Newspaper Web site advertising experiment using Real-Time Ads

Small local advertisers represent a $24 billion market nationwide. MinnPost.com is trying to tap into that market by offering advertisers a short feed on certain parts of their Web site for a modest weekly fee.

It's easy for advertisers, it's cheap and it's not a lot of work for the news organization. Knight Digital Media Center's Michele McLellan asks, "Do you think this model would work for your site? How are you capturing local advertising dollars online?"

Spreading the wealth and keeping it local

South Carolina's Aiken Standard did something a lot of community newspapers have forgotten how to do: mobilize their community. By helping local businesses, they helped themselves to some hard-earned revenue. Read the inspiring story.

Sell more than the news

How often do you write about new products you received a press release about? What about top 10 lists of things your readers must have? Fashion? Home and garden? Movies and books? Why aren't you selling what you're talking about? Bloggers do it all the time.

You can link from your stories to your own online store like The Guardian, or go through a third party as an affiliate, like Amazon Associates.

Sure, it might now be millions of dollars, but something is better than nothing.

Create an elite niche product

Why do people spend $400 on Jimmy Choo shoes? I don't know, but I do know that people will pay big bucks for something they percieve as elite. Have you heard about what they're doing at Worth magazine? They have created a smaller, higher-quality version of the magazine with thicker-stock paper, more photography, and a matte finish and they're mailing it free to carefully selected high-net-worth households (i.e. rich folks who like read about money). They've also decided to be more picky about advertisers, selecting only top performing wealth advisers.

What if you're not rich and want to read Worth? Pick it up for $20 at the newsstand. Will this new approach work? We'll keep our eyes on it.

Get your editorial and marketing teams on the same page.

Do you really know what your readers like to read about? Just ask them. A Chicago Tribune collaboration surveyed "would-be readers" about general news topics and previous story coverage. You could do this in your own market and even get reader opinions on different story angles. This kind of information can be useful in so many ways. Read on: http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=31&aid=162884.

Using Flickr to add value, traffic

(This picture was taken by Rachel Sian.)

Having a Flickr account is good for promoting your community events and company awards, but it can be used in ways you never thought about.

For example: Say you're putting together a theme issue or a special section or a microsite and your budget is nil. Flickr to the rescue. Get free photo of the location you're writing about, the product you're trying to sell or special events you're promoting. Not only that, but if you post the photo on your website (and link back to Flickr) and notify the owner of the photo that you featured them, you get a little traffic from them sending their peeps over to you to check out the photo.

Flickr is a free service, but there are many advantages to upgrading to the "pro", plus it's a cheap $25/year to upgrade. You'll want to search for Creative Commons-licensed content that is available for commercial use.

Read Getting Links and Content From Flickr for some really great ideas on how to use Flickr to your advantage.


For more information on copyright and Creative Commons, check out these links:

Flickr's Creative Commons guidelines
Creative Commons FAQ

Creative Commons + Flickr = 22 Million Sharable Photosby Mark Glaser

Man cannot live by bread alone

Multiple revenue streams, people. I say it again and again. You cannot solely depend on adverting dollars to succeed. You've got to find other ways of supporting real journalism and sometimes that means providing a related service like a tourism guide or a book of lists.

Here's a great idea I came across today: http://newsvideographer.com/2009/02/12/another-interesting-journalistic-service. Use your multimedia journalists to offer a local business a professionally created video or web element. It's added revenue dollars using skilled employees that you already have.

What do you think? Best idea or bad idea? Comment and let us know!

Work your watchdog

The News-Press in Ft. Myers, FL is located in a town that has become the poster child for the current economic state, but that hasn't stop them from making watchdog journalism the foundation of their newsroom. They have begun a new program on their website where the plan to share information with their readers via databases and blogs. Three long-time reporters and 15 citizens will "scrutinize, investigate and hold people accountable". They welcome tips from whistleblowers and hope to make Lee County a better place.

http://www.news-press.com/article/20090208/OPINION/902080374/1015/OPINION

How is your newspaper doing in the area of watchdog journalism? What are you doing to encourage a more transparent and accountable government?

Here's your 90-second pitch

Seattle just held a Startup Weekend, where 47 presentions were given 90 seconds each to pitch their ideas. One idea that might have merit for newspapers? A crowdsourcing site about your city...hosted by the local news outlet. Watch the pitch below.

Taking web innovation in different directions

The best newspaper stories are inspirational. Maybe a profile inspires hope, maybe an investigative piece inspires outrage, maybe a feature inspires goodwill. What if a newspaper story inspired music?

What if the news site encouraged its stories to inspire music? Read more and tell us what you think of this idea: How to promote the local music scene and deliver killer content to your news site.

Really thinking outside the box in terms of personnel structure

Here's a radical idea stemming from a conversation with Bryan Murley, Assistant Professor of New and Emerging Media at Eastern Illinois University: "I had a student tell me recently his idea was a reversal of hierarchy: Have the older journos serve as interns and let the twentysomethings run the show and attract younger readers."

And while we're thinking outside the box, let's picture other scenarios: two-person teams on each beat...one to cover it as a mainstream journalist would and one make it enaging on the Web. A team that shares info and teaches each other...

What ground-breaking ideas do you have? Let us know!

Adding functionality to your Web site

So, someone's on your Web site and they see this awesome article and they want to share it. Do you offer some sort of "email this" feature?

Here's a tool for anyone that wants to add functionality to their Web site, but does not have the technical background to do so. Many of the newer content managment systems for the Web offer this is some sort of format, but if you handle your own Web site design, here's something to keep in mind: People get on the internet to be social. Hence the explosion of social networking applications.

	So, help them be social. Add This can help. Roll your mouse over the button to the right...see what happens.
Add This is a little button that can help your story reach a lot of people by allowing readers to email the article or post it to their social network or bookmarking site with one click. And it's fully customizeable. AND IT'S FREE!
Try it. Tell me what you think.