Dear Mumsnet member,
Another new year has stolen up on us and as we approach our sixth (yes sixth!) anniversary we thought it time to bring you up to date on site developments and some cheerier (deep breath) news about our finances.
We spent a lot of time licking our Mumsnet Best reviews into shape last year and with your help we think we've turned them into a pretty definitive guide to the best stuff available for new parents. We've also published them in hard copy form - Mumsnet Best is available free to pregnant and new mums from Mothercare stores - look out for Issue 2 in March.
Meantime Mumsnet membership has swelled to getting on for 50,000, and each month around 150,000 different folk pay us a visit. So we've grown into quite a community.
Many thanks as ever to everyone who's contributed to Mumsnet talk, which continues to be a vibrant, supportive place where you can always get an answer (whether you asked for one or not ) It's your postings that makes Mumsnet the place it is.
And a special word of thanks to the many who have subscribed - a true act of generosity, as you saw nothing extra for your money and one that really did keep Mumsnet online. However, we think it's time to take a deep breath, roll up our sleeves and call a halt to our voluntary subscription scheme (though please may we reserve the right to whip it down from the attic and dust it off at a later date if need be?) We're still a little way off turning a profit but there's enough blue sky on the horizon to make us cautiously optimistic that one day we might and we think it would be wrong to ask for your cash just in case.
Of course there are plenty of other ways you can ensure we'll never be back with our begging bowls and it would be remiss of us not to take the opportunity to list them here :
Shop using the affiliate buttons on the home page or around the site and use the buy it links on our product review pages.
Shop through our discount partners (not only do you get a good deal but usually we get a few coppers too).
Keep sending in product reviews (from pushchairs to days out, breast pumps to baby monitors).
Fill in the surveys that we occasionally host on the site.
Buy a Mumsnet book, something from the Mumsnet shop, or a pictory set.
Click on the banner ads around the site (if everyone clicked on an ad once a day or so our accountant would be much happier!)
Recommend us to all your mates... even your enemies.
And most importantly of all keep posting your great advice, tips and support and talk.
As a way of making up the shortfall we have decided to introduce a small annual fee - £5 - for the ability to CAT (contact another talker) for the year. We hope it's a small enough amount not to put you off sending CATs and of course all the rest of the site remains entirely free. Just click on CAT in the normal way and follow the instructions to register for the year.
For our part, we promise to keep bringing you more and better competitions, to keep compiling your wisdom into the best product reviews for parents out there and to keep upgrading talk to let the conversation flow even better.
So all that's left to say is thanks again and all the best for the year to all Mumsnetters and their families.
Justine, Carrie, Rachel, JJ and Tech