Article: Brewer Fanatic - Also Atop the Standings

[John Bonnes]

A little over a month ago, we launched the redesigned Brewer Fanatic, and things are going almost as well for the site as they are for the first-place Brewers. We’re so incredibly thankful to you all for your continued generosity in sharing your passion and thoughts, so let’s share the details.

On Sunday, March 13th, Brewer Fanatic was relaunched on this new platform. From a technical perspective, that was to provide new functionality, but that was just a means to an end. The real purpose was to provide a bigger tent to an already thriving and close-knit community, which could add writers, bloggers, daily Brewers content, Brewers’ minor league coverage, and much more.

So today, I’m happy to announce that we are publishing our 100th story since launch – and that doesn’t count the additional stories you can find in our blogs. We’re incredibly thankful to the writers who are brave enough and generous to publish their insights and coverage. If you enjoy reading these independent contributors, please let them know in the comments of their stories, or add your reactions, insights, or research in the comments.

Those stories have helped us find even more Brewers fans. Yesterday we had our 20,000th new visitor since the relaunch. If you wondered if you’re alone in your level of passion with the Brewers, it would seem you are not. We’re especially pleased that over half of those visitors are outside Wisconsin, so we’re providing a community to many who might otherwise have trouble sharing in the excitement of the Brewers’ solid start.

Those visitors are sticking around to participate. We are fast approaching 5000 members, and those members have been sharing about 250 comments each day in our stories and forums since the season began. Finally, those stories and comments are being read; we’ve also had almost half a million page views since the relaunch.

So THANK YOU. Brewer Fanatic has a chance to impact the narratives around the Brewers, but not as a traditional corporate top-down media conglomerate. We are a community first and foremost, and that’s where our real strength is. Your contributions and devotion to baseball and the Brewers fuel all of this.

We believe it will continue to drive growth. We want to grow the front page, so there are 4-6 new stories for you every day. If you’re interested in writing, let us know by emailing john@bonnes.com. We’ll help you develop your voice, and we’ll pay you all the ad revenue that your story generates.

We’ll also be releasing a poll shortly to give you all an opportunity to guide the future of Brewer Fanatic. We’ll also be providing an opportunity to help caretake Brewer Fanatic and get an ad-free experience. We’re even talking about all catching a ballgame this summer. Plus, maybe videos or podcasts or … wherever the community takes us.

After all, it has already taken us so far.

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[John Bonnes]

I should add, if you have any questions about the site, or suggestions or whatever, I'll try to get back to this story later today (more likely tonight) to answer them. 

[John Bonnes]

I should add, if you have any questions about the site, or suggestions or whatever, I'll try to get back to this story later today (more likely tonight) to answer them. 

[John Bonnes]

I should add, if you have any questions about the site, or suggestions or whatever, I'll try to get back to this story later today (more likely tonight) to answer them. 

[John Bonnes]

I should add, if you have any questions about the site, or suggestions or whatever, I'll try to get back to this story later today (more likely tonight) to answer them.