SWS - A surprising Success Story
BUT TO CONTINUE,
WE NEED YOUR HELP.
just like the wind, SWS is also free. Every week for some strange reason, the Editors and Contributors of SWS feel compelled, motivated and excited to share articles, research stories and make films about the craft, practice and sailing of wooden boats.
It’s an addiction.
And along the way, we’ve met you - readers and enthusiasts who share the passion and the wonder.
Hi Mark, I love SWS btw, It’s the best thing in my inbox these days, that’s for sure.
- James Geer
People like you who appreciate the craft, relish in the history and simply enjoy the fact that stories and beautiful images seem to turn up in their inbox, every Friday. We’d like to think that if nothing else our email is a weekly reminder that in all the chaos of the current world, beauty and enduring passions, friendships and a connection to the natural world, matter.
Jokes and melancholia aside - here’s the BUT - we really need your help and that means your money. So the question this week is - what is SWS worth to you?
This is our 71th edition of A weekly magazine. Like all things wonderful, SWS Began With An Idea. By now you most likely know the story - Born out of COVID, we kind of grew.
We designed, launched and built SWS on a kitchen table, amid Melbourne’s 2020 lockdowns. Our single purpose was to provide some interesting content around the culture of wooden boats in this part of the world. Why? Because we happen to love the world of old boats and so do our friends. SWS helped us to talk about old boats when sailing was not part of the picture.
And then much to our surprise, word spread and just like the best religions, SWS took off.
I LOVE your emails and articles. Always something of great interest for me, and I live in California, but travel to Australia almost yearly.
- Mary Longpre
18 months of weekly publications and we’re 250 articles down the track, the lockdowns are over, and now, every month around 10,000 pages of our site are visited by enthusiasts from around the world.
We are delighted and a little surprised by what we have created.
I have read with interest several articles on your site and find it a fascinating resource. It is even more impressive that so far this seems to be a labour of love, more than a commercial activity.
- Ian Ward
Last month we realised it was time for a review … or in modern marketing speak, some “brand evaluation.” What type of entity have we become? How do we justify feeding the beast that we have created? And the most important question of all, do we want to keep going?
Well, the answer is a resounding yes! But yes then leads to another question.
How do we keep going and in what way?
We want to remain a weekly publication, we want to be bigger and better and more valuable to our readers. Our content needs to be richer, with more video and interactivity. We need to reward some of our contributors, travel, photograph, talk in-person and connect with more of the wooden boat world we can bring it to you.
However, all this takes money. When we started out, we promised that we would never have a paywall. And we stick by that promise. However, in order to fund our growth, we are now asking our much loved readers to help support our growth.
By making a monthly contribution, or a one-off donation, you can help ensure that what you read and watch is regular, continues to inspire, inform and enrich your love of a peculiar passion.
Donate before it’s too late.
Subscribe to keep us alive.
And in return our promise to you …
Our promise to you is that every cent that we receive will go back into making SWS a better platform. More research, more video, more interviews more ideas.
In addition to donations, in the next few weeks, we will be working on an advertising schedule enabling and offering industries and individuals to connect their products directly with an engaged, niche audience and customer. SWS plans to offer a classifieds page allowing individuals to sell their boats and other bits and pieces to customers who appreciate their worth.
We’ve partnered with the third party platform Donorbox - for security and assurity - please note you can unsubscribe at any stage .
So what is SWS worth to you?
If you’ve enjoyed reading SWS in the past, help is to continue publishing this weekly source of inspiration and connection to all things wooden boat.
If you have ANY QUESTIONS or THOUGHTS or SUGGESTIONS please email Mark or Sal directly.
With gratitude and huge thanks,
on behalf of all who love SOUTHERNWOODENBOATSAILING,
Mark Chew and Sal Balharrie
