WOW Plymouth By Numbers
Lies, Damned Lies & Statistics - The Story So Far
When I first launched WOW Plymouth earlier this month, I was determined to do so with complete transparency, and I quoted the excellent Entrepreneurs On Fire Podcast as a great example of this.
The reason for this is simple.
To ensure that I/we (because there is now a “we” couldn’t be called out on anything while I figured out what WOW Plymouth would look like in the future.
As I keep reminding people, WOW Plymouth is a work in progress. This is only the beginning, and we’re making this up as we go along.
Currently, the official entity is Michael Turner t/a WOW Plymouth; however, as we develop, there is potential for WOW Plymouth to become an LLC, a CIC, or another legal entity entirely. That’s yet to be decided, and I’ve started conversations with individuals who might form part of a management or advisory team in this regard.
I’m creating an editorial team and am pleased to report that we currently have four excellent individuals with far better journalistic skills than mine on board. We’re in conversation with other potential regular contributors and would love to hear from anyone with knowledge and skills they’d like to share with the broader Plymouth community.
WOW Plymouth is very much about the community at large, about telling great stories, positive, inspiring and aspirational stories, as well as reporting the news, but always with an angle on talking up the city and the people who live and work here.
That’s not to say we won’t tackle the challenging issues we face, but I can promise a complete absence of clickbait and syndicated filler and a focus on excellent reporting.
By the end of the year, I expect us to have graduated from a Substack newsletter to a fully fledged daily news website with everything that entails.
For a better idea of the kind of publication I’m aspiring to, take a look at any or all of the following new media organisations.
Bristol Cable
Manchester Mill
Sheffield Tribune
Ipswich.co.uk
For an overview of some other stand-out examples of new local media and the movement behind them, read this article from InPublishing magazine.
Now that you have some background, here is the first of those monthly reports.
WP01 - April 2025
Substack - We started the month with zero subscribers and, four weeks later, have 102, of which eight are paid subscribers with an annualised total revenue of £1074
Social Media - This is challenging to quantify due to the diversity of followers and group members, but essentially, we started April with zero followers on the WOW Plymouth Facebook Page and are now sitting at 341. We also have the WOW Plymouth group (previously known as Plymouth Business Connections), which started the month with 5705 members and has grown by 247 to 5952 members.
Beyond this, there is an Instagram account with 52 followers and a LinkedIn group with 1,116 members, totalling 5,764 points of connection.
Fortunately, as a result of my background in social media marketing, WOW Plymouth benefits from a much broader database. There’s also my “little black book” of business connections, and between them, this adds a further 65326 potential points of connection to the mix, of which approximately half (at least) are local to Devon and Cornwall.
You can see a full breakdown of these figures on the WOW Plymouth Numbers Spreadsheet. I plan to update these numbers on a regular monthly basis and to add further stats, including reader numbers, website visitors and a monthly income and expenditure report.
FYI, money-wise, we currently have eight paid subscribers on Substack with an annualised revenue of £1074. I’ve already spent considerably more than that in initial setup costs.
What Next? May 2025
In May, I’ll continue to bring the editorial team together with the intention that they start contributing written content before the end of the month, covering business, community, arts, and entertainment with more to follow.
I’m blessed to have the support of a professional broadcaster who’s keen to pilot a series of local podcasts, and we’ll record the first of these by the end of the month. Currently, I’m seeking guests and would appreciate your suggestions for Plymouth-based individuals with compelling stories to share.
I’m actively building a management and advisory team and am also seeking assistance with administration and marketing. If you believe you could contribute in this regard, please drop me a line; I’d love to hear from you.
I’m on the lookout for stories. Anything you’d like to shout about that will benefit Plymouth people at large as long as it’s not a thinly disguised ad for your business.
Although, talking of business, I’m looking for advertisers, and I have a great offer to help promote your business to the entire city of Plymouth, as well as the thousands of people in my network. More news of that tomorrow.
And finally, I’m looking for people who believe, as I do, that Plymouth deserves better.
Many of the publications I mentioned previously exist thanks to the support of partners, sponsors, and patrons.
If you value Plymouth and want to see the best for the city and its people, this is your chance to get involved at the very beginning of something new and exciting. Drop me a line, and let’s talk.
And Finally
I want to extend my gratitude to everyone who has supported and believed in me thus far. Quite frankly, I’ve been overwhelmed with the response I’ve had every time I’ve spoken to people about WOW Plymouth over the past four weeks.
There’s absolutely no doubt there’s a real hunger for a different way of doing things in Plymouth, from reporting the news to promoting the wonderful businesses, organisations and activities across the city.
Plymouth deserves better; let’s get to work!