There are over 4,800 explorers looking for a place just like yours.
The Explore Washington State Card is a free membership our readers carry as they travel the state. They show it at the businesses in our network for a genuine welcome, and a perk you choose. You say yes. We build everything else.
Readers have already nominated more than 150 independent businesses across dozens of Washington towns.
You already have our audience. Let’s put it to work for you.
Explore Washington State has spent more than ten years covering this state. Today, that reach looks like this:
Your business may already be in our directory, in front of those readers right now. Becoming a Founding Partner is what turns a reader who’s browsing into a customer who walks in and asks for their perk.
Picture the customer walking in with the card.
They’re 55 or older. They’ve lived in Washington for decades and still love finding places they’ve never been. They plan day trips and weekend getaways, sometimes a week out, sometimes on a whim. They have the time and the income to go, and they travel on purpose.
When they walk into your shop holding the card, they aren’t hunting for a coupon. They’re looking for somewhere that will treat them like a regular. That’s the customer the card sends you.
You say yes. We do the rest.
No dashboard to learn. No content to write. No photos to upload at midnight. Founding Partners hand us the hard part, and we like it that way.
Tell us about your business
A short application, and the perk you’d like to offer cardholders. Ten minutes, one time.
We write and build your page
Our editors describe your business in our voice and build a page made to be found in search. You just approve it.
Cardholders start arriving
You go live across the network and show up where Washington explorers are already looking.
If we ever need something from you, we ask once, and we keep it short.
Two ways to appear. One of them gets you found.
Standard Listing
Founding Partner
Standard puts you on the map. Founding puts you in the guidebook.
The founding rate is $99 a year, open to every business that joins by October 1. After that, new partners join at $199 a year. The rate you start at is the rate you keep, for as long as you renew. And your paid year doesn’t start until the cards ship this fall, so the sooner you join, the more free months you get before the clock begins.
We measure ourselves by how much we overdeliver.
Whatever a Founding Partner pays, our job is to return it many times over, in visits, in search traffic, in customers who already know your name before they reach the door.
The fee is small on purpose. The value is the whole point. At 55 cents a day, two new regulars a year pay for it many times over.
We curate the network. Not every business gets in.
Every partner is personally reviewed and approved before joining. This is an invitation to apply, not a signup form. Being chosen is the point, a place in the network means Explore Washington State vouches for you.
Before you say yes.
Your membership year doesn’t start the day you sign, it starts the month the first cards ship. Join this summer with cards shipping in the fall, and those early months are free, with your renewal a full year after that. The rate you start at is the rate you keep, it never goes up. We’ll always remind you before a renewal.
Yes. There’s no long contract to sign. If the card isn’t earning its keep, simply let us know before your next renewal and you won’t be billed again. We’d rather you stay because it’s working.
Founding pricing is tied to being an active partner. Keep renewing and your rate is locked for good. If you leave and decide to come back later, you’d rejoin at whatever the rate is at that time, so the longer you stay, the better the deal.
About ten minutes up front to apply and tell us your perk. After that, we write your page, build it to rank in search, and keep it current. If we ever need something from you, we ask once and keep it short.
Still have a question? Book a short call →
Apply to become a Founding Partner.
Tell us about your business. If it’s a fit, we’ll reach out to get you set up, and we’ll do the heavy lifting from there. Prefer to talk first? Book a short call and we’ll walk you through it.
Your member card
Two sides, one welcome.
