Editor's Blog
Whenever I interact with you, the Soccer Laduma reader, I feel unbelievably happy! I can honestly say that one of the greatest joys in my life is Soccer Laduma. I am so grateful that I am, through Soccer Laduma, able to converse with millions of soccer lovers about our Beautiful Game on a weekly basis in the paper, daily via the Soccer Laduma site and across all our social media platforms, and also via the Soccer Laduma Supporters Club. The love that we all share is unique and something that everyone at Soccer Laduma and I truly treasure. The rule we have at Soccer Laduma is simple: you, the reader, are the boss and everything we do MUST be done to ensure that you, our boss, is happy. We will never compromise on that. What I can assure you is that everyone working at Soccer Laduma lives and respects that philosophy. I am not the boss. You are! In the 19 years since I began Soccer Laduma, the business has changed and grown considerably. The team we have here is top class and one that I can rely on to deliver the very best football product in South Africa. The team loves what they do and are continually looking for original and innovative ways to improve our offering to you. I want to share with you the incredible growth and success that we have achieved at Soccer Laduma, in particular over the last year. What makes this even more remarkable is that it has been achieved in a business environment which is extremely tough. Soccer Laduma newspaper While most newspapers and magazines have been dropping in sales, Soccer Laduma has held its own and actually grown. In January this year we were selling 301 045 copies per week. Our most recent sales have grown 4.9% to 315 743 sales for issue number 979! This means we remain by far the biggest sporting publication in Africa! In fact, from a single-copy sale perspective, we now sell more than any publication in South Africa. We have 3.36 million people reading the paper on a weekly basis. Soccer Laduma is also being sold at a whopping 16 570 outlets in Southern Africa! Soccer Laduma web and mobile site There are 203 875 users visiting the Soccer Laduma web and mobile sites daily, with nearly three million people in total on the site for July. That's a 31% growth since January! The number of pages our users clicked on increased by over 51% since January this year from 41 395 023 to 70 074 318… yes, over 70 million! That's a fantastic achievement! This makes us by far the biggest soccer site in SA and one of the biggest sites in the country overall. Soccer Laduma social media The growth we've undergone over the last 12 months has been phenomenal! In August last year, our Facebook page had 1 188 386 likes. We have now reached over 2 million likes! The @Soccer_Laduma Twitter account has over 350 000 followers and our Instagram account has grown from 13 000 followers in July 2015 to a phenomenal 160 000 followers currently! And we are not stopping there! You can now also follow us on SnapChat. We are the biggest soccer social chat in the country and the Soccer Laduma Supporters club now has 79 189 members. I share this with you mainly because we want to thank you with all our hearts for the incredible love and support you have shown Soccer Laduma for the last 19 years. You make the long hours we put in totally worthwhile. Your support gives us strength, motivates us and fills us with gratitude and love. To all of you, thank you and we love you, we really do! As ever, please call me at the office or email me if you have any questions, advice, criticism or for your opinions. This is also a perfect opportunity for me to make an announcement that excites me so much, and that is that Vuyani Joni will be the new editor of Soccer Laduma. It's a role that Vuyani has been groomed for, for a number of years now. VJ, as we call him, joined Soccer Laduma 10 years ago as a journalist. Like the vast majority of our journalists, VJ started as a Soccer Laduma reader first and then became one of our journalists. VJ has gone through the ranks with us. From journalist, he moved to feature writer, Deputy Editor, Supporters Club Editor and will now be the Editor of Soccer Laduma. VJ is surrounded by a top team and next month we will announce another fantastic addition to the team. I will obviously still be around and VJ has my full support, trust and commitment. Clint Roper, who has moved to head up content marketing to ensure that our advertisers feel the full benefit of the relationship we have with our reader, will also be there to offer a helping hand if necessary. Rest assured that VJ will continue in the true Soccer Laduma tradition and that he fully understands that you, the readers, are his boss! VJ is also a very quick and skillful soccer player and he and his Soccer Laduma 5-a-side teammates have won numerous titles together, so he can handle himself on any football pitch. Good luck, VJ, and we are excited to see you take Soccer Laduma to the next level! Cheers Peter
