Building on a Vision: Welcome to Year 2 of Preps Agenda

I make sure to dust off the imprint every time I sweep the mangers and stalls clean at my family’s farm.

My mom carved out “1992” in the cement on the end of the barn where we added stalls and pipeline that year to accommodate more cows for milking.

I turned 7 that summer when my parents made the decision to raise the haymow on the barn to make room for the change.

It was a large project to take on while balancing all the usual farm chores, which have you up before the crack of dawn and well past sunset each day.

You can still see a few stray nails that missed the beams when my brother and I were hammering in floor boards as kids. (OK, all those missed nails are probably mine.)

Brick by brick, and board by board, the barn got its facelift with a series of big cement pours while keeping the original trusses and structure intact.

My dad isn’t the type to ask for help and is very much a subscriber to the old saying of, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.”

But that summer he asked for help from family and friends to get the job done.

That’s what I’m doing now.

This website is my barn. The structure – my mission – is solid, but I can’t do this alone.

No matter how many hours I pour into it to share stories about high school sports, I’m not going to achieve my vision without some help.

When I started it last year, I simply wanted to create something to continue my passion. If I could somehow make some money to cover the costs associated with doing that, great.

I’m thankful that there is a niche audience interested in the content I produce. I was flattered last year when a few businesses approached me about advertising. I ultimately turned them down because I wasn’t prepared to pursue this from a business aspect.

I am now. If you’re interested in advertising, please click the link below and fill out the contact form to let me know what you’re interested in.

There is no blueprint to follow for what I’m trying to do. As I stated last year when I began this venture, high school sports coverage is being lost in the age of “clicks” and aggregating stories.

Something that I think has been also lost in today’s digital age is that the little things do matter.

I can recall a conversation I had with Lee Lawrenz about 10 years ago when he gave me an opportunity to get my foot in the door of the newspaper industry.

We were discussing football preview tabs and how they used to be like “printing money” because many small businesses wanted to advertise in them.

As difficult as times can be, there are still small businesses making a go of things in the little communities they call home in Northeastern Wisconsin.

You know what else? There are still schools nearby with athletic programs that people follow and support.

An article on one of those teams might not produce 10,000 page views, but it’s my hope that a local business may still find value in it because it has customers whose children and grandkids currently attend that school.

That’s why you can’t measure the value of hyper local content with just “clicks.”

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Besides dipping my toe in the advertising pool for the first time, I’m going to try to raise money with donations again.

During the football season last year I used a crowdfunding website, which required someone to create an account and then select an amount they would like to donate on a monthly basis. You could cancel at any time.

I greatly appreciated the individuals who supported my efforts with donations. Those funds helped pay for some of the web-hosting fees I incurred.

However, the overwhelming thing I heard from people I spoke with at football games was that they would have donated if they didn’t have to create an account and could just make one payment of their choice.

That’s why I’m using GoFundMe now. If you want to help support my coverage, you can donate at my GoFundMe page. You don’t need to sign up for an account, and you can pick the amount.

I set a goal to raise $1,500 by the completion of the football season.

If you don’t wish to donate, please continue sharing my stories on social media and spreading the word about my coverage.

As I said last year, there is only so much content I can provide while also working a full-time job. That’s why my efforts in the fall will be focused on football.

I’m taking things on as a season-by-season basis from there.

I would like to provide wrestling coverage in the winter and track coverage in the spring. I know my wrestling followers missed my coverage last year, but my tank was simply on empty by the end of last football season. If I commit to something, I want to make sure it’s getting my best effort.

I hope you enjoy the stories I’ll be producing leading up to kickoff of the 2018 high school football season.

You’ll notice a new paint job around this place, too. The bright green is a nod to the John Deere Classic golf polo I often wear to state events. I’ve always said that the bright color of the shirt makes me stand out, so it’s easy for coaches and athletes to find me.

I hope you find my coverage adds to your experience of following high school sports in the Green Bay area.

Much like those old trusses in my family’s barn, I appreciate your support. Your well wishes keep me going.

– AP