Reopening Wrestlenomics Patreon support beginning October 1

Uncategorized 3 Minutes

Hello everybody,

Thanks for supporting my written and audio work lately! Your feedback, questions, social media interaction, and sharing of my work have been very motivating.

You may have noticed, I’ve been more productive on this website and the podcast in 2020. I plan to keep this going for the foreseeable future. It’s rewarding personally and I feel it’s an important contribution to wrestling media to do the kind of research-based work Wrestlenomics is known for.

It’s a fascinating time in wrestling history and, with further investments of time and money, I believe I can make my work even better.

Wrestlenomics founder Chris Harrington and I used Patreon for about 18 months, from mid-2017 to late 2018. We chose to pause our Patreon just before Chris began working full-time for All Elite Wrestling.

Now carrying the Wrestlenomics media brand on my own, I’ll be reopening the monthly $5 Patreon membership for Wrestlenomics on October 1, 2020 at patreon.com/wrestlenomics.

I intend to do this primarily as a way for the Wrestlenomics audience to financially support my work. Your contributions will allow me to invest in research services, software, audio equipment, and more, which will help me create better written work and podcasts.

I don’t plan at this point to put any content behind the pay wall. This may change in the future, but that’s the plan for now. Wrestlenomics Radio will remain a free weekly podcast on the feeds you currently listen to it on. My written blogs on Wrestlenomics.com will continue to appear here, where they are accessible publicly on an ad-free website.

You can signup now at patreon.com/wrestlenomics as a $5 “per creation” patron, and you won’t be charged until I convert the Patreon to monthly support, which will happen just before October 1.

In October, I will also make it possible to make one-time contributions of any value here on Wrestlenomics.com for anyone who wishes to do that.

What if I was previously a Wrestlenomics patron and never canceled?

There are a number of people who are still current members of the Wrestlenomics Patreon, however, no one has been charged for anything since November 2018.

If you are among these current patrons and you wish to contribute $5 monthly beginning October 1, simply do nothing and you will be billed once again in October. Your contributions will be much appreciated.

If you’re unsure whether you’re a current Wrestlenomics patron, you can check the Manage Memberships area of your account at Patreon.com.

If you are a current patron and you don’t wish to contribute $5 monthly beginning October 1, I totally understand. You should cancel your patronage as soon as possible so you are not billed in October. You can do that in Manage Memberships in your account or at patreon.com/pledges.

In the event you are finding this message after October 1 and you didn’t wish to financially support and have already been charged, please contact me either in a message on the Wrestlenomics Patreon account, or email me at brandon@wrestlenomics.com, or DM me on Twitter at @BrandonThurston, and I will give you with a full refund, no questions asked. Even if a few months went by before you realized you were being charged, and you’ve been charged multiple times, I will give you a full refund.

What are you going to do with our financial support?

Depending on how many supporters contribute, there are a number of things I would immediately invest in:

  • WordPress Business Plan. This would allow me to use additional features on Wrestlenomics.com (like plugins and SEO) and would eliminate WordPress branding. This will help Wrestlenomics have a more powerful and professional-looking website.
  • Software. I’m currently using Microsoft Office 2016. Its version of Excel doesn’t have all the features or formulas that 365 has. An upgrade will allow me to do better research, and a better job of processing data and presenting that information to audiences. I may end up purchasing some Adobe products like Photoshop and Premier Pro to do some graphics and video editing work for Wrestlenomics.
  • Improved audio equipment. Currently I’m using a dreaded Blue Yeti. I would upgrade to a AT2020 Cardioid Condenser or a similar microphone. I would buy a new arm stand and a shock mount. This should enhance the audio quality of Wrestlenomics Radio.
  • Recurring fees and subscriptions associated with researching wrestling business: PACER (for legal documents), Pollstar (for live event data) Seeking Alpha (for stock information), Newspapers.com (newspaper archives). There’s almost no end to additional, more expensive services that would be valuable to Wrestlenomics research.
  • Artwork and marketing: I would consider promoting Wrestlenomics with ads on various digital platforms. I could commission additional work from graphic and musical artists, which could accompany blog posts or be used on the podcast, and which could be used to promote Wrestlenomics or for creating merchandise.

I hope you’ll consider supporting and helping me create important work that’s valuable to those inside and outside the industry.

Thanks again for reading and listening and making my work worthwhile. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, don’t hesitate to contact me.

-Brandon Thurston
brandon@wrestlenomics.com

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