The State of the Site

Thank you for reading! And a huge thank you to everyone who advertises! Siteline would not exist without any of you.

The business continues to experience double-digit annual growth. In 2024, the website had a monthly average of 175,000 page views from 53,000 users (up from 159,000 and 50,000 in 2023); the email newsletter increased its subscriber base from 6,200 to 7,000; and there are now 14,100 followers on Instagram (up from 11,800).

I try to be transparent about how Siteline works, but I still get a lot of questions about it, so here are answers to the most frequently asked ones (revised a bit since the last time). If there’s something I missed, ask away—every blogger lives to talk about his blog.

When did you start Siteline? And why?
For many years, I was a magazine editor in New York City—Travel + Leisure, Fortune, Budget Travel—and I loved it. In 2008, asked to work for someone I did not respect, I quit, and then the economy tanked. Magazines were clearly dying, so I started a website, Tribeca Citizen, about my neighborhood, and I ran it for 10 years. When my husband and I moved to Santa Barbara, I sold it. I swore I wouldn’t do the same thing here, but I thought the area could use it, and I like doing it!

Is this your full-time job? How much time do you spend on it?
It is a full-time job, but I find it difficult to say how much time I spend on it—a little here, a lot there, and I work on Siteline pretty much every day (although I’m sort of attempting to take a few days off right now).

Where do you live?
Montecito, in a house most anyone would describe as cute. Having already lived in a rental here for two years, we bought just as the pandemic boom started to happen—too late to land something large, but lucky to get in at all.

How big is your team?
For better and for worse, Siteline is a one-man band. In a perfect world, there would be a clear church/state divide between editorial and advertising, but the economics don’t support hiring a dedicated salesperson.

Are you a real estate agent?
Absolutely not.

What do real estate agents think of Siteline?
They couldn’t have been nicer, all things considered, although most of them still go pale when I walk into one of their listings.

How do you find out about so much?
Paying attention is my job. I make a point of looking as I drive or walk around the area, with special focus on businesses where I have reason to think change could be occurring, and I spend a lot of time on Instagram, where news often breaks these days. And sometimes people send me information, which is hugely appreciated. (Email [email protected] or text 917-209-6473; anonymity guaranteed.)

How do you decide what to cover?
I think I have a good sense of what’s interesting, along with a limited attention span—if I don’t want to read about something, I assume you won’t either. And I don’t see the value in covering the same topics that Noozhawk and the Independent are covering.

Do you get stuff for free?
Not as a rule, because a lot of bloggers are only in it for the freebies, and I think it demeans the profession. But there are times when it would be rude not to accept a gift, at which point I try to get over it—but never in exchange for coverage. I don’t make a lot of money from this; my ethics are all I have. That said, I’m not above asking help for a restaurant reservation.

Do restaurants recognize you?
There are a few places where I’m known, typically because my husband and I are frequent patrons. And sometimes they send out a dish—a good example of when I kind of have to say thanks and accept it. But generally, no.

Why don’t you expand to other areas, like Ojai or the Santa Ynez Valley?
Hyperlocal journalism, the way I do it, is impossible to scale without a loss in quality. Even if I could find people to create the content at an acceptable level, I couldn’t pay them enough to justify the hassle. And why wouldn’t they just go create their own sites?

Can I unsubscribe from the sponsored emails?
Sure, but if you unsubscribe from a marketing email, you’ll stop receiving the newsletter, too. I understand that email advertising can feel intrusive—that’s why it works—but Siteline’s business model is entirely based on advertising, and a good part of that is email blasts. Unless someone out there wants to subsidize an ad-free Siteline, with no editorial input, I have to make money somehow to warrant the time and energy I put into it. The emails have always been related to a local business, if it’s any consolation. And maybe it’s even flattering that the advertisers are paying a premium in order to reach you.

I’m always grateful that people might want to read what I write, particularly when it’s about me, so thank you for making it this far. Suggestions and questions are genuinely welcome, either as comments on this post (anonymous is fine), by replying to the email newsletter, or via email or text.

Sincerely,

Erik Torkells
917-209-6473
[email protected]

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