Writing samples

the
Inlander
MAY 2011 | Vol. 25, No. 5

Inland
knowledge for newspapers
Mailed Monday, April 25, from Sterling, Ill.
Inform post office if it arrives after May 9.

schurz communications improves mobile strategy training
By Adolfo Mendez “We have a Mo- find a page that lets them know early adopters
editor bile BEATS strat- where they can connect with the During the economic recession, “We had eight people
egy—mobile media company on any one of its Oslund said Schurz remained com- participate in the Inland
Media companies are looking to Browsers, mobile 15 Twitter accounts, nine Facebook mitted to delivering news and in- Webinar, ‘Alternative Story
play in the mobile space without Email, mobile pages and a handful of mobile ap- formation to readers when, where Forms.’ We were glad to see the
going through expensive, time- Apps, mobile Text, plications. and how they wanted it. “We’re in presenter was as excited as
consuming trial and error. and a mobile So- Keeping costs down is critical, the middle of a near-Depression, some of us are about changing
Take, for example, the Misha- cial strategy,” said but Oslund said he isn’t necessarily and we’re at this crazy point of time the way we report the news. The
Kerry oslund
waka, Ind.-based Schurz Commu- Kerry Oslund, concerned about finding one busi- where everything we do has to have Inland Webinar was informative,
nications Inc., which publishes 11 vice president of ness partner that can meet all his an immediate ROI,” he said. contained lots of good ideas and
dailies and eight weeklies across digital media at Schurz Communi- mobile needs. “Just because you’re And while the ROI for media confirmed to our reporters what
the country. The company, which cations. “That’s what Schurz is incredible at SMS doesn’t mean companies that adopted mobile we as editors have been telling
has 10 TV stations, owns or oper- talking about when we’re talking you’re incredible at app building,” platforms early was spotty, Schurz them for a while.”
ates 16 radio stations and several about mobile.” he said. “We use different partners, was making plans to expand its — Mick Kearns, news editor,
other media properties, takes a big- At the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune but if some do multiple aspects Prince George Citizen, Prince
picture perspective on mobile. website, for example, readers can great, we’ll consider that.” scHurz: continued on pAge 10 George, British Columbia

How to navigate through the mobile publishing space
May 5 | Webinar
Improve Your
Newspaper Website
By Michelle Finkler someone is baffled by the rate frankly, I’m not even sure I want nal barriers to entry. with Better Web Design
AssociAte editor things are changing, we should to play in this space.’ Well, obvi- “I was at a conference about a Media sites are among the most
all sympathize with that because ously, I think that’s a terrible mis- year ago, and one of the questions cluttered and dysfunctional sites
Do you remember the mobile it really is incredible.” take, and I want to show you why was: ‘What does the average pub- on the Web, and it’s time to shake
things up. This Inland Webinar will
phone game Snake by Nokia, The pace of change can make that’s a myth,” Wagner said. lisher expect that mobile develop- help you find your own way in-
where you had to control a long, entering the mobile space appear He said it’s no longer the case ment will cost them internally?’” stead of just following the crowd.
thin 8-bit graphic that moved overwhelming for a newspaper, that going mobile is expensive he said. “In other words, ‘What How can newspapers build audi-
around your tiny screen? he said during a recent Inland thanks to developments during would it cost to deploy apps on ence and develop content for the
Web through better design? This
“That was about 10 years ago,” Webinar. the past six to eight Inland Webinar will challenge you
said Paul Wagner, CEO of Port- Wagner often hears publishers months that have MoBile: continued on pAge 11 to change some core approaches
land, Ore.-based Forkfly, a Web say, “‘This is so complex, there eliminated the origi- you are taking to your website.
startup that offers mobile coupons is so much happening in such a Get ahead of the competition
with a better perspective on what
for local businesses, among short period of time, and the makes websites work and what is
other services. “So when cost is so prohibitive that, holding newspapers back.
WIth BIll OsteNDOrf, presIDeNt,
CreatIve CIrCle MeDIa sOlutIONs,
prOvIDeNCe, r.I.

