Numbers

(Photo found online here)

OK, I'm caving. Tonight is the first time that I'm reaching for one of my "evergreen" posts. I wrote a few to have handy for the right night. That would be the night when the world is falling down or I have no topic or I can't get to a computer.

I'm not feeling it tonight. So read what I wrote back in February, and I'll meet you at the bottom.

I live in a statistically-driven world.

You likely do also.

Think about it. I "work" mostly in the world of sports. Batting averages, completion percentages, earned run averages, save percentages, free throws and more are all part of the daily toolbox.

In sales, there are obvious stats.

In broadcasting, we're all about ratings.

On the web, it's the hits. Then things like retention rates and time spent on a site and so on.

I try to broadcast and write without concern for how many people read and/or listen. I try to do it for the one-on-one.

That is, I try to invite you in (whoever you are) and talk to you.

Still, I realize there's an audience. It could be just one (yes, that happens) or it could be more.

Rarely is it zero. Thankfully.

So I find the hits intriguing. What sticks out to people? What makes you want to read or listen?

Is it the headline of a post? The picture? The thing I write when I post it on social media?

There are broadcasts and written posts that I'm often certain will be a huge hit. Sometimes I'm right.

Other times ... no.

It's obviously a very inexact science.

A Greenwich football state championship broadcast and it's subsequent archive will do well, for instance.

A blog post about certain topics will get hits.

But other posts, perhaps about a game broadcast or roads just won't do as well. The numbers produce that.

I give it what I've got in each case. Every effort, while not exactly ditch-digging, gets thought.

Even if I post a picture or a video or a two-line post will get the same amount of care.

But it's fascinating what pulls people in.

Write about a small area of Dover, NY (Oniontown), and the hits are incredible (for me).

Write about World Radio Day, and the hits are "meh" at best.

All good, and we simply can't create worry about these numbers. It's a matter of believing in the product at the end of the day.

(Me -- 12/26/19) So, I compiled the numbers for 2019 into a spreadsheet and decided tonight is the night to take a look. Granted, we have five posts left, but hey, why not?

The least-read post, I'm sorry to say, was the one that honored the first anniversary of the passing of my friend Lori (July 20) That one just didn't connect and it was a bummer.

The run-away winner was Come On, Greenwich (June 3), which implored the home of the Cardinals to take care of The Home of the Cardinals.

Addressing depression was an important step for me (Jan 30), and a lot of people came along to read that one. It fell in the top 10 along with the follow-up on Jan 31. A subsequent post that opened-up further was also in the top 10.

Interestingly, a lot of baseball-related posts seemed to strike out, such as the night I was back with the Renegades (Aug 26) but the announcement that named me the new Gades broadcaster was in the top 15 (Oct 31).

There were posts that were meaningful while others weren't what I had in mind. The numbers were, frankly, all over the place.

Yet I was grateful if I only got one reader. I'm astounded with the number of people who tell me that they always read this.

Then I get embarrassed and worry about what I've written.

Now please read this post. Tell your friends! Let's get this thing viral.

Or not.