Tuesday night council news and community events are most important. More in-depth features, please – and some local business and real estate coverage would be good, too. Crime and car accidents trailed closely behind. Can you email all this more regularly? Also, you really need to make your site easier to use.

Some direct feedback from subscribers, people who make The Phoenix possible: Eighty-nine of you took the time to answer my recent reader survey – thank you! Filling in forms and logging in (yes, noted & I agree!) are annoyances. Yet, 44 supporters sent written feedback that, after a few days last week spent going through it, thinking about it / planning how to implement ideas, and replying, gave me some much-needed data: It reveals enough of you DO care about keeping local journalism in Peachland. And with the exception of my login / password requirements, you’re happy customers.

Survey highlights:

• You seek out Peachland-specific news and events once a week (54%) or daily (45%).
• Sixty-three of those who took the survey prefer to get their news online from websites with free content (70%), followed closely by news websites that are subscription-based (68.5%). A total of 42 people (47%) prefer printed newspapers. Another 20 said that local Facebook groups are all the news they need.
• Most of those who responded (52%) heard about The Phoenix through word of mouth! Social media was a close second.
• Almost 60% say they access The Phoenix through the email newsletter. Or, you’re heading straight to the website to log in.
• What would you pay for local news? Thirty-eight people say the present $6 a month works for them, 20 people say $10 a month and nine people say $4 a month. Five of you are willing to contribute more than $10 a month to local news. (You can do that, by the way! There’s a donate button on my Home page.)

My main takeaway of the results? This is a small, niche business with very engaged customers = the best kind! If you’re reading this and you took the time to do the survey, thank you very much. And whether the feedback was positive or it was constructive criticism, I really appreciate it because it means you care. I’m going to start sending my email newsletter to you every Wednesday, will explore some kind of real estate content in the future, and yes, we’re working on the website’s user experience. It’s my biggest financial priority this year.

I’ll continue to write, be open to ideas, and run this business with my ‘reason to be’ in mind: A source of information Peachlanders can trust, and I want to serve by covering community things that remind us of why we love living in a small town.

There’s a lot of momentum lately. People I’ve never heard from before, asking how they can promote their event and read my stories. New subscribers. Advertisers! Growth means I can actually invest in making the website more user-friendly. It means I can slowly, reach more people. The word of mouth really helps with that, so thanks to everyone who has told their neighbour / friend / server /random pathway walker to sign up.

Circa October 2019, figuring out my logo (which the talented Mary Kletchko then created!)

Since March 13, 2020, 778 stories have been published on thepeachlandphoenix.com. And on March 15, 2023, The Phoenix hit its highest-ever page views with 1,507 people checking out the site. If you haven’t yet, give me a try! Send me an email and I’ll get a free month started for you.

Here’s what subscribers had to say in the survey:

“I don’t mind paying for a subscription when I know the reporting is current, truthful, and reported as it happens.”

“Your articles are always so well researched and written and I am happy to be your customer.”

“Thank you so much for all the time and research your provide for us subscribers. Cheers!”

“I appreciate the Peachland specific news that you provide and happy to support local. Thank you!”