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the pace of innovation can make entering the mobile space appear overwhelming for a newspaper, says paul Wagner, ceo of portland, ore.-based Forkfly. But thanks to a about best-practice approaches
number of recent developments, the original barriers to entry—such as expensive costs—have been eliminated, he said. IMAgES SuPPlIEd being taken by some media com-
panies to leverage the power of
social media to benefit their edi-
INlaND MeMBer surveY NeW BusINess DevelOpMeNt MONetIzING press releases torial and business operations.
Inland needs your input for Inland invites entries to the A Florida paper rethinks WIth NICk GruDIN, strateGIC
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an upcoming comprehensive 2011 Newspaper Business press releases and finds a NeW YOrk CItY
member survey. development Contest. new revenue stream. Additional training information on page 21
paGe 4 paGe 5 paGe 12 or visit InlandPress.org. Select “Event
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Ideas
Mobile: Recent innovations have eliminated original barriers to entry
ConTInued froM PAge 1 Web developer on your team, have
that person play around with it for
Android and iPhone only?’ Their a couple days, and they’re going to
answer was roughly $250,000. So get it. They’re going to understand
you can see why people would steer what it all means and what the ca-
clear or go with a pre-baked solu- pabilities are.”
tion. The bottom line is this has Cost is one advantage to using a
changed dramatically.” mobile app framework provider,
Prices have dropped to only hun- Wagner said. In addition to the plat-
dreds from thousands of dollars. form itself being free—or “free-
But at the same time, publishers mium” since there are upsells for
face more choices. some features—it’s more cost-ef-
With the fragmented mobile fective than hiring Web developers
market—think iPhone, Android, for each operating system.
Blackberry, Windows and Symbian Another advantage is that Tita-
OS (used by Nokia)—some pub- nium is capable of creating native
lishers think they need to have a builds for iPhone, Android, Black-
presence on all of them, Wagner berry, iPad, etc., meaning changes
said. However, developing for mul- If you have a Web developer on staff, your newspaper can basically go mobile now with the help of mobile application can be made quickly and pushed
tiple platforms is complex, expen- framework products such as redwood City, Calif.-based Sencha’s Sencha Touch, says Paul Wagner, Ceo of Portland, ore.-based out to the various platforms in real
sive and impractical, he said. forkfly. Image supplIed time from one code base, instead of
“If you want to cover all the ma- contacting the various developers
jor players in the mobile space, Media app functionality across various locations when a Tools to build your app individually and getting charged by
you’d have to hire system engineers single location-aware app could ac- the hour to fix the problem, he said.
to manage mobile site content,” he Wagner said what’s key in creat- complish all of this,” he said. Wagner said if newspapers have Since Titanium uses one code base,
said. “You’re going to have to hire ing an app is great design, thinking Additionally, Wagner said it’s a Web developer on staff, they can your changes are uniform across a
Android developers. You’re going through the process and serving up not necessary to develop separate basically go mobile now with the number of platforms, he said.
to have to hire iPhone developers a media-rich experience—not a applications for every niche, like help of mobile application frame- Disadvantages involved in using
who know Objective C, which is a fragmented one. news, sports, weather, etc. work products such as Mountain a product like Titanium include a
coding language. You’d have to “Fragmentation is not limited to “All [the app] needs to do is de- View, Calif.-based Appcelerator’s couple months of lag time behind
hire Windows mobile developers. the operating systems and the de- termine a location, serve up the Titanium and Redwood City, current app development, he said.
You get where I’m going with this. vices on which they operate,” he appropriate branding and content, Calif.-based Sencha’s Sencha For example, Wagner said Titanium
It’s daunting, and it’s expensive. said. “There is something happen- and it needs to do what mobile does Touch. didn’t support push notifications
Even if you have a massive budget, ing in the mobile space called ‘me- best: Deliver hyper-targeted con- “If you download the Forkfly ap- until the company was able to fig-
it still doesn’t make sense.” dia fragmentation.’ There are now tent wherever I am,” he said. “One plication, it’s built using Titanium,” ure out how to integrate it into the
When Forkfly launched two and over 400,000 applications on of the fears of this strategy is that, Wagner said. “While you might framework. Forkfly could have fig-
a half years ago, Wagner said the iTunes. There are over 200,000 on ‘Oh my goodness, people are too look at the application and think that ured it out on its own, but that
company only had to build for the the Android Market. What does this simple; they aren’t going to get it. we hired developers for Android, would have required hiring native
iPhone because there were no oth- result in?” We’re going to deploy an applica- iPhone—which, by the way, we app developers, he said.
er devices that supported the type Fragmentation, Wagner said. tion that offers all this functional- once did—it’s built with Titanium. Whatever route you choose for
of technology that Forkfly offered, “Consumers demand true unifor- ity, and it’s going to overwhelm Forgive me for saying this, but we your newspaper’s mobile strategy,
such as location awareness and mity in the mobile space,” he said. our reader base, and that’s going blew a lot of money trying to build Wagner said it’s important to get
serving up a media-rich experience. “The fragmentation that’s now hap- to spell doom for our mobile strat- our own, and then we figured out into this space—despite how over-
Fortunately, that’s changed, and pening in media in the application egy. News, weather, sports inte- that—thanks to a number of recent whelming it may seem.
there are new carriers and operating environment has really led to a lot grated into one app?’ I’m telling innovations—we could take a dif- “Mobile will be the single largest
systems to consider, he said. of confusion. The applications that you, it can be done extraordinarily ferent approach. So can you.” disruption in the history of the pub-
“If you’re looking to build an tend to flourish the most are the well.” Wagner said your Web develop- lishing industry,” he said. “A lot of
app, I would strongly suggest start- ones that offer the most utility As an example, Wagner said on ers on staff could build a mobile people said the Web was massive-
ing with Android,” he said. “If any- across the widest geographic the Facebook app, users can per- application over a weekend. In de- ly disruptive; mobile takes it to the
thing, it just means you will be area.” form various tasks, such as update veloping Forkfly’s mobile applica- next level. In fact, there are soci-
carried on more devices. For example, Wagner said an your status and location, view pho- tion using Titanium, Wagner said ologists saying this may be the
“A lot of people say, ‘Let’s de- advantage of Google is that you tos and videos, send emails, share the company took its existing web- single largest social disruption in
velop for iPhone; that’s the priori- don’t have to download different photos, find local events, chat, site and wrapped it in what is called all of human history.
ty.’ Android devices are now out- apps for use in different locations, check into a location and tag your a “native shell,” which pushes con- “I would love to say that things
selling iPhone. Part of it is the iP- such a Google Portland or Google friends, and get local coupons. tent out to the different operating are going to get better or less com-
hone exists in a closed universe. Seattle app. For media companies “If Facebook would have systems, such as iPhone, Android, plicated, but in fact, it’s quite the
What that means is it’s designed for that have newspapers in various launched separate apps for each etc. There were some bugs to work opposite. Mobile is not just about
one device. Android now is in- geographic locations, they would one of theses functions, would Fa- out, but Wagner said the point is, phones; mobile is a revolution that
stalled with a number of mobile better serve mobile users by devel- cebook even have a presence in the the barriers to entry are gone. will power virtually everything in
carriers but goes beyond mobile oping one application for all prop- mobile space?” he asked. “I would “What’s the cost?” Wagner your wireless, digitally intercon-
devices. For example, the Barnes erties that serves up appropriate dare say no, but my point is that asked. “Titanium is free. It’s what’s nected life. Newspapers need to be
& Noble Nook runs Android OS content through geo-targeting. things you might find complex, called an open-source framework, a part of that.”
and can actually run Android ap- “Part of my point is that it makes your readers have already become and you can download it right now,
plications all within the e-reader.” little sense to deploy multiple apps acclimated to.” give it to your development staff or Contact: Paul Wagner, paul@forkfly.com

