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I know there was a sticky thread back in LD 1 so peeps could give a bit of cash where able as ST was facing a few challenges at that time.
How are things at this point? Apologies if inappropriate to ask via the forum.
ST and STW are really important to me, even in normal times, more so these days.
I don’t post much, but I read an awful lot, both the forum and magazine and I second this.
THe forum isn't and won't be the financial issue/problem, it's the rest of STTowers and the staff/premises etc. Even if that folded, the forum 'could' still exist in it's own right financially.
But is a very good Qn mate 🙂
@Mark can quite open about how things are going so you may get an answer.
I've been asked to start putting together ideas for Christmas presents I might like that can be ordered online and "anything from the STW shop" is quite high up. I bought a lovely T shirt and coffee I wouldn't have done normally in LD1, and kept my subs going.
Update: Things remain up and down. Advertising is still down overall, although there are positive signs of a bounce back ahead. Subscriptions are up by about 15% on the start of the pandemic which has partially offset some of the ad losses. We've not furloughed anyone, but we have taken out a bounceback loan. We are seeing a rise in subs cancellations at the moment with the main reasons given being tightening of belts, but even so we are still creeping upwards with slightly more new subs than cancelled. We are seeing more interest in sponsored content type articles rather than display ads, which I hope we are doing right and they are useful to you.
We have switched to a new programmatic ad provider that is super efficient and easy for us to control but they don't pay as well as the old one, which went bust last month taking about £4k of our money with them. The old conundrum of balancing UX with cash return. We are going for the UX first approach with ads.
The growth in memberships has been great and it's a longterm sound strategy for us. If there's a downside it's that the majority of new ones have come in via an offer which means up front we haven't gained the benefit - but the gamble is that we win down the line when they renew. Hopefully April next year will be the start of that. In the meantime we are looking at our merch as a solid interim cashflow solution as we run up to Christmas. So buying our stuff is the best thing anyone can do for us right now.
I'm being open and honest here with where we are at because I think you deserve to know. a lot of you have already dug deep for us and we absolutely appreciate that. It's a given that without your help up to now we would have been in a bad place at this point in the year. We are not out of the woods yet but I remain optimistic.
Cheers
Mark
We are going for the UX first approach with ads.
That's interesting, and now I think about it, I've not seen many threads complaining about intrusive ads from the spongers free members recently.
We are seeing more interest in sponsored content type articles rather than display ads, which I hope we are doing right and they are useful to you.
Fine by me! Whatever pays the bills....
Free members still add lots of value to the site, no need to be rude about them. An inclusive attitude on this site is more likely to see me renewing my subscription. To be frank, they probably add more value for me personally than the STW content. Not to say I don't enjoy that too btw.
Subs renewed. Its less than a coffee per month. Will have a browse thru the merch for xmas ideas
Cheers for the prompt ... 4 possible 'wants' added to my list for Santa this year!
To be frank, they probably add more value for me personally than the STW content. Not to say I don’t enjoy that too btw
Can't argue with that... this place to me is a forum, not a magazine or an article site.. (sorry guys) i barely ever even look at the articles, especially as 50% of them come directly from Pinkbike anyway.
I've recently signed up for a subscription to help out during these difficult times. Don't read the mag articals though, just use the forum
especially as 50% of them come directly from Pinkbike anyway.
Harsh! I think you'll find everyone gets the same press release emails. Sometimes PinkBike pop up first as they have no magazine to worry about and are in a different timezone.
No sign of the new Nicolai launch on their site yet...
This has reminded me to go take a look at the STW shop. The sub for the on-line is about £1.99. The Argh! My Eye thread alone is worth double that.
We are seeing more interest in sponsored content type articles rather than display ads, which I hope we are doing right and they are useful to you.
