On the Sidelines with Dan Sousa - I Enjoy This So Much, I'd Do It for Free ... Well Almost!

On the Sidelines with Dan Sousa
(May 21, 2010) - I love this job! Honestly, starting VivaLoudoun.com this past year has been a joy.

Covering high school sports is a pleasure and this time of year, especially with so many good teams in Loudoun, it is 24/7 of great sporting events to attend. I like being editor of VivaLoudoun.com so much, I'd almost do it for free ...

Time out: This is Dan's wife ... what about doing this for free ...


Whew! Sorry sports fans, I'm back in control but the truth of the matter is that I have to balance the joy of running VivaLoudoun with the reality that the site needs to make enough revenue in order to warrant the time, effort and resources.

You like the site ... we know from the traffic and word of mouth and great feedback.

A lot of media sites are moving to the subscription model but I'm not of fan of paying subscriptions so I don't want to turn VivaLoudoun down that path.

Our goal is run the site on a combination of advertising and marketing dollars from great local business partners such as Cheers Sports and from generous donations from our fans. Denny Petrella, the owner of Cheers, is a perfect partner for VivaLoudoun. For one thing, Denny and I both care about the reputations of our businesses and we are comfortable doing business over a firm handshake. If I can't look my business partners in the eye, I certainly can't take their money.

I'm looking for businesses to advertise on VivaLoudoun that I believe in and that have purpose and product that will benefit the parents, athletes and coaches who make up the VivaLoudoun.com community.

So how can you help? If you have a business or know of a local business that would be a good fit on VivaLoudoun, give us a shout out or ring.

How else can you help? Why donate! We just added a donate button (look on the right column of this page). Anything you donate will go towards the operating expenses of our website. While our balance sheet at times seems like we are "not for profit", VivaLoudoun is not a non-profit but your donations will be met with the gratitude of a lifetime from the VivaLoudoun "fox". Heck we might even send the fox over to your house to wash your car or mow your lawn!

We know economic times aren't the best but we also know that VivaLoudoun serves a good purpose in the Loudoun community and we aim to be around for years and years.

After all, I love this job!

Donation Bonus! Cheers Sports is helping VivaLoudoun design our first line of t-shirts ... sure to feature the Fox! The first 10 people that donate $25 or more will get one of our t-shirts when they come off the press!