YOUR ACTION IS REQUIRED by July 20th, 2018!

The Best of the Left membership program is undergoing a transition. I'm very sorry to cause you any hassle but, for a number of reasons (listed at the bottom), I've decided that all membership content will be distributed through Patreon which means that if you want to access that content (and I want you to access it!) then you need to be sure that you are signed up with a Patreon account, have made a monthly pledge to Best of the Left and have subscribed to the new podcast feed that Patreon provides. 

Just 3 Simple Steps to Switch to Patreon! 

1. Sign up on Patreon by creating a pledge for BotL. Choose the tier level that is at or just below the amount you wish to pledge. For example, if you wish to pledge $15/month you should choose the "$10+ per month" level and then edit the pledge to show $15. To get started -->Click Here!<--

2. Be sure to follow the directions that Patreon sends you about how to subscribe to your new members-only podcast feed! This feed will work in any podcatching app that accepts manual subscriptions. You will need to copy your private link from a box on Patreon that looks like this:

3. Cancel your existing subscription. If you are subscribed through Paypal, follow this path to find the subscription and cancel it: 

Login to -->Click here to go to Paypal<-- then go to: -> Tools -> Recurring Payments -> My preapproved payments

If you use a different payment processor like Dwolla or Square, the process will be a little different or you can simply email me ([email protected]) and I will cancel it for you.

That's it, continue to enjoy your member benefits uninterrupted! 

Why am I doing all of this?

Again, I'm sorry to cause you the hassle of having to change over your membership payment. Here are the main reasons why I think it's worth the hassle.

1. The old way is buggy and doesn't work well for everyone, therefore people have technical problems, which is annoying for them, and I end up dealing with tech support more than I would like.

2. The old way allows for free riders. If a member cancels their payment, they don't automatically lose access to the members-only podcast feed. I have no way of knowing how many people may be free-riding but I'm sure we can all agree that the number should be zero.

3. The old way requires multiple systems to work together and they don't always play nicely, causing problems. The payment processors are separate from my website which is separate from the podcast hosting service and managing them all separately takes extra time. Patreon brings all of those services under one roof so things run more smoothly. Plus, Patreon has tech support.

A concern you may have:

Q. Doesn't Patreon charge higher fees? I want as much of my donation to go directly to the show as possible.

A. Yes, Patreon does charge an additional fee for their services above what the payment processing company charges. However, please don't think of this as an additional fee that you are paying, think of it as a business expense that I have chosen to take on because of the value I get out of it for all of the reasons explained above. This is no different than what I choose to spend on website and podcast hosting fees, this is just a membership program management fee. I want my main focus to be on making the show as good as it possibly can be so any money spent on saving me time that could better be used for production is money well spent.

Thanks so much, as always, for your support of the show! It's really appreciated and we couldn't keep the program going without you!