MAY 2011 | InlandPress.org | The Inlander PAGE 11

Ideas
Improve your Twitter strategy with these Web-based tools
By Michelle Finkler
AssocIATE EdITor

Whether you’re a Twitter novice or enthusiast, there’s always room
for improvement when it comes to making the most of the microblogging
site. But have you always wondered just how valuable Twitter can re-
ally be to your media company?
Twitter is a powerful way to attract and engage followers, according
to Paul Wagner, CEO of Portland, Ore.-based Forkfly. You can evaluate
and improve your media company’s Twitter presence with the following
Web-based tools, Wagner said.

Twitalyzer
Website: Twitalyzer.com Friend or Follow is a free way to find out who you’ve followed who hasn’t followed you back.
Cost: Freemium
What it does: Gauges the overall impact of your Twitter account. Friend
Twitalyzer rates your Twitter account’s
engagement, generosity in retweeting
These Twitalyzer ratings tie together, he
said, affecting your score in other metrics.
of information that you have to filter
through yourself,” he said. “What happens or Follow
other users’ tweets and other metrics, such So if your generosity drops, so does your with Facebook are a couple things. Let’s
as which tweets have been the most suc- velocity or the speed in which your mes- say I post a really long message to Face- Website: FriendorFollow.com
cessful, Wagner said. sage is pushed into the stream, he said. book. When I say ‘really long,’ I mean Cost: Free
“Engagement simply means, ‘What are “What this means in essence is that our more than 140 characters. What happens
What it does: shows who
we doing to create a dialogue?’” he said. message may sit there for some time before is because my Facebook feed is linked to
“If we post a tweet and someone responds someone picks up on it and rebroadcasts Twitter, my message is cut short [on Twit- you’ve followed who hasn’t
to it, are we saying thank you? Are we giv- it,” he said. “You’re at a big advantage as ter]. Since Facebook posts tend to be a bit followed you back.
ing feedback?” a news organization because the type of longer, they don’t translate well to Twitter.
Wagner said a newspaper’s generosity content you’re putting out there is going to You’ve got to compress to get your mes- Friend or Follow is a quick and
rating on Twitalyzer should be in a very be relevant and worthy of being shared in sage across on Twitter. If you don’t get easy way to find out who hasn’t
high percentile, meaning you are retweet- real-time. If you’re putting out something your message across, you won’t get picked followed you back so you can un-
ing fellow tweeps’ posts, he said. that says, ‘Freeway closed between exits up and retweeted.” follow them, Wagner said.
“Let’s say you have someone who is 23 and 25,’ that’s something people are Another service, Twitter Grader (Twit- “It’s very simple,” he said. “If
regularly retweeting your message,” Wag- going to pick up on.” terGrader.com), is similar to Twitalyzer they’re not following you back—
ner said. “Twitalyzer will show who your Wagner also warned against linking your but free and much more simplistic in eval- unless it’s a valuable source of
top followers are—the ones who love your Facebook page to your Twitter account uating your feed on Twitter, Wagner said. information that you might want
content and share it with their friends. since, as a media company, you’re trying It shows the number of updates, the number to rebroadcast in your own chan-
What would be generous of our [Forkfly] to accomplish two different goals with each of tweeps you’re following, the number of nel—they’re completely worthless
feed to do is anytime they have something platform. followers you have and your rank out of to you. I’m not sure who you
to say that is of interest, to rebroadcast it “Twitter is a constant flow—a stream of the roughly 9.5 million active Twitter us- might want to follow in your area.
to our 9,300 Portland followers.” consciousness. This is a constant barrage ers. Maybe it’s the mayor of your
Twitalyzer is a Web- town, and he hasn’t followed you
based tool that back. Don’t delete the guy or girl.
rates your Twitter That’s probably a bad idea since
feed’s overall they’re a useful source. But if it’s
impact. Twitalyzer the guy from the bike shop down
is a freemium the street, and he has not followed
service with you back, delete him and be done
subscriptions
starting at $4.99 per with it.”
month.
Continued on next page

