Comments on: Making a local site that can support itself

By: Kiara Kallenberger

Kiara Kallenberger — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:06:38 +0000

I absolutely like your blog and find almost all of your post’s to be precisely what I’m searching for. Do you offer guest writers to write content for you? I wouldn’t mind making a post on the subject. Once again, awesome web-site!

By: RickWaghorn

RickWaghorn — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:45:10 +0000

Local advertising has always been a subject very dear to our heart after four years walking that particular walk with http://www.myfootballwriter.com

The fact that we can now offer publishers like Phil and http://www.thelichfieldblog.co.uk the chance to run their own richer media ad suite should – hopefully – help us edge that little bit further to getting one or two people to a ‘not-for-loss’ proposition.

http://rickwaghorn.co.uk/2010/03/18/one-tiny-little-milesone-on-the-streets-of-lichfield-this-evening-perhaps-we-dont-all-need-to-bow-to-our-former-masters-pay-rent-to-our-lords/

best etc

By: Philip

Philip — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 06:55:51 +0000

Great ideas, and ones that have been knocking around my head for a while - see my blog posts on 'getting serious about hyperlocal'... The tag/geo-targeted ads are something I've been harping on about for ages, and plan to offer through Journal Local (my -free- hyperlocal platform, built on WordPress) using Addiply. I'm also getting on well with pimping out through the hyperlocal I help run, The Lichfield Blog - and they'll be a significant announcement about this soon, so look out for that! All good stuff & ideas that need spreading further!

By: Geoff Sakala

Geoff Sakala — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:14:56 +0000

Rick, geo targeting and contextual ads are a great first step. Behavioral targeting would be another addition worth exploring. Sites can also sell category sponsorships which are time based. Local ad networks will become the defacto standard in the next 5 years as the media landscape continues to fragment. Paid content and social media marketing are another piece of the puzzle. Business directories and online coupons, see Shopcity.com are another option. Another unique idea is a paid mobile app. Rather than charging subscribers, charge for access to a cool mobile app.

By: Adam Gaffin

Adam Gaffin — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:14:09 +0000

Possibly a more elegant Drupal approach, although it will take a bit of PHP and a couple seconds more work per node:

Install the Primary Term module, which adds a new taxonomy dropdown on your nodes – to select a single term. You now have a new variable you can grab for putting into a PHP true/false condition in a block.

By: Jim Long

Jim Long — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:18:53 +0000

I love “Those of you shackled by legacy CMSs”. Some CMS out there are pretty inflexible and might have been right for a different area. Important to note that investing a good web development team that can keep up with changing technology is a vital component to success.

Also, while all of these revenue ideas are smart, I think the last two might get into murky areas in regard to journalistic credibility. I’m not so naive to think the much of journalistic credibility hasn’t been tossed out the window in pursuit of revenue streams, but I think we still need focus on what’s important.

Anyway, thanks for the nice post