Why much of PennTrackXC.com is now a pay-for-view service.
(it was not our first choice, as seven years of trial and error will attest.)
PennTrackXC.com is a service. It requires full-time passion, care, and great attention to detail.
The key words for the purposes of this letter, though, are full-time and service.
Since launching the site nearly seven years ago in March of 2000, we have grown. As we have added services, increased capabilities, and improved the depth and breadth of our coverage, the time commitment has grown as well.
In 2003, in an attempt to help me move the site to a full-time, self-sustaining service, we began with a voluntary membership campaign. A few hundred rabid souls signed on. Many of you remain subscribers to this day. You can see who they are by clicking this link to the Founding Members
But the number of members was not enough to sustain the site on a full-time basis. Yet the full-time commitment continued.
In 2004, we began to offer subscriptions. During the year, we signed on 679 subscribers, which included the original members from 2003. Late in the spring of that year, the Pennsylvania Track & Field Coaches Association awarded us a one-time grant to get us through those lean times. We wouldn't be here today without that gesture.
But with expenses for travel, lodging, gas, camera equipment, plus the full-time commitment, by the end of the year the subscription level was still not enough to sustain the site on a full-time basis. Yet the full-time commitment continued.
In 2005, we continued to add subscribers. 833 signed on... about half of whom were renewals. Again, it was not enough to sustain the site. Yet the full-time commitment continued.
In 2006, after consulting with trusted advisors in the state coaching community, we decided to raise our subscription fee in hopes of reaching a sustainable level through that path. To thank those who had joined before, we offered renewing subscribers a chance to add up to two years to their subscription at the old rate. Many took us up on the offer. And about 200 went for two years. In September, we raised our annual rate to $25 a year, 3 months to $12 and 4 months to $15..
At year's end, we had 1,221 subscribers for 2006. With sales of t-shirts and photos from meets, plus some advertising, we were able to generate what could be considered a little more than half of what is actually needed to sustain the site on an annual basis. The level of work could take two people, but at this point, I am not even covering one (me). Yet the full-time commitment continues.
The site is getting closer to what I envisioned when I started it. A place for anyone in the state, or around the US and even the world, to see and read about the accomplishments of PA's high school cross country and track & field (or is that field & track) athletes.
That site is PennTrackXC.com.
I have tried virtually everything to get subscribers. And until last month (January, 2007), the trend was at least upward. But in January, for the first time in three years of subscriptions, we were down 30% from the same month a year earlier.
When something is not working to the level required to sustain a full-time commitment, there have to be changes.
I have come too far to cut back drastically on the services. And that is what this is, a service.
So... beginning on February 2, 2007, it will be the subscribers who have access to 100% of the site, 100% of the time.
Some things will remain free all the time, including the front page, where you can get the gist of a meet, important announcements, news items, PA college news, plus links to the individual meet pages, the meet calendars, the forum, athlete profiles, team pages, polls and state event leaders.
You will need a subscription, however, to access all meet results, meet summaries, features, interviews, videos, complete event rankings and photo galleries. At any time.
I wish I was independently wealthy. But I am not.
I hope you care enough about helping this service to continue to grow. I know I do, or I wouldn't have put seven years of my life into making it what it is today.
And if you believe you need a complimentary subscription, we gladly offer those to media who cover the sport, and to a very limited number of others in leadership positions.
Thank you for your consideration, and hopefully, your commitment as well.
Respectfully,
Don Rich
Founder, publisher, photographer, writer, poster of PennTrackXC.com
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