PAGE 12 The Inlander | InlandPress.org | JUNE 2011

Ideas
Continued from previous page

Tweet Adder
Website: TweetAdder.com
Cost: Prices start at $55
What it does: Allows you to search
for local, active Twitter users, so you roughly an hour because it doesn’t want to
do this too quickly or that could alert Twit-
can follow them and get followers in ter that something is amiss. So the 300 get
return. added. What’s the next step? The next step
is to wait. You wait roughly a week. If they
Wagner said media companies can beef have not followed you back within a week,
up their Twitter feeds and the feeds of their they are not going to follow you back.”
local advertisers by using Tweet Adder. The next step is to unfollow, Wagner
“We have social media feeds all over said. Of the tweeps that you’ve followed
the country with sizes ranging from 3,000 during the past week, Twitter Adder will
to 12,000,” Wagner said. “What we’ve show who has not followed you back so
started to do there is take local merchant you can delete them.
content and rebroadcast it. What we can Tweet Adder allows you to search by location and activity, so your newspaper can find active “Statistically, roughly 15 to 20 percent
do that merchants can’t and what we can tweeps in your area. of those that you follow will follow you
do that they don’t know about is use soft- back with each batch,” Wagner said. “So,
ware like this to quickly ramp up Twitter In the markets that Wagner has been weeks and you decide to add 400 followers if 20 percent is the number, I’ve just add-
efforts. Still, Twitter is only as good as the working with, he said they were able to get that day, you may get banished for the pe- ed 60 new followers over a two-day period.
nature of your feed and the number of fol- 2,000 to 3,000 new followers in the period riod of a week. That’s for your first of- You’re going to do this every day. You’re
lowers who decide to opt in.” of a month. Results may vary, however, fense. If you do it again, you’re gone. They going to cycle through this—add, unfol-
Wagner said it’s easy to acquire a lot of since you still have to make sure that will get rid of your feed.” low, add, unfollow.”
junk followers, but finding quality follow- you’re putting great content on that feed, To be safe and not draw attention from Twitter Adder can also be used to man-
ers can be challenging. Tweet Adder, how- he said. Also, the process of using Tweet Twitter, Wagner said Forkfly has found age your feed and send delayed tweets, like
ever, allows you to search by location and Adder to build followers is gradual since success in the following steps: Make sure HootSuite allows, though Wagner said
activity, such as searching specifically for following too many tweeps at once will you’ve posted quality content to the feed what Twitter Adder is best at is managing
Twitter users in the Portland area who have trigger a red flag with Twitter, he said. at least daily, find all the local followers multiple feeds, searching by parameters
tweeted during the past five days, he “Twitter is very careful about spam, and active on Twitter during the past five days and adding local followers.
said. I don’t just mean sending out a bunch of and add roughly 300 new followers using “This is about finding qualified people
“That’s a wonderful search parameter,” junk messages,” he said. “What they’re Tweet Adder. that you want to follow in your commu-
Wagner said. “What Twitter will tell you really looking for is are you adding too “How do you add a follower?” Wagner nity only,” he said. “It’s easy to build a
is that they have two billion users world- many followers at a time, and if so, why asked. “You’ve done this search, they’ve follower base on Twitter that will do you
wide, but what they don’t tell you is that are you? And if you are adding too many given you this list and you click ‘Add Fol- absolutely no good because the bottom line
most of them are dead or not using the followers at a time, what’s the nature of lowers.’ ‘How many would you like to is, if you’re just adding random people
system. You want to make sure you’re us- your content? So they’ve got this crazy add?’ 300. This is who you’re fol- from around the country, they don’t care
ing the active base, which is what this algorithm, and if you go in there and lowing. You’ve followed 300 about your content.”
system is really great at doing.” you’ve got one tweet over the last three people over a period of

Twitter Counter
Website: TwitterCounter.com
Cost: Freemium
What it does: Projects your Twitter feed’s growth in followers.
Wagner said Twitter Counter is a great way to see
how your Twitter feed is trending with regard to
attracting followers.
“What this will do is give me some rapid stats on they try to delete spam followers, which is why you’ll
my growth,” Wagner said. “So every once in a while, see that drop-off.”
you’ll see that we dropped a few followers. Twitter
will do a scan of their entire database of users, and Contact: Paul Wagner, paul@forkfly.com

