The Need for a Fall Subscription Drive

Last Winter, Mullings conducted a subscription drive to, literally, save Mullings. Advertising, which had been the major underpinning of the effort, had all but disappeared. As I noted back in February, major organizations which depend upon advertising have fallen on the same hard times.

I also noted that major news organizations can lay off people, delay expenditures, hire more staff in their sales department, and report losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars and still keep going.

Mullings has one full time employee - me. And one part-time employee - the Mullings Director of Standards & Practices who also doubles as the Mullings Company Chief Financial Officer.

It is because she holds that latter role that my chances of being able to lose hundreds of millions of dollars - or even hundreds of dollars and continue doing this are zero.

As few dot-coms as were still in business last winter, there are fewer still in business this fall.

Mullings, because of you, is one of them.

This Fall Subscription Drive is designed to help make certain Mullings is available to you next year and the year after that.

New Business Model

Is Mullings now being written under a bridge with my office a grocery cart stolen from the Safeway?

No. And here's why.

Although advertising has not picked up to anywhere near where it was at this point in 2001 (much less where it was in 2000), speech income has improved dramatically.

Business Model is a phrase which was much overused during the dot-com boom. It turned out most business models were constructed of balsa wood and spit.

Nevertheless, the Mullings business model has gone from an advertising-based model to an advertising-subscription-speech income model.

In effect, Mullings now serves two purposes: First, as it always has, to inform and amuse you; and second, as a marketing platform to generate speech income.

For those of you who have seen me speak, you know I do not consider this to be a burden. As a friend of mine once said, I am happiest when I am on an airplane with a car rental reservation in one hand, a hotel reservation in the other, my computer under the seat in front of me, and a mystery novel on the tray table.

Without Mullings, the speech invitations would dry up.

My television appearances - especially my regular Saturday afternoon debate with Democrat Susan Estridge on Tony Snow's weekend cable show - are also part of that marketing effort. But without Mullings, it is not clear that there would be as many opportunities to appear on television, either.

Mullings will continue as a three-day-a-week commentary on politics and culture. It will continue to include the popular Travelogues when circumstances and time permit. It will continue to be free to everyone who wants to read it.

Since the first subscription drive, more than 1,200 of you have helped support this effort. That leaves something over 21,000 who are on the Mullings list and have not ... well, you have not.

That's ok. As I noted previously, a writer wants his or her words to be read by the widest possible range of people. The notion of making the Travelogues, or the e-mail version, or the special reports from things like the Democratic and Republican National Conventions subscriber-only flies in the face of that very basic ethic.

So, just like NPR where you can listen to the same programming whether you pay or not; you can read the same material whether you subscribe or not.

But, just like NPR, I'd like you to subscribe.

Where We're Going

Over the next few months - as we move into the final stretch of the mid-term elections, Mullings will continue to be a counter-balance to the tilted - sometimes very tilted - coverage from the major coastal dailies.

A long-promised "Letters to Mullings" feature will be included.

An HTML version of Mullings will be made available to those who would like to receive it that way in your e-mail.

More Travelogues, more insider campaign info and, when circumstances require, a special edition beyond the Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule.

Following the November 5 elections, the scramble to see which party controls which House of Congress, and the scramble for leadership slots, and committee chairmanships will commence. You will see expanded coverage of that.

After the turn of the year, when the Presidential campaigns begin to crank up, Mullings will have the kind of coverage you have come to expect.

Your Role in All This

First: If you subscribed last February or March, you're not due for a renewal until next year. If you can't remember, e-mail me and I'll look you up.

If you didn't subscribe last winter, the single easiest thing for you do to is to go to the Secure Web Page and fill out the form. You don't need to put in the phone number or anything else. All you need to do is to put in the amount - 25 - your name and zip code. Don't add a decimal place or any zeros. The system wants only whole numbers.

By the way, in spite of nearly weekly entreaties from various entities, Mullings does not rent, lend, or sell its list.

Period.

For those of you who would prefer to send a check rather than use a credit card, send $25 to:

Mullings
PO Box 19057
Alexandria, VA 22320

If you can't, or prefer not to, purchase a subscription, you can still help by getting as many people as possible to sign up. The Mullings database is now nearly 23,000 people, and increasing the circulation of the column is very important.

The $25 subscription fee works out to a little over 12 cents per issue. That's a pretty good bargain to have ammunition - three days a week - with which to beat the Liberals at your lunch group over the head.

If you are running a PAC, a lobbying firm, or an Association and think Mullings is a useful tool for your staff, consider a site-subscription.

Thank you. Every one of you.

Rich