Mathew's comments - Latest Comments in A back fence around a ghost town

Re: A back fence around a ghost town

Steven Clift — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 10:53:14 -0000

If revenue, much less profit, remains elusive in local online efforts like Backfence.com, let's not give up on the idea of connecting people online based on local geography.

At E-Democracy.Org, we've been hosting very active online local Issues Forums for over a decade with extremely limited resources. We are now in seven communities in Minnesota and England. Our model starts with the low low cost "forum" at the center including a local volunteer forum manager and steering committee (think Rotary) and builds out from there. See: http://e-democracy.org/if

I think the starting point for local citizen media should be what can you do online for almost nothing that is sustainable and engaging. Then build up from there as your grow your participatory audience. Starting first with "news" the generates ad revenue might be the wrong starting point.

Steven Clift
E-Democracy.Org

Re: A back fence around a ghost town

Mathew Ingram — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 21:21:44 -0000

Thanks, Tish -- I have to say I'm not a big fan of pay walls (and I say that as someone who works for a newspaper that has one). I think that's a short-term solution that ultimately pushes people away and makes a site less relevant rather than more so. I think there are lots of better ways to monetize things.

Re: A back fence around a ghost town

tish grier — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 18:11:42 -0000

Matt...

One of the local newspapers out here in Western Mass, the Daily Hampshire Gazette has put all its content behind a pay wall. I'm not sure how its effecting their bottom line, but I do know that some friends have converted print subscriptions to online.

So, that can work--but right now is working only for converting a print product to online...

But I think that hyperlocal c.j. sites have to be thought of in the same way that many "personal" blogs are thought. They will have readership, but because they're very niche, the readership will be limited. Not every hyperlocal site can be TechCrunch the way every "personal" blogger can't be Dooce. :-)

(btw, I just posted on the issue at my blog)

Re: A back fence around a ghost town

Mathew Ingram — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 15:38:10 -0000

That's a good point, Tish. And it seems to me that with a thriving community and great content, there should be all sorts of ways in which a local site can bring in revenue without having it all be banner ads or search keywords -- why not co-brand local events or run contests, etc.?

Some communities might even be able to get away with tiers of service, with some subscription content. But I still think having a strong community is the most important thing, and that everything else flows from that. Thanks for the comment.

Re: A back fence around a ghost town

tish grier — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 15:11:36 -0000

Hi Matt...

thing is, the community could be vibrant and the citizen reporting could be great, but it doesn't make up for the fact that many cit j sites are looking to create revenu *only* from advertising. At first blush it looks like there's less overhead for online, and the ads can be less costly than for print. But the thing is, most ads generate only pennies per click (that is, unless you find a great way to commit click fraud).

Many free small-town print pubs have other revenue streams from other services to support their ad revenue. This makes complete sense for any small, independent venture (most freelance writers, too, are encouraged to have more than one revenue stream.)

I hate to see Backfence fold, but I think its problems only highlight basic problems of trying to create sufficient sustainable revenue from a free, hyperlocal product with only one revenue source.

Re: A back fence around a ghost town

Eric Berlin — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 22:59:04 -0000

From what I've seen, while there are local successes (as have been mentioned here) no one has been able to create a succesful collective of sites that focus on various locales. Maybe it's because ldesire for local-oriented content has not yet reached critical mass online? Or perhaps it's because no one can get the advertising model quite right. I wouldn't be surprised if the first model to find success will have a basis in social networking with some value-added content.

Re: A back fence around a ghost town

Sameer — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 21:17:49 -0000

Hey Matthew. Hoboken411 is not my site but ZapTXT (our service) powers the notifications for new posts and new comments. Yes, there's a lot of commenting that happens given that local news, events, accidents, incidents are covered blow by blow.

Re: A back fence around a ghost town

Mathew Ingram — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 20:21:18 -0000

Thanks, Sameer. Interesting looking site. Do you get a lot of contributions from readers?

Re: A back fence around a ghost town

Sameer — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 19:26:58 -0000

Hi Matthew,
Check out www.Hoboken411.com for another example of a vibrant micro community.