JUNE 2011 | InlandPress.org | The Inlander PAGE 13

Ideas
What are best practices for social media use by media companies?
By Michelle Finkler
AssocIATE EdITor Breaking news
Setting a successful social media When stepping up your newspaper’s
policy at your media company is social media efforts, Henry M. Lopez,
really about setting expectations, professional digital development and
said Henry M. Lopez, professional projects manager for The Santa Fe (N.M.)
digital development and projects New Mexican, said a good place to start
manager for The Santa Fe (N.M.) is breaking news.
New Mexican. And setting clear Lopez said media companies should
social media expectations, in turn, set goals for breaking news, which can
sets your employees up for success include:
rather than failure. • Sending out text message alerts
“When you read about people • Posting an alert on your newspaper’s
losing their jobs because of what website, Facebook page and Twitter
happened on their Facebook page feeds
or Twitter accounts, what you find • Sending out an e-mail blast
in those stories is there was usu-
Lopez said news organizations should
ally no policy in place; they just
get specific about when to alert the
pissed somebody off,” he said dur-
public of a breaking story.
ing the recent 2011 Mobile and
“Report what you know when you
Social Networking Boot Camp.
know it,” he said. “If you have to make
“Value your employees and help
that call [to verify information], make
them avoid confusion. Let them
the call. Find out if there really was a
know what you’re expecting and The frequency in which you should update a breaking news story differs from platform to platform, said
shooting at city hall.” Henry M. Lopez, professional digital development and projects manager for The santa Fe (N.M.) New
let them know what to expect of
After verifying the information and Mexican. on Twitter, media companies can send out lots of updates, while Facebook users are more
you.”
posting the initial news alert onto the sensitive to the number of updates posted, he said.
Setting a clear policy legitimizes
various platforms, Lopez said to request
the medium and lets employees
information from readers. For example, if Additionally, Lopez said newspapers tra updates if it’s not significant. Don’t
know you’re serious about social
there’s a shooting at city hall, newspa- should be mindful of the acceptable fre- send out four email alerts every two
media, Lopez said. But policies
pers should ask, “Do you know anything quency of breaking news updates, which hours, but on Twitter, you can send out a
aren’t meant to be a heavy-handed,
about that?” Media companies also varies from platform to platform. Ulti- lot of updates. Your Facebook customers
restrictive list of don’ts.
should ask readers to send in photos tak- mately, determining whether a piece of are a little more sensitive to the number
“When I talk to people about this,
en with their phones (while safely out of information is worthy of an update is a of status updates that you’re sending
sometimes they feel like they’re
harm’s way, of course), he said. Lopez also judgment call, he said. out. If you’re going to make my phone
goons,” he said. “You get problems
emphasized thanking readers for submit- “Not every piece of breaking news is buzz with an alert, it’d better be worth
when policies are written to be re-
ting comments, information and photos. the same,” he said. “Don’t throw out ex- it.”
strictive. Some policies say, ‘Don’t
ever talk about what happened in
meetings. Don’t ever talk about months, get people together. We all • Can I post content or links onto
your boss. Don’t ever talk about know social media is evolving. “Don’t hand the rules down like Charlton my personal site?
co-workers. Don’t ever talk about Guess what? So are the problems Heston with the Ten Commandments. • Can I operate a paying blog dur-
anything. And don’t you dare link that come up. Elaborate on them. ing my free time?
That’s not the value in social media.”
stuff that’s on our website onto Put together a committee with peo- • When can I quote a Facebook
your personal blog.’ Those policies ple from throughout the organiza- Henry M. Lopez, The santa Fe (N.M.) New Mexican status update?
are out there. When I talk to folks, tion. Don’t hand the rules down like As an example of a media com-
it seems like companies don’t know Charlton Heston with the Ten Com- pany with a good social media
how to talk about social media. In- mandments. That’s not the value in “You make your decision, but I countered is in regard to replying policy, Lopez cited NPR.
stead of being restrictive, talk about social media. don’t want people using their per- to user comments. A lot of times, “NPR is so good in thinking
the best practices and the best ways “I’m not here to tell you what’s sonal accounts when they’re using staff members don’t reply to com- through issues like this and policies
to use social media.” right and what’s wrong but to en- the company account,” he said. ments because there’s no expecta- and community management,” he
Lopez said policies should en- courage you to have the conversa- “For instance, my personal Henry tion to do so and no guidance for said. “While I don’t necessarily
courage participation in social me- tion and give you some ideas about M. Lopez Facebook account could that, he said. Another question recommend you take everything
dia in all newspaper departments, questions that you want to answer control The Santa Fe New Mexi- companies need to address is re- from them word for word, I would
regardless of whether staff is in ad- and ask through that process to get can’s Facebook page, but I actu- garding whether or not reporters review their social media policy,
vertising, circulation or editorial. everyone on the same page.” ally want those to be two different should friend sources. which is available online (visit
It’s also important to keep social With social media, Lopez said things. People will put [personal “Have that conversation with http://n.pr/c5BvwE). It’s a very en-
media rules short, meaning policies bosses tend to worry about what accounts] on their Hootsuites or your team and you’ll come up with couraging policy. It’s constructive
should be contained to a four- or employees are saying about them, their Tweetdecks, and on occasion, some really interesting ideas that and proactive and a good place to
five-paragraph document, Lopez while employees have totally dif- you’ll get an off-color comment go back and forth,” he said. “Per- start to influence your conversa-
said. Rules should be clear and to ferent questions that managers may that was actually meant for some- sonally, I think it’s a bad practice; tions.”
the point, he added. not be ready for. One question Lo- body’s personal audience that went other folks don’t.”
“Review [the policy] from time pez has encountered is, “Do I use out to the professional audience.” Other potential questions in- Contact: Henry M. Lopez,
to time,” Lopez said. “Every six personal accounts for work?” Another question Lopez has en- clude: hlopez@sfnewmexican.com

JUNE 2011 | InlandPress.org | The Inlander PAGE 15

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ASSOCIATE EDITOR
“Small newspapers need to be
concerned. There are going to
For more, see page 21. search solution that will assist in
garnering significant new online
be unions that will come after revenue from new business cate-
If you think unions only tar- different newspapers than we gories.
get large newspapers, think would historically think.” WITH MIKE BLINDER, PRESIDENT, THE
again.
“The old view that unions
Newspaper companies could
potentially see an increase in
Analyzing ‘key metrics’ can BLINDER GROUP, NEW PORT RICHEY, FLA.

