In my previous post to Just Chat I mentioned that I had been considering a future plan for this website – to lock down all the content to members only (envoys). I’ve only received one envoy’s feedback on the notion and after careful consideration have decided I will go ahead with my proposal.
Although the fine details are not yet sorted, here is what I’m going to put in place from January 2026.
- THIS WEBSITE WILL BECOME MEMBERS-ONLY
There will be a replacement front (home) page that will introduce the website and show further details of how to become a member and why. The page will only show links for joining and current members login area. Everything else will be hidden.
- THERE WILL ONLY BE TWO TIERS OF MEMBERSHIP AVAILABLE
The new member will be able to purchase a yearly subscription to access the content. They will be known as Junior Envoys. They will have access to everything, excluding this Just Chat section. The other available tier will be for Senior Envoys who will purchase a yearly subscription beyond the set price. (I currently have two Envoys that give more than the mimimum fee for my work.) The Senior Envoys will have access to this less-important Just Chat section.
- REGULAR NEW CONTENT WILL CONTINUE TO BE PUBLISHED
For all intent and purposes, the website will remain as it is now. All members will be expected to log in to access the content they’re subscribed for.
WHY AM I TAKING THIS PATH?
This is a difficult question to answer easily, but I’ll try!
By the end of this year (2025), I will have published nearly 200 new articles this year alone. (The word count will be in excess of 1 million, equivalent to reading 5-8 books in length). Initially when I set out to build this website archive it was to bring all of my mediumship work together in one place, online and archived. But I hadn’t considered the expense it would incur. Although I don’t operate my work as a business any longer, I pay all the expenses from my depleted savings and pension. I estimate the annual costs to be between £1500 and £3000. A single figure percentage of that amount is returned to me in Envoy fees.
Although I never intended to profit from this website, that does not mean it hasn’t a value to the visitor. A huge amount of my time has gone into producing and maintaining this archive. That time has taken me away from other things I could have been doing which, Jane would argue, is more beneficial to us. I always held a belief that a few more people would come forward and help support my work, without me having to pay for advertising, or promoting myself all over social media. That has not happened.
If I continue doing the same as I’m doing next year I can only expect the same results. Nothing will change. It might well turn out that nobody new joins as members next year either. So, worse case scenario is nothing will change. That is fine and expected. But at least I will have stacked the odds more in my favour. I might get a few that choose to subscribe.
I believe in myself and my work. It has a value. I’ve always said that as a student I wish I’d had access to a source such as this website. I’d have paid for it without hesitation. It makes complete sense to me to value this work, while continuing to archive it for myself.
THE NEW SUBSCRIPTION FEE
Jon, I hear you! Senior envoy Jon suggested that my initial suggestion of the new fee was too low, so I’m going to compromise. The annual fee for Junior Envoys will be £29.95. Those that donate more than £50 will become Senior Envoys. The subscription, a little short of £30 will be buying access to the current 450 archived pages, plus the likely 200 new ones published during their membership period. I see that as representing good value for money.
At this time of writing, those figures are not set in concrete, they’re just working figures. On my back burner, I have toyed with the notion of people paying to buy tokens, as many or as few as they want. Each page view would use a token from their total. My model was working on 10p per page view (1 token) with a minimum purchase of 100 tokens (£1o). I’ve mothballed this idea for the time being because of the technical diffulties I’d have to overcome to make it work smoothly. I may return to it in the future.
THE CHANGES NEEDED TO BE PUT IN PLACE
I believe my current membership software should be able to handle the changes needed. Several things have to be modified behind the scenes though. I will be changing the subscription page within the next few weeks to reflect the forthcoming changes. I’m hoping to be able to globally lock the entire website down from one administration point, forcing everyone to have to log in to view any content. My research suggests this may be easy to do. The rest of the work will begin at the beginning of November.
THE PODCASTS
The podcasts are still available on all the big podcast platforms and continue to receive around 100 listeners weekly across the world. They are therefore free to listen to from such platforms. Within this website archive they will become part of the subscribers content and therefore not free to visiting public. I am only aware of two of the original guests whose personal websites link to these pages. I will put something in place for them. I have never closed the door on there being new podcasts in the future. I have enough of the essential equipment to set it up again, but the lack of time is stopping me. I’ve always held the belief that if I’d had a trusted volunteer to help with the administration of this website, so much more could be achieve with it.
HOW DOES ALL THIS AFFECT YOU
The short answer is that it won’t. It might even save you a couple of pounds! My work with Spirited Talk, and now this website archive has always been evolving, and will continue to do so. These new changes will go some way to making it more future-proof and might even help us get a community of serious like-minded students. Your support has always been, and will continue to be valued and important to me. I always invite your comments on any of my decisions, my work, and anything you want to ask me.
