On July 18, KELO-AM broadcaster Greg Belfrage proudly announced reaching 10,000 visits on his blog, Dakota Water Cooler. He began his blog in December 2006, so it took him seven months to reach that milestone. His current count: 15,482, another 5,482 visitors in just the last two months.
The Madville Times has been a little slower on the draw. This blog began publishing occasional comments way back in August 2005, didn't get serious until toward the end of 2006, and didn't bother to slap Sitemeter on until the first week of April, when average daily visits wern n the low double-digits... on good days. Given those facts, let's look at the Madville Times's Sitemeter numbers:
| VISITS | ||||
| | ||||
| Total | 10,014 | |||
| Average Per Day | 94 | |||
| Average Visit Length | 2:53 | |||
| Last Hour | 3 | |||
| Today | 2 | |||
| This Week | 658 | |||
The Madville Times has managed to draw 10,000 visitors in five months. On July 18, when Dakota Water Cooler hit 10,000 visits, the Madville Times was at about 3,630. Since then, while Dakota Water Cooler has drawn 5,842 visitors, the Madville Times has drawn about 6,370.
No big deal, right? Yeah, well, except for the fact that Greg Belfrage has at his disposal 20 hours free self-promotion on a major Sioux Falls radio station, during which he can promote his wit and wisdom to the masses on their morning commute. The Madville Times has no budget and darn little mainstream media synergy (KJAM has done one story on this blog).
Don't think the Madville Times will get a big head over this small success. (Big-headedness is the Madville Times's pre-existing condition—don't tell my insurer.) More people still read the Madison Daily Leader than the Madville Times. Heck, more people read the Peach than this blog!
Whatever the numbers, I'm just having a heck a lot of fun. Whether it's ten or a hundred of you a day (shall we shoot for 150?), I hope you're having fun, too.
And there's more fun coming! Watch out for...
- the Zaniya Project final report
- the Madison pool vote
- the 2008 Legislative session
- primary season! People are already wondering, who's going to run in District 8? Will freshman Representative Russ Olson give up politics for a career as a first-responder? The suspense is mounting!
- the 2008 elections: I'm sticking to my guns: Thompson vs. Kucinich! PP has to admit, that would be a dream match-up—best TV ratings for presidential debates ever!
Plus, who knows what other surprises the Madison Central School Board, the Lake County Commission, and the Colman City Council have in store for us. Thanks for the visits and for the spots on your RSS feeds, everyone! And stay tuned—there's much more to come!
Corey:
ReplyDeleteJust keep doing what you're doing with good writing and original reporting and the readers will continue to come.
Todd
Would you consider taking a news release regarding your site to the local media? If you had some mainstream publicity it would spike your numbers and help you grow your visual audience. I would think Jon's staff at the Leader would do something and KJAM probably would too, but make sure you give them proper pronounciation of your last name, so they don't butcher you like Doo-gard. You're providing a service and an opportunity for public response, so why not give you a free plug during their news?
ReplyDeleteAgree with Todd on the original reporting... Being a former Lake County Swashbuckler I personally love the local stuff. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your milestone. As Todd mentioned, keep up your work and readers will continue to come.
ReplyDeleteOne correction -- I do not regularly promote my blog during the radio show. I have mentioned it on the air perhaps a dozen times. There are reasons for this, which will be become clear on my blog over the weekend.
I'm afraid you're comparing apples and oranges. For a true comparison to the MSM, you'd be up against KELOAM.com. Those numbers are far higher than either of our respective blogs.
Sincere best wishes to you and the Madville Times!
Thanks, everyone! I've been at the Speech Communication Association of SD convention in Mitchell all day, so I'm playing catch up...
ReplyDeleteTodd! Thanks for the kind words and all your support and trust.
Anon #1: I'm glad you appreciate the service and the opportunity to participate in the conversation. A news release? I'm all about shameless self-promotion (not to mention the hyperbole that drives dear David bonkers), but I don't feel quite right issuing a news release. KJAM quite graciously gave me a little press when they decided my blogging was a worthwhile side note to DeLon's big success with Miracle Treat Day. If Jon Hunter and his people think this blog is news, they'll call. For now, I'm comfortable just continuing to write articles that will get more people reading and thinking and talking (that's what friends and neighbors are supposed to do).
Anon #2: Thanks to you, too! A former Swashbuckler?! Ooo, sounds like a fun group to be a part of! Where's my sword and parrot? ;-)
Greg! Thanks for dropping by and for the clarification. I'll look forward to your discussion of your keeping the radio show and the blog separate (contract stuff? be careful -- we don't want you getting Shawn-Cabled!). Of course, just a dozen mentions on a radio show is still a dozen more times than I ever get to mention my blog to a few thousand motivated listeners at once. Oooo: how about a test? Mention the Madville Times on your show a dozen times over the next several months, and let's see what that does to the hit count! :-)
I will grant your point, Greg, that comparing our readership numbers is more good sport that scientific media analysis. And yeah, KELO in all its dot-com variants is kicking both of our keesters. But hey! Best wishes to you as well as you take that kicking and keep on ticking!