Thanksgiving and the holiday season provide us with opportunities to reflect, express our thanks, and clarify our goals and dreams for the future. So while yesterday I announced my second job as President of Prime Signs, allow me a moment to reflect on the state of PublicCEO.
Early next year, I anticipate celebrating the one-millionth visitor to PublicCEO. That milestone should be enough to make you smile, but I can’t help but call it a good start. PublicCEO has been re-launched with a redesigned, retooled website. The project, which is still underway, has allowed us to provide a site that is more pleasing to the eye and is far more versatile, and more useful.
Since the re-launch, our readers have responded. Opt-in subscriptions have increased drastically as our readers are suggesting the site to their colleagues and friends.
Our morning-read rate from our email has also increased, meaning that more people are trusting PublicCEO to keep them up-to-date with California’s local government news. We’ve always aimed to be part of our readers’ morning routines, and with the vast majority of the site’s traffic coming before noon; we know that we’ve succeeded. You’ve learned to trust PublicCEO for timely, relevant information.
But these successes have not come easily.
The website can sometimes be a test of patience and nerves. Pitching the site to potential sponsors can sometimes be as easy as getting my foot in the door, and sometimes as hard as having a door slammed in my face. Not everyone has recognized the value of this site; a challenge further complicated by our resistance to do business with anyone but industry leaders with proven track records.
I believe that any sponsor we bring to the table should be a resource to each of you.
With this attitude, we’ve been able to survive the tight months, and breath a bit easier on the days when it goes our way. But I’d love some help. In fact, sometimes I need some help.
Your support – expressed through your readership – has helped us get where we are today. But please, keep helping us.
Recommend to your staff, or even those above you, that they should be subscribed to our emails. You can even send them this link. (If your emails seem to being blocked, tell your IT department to free the address ret@mbxbounce.net from spam restraints.)
We are looking for partnerships and sponsors for 2012. If you know of a company, a group, a consultant, or anyone that you think would be a valuable member of our PublicCEO community, please let me know. I am happy to contact them or ask them to contact me at dan@publicceo.com. They can also call me at 916.333.5285.
The next chapter, like all the previous pages of the story of PublicCEO, will be written by all of us. Keep reading, and by doing so, you’ll keep writing with me.
Dan Oney,
Editor