March 12 | Webinar
were always interested in big
companies is not true,” said
Bill Schurgin, partner at Sey-
union activity if the Employ-
ee Free Choice Act becomes
law, Schurgin said during a re-
boost financial performance Newspaper Executive’s
Guide to the Production
farth Shaw LLP in Chicago. EFCA: CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 By Adolfo Mendez their worries, their concerns— Waste Cycle
EDITOR anything that you can do to help Here is a complete yet concise ex-
Union election win rate them to survive, because they are planation of where waste occurs
More than 50 percent of workers at U.S. companies have in the production cycle. It is ex-
In the good and bad times, pub- key to your survival.” plained in laymen’s terms, with
voted in favor of unions every year since 2005.
lishers should make cultivating Garry, who entered the news- logical courses of action to initi-
a close relationship with their top paper industry in 1978, is a for- ate the conversations at your own
10 advertisers a priority—meet- mer chief financial analyst at the organization, which will lead you
down the road to reduced waste
ing with each of them once a Cleveland Plain Dealer and a for- at your facility.
month or once a quarter, accord- mer publisher with Hirt Media. WITH TIM GARRY, PRESIDENT, NEWSPAPER
ing to newspaper industry veter- During a recent Inland Press We- AND PRINTING CONSULTANTS,
MYPRESSREPORTS.COM, MT. GILEAD, OHIO
an Tim Garry . binar, he discussed several key fi-
“Your top 10 advertisers are nancial and operating metrics March 17 | Webinar
pretty tough to replace,” said Gar- newspaper executives need to Selling More Strategically
ry founder and CEO of MyPress-
, monitor if they’re to improve
to Integrate Web, Print
Reports.com, a company that pro- their company’s financial per-
Learn how to better control the
vides newspapers with Web-based formance. sales process by building relation-
financial management software. “Key metrics has become a ships and trust quicker. Find out
“Your top 10 advertisers are the buzz word in our economy late- why you should be calling at high-
er levels, how to locate decision-
DATA COURTESY OF SEYFARTH SHAW LLP cornerstone of your enterprise ly,” Garry said. “What it really makers and why you must have an
GRAPHIC BY MICHELLE FINKLER/ASSOCIATE EDITOR and you should really take a per- means is that you’re looking at understanding of your customer’s
sonal interest in their wealth, in METRICS: CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 business to be successful at selling
strategically.
RICHARD FARREL, PRESIDENT, TANGENT
KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS AND AUTHOR OF
GROW CIRCULATION IMPROVE CLASSIFIED SALES PART OF THE CELEBRATION “SELLING HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH
SELLING”
Closely watching the numbers gives Make your newspaper a top National Nurses Week in May could
circulation managers a solid base for destination for classified ads with a provide a special section For details or registration assistance,
contact Inland at (847) 795-0380
growing readership. reader-centered approach. opportunity for your paper. or go to www.inlandpress.org.
PAGE 9 PAGE 10 PAGES 12 AND 13 Select “Event Registration” under the
Training heading.

Ideas
EFCA: Employers urged to take action
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 days or more. Then, an election is 2009,” Schurgin said. “Their
cent Inland Press Webinar. held, after which certification can chances are as good today as they’ll
The Employee Free Choice Act be issued if election results dic- ever be. They’re going to do every-
“will make it dramatically easi- tate. thing they can to get this done by
er for unions to organize,” said However, with the EFCA, once the end of this year.”
Ken Dolin, also a partner at Sey- organization begins, the union sim- Schurgin said with the new ad-
farth Shaw LLP. “This is not go- ply needs to obtain card-check sig- ministration, employers should
ing to be great news for many em- natures from 50 percent of employ- expect increased government en-
ployers.” ees. Once 50 percent or more are forcement, as well as increased la-
The EFCA, which would alter secured, certification is issued. The bor and human rights protection.
the National Labor Relations Act, election can take place within days He said now is the time for employ-
is likely to pass, Schurgin said. It and sometimes without the com- ers to start preparing for the pos-
has the backing of powerful union pany even being aware of the sibility of a union targeting their
lobbyists and President Obama’s union’s presence, Dolin said. company .
pro-union administration. “Unions claim secret ballot elec-
Prepare now
Schurgin and Dolin said the tions favor employers because em-
EFCA would change three major ployers launch extensive anti- “We need to get ahead and be
aspects of labor law: it would re- union campaigns during the post- proactive before a union comes
move an employer’s right to a se- petition period, including anti- into the picture,” Schurgin said.
cret ballot election, there would be union captive audience speeches He suggested employers write
increased penalties for employers and one-on-one meetings between letters to congressmen and sena-
The Inauguration Edition published by The Virginia Gazette. The special issue who engage in “unfair labor prac- supervisors and employees,” he tors. They should also try to cre-
was a success, with street sales nearly doubling. PHOTO SUPPLIED tices,” and it would permit the fed- said. However, “Arguments by ate a workplace environment
eral government to assign an ar- unions, though, ignore that unions where union organizing is unat-

Inauguration Edition a bitrator and impose a two-year con-
tract under certain conditions.
Under current law, Dolin said
are winning elections at the same
rate at which they did over 30 years
ago.”
tractive. For this, an employee at-
titude survey can be helpful. To
boost morale, Schurgin said news-

