For The Portland Beacon to Live and Grow, We Need Your Support

In the two months since The Portland Beacon was launched, the moral support from this community has been awesome. The Facebook page now has 609 likes and 665 followers, and we have over 125 email subscribers. Some of our posts have reached thousands of readers. These numbers are incredible to me, and I am truly appreciative. I have also been stopped by many people around town, and have received several emails and online comments with kind words of support and encouragement, as well as some fantastic ideas for moving this cause forward. It is clear to me that many people support the need in this community for a local news source like The Portland Beacon. In order to maintain this site, and to grow towards its full potential, it will take money. While I have no desire to ever have this be a subscription based or pay per view site, a free press is not free. There are financial costs. From insurance, to technology, to supplies, to hopefully being able to pay additional writers in the near future, there are bills to pay and I need your support. While I do have some fantastic advertisers already, and am always looking for more, this new model of media cannot be supported by advertisers alone. The old model of media that was completely supported by advertising alone is a huge factor in why towns like ours have seen decreasing focus in the last several years from established news sources. Big advertisers want big returns for their investments, and towns like ours just do not generate the returns they need. For The Portland Beacon to live and grow, it will take a mix of advertising and reader contributions to move forward. If you are reading this, please consider making a small financial contribution today to help this site live and grow. Just $5 or $10 will help To contribute via PayPal, you can click HERE. If you prefer check, please make checks payable to "Townsend Small Business Solutions LLC" and mail them to 10649 Peake Road, Portland, MI 48875. Please note that The Portland Beacon is not a charity. Any contributions you make are not tax deductible as charitable donations. Thank you in advance for your consideration.