by Connie Oswald Stofko
After 15 years of publishing this gardening magazine for you and all my wonderful readers, I need to step down. Not immediately, but in the near future.
I love Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com, and you have told me that you love it, too. There are the great gardening tips that help you in your garden, the landscapes that give you inspiration, the long list of events and so much more.
Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com is basically a one-person business. It’s time for me to hand off the work that goes into this publication every week.
That means finding someone who is interested in buying my company and keeping this gardening magazine going. In order to interest a potential buyer, I have to show them that they can make money with this publication. Currently, my revenue is too low to interest a buyer.
That’s why, for the first time since I started Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com, I will be charging for subscriptions.
Reasonable prices
In the pharmacy, I noticed gardening magazines. I picked one up– $17! That’s for just one issue of one magazine.
That magazine provided only general information. They didn’t tell you about an invasive insect that is already in your county or coming your way. They didn’t list gardening events that are going on in our area. They didn’t allow you to go back to previous issues so you could learn how to protect branches from heavy snow.
I talked to many local gardeners and have chosen what seem to be reasonable prices for Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com.
Pricing
There will be three levels, plus a special level for Super Readers.
Level 1: Three-month Trial Subscription
You will receive three months of great gardening information for Western New York. You also have access to our previous articles! The price is $9 every 3 months.
Level 2: Annual Subscription
You will receive a year of great gardening information in Western New York. You also have access to our previous articles. You’ll be included in the annual prize drawing from our sponsors. The price is $22.79 per year.
Level 3: Celebrity Level
You will receive all the wonderful features of Level 2 AND you will be included in a special prize drawing. In the special prize drawing, two winners will be selected at random. Each of the two lucky winners will have their gardens showcased in an article in Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com! (The garden must be in Western New York: Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Wyoming, Genesee or Orleans County.) The price is $29.79 per year.
A special level for Super Readers
Anyone who has supported me as a Super Reader will get the first year free! This is for any Super Reader in any year up to September 2024.
You didn’t have to become a Super Reader, but you did. That was amazing! This is my thank you to you.
What is the new timeline for paid subscriptions?
Starting on Jan. 14, the first issue of 2025, people must pay to read in order to read any article on the Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com website.
If you subscribe at Level 2 or 3 before Jan. 14, you will get an extra month for free!
Subscribing will be online, but the technology part is not ready yet; it should be up and running in a couple weeks. You will also be able to pay by check. I will let you know when it’s all set.
Super Readers will need to sign up, but there will be no charge for them.
What do you think?
You can leave a comment or email me at connie@buffaloniagaragardening.com. I’d like to hear your questions, comments and suggestions!
Thank you for all the articles, your interviews ,your professional writing , the photos -all the work. Yes, count me in!
Hi Patty, I’ll email you. Thanks!
Hi Donna, thanks for your support!
Hi Candace. I’m glad you found this magazine helpful! Thanks for your suggestion!
Denise, I agree! Unfortunately, there is no other publication in WNY that can quickly tell gardeners what they should do about heavy snow or damaging hail. Thanks.
Hi Gin, thanks for your input.
Hi Connie,
I am in no position to buy anything as big as a publication, haha, but I will definitely be paying for a subscription.
I would love to hear about your efforts to pass on the magazine! I’m actually a writer by profession and have often thought about asking you if you would ever let other people write for the magazine. I’m a total novice gardener, but I’m insanely curious and lover learning about gardening in my zone, which was what brought me to your magazine.
Not that you’re looking for more work, but would you ever consider using Instagram to help find new readers?
Wishing you the best!
Patty
I’ve been gardening for 40years. I have found your magazine very helpful. Yes, you can look things up on the internet if you’re computer savvy, but as others pointed out, it may not always be correct information. I am happy to pay $30/yr for a subscription. Count me in!
You’ve been providing this service to local gardener’s for a long time. Even a labor of love can become a lot of labor! I have enjoyed your help with questions over the years….I doubt the online sites could have told me where to go locally for different plants or what invasive pests have moved into the neighborhood. I will definitely be getting a subscription.
P.S. I wonder if some of our local gardener clubs would be willing to divide up some of the tasks to help make it a community wide venture.
Yes, you can get gardening advice for free online. BUT, will you get the knowledge of a true western New Yorker? It’s one thing to read a packet or planting instructions for a certain zone, but will you get the expert advice of a true western New Yorker? Where else does the weather change from sun to rain to hail or snow in one day? And the soil content is so different from Erie to Niagara county, and we all know in gardening, it’s all about the soil.
Gardening is an art. It’s a blank canvas until you start planting that little plant or bush and watch it grow. It’s a passion, and worth the price. If not, then maybe it’s just a chore or hobby.
I, sorry to say, wont be reading you’re mails after Jan14.
I don’t usually pay for Contant. That’s on the Internet.
Thank you, Lynne. I appreciate that.
Hi Anonymous. I don’t usually allow comments without a person’s real name, but I think I can make an exception here. I’m glad you found helpful tips here. And it’s okay that you find my rates too expensive; that’s for you to decide.
I would like to address “gardening information that is free and everywhere.” There is information out there, but it might not be correct. Or local. And you may miss important gardening news, such as a new invasive species in WNY, because there is too much information out there and you can’t sift through it all.
You suggest that I simply find one person who will, as a labor of love, interview people, take photos, write the articles, headlines and captions, proof the text, fix technology glitches on several platforms and apps, post events, find advertisers, change ads as needed, invoice advertisers, pay bills and many more behind-the-scenes tasks. I doubt that I will be able to find one individual who will do all these things.
If I can’t find a buyer, my next option is to build a team that can take over this large project. The people on the team may want remuneration. In the meantime, I want to find a few people who can take some tasks off my desk, and I will need to pay those people.
I mean this sincerely: If you know anyone who is interested in any part of keeping Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com going, please have them reach out to me.
Connie, thank you so much for your labor of love over all these years. I’ve been a gardener for seventy years, but have discovered a number of useful information items from you–the dreaded red lily beetle, the hammerhead worm, nurseries I didn’t know about…. I’ll definitely be subscribing!
Hi Tazmeen, Doris and Beth. I am so glad you found this magazine helpful! Thank you for your warm sentiments.
Well, this may be an unpopular response but it is honest. I have enjoyed my subscription. Some editions were standouts, others were more routine. I tried new things (ex. growing seedlings in milk jugs outdoors, no greenhouse) that I wouldn’t otherwise have tried. I love the local focus. However, gardening information is free and it’s everywhere. I would be hard-pressed to add another subscription to the many I already have, especially since I have free access to similar information. It would be a loss but I don’t see paying a $20+ fee. It was a labor of love so why the necessity to sell it for profit? Why not pass it on to someone else for whom it would also be a labor of love? Keep Buffalo gardening info free!
You have made this a wonderful professional and informative magazine. I’ve learned a lot. Your writing style is like a freshly weeded garden. Thank you. I will be subscribing.
Being a novice gardener, I have found the newsletter to be very helpful. Count me in when you offer subscriptions.
Hi Connie,
This website & newsletter have been an invaluable resource for me since I discovered it a couple years ago! Your website is what led me to local nurseries from wjere I purchased my plants or seedlings, found local events, and also found more information catered to WNY that I could apply to my garden.
It’s totally understandable, the need to monetize a resource, in order to keep it going. The prices you have come up with seem pretty reasonable, and I will certainly be signing up for my annual membership. I am an amateur gardener, and still learning, hence do not deem my garden up to par for being featured in your publication! 🙂 All the best in your future endeavors, and I hope that you find an enthusiastic buyer for your business, who is just as avid about gardening as you are.