A few months ago, I wrote about using an editorial calendar to leverage a little revenue for the newsroom. It seemed like a good idea at the time: If one can predict news coverage (like the kind expected with holidays, elections and other cyclical events), then one can plan to make money around it.
I finally saw the concept come together last weekend, marching down the avenue like a big parade — the neighborhood’s 18th annual gay-pride parade, to be exact. Thousands of people lined the street to see politicians wave at the crowds, drag queens dance to Miley Cyrus, and leather mamas prowl on motorcycles. It was a good gig.
My original game plan for the parade was to photograph the hell out of it, with the intent of building a marketable stockpile for other publications to use (for a fee, of course). But I also took note of what spectators were doing on the sidelines. Some of them were noshing on breakfast, many others were on their cell phones, calling or texting friends for a post-parade lunch. Still others were buying souvenir flags and buttons.
That’s when I had my epiphany. Everything these spectators did represented revenue-raising opportunities for a hyperlocal news outlet. Hungry crowds would have spelled jackpot for local restaurants and the hyperlocalist selling discounted meal tickets in advance. (For more information on this revenue-sharing stream, check out this brilliant post from the Nieman Journalism Lab. It’s a goody.) Advanced souvenir sales using the same method could have added to the profits.
A hyperlocal news outfit also could have hosted a pre- or post-parade event, driving revenue either through a cover charge, advanced ticket sales or event-planning services. Of course, selling ads to parade participants, retailers along the parade route, and even those marching politicians up for re-election would have been another juicy revenue stream.
Admittedly, these ideas have nothing to do with how editorial content is created. Instead, they’re about diversifying the money flow without guessing when or how that flow happens. And if an editorial calendar can help a hyperlocalist do that, then why not use it.
Photo courtesy of Flickr user ennuipoet.
Hello, potential investor. Will you be my friend?
I enjoy speaking with fellow hyperlocalists, especially when one has an interesting question to pose. Recently, one hyperlocalist — I’ll call him Buddy for privacy’s sake — said he’d been approached by a large local business that was willing to finance a news network covering nearby neighborhoods, with Buddy at the editorial wheel. In exchange, the business would get discounted advertising space and a regular column about its industry.
My advice to him was this: Make the damn deal, but hammer out every detail first. That includes details in one’s business plan, corporate or nonprofit structure, and newsroom hierarchy (even if it’s a newsroom of one). Getting his house in order allows Buddy to spell out his publication’s financial and philosophical objectives to this investor, and it will help both parties understand where the boardroom ends and the newsroom begins.
Next, I suggested that Buddy and his investor test drive this business arrangement on his existing publication. Instead of launching new franchises from scratch, Buddy can apply the investor’s capital to expanding his current news coverage into adjacent neighborhoods, taking advantage of his existing network of local freelance reporters and bloggers. If the expanded coverage proves to be self-sustaining, he can then launch franchises with the same journalistic clout and financial stamina of his original publication.
Buddy’s one investor can also be his greatest cheerleader, encouraging other businesses to invest in or advertise with his original news outlet and new franchise network. After all, a viable hyperlocal news product reflects a neighborhood worthy of investment, something from which area retailers, restaurateurs, employers, homeowners and municipal agencies benefit.
I hope Buddy keeps me up to date on how this business arrangement progresses and whether he’s taken approaches other than what’s mentioned above. In the meantime, hyperlocalists can get help with the nuts, bolts and numbers of their business plans with the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), a terrific nonprofit group that advises small business owners.
Good luck, Buddy!
Photo courtesy of Flickr user mtsofan.