Growing SitePoint Entrepreneur
Getting to 100,000 weekly uniques in 3 months.
Context
One of the most popular publications on the Internet had a problem. SitePoint needed an experienced editor to take ownership of its struggling business and marketing channel. They hoped to find someone who could truly own the channel and run with it.
“We had worked with several editors in the past, who had each tried a few initiatives — none were as enthusiastic, determined or competent as Lauren.”
SitePoint gave Lauren a budget of $2,400 to hire writers, which afforded her four posts, at 1000+ words each, per week at $150 per post. She also had access to Fotolia, an image and vector repository, so each post could include beautiful visuals.
When Lauren began, SitePoint’s editorial calendar (Trello) was incohesive. There were loads of incomplete posts, which first drafts were well overdue. Writers weren’t meeting deadlines. Basically, the channel simply wasn’t being taken very seriously.
Goal
The high-level goal and foundation of the contract between SitePoint and I was to increase weekly unique visits to the business and marketing channel in order to increase ad revenue for the company. We agreed upon the following goal: get up to 100,000 weekly unique visits to the channel within three months.
“Lauren started in March of 2015. Since then, traffic to our Entrepreneurship channel has grown substantially, benefitting both our revenue (through advertising) and our reputation as a publisher.”
Process
To reach this overarching goal, Lauren developed a roadmap to success, which included:
- Recruiting a small group of up-and-coming writers
- Boosting the content standards of the channel
- Utilizing my network of online influencers
- Crafting a unique voice for the channel that resonated with entrepreneurs
Solution
Within two weeks, Lauren added five (six including herself), phenomenal freelance writers to SitePoint’s editorial calendar. Three of the five onboarded became the top three most-viewed writers for the channel, as of November 2015.
While Lauren reached out to writers, she simultaneously crafted clear, concise Style Guidelines for the channel. Writers were happy to have a clearly painted picture of the type of content she hoped they create for the channel.
Next, Lauren asked online influencers, who were in her network, if she could interview them for SitePoint. She was able to secure interviews with Paul Jarvis, Neil Patel and Eric Ries, to name just a few. Additionally, she promoted the site’s content with the right communities and her personal social networks.
Finding the unique voice for the channel was the easiest part of this project because she knew what types of content entrepreneurs wanted already; therefore, it didn’t require much research. Lauren combined her knowledge with her own voice, and it resonated with readers.
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Conclusion
“It’s hard to overstate the value of bringing on board a team member who understands both business objectives and the value of their specific role. This hire has allowed us to expand into new markets and form new partnerships, going well beyond my initial expectations.”
More Work
