About 18 months ago, TownNews.com surveyed 600 newspaper
executives around the country. We found four trends:
1. Newspaper executives consider the Internet to be “a very
important” part of their papers’ future.
2. However, most executives planned to spend “very little” on
their web site.
3. Most executives were tired of talking about technology and
wanted revenue solutions and business plans.
4. While the newspapers were unwilling to spend money for
Internet solutions, they were highly willing to participate in
revenue share projects.
We took those messages to heart.
Our development team was directed to focus on software that will
bring more revenue to our clients.
We saw classifieds as being the No. 1 revenue producer, so we
completely rewrote and enhanced our entire classified system. We
added real estate and auto verticals.
Our top product release this year has been our display ad
converter, which enables newspapers to easily and inexpensively
post display ads to their Internet sites. Previously, newspapers
posted only their classified liners, which amounted to 60 to 100
percent of their online revenue.
Posting liners was effective. Among our nearly 700 newspaper
clients, 20 to 50 percent of the web traffic is customers looking
at classified ads. This proves that the buyers of the classifieds
are getting good value when they pay a surcharge for Internet
distribution.
Left out of this mix were some of the newspapers’ best
advertisers – the classified display advertisers. Surely these
advertisers want Internet distribution, and certainly newspapers
would like the extra income.
There were vendors who would convert display ads into online
display ads – but the cost was $8 to $25 per ad, which for small
newspapers was more than they could ask of their display
advertisers.
The TownNews.com development team – led by Chris Dorr, Brad Ward
and Lonnie Blonsett – decided to build a better mousetrap. This new
system, which is now being used by scores of newspapers, allows
papers to post their display ads “in column” with the classified
liners. All the ads – liners and display – are searchable.
The best news is that the price is under $1 an ad, and the
production time is less than three minutes per ad.
This means a newspaper can add a $5 or $10 surcharge to every
display ad. This provides the advertiser with great value, while
giving the newspaper a new high-margin product.
The advertising sales staff – and the advertiser – easily
understands the up-sell. There’s just one ad to create and proof.
If your production staff can create pdf (portable document files),
web production is a snap. The pdfs are converted to compressed
photo files and stored and displayed as clickable thumbnails.
The TownNews.com software has a scheduler and an easy way to
target the ads into classified categories. Shortly, these
thumbnails can be targeted throughout a newspaper’s online edition,
making it easier to up-sell all display ads!
There’s other revenue-generating tools. TownNews.com also offers
software that allows newspapers to easily aggregate automobile and
real estate listings.
Not sure you can sell these products? TownNews.com‘s Special Web
Advertising Team (SWAT) can come into your town – on a revenue
sharing basis – and help put all the technology and sales together
to make your online newspaper profitable.
The TownNews.com SWAT team has produced over $1,400,000 in gross
sales for 70 newspapers since Jan. 1, 2002. In some markets, the
TownNews SWAT team has produced over $50,000 in new revenues, with
significant amounts coming from non-traditional newspaper
advertisers.
(Marc Wilson is ceo/general manager of TownNews.com. He is
reachable at marcus@townnews.com or
800-293-9576.)