This is a welcome development and the way I think online advertising is going. You've just go to look at the big YouTube channels to realise that it's a far better way to reach people as it bypasses naughty things like AdBlockers and doesn't cause issues with loading times etc on older equipment. If you can successfully create interesting content around the products being pushed, an adventure story while using a specific bike or a ride in foul weather using particular wet-weather gear, you can satisfy both the consumer and the advertisers. It's something that the likes of GMBN do pretty well with bikepacking trips or all-day rides for example. If it's interesting content that's not overly patronising about who paid for it then I'm more than happy to give it clicks to increase the ad rate you can charge.
Whilst I largely agree this new post comes across a bit item specific and suggests that these are STW's choice bits of kit.
Free members still add lots of value to the site, no need to be rude about them.
Apologies, I should have added a 😁 after that dig. No offence intended to the sp... (sorry!)
In the meantime we are looking at our merch as a solid interim cashflow solution
I've just spent four figures on Singletrack merch*
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*granted, there was a little dot between some of the figures.
Oooh the Edinburgh Defence....not seen that for a while!
In the meantime we are looking at our merch as a solid interim cashflow solution as we run up to Christmas. So buying our stuff is the best thing anyone can do for us right now.
I might be especially dim, but after clicking on the shop link, it wasn't obvious to me that there were more than 12 items available for sale.
When it first loaded I saw the 12 Top Sellers and as I scrolled down there were also some Subscriptions.
Having to scroll back to the top and then click a grey box labelled "Merchandise" to see the rest of the items wasn't immediately obvious to me, in fact I only realised there were more items when I clicked on one of them and it suggested some other things that weren't in the original list.
Some form of "CLICK HERE FOR FULL LIST OF AVAILABLE ITEMS"* under the Top Sellers might lead to more sales from users who are similarly dim as me.
*I'll leave Ling style flashing geocities type marketing choices up to yourselves 🙂
@verses... cheers, that is good feebdack. I will have a fiddle... cheers
cheers, that is good feebdack. I will have a fiddle… cheers
The white button on grey background is standing out a little clearer.
I'm also seeing this under the subscriptions section, I assume it's not meant to be like that 🙂
Subscribed to the magazine for the first time since christ knows when, does it still have a list of the top 10 forum posters in it?
does it still have a list of the top 10 forum posters in it?
And can the offenders pay to have their names removed from that hall of shame?
Another revenue stream right there.
Wow... thanks everyone, you have turned the Singletrack Merch Packing desk into an amazon style whirl of jiffy bag activity.
I see some familiar names in there, and can see there is a lot of Xmas shopping.
And one of you had a most excellent strategic lockdown basket:
Jigsaw to prevent boredom
Bothy Bible and the Bikepacking book to plan the next adventure
Gift subscription.... so you can rope your mate into the bikepacking adventure
Wooly hat... because everyone needs a wooly hat, especially when you can't do anything indoors.
Looking forward to my beers - I was going to try a dry month in November....but what the heck!
x2 Beanies arrived yesterday - ordered on the back of this thread.
Keep up the good work all at STW Towers! 👍👍
I don't post much but this is a very important place to me. I've ordered a Beanie and Fork Cork just now. You can count of my subscription to continue. There's something you can't put a price on and I personally think this community is one of them.
@Poopscoop thanks for raising this; I completely agree. @Mark thanks for your openness - keep us posted. I added my two penn'orth in the first LD thread, so I won't ramble on again, I'll just keep buying, especially beer. Can you ask Charlie to ease up on the stickers, though, I've got enough to wallpaper the house 😀
To all at ST, I sincerely hope you get through this. It's obvious from the forum and comments on the site that a hell of a lot of folks really like what you do and want you to carry on doing it.
Thanks everyone for you continued support. It is very much appreciated and needed.
🙂
If anyone is considering the Camo Whamo hoodie, I can thoroughly recommend. Good quality and washes well. Wasn't really sure about the big branding on the back, but black on camo means it's not very noticeable, (and I can't see it anyway! 😁)