.
So will I still like you when you change, Bushwick Daily?
Yes, we will change but for the better. We guarantee you that you will love the new Bushwick Daily. Just imagine… No other website has brought all these awesome features together to the extent we plan on doing it. Guys, Village will not only be revolutionary, it will allow websites like Bushwick Daily to be successful, hire a small team, and do even better job reporting! It’s a total win win.
Can’t you just get an investor?
Guys, it’s pretty hard to do all this without investment capital. We are well aware of it. But we really believe in you guys, our community and your loyalty. We want to build Village on our own terms and in a way that works for Bushwick, not on some venture capitalist terms. That’s why we’re asking you for help and input.
Friends, we only have 7 days to do this. Please do pledge today and share this message with your friends. (Also sorry for that scary Samara gif up top. I promise she will not crawl out of your computer!)
PS: Are you a business interested in donating a reward? We still take them! Just fill out our form!
THANK YOU!!!
All gifs from Giphy.com