success at Virginia paper employers now have the right to a
secret ballot general election when
deciding union representation.
Passage likely
The EFCA passed in the House
papers should increase the use of
recognition awards and publicize
accomplishments by the paper
By Adolfo Mendez “Those [advertisers] who “EFCA will eliminate secret bal- in 2007 but stalled in the Senate. At and its employees.
EDITOR lot election and will be replaced by the time, President Bush immedi- Also, Schurgin said managers
passed on it were kicking card-check recognition,” he said. ately promised a veto. Unlike Bush, should take the time to evaluate
The Virginia Gazette in themselves. Those who Eliminating secret ballots and the Obama administration is most the entire newspaper, all of its
Williamsburg, Va., published “In- were in it were ecstatic, replacing them with card checks likely going to make EFCA a top policies, employee handbooks and
auguration Lessons for Ameri- especially the ones who conducted in public gives unions priority Schurgin said.
, personnel manuals to identify and
ca,” a 44-page special section, in an unfair advantage in organizing, As evidence, they offered this resolve issues now to thwart the
the Gazette on Jan. 17.
chose to be on a page or businesses argue. It’s also unde- extended quote from President possibility of a union recogniz-
“It was intended to succinctly opposite a page of their mocratic and unwise, Dolin said. Obama, taken from a speech he ing any vulnerability .
recall the presidency of each of favorite president.” “Cards are unreliable; they can gave in Dubuque, Iowa, in Novem- “If you use the analogy of a
President Obama’s predecessors contain forged employee signa- ber 2007: doctor, you’re conducting a com-
and walk him through their suc- Bill O’Donovan tures, misrepresentations and “We’re ready to take the offense plete physical of the entire com-
cesses and failures,” said Publish- threats. Even if there are no for- for organized labor It’s time we have
. pany he said.
,”
er Bill O’Donovan. “One recur- whom I persuaded to partici- geries, misrepresentations and a president who didn’t choke say- Schurgin also suggested edu-
ring lesson learned is to pick bet- pate,” O'Donovan said. “Their threats, employees may feel pres- ing the word ‘union.’ We need to cation of supervisors and employ-
ter cabinet members. Another is challenge was keeping within sured in the presence of a union strengthen our unions by letting ees on the impact of unions and
to watch your health, and to wear 300 words, which all but two did.” solicitor,” Dolin said. them do what they do best — organ- the newspaper’s position on them,
a bulletproof vest,” he added. The section also was prof- With the card-check system, ize our workers. If a majority of lawfully urging them not to sign
“The edition was inserted in itable, he said. “We only grossed Schurgin said it would be more at- workers want a union, they should because there’s “no second
our Saturday paper, and we $15,000 in advertising but it was tractive to unions to target small- get a union. It’s that simple. We need chance by virtue of vote.”
padded the draw 40 percent,” a quick sale under enormous er newspapers and other types of to stand up to the business lobby Businesses shouldn’t be put off
O’Donovan said. “Returns show time constraints,” he said. smaller companies. “If there’s only that’s been getting their friends in preparing now for the change to
we nearly doubled our street “Those who passed on it were 20 or 30 employees, it’s easier for Congress and in the White House to come, they said. “This is a wake-
sales to 7,891. It was a huge hit kicking themselves. Those who unions to get cards signed,” he block card check. That’s why I was up call for all of us who said, ‘We
among the readership,” he said. were in it were ecstatic, especial- said. one of the leaders fighting to pass won’t be the target of a union
The section included five-part ly the ones who chose to be on a Another change: shortening the the Employee Free Choice Act. campaign,’” Schurgin said.
coverage on President Obama— page or opposite a page of their length of the campaign period, That’s why I’m fighting for it in the “There is a sea change going on
how he got elected, what he did favorite president.” making it more difficult for em- Senate. And that’s why we’ll make out here. Six months from now,
right, what went wrong, what les- For example, he said one client ployers to state their case against it the law of the land when I’m pres- there may be union activity and
,
sons are there for Obama and les- kidded about gaining position unions. Under current law, once ident.” you won’t have time to respond.”
sons for the country . on the page with Jefferson Davis. the union-recognition cards are Schurgin expects the new EFCA
“Key to our success was a signed by 30 percent of employees to be introduced before April. “We Contacts: Bill Schurgin,
savvy professor who aligned all Contact: Bill O’Donovan, and a petition is filed, there usual- may see an amended version of the wschurgin@seyfarth.com;
43 presidents with other faculty bodonovan@vagazette.com ly is a campaign period lasting 39 EFCA. They have to pass it in Ken Dolin, kdolin@seyfarth.com

