OK I feel like today is a good day to update you, the reader, on some things going on around here.

It’s been a slow week. Maybe the slowest local sports week I’ve seen– and that’s saying something after five years of dreck. The lack of content this week is not from a lack of trying. There really wasn’t much worth discussing. Things usually pick back up… and in a big way.

 

Podcast

I am genuinely blown away by the positive podcast feedback. That’s not just marketing spin or whatever– almost every Tweet, email or personal comment I get has been overwhelmingly positive. People think I’m BS-ing when I say that comments on the site are not indicative of general sentiment. I could post Tolstoy and someone would comment that it sucked balls. So the feedback we’ve gotten outside of the comments section – even from people who usually shit on me about something else on Twitter – has been really positive. We’re trying to give you an almost-daily alternative to sports talk radio with smart and different sports conversations. The biggest request or complaint we get is that it’s not daily. For real. I take that as a good sign. It is our loose plan to go daily in the fall. Right now, we’re still getting into a groove and don’t want to water down the content or stretch ourselves too thin.

We’re not perfect. We’re still figuring out the best way to improve quality. Today we started using a third-party recording platform, rather than Skype, which should give us much better source quality. I’m getting better at editing and intern Bill is helping us get clips on social media. But I’d put the quality and content of our discussions up against most anything on sports talk radio.

 

Surveys

I get a lot of questions and comments about the surveys that appear on the site. Here’s the deal.

Four years ago, I started using Google Consumer Surveys. These were short, anonymous surveys, from market researchers, that unlocked content for the day. It was win-win-win proposition. Researchers paid to get their questions answered, Google split that money with publishers, and readers got to read sites that might have otherwise had a paywall. There are no ideal monetization efforts for online content. Either you have to pay for it directly (paywall), get bombarded with ads, or, in this case, answer a short survey question. I thought the surveys were better than either a paywall or overly intrusive and obnoxious ads.

About two months ago, the surveys, which usually filled consistently and produced substantial RPM (revenue per thousand impressions), stopped filling. Like, almost entirely. I had always been planning for an eventual slow down in survey revenue and working to better diversify the site’s revenue, but I wasn’t expecting them to just stop. Indeed, t-shirt sales, direct ads and other opportunities were lessening the reliance on the surveys. The t-shirts are a very good source of revenue, but they are less consistent than anything else, especially with the sports teams being so bad. When things are good, they are outstanding. But when things are slow, like now, the sales drop off.

I knew there were alternatives to Google’s offering, so I switched to a company called Survata, which is what you mostly now get. The good news is that they perform reasonably well. They’ve plugged the leak. The downside is that they’re not as user-friendly. They work just as well, and the interface is clean and simple, but they offer longer surveys. I don’t have a choice as to which survey shows up– you just get what’s available. Some are only a couple of questions, some are in the double digits (last night, I answered a 16 question survey about Almond Milk). I know this is not a great experience. Additionally, the first time a reader sees a Survata survey, they get asked their age. You should only get that question once (per device), but since the response is cookied and iPhones don’t save cookies without changing a setting or two… yeah, some people get this EVERY TIME. Also not great.

Here’s how I view the threshold for criticism:

  1. Comment section. This is where the most knee-jerk, nasty, usually anonymous shit gets posted.
  2. Twitter. Most people have their real name or face tied to their account and are critical but more considered in their feedback (I’m grading on a curve here).
  3. Email. It’s rare that I get negative emails. It’s just harder and more time-consuming for someone to send you an email about something they don’t like. The vast majority of emails I get are positive or contain constructive criticism. So when I do get negative emails, I don’t take them lightly. I have gotten emails about the surveys.

Needless to say, I am aware of your complaints.

These surveys pay differently than Google, as well. Google paid per response. It didn’t matter the answer, I got money. Survata pays more per survey, but only for useful responses. In other words, ones where people qualify for the product or business which the survey is about. Believe it or not, and the thing I love about our readers, is that the overwhelming majority of people answer these honestly, or at least qualify as doing so.

So what’s being done? For the time being, the Survata surveys remain. They are still a tremendous source of revenue that I’m not willing to give up. I’m working to customize the experience a bit and see if we can limit the age question or the length of surveys you see. I would love to get to a point where we could use them sparingly or less frequently, by relying more on other revenue sources. But right now they’re still the best option. I’ve also spoken to Google, and they are working to increase their fill rate, which – fingers crossed – should bring their more user-friendly offerings back. In the meantime, if you keep getting the age question on your phone, go to settings->Safari->block cookies->allow cookies from sites I visit. That should resolve the age question issue.

Anyway, I know the surveys are not great and I’m working on other options. Like…

 

Ad networks

I’ve always used ad networks. Almost every site on the Internet does. For those who don’t know, networks sell to large companies that don’t have the time to deal with every small publisher out there, and their ads get spread around to sites like this one. They’re usually targeted to the user and vary depending on your browsing habits. For a while, I’ve been using ads from the USA Today Sports Network, which is a network essentially for sports blogs. I’ve also used Google Adsense, OpenX and some others.

Ad networks can suck. There is nothing wrong with advertising, but over the years publishers have gamed the system by cramming many ads on a page, refreshing pages, or hitting you with 30-second video ads (like CSN Philly). This has driven ad rates down and made each impression less value, because advertisers have wised up and begun to track where and how their ads are used.

Ad networks are still very effective and they’re a reliable source of income. The downside, though, is that many ads are slow to load or disrupt the user experience, and some nasty ones slip through the cracks and redirect you to places you didn’t intend to go.

We rely on these (networks) quite a bit, and I’m just starting to work with a company that will handle implementation of our ads. I certainly know about ads, but optimizing them can be a full-time job. Doing this should allow us to extract more from each page view. The goal isn’t more ads– it’s better, high-quality ads, placement and targeting.

 

Direct ads

I love our sponsors, like Krasno, Krasno and Onwudinjo, TalentFlex, Beau McGettigan, KPS Photo, Michael Parisano, The Conference Group, and some others we have on the way. They support the site directly, and these ads are both more effective and, quite honestly, generate more revenue than any ad network ad. I’m upping our ad sales efforts here, too, because I think there are many local businesses that can benefit from getting exposure to our readers.

 

Contributors

Yes, Leslie is still contributing. The plan was to have her write weekly, but the Phillies are so God awful right now that there isn’t exactly much to cover. Dan Klausner remains an infrequent contributor and I know he’s stroking himself over the Flyers’ draft prospects as we speak. And I’m always looking for potential contributors.

 

Going forward

I’ve always said Crossing Broad won’t just be a website in five years– it will produce content for many mediums. The podcast is just a start. Growing will require more money. I’ve had informal conversations with several folks who might be willing to help us get there. I think we have a unique opportunity, and a sizable audience, to become the destination for online Philly sports content– must-read writers, multiple podcasts, good video and social media content. A lot of people ask me if I’m trying to become Barstool. No, I’m not. They’re unique, more humor than sports at this point, and strictly focused on national. I do, however, think that what they’ve done with their investment has been damn near brilliant, and it’s an excellent model that I think could work on a local level. I want to own your day. I want you to listen to our podcast on the way to work, read the website while you’re at work, and watch our videos when you get home, on your phone, and in your bed. I want to get in your bed.

Any questions?