What’s this about a new membership structure? Yes, it’s true. We are introducing a new membership structure on January 1, 2021. However, before I get into the details of that, I want to thank you for your support by assuring our current members that we are not changing anything about your membership benefits, including the price! If you keep your membership current, you will continue to have full access to every service that Huntin’ Fool provides for the historical price of $100 per year. Meanwhile, new members will be paying $150 per year for the same benefits. While I’m sure that news alleviates your concerns, I’m also certain that many of you will want to know why we are making these changes for new members. I’ll do my best to share that with you here.
If you’ve been with Huntin’ Fool from the beginning, you know that 25 years ago, you could purchase your membership for $100. That purchase entitled you to two things. One, you could pick up the phone and call Garth Carter and ask him for personalized hunting and application advice. Two, you received a monthly hunting research pamphlet. In those days, that monthly publication consisted of a few sheets of paper that were hand stapled in the corner. As memberships grew, Garth and Sharyl did their best to increase the value of their members’ $100. Most notably, they took a spare no expense approach to converting the monthly pamphlet into the most beautiful and complete research publication that the hunting community has ever seen.
For the last four years, we’ve gone back to those roots and focused on adding value for our members. Some of that added value is easy to see, like our new website and 3D mapping and hunt filtering platform, both of which greatly enhance your research experience. Some of the added value is behind the scenes, like our new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software that we designed from the ground up to help us take better care of every member of the Huntin’ Fool family.
By the time this issue goes to print, your $100 membership grants you access to 25 full-time employees who are passionate about our mission of helping you go on more hunts with the best information possible. Nine of those teammates are full-time Hunt Advisors who have been carefully selected for the various specialties and knowledge that they bring to our members. Your membership also puts 1,500+ pages of printed content in your hands. When it comes to technology, you have exclusive access to the 3D map and hunt filtering tool, the previous tag holder list (also known as Member Draw), and many more tools like our newly released application cost calculator, our App, and the Built to Hunt Podcast.
As we’ve added tools over the last few years, we’ve discovered a lot about our current and past members. Some members never call in for a hunt consultation, while others rely on that resource heavily every year. Some members devour the pages of the magazine, while others rely exclusively on the eMagazine on our website. Some members balk at the annual price of $100 per year, while others tell us they don’t know why we’re not double that price for all we offer. Increasingly, it’s become evident that one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to membership needs. To be frank, an increase in price is probably long overdue when you look at what’s been added over the last 25 years.
With that in mind, we’ve created four new membership types that are clearly outlined in the pages that follow. Even though our current members have the option to remain exempt from this new structure, we wanted to share these with you because we will continue to rely on your word of mouth to bring new members into the Huntin’ Fool family. As always, we will thank you with entries into our Membership Drive Hunt Giveaways. With memberships that start at as little as $4 per month, we believe it will be easier than ever to tell your friends about the services we provide.
As I wrap this up, I want to be clear that although current members have the right to lock in their All- Access membership for $100 per year, you are more than welcome to select one of the other options. We assume that the Digital Membership with full eMagazine access and a host of other research tools will be attractive to many of our current members, and we’ll welcome you into that membership type with open arms too. I also want to assure you that we are working on more improvements and tools that we can’t wait to share with you in the months to come! Thanks for your support, and as always, feel free to reach out with your feedback and questions.
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