Although Arkansas Outside started life back in 2007 as a personal blog, it became an official business with the move to the ArkansasOutside.com URL in November of 2011, almost 11 years ago. We sold ads to help pay the bills to keep it current. We spent a lot of time keeping up the calendar of events, driving to outdoor events all over the state along with a few out-of-state trips. We wrote stories, managed photos, attended events every weekend, etc. Financially it never really broke even, but that was okay. I had a full-time career at Arkansas State Parks to pay my bills and the two worked well together through the years.
In early 2015, we decided to call it quits. The state parks were undergoing major changes and I needed more time to perform expanded duties. So we kept up the site with occasional news releases and the calendar of events, but stopped selling ads on the site. Every expense to keep it going was coming from our personal pockets.
It wouldn’t die
During this hiatus, we expected the site to slowly wither away to the point that we would shut it down completely. It never did. Thanks to the continued engagement of our readers, the site continued to be visited by 200 to 300 visitors per day. Over the past year, we’ve decided to re-explore the possibilities of the site to inform Arkansans and visitors about outdoor recreation opportunities throughout the state. Visitors to the site and online interactions continued to grow. Much of this was spurred on by the recent pandemic and the growth of trails and other outdoor facilities across Arkansas.
The Next Level
Earlier this year, I decided to leave my position at Arkansas State Parks and pursue Arkansas Outside full-time. An investment in improving the site to be more news-like and less like a blog was necessary. The other big thing you might notice is the placement of advertising and an opportunity to help out via Patreon. Our goal is to never require a subscription fee.
We need you more than ever
Here are some ways you can help:
- Subscribe to our Patreon Account, the link is at the top of this page (and every page). You have a choice of a $3 per month charge or a one-time donation. ArkansasOutside.com is NOT a non-profit, there is no tax break, but we do appreciate your support. We hope to eventually have some special deals for those subscribing to our Patreon Account. Watch for news on that.
- Would you like to advertise your business or event? Contact joe@arkansasoutside.com to find out about short-term and long-term advertising plans.
- Other ways to help
- Share our articles and events from the calendar of events on your social media.
- Visit our advertisers. We try to have advertisers that will interest our readers. These are not Google ads and are not tied to you personally in any digital way.
- Subscribe to our Newsletter.
- Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
We are looking forward to the next chapter of this journey, we hope you want to join us. Thanks and we’ll see you on a trail.
6 Responses
So excited about this next step for AO!!
Thank you for all you do to inform us of all the outdoor rec opportunities in AR! I subbed to your Patreon! It’s the least I can do! Let me know if you can think of any other ways I can help you guys out! Best of luck to you!
Good for Arkansas Outside! Proud of you ?
This is great!
I hope you know how much I appreciate what you guys do for our nature loving, outdoor community!
This is my “go to” source for information and the site I send inquisitive minds to when they ask about outdoor activities. Keep up the great work!