DCUM: A Hobby No More

In 2001, I set up a mailing list to be used by my wife, Maria, and a friend of hers for something they were calling "DC Urban Moms". That inauspicious undertaking spawned a hobby of administering and growing both the mailing list and the associated website. For a decade, DCUM has been a side project. It has been something we did in our spare time and mostly for fun. Today, that changed.

Two weeks ago Maria turned in her resignation from the job at which she has worked for the past five years. Today was her last day. She made this move when the two of us could no longer deny that DCUM had outgrown it status of "hobby". Several years ago, the mailing list stabilized at approximately 8,000 subscribers. Members come and members go, but the number of subscribers stays roughly the same. The website, however, has grown massively. Today, a half million people visit DCUM each month. Nearly half of those are return visitors and somewhere in the vicinity of 30% are daily users.

In 2005, we started selling advertising on the website. In the first full month, we earned $183. Now, DCUM's revenue can easily replace the salary that Maria is giving up. So, starting tomorrow, DCUM is her job.

DCUM users are unlikely to notice much of a difference. Along with the realization that DCUM is no longer a hobby comes a different set of priorities. Maria's first task will be development of a new advertising system that will allow us to manage advertisers ourselves rather than solely through a third party ad network (we will continue our relationship with that network). The vast majority of what she will be doing will likely be behind the scenes.

For Maria and me, and hopefully for DCUM, this is an important milestone. So, please join me in welcoming Maria to her new role.