PAGE 14 The Inlander | www.inlandpress.org | MARCH 2009

Special Report
Local business directories match readers with advertisers
Free listing By Michelle Finkler over $500,000 of revenue,” she
ASSocIATE EdIToR said. “More recently, as we’ve Archived Webinar
launched the Wenatchee World’s
This and other Webinars are
Setting up an online directory for Marketplace, it had an even quick- available in Inland’s Archived
your community can be a great way er success with $165,000 in the first Webinars collection.
to connect area businesses with lo- week.” Visit InlandPress.org and
cal customers. And sometimes, an click on “Archived
Business advantages Webinars” under the
online directory can connect area
businesses with not-so-local cus- Media companies that set up an “Training” tab.
tomers. online directory can decide to call
Consider Gazlo.com, a local it whatever they want, whether that ries. There are also sponsorship
market directory launched slightly be Marketplace or a name more positions where a business can
over a year ago by Bliss Commu- specific to the area, such as The sponsor a category.”
nications, based in Janesville, Wis. Janesville Gazette’s Gazlo.com. Upgraded listings
A man in Greece was conducting But even with different names, all
an online search for a clock seller— of the various Ellington Market- Businesses can also opt to up-
not in any specific town—when place sites are similar in what they grade to a “basic” or “expanded”
Basic listing Gazlo.com turned up in the search offer advertisers and consumers. listing that offers features that go
results. “It’s what consumers are used to beyond what’s available for free.
“He wanted to buy a grandfather getting when they get a Google “Basic” listings include a business
clock from one of the businesses in site,” Weaver said. “To compete profile, listing in up to five catego-
the directory,” said Sara Weaver, with Yahoo!, Google and the Yel- ries, unlimited keywords, a photo
vice president of Sales and Busi- low Pages, we have to offer more gallery and a custom meta descrip-
ness Development for Mediaphor- for free. We can’t nickel and dime tion tag for search engine optimiza-
media, the software division of the our advertisers. We add a photo, tion.
World Company, based in Law- business hours, name, address and “For a basic listing, I’ve it seen
rence, Kan. phone number, a link to their Web go for $44 up to $99 dollars a
Weaver said the man interested site, a map and methods of payment month,” Weaver said. “A lot of
in buying the clock searched on for free. Most of our partners would people adopt the same strategy.
Google for “clockmaster master agree that you only get one chance You can list up to five categories.
clock repair,” and the Gazlo.com to make your directory useful for We list you in one category, and
site was listed first in the search consumers or they won’t come we’ll charge you to be listed in
results. back.” more than one category.”
“We work really hard to make On the homepage of each site, The “expanded” listing also has
our sites search-engine friendly,” there’s a search bar to enter key tabs for videos with a built-in Flash
Weaver said. “If they’re using words, business name or location, video player. Companies can up-
Google to find something locally, and there’s also an option to refine load ads and coupons that they’re
it will pop up in searches. When the search by entering a zip code or running. They can also list a num-
Expanded listing you don’t know what you’re look- address so users can find results ber of products, post calendar
ing for, these categories are opti- close to them, Weaver said. There events and a staff directory.
mizing well.” are three rotating ad positions in the Weaver said the expanded listing
Mediaphormedia, which uses El- middle of the homepage for busi- costs anywhere from $100 to $250
lington Marketplace as its software, nesses that expand their listing. It a month, with the most common
has been partnering with other me- is rotated with an unlimited spon- price being $200 a month.
dia companies in helping them de- sorship position. Newspapers also Weaver said the upgraded listing
velop marketplace directory sites. charge extra for access to the right options give a boost to many busi-
Weaver said that last year, Media- rail, which Weaver said is another nesses, especially small ones that
phormedia worked with 27 differ- revenue stream. may not have the time or resources
ent companies in setting up their “Homepage right-rail ads go for to devout to building and maintain-
directories. about $300,” she said. “Lawrence ing a Web site.
When the Lawrence Journal charges $500 to $700. You have to “We found in the market, most
World’s LawrenceMarketplace. look at what you’re charging for businesses have a Web presence,
com site first launched, Weaver your own newspaper site and make but the site might have been de-
said it took four to six months for it make sense.” signed by your nephew,” Weaver
it to catch on with local consumers. On the left side of the homepage said. “When they see our site, they
Through branding and advertising, is a list of categories to choose thought it was useful. Businesses
LawrenceMarketplace.com has be- from, such as Arts and Entertain- are putting in a lengthy profile.
come a name people recognize, she ment, Automotive, Food & Dining, Some companies are even using the
said. Weaver said the site is now in Health Care and Retail, to name a Marketplace site as their primary
its third year, and receives more few. site.”
“You only get one chance to make your directory useful to consumers or they than 225 million page views a “If you were to choose a catego-
won’t come back,” said Sara Weaver, vice president of Sales and Business month. ry for Food & Dining, there’s a Contact: Sara Weaver,
development for Mediaphormedia. Above: Screen shots from “For LawrenceMakretplace.com, page for that category,” Weaver sweaver@ellingtoncms.com
LawrenceMarketplace.com. Images supplIed in the first year, it brought in just said. “Then there are sub catego-

PAGE 10 The Inlander | InlandPress.org | SEPTEMBER 2009

Ideas
Is the design of your Web site helping or hurting your advertisers?
Header/Navigation By Michelle Finkler Ostendorf said fewer bigger ads are better than
Header/Navigation AssocIATe edIToR lots of little ads. Ostendorf also recommended
varying the ad sizes because this will draw more
Ad Ad Many newspapers take a “more is more” ap- attention to them.
proach to Web site design, which they inherited For Web pages that have a story on them, Os-
from the early dial-up days of the Internet, ac- tendorf said it’s OK for the page to scroll since
Photo Photo cording to media consultant Bill Ostendforf. it’s a non-landing page. He said scrolling works
Ad These news sites contain long-scrolling homep- on these story pages because the Web user is
ages with too many headlines, links, photos and reading or looking at data that he or she is already
advertisements. interested in.
This type of Web design is bad for business, “Where do we put ads on story pages?” Osten-
Ad Ad Ostendorf said. It doesn’t help advertisers get dorf asked. “We often put them in the story. You
noticed by readers, he said. get this problem for the reader where they have
Ostendorf, who spent 13 years at The Provi- to read around this junk. Or they put all the ads
dence (R.I.) Journal before leaving in 2000 to do on the right-hand side and no one wants to look
full-time consultancy work, recalls sitting in an at them.”
Ad
editors’ meeting at the paper some 15 years ago. Ostendorf suggests using three ad positions on
“We had a meeting about [going] online and a story page in varying sizes and positions, such
on Web pages that have stories on them, news sites generally place the ads within the story editors said, ‘This is great! We can put 100 things as an ad above the header, along the right rail and
(shown at left), which can make reading difficult, or along the right rail (shown at right), where on a page! There’s no limit!’” said Ostendorf, within a story or below a photo within a story.
Web users ignore them, media consultant Bill ostendorf said. Images supplIed president of Creative Circle Media Consulting in The design of each page can differ by enlarging
Providence, R.I. photos or displaying video to go along with the
Ad Ad “It’s not true,” Ostendorf said. “Having judg- story. Ostendorf added that having a stronger
ment still counts, having priorities still counts, visual in the middle of the page will keep a read-
Header/Navigation Header/Navigation limited ad positions counts. If there are two or er on the page longer.
three ads, we ensure the advertisers’ ads are going “Taking it a step further, if they are flash ads
to get noticed.” and if they have more movement, I want to spread
Scrolling length them out more,” he said. “If we isolate them in
space or size, they will get higher readership.
Photo Ad Ad Ostendorf said newspaper publishers need to They shouldn’t compete with each other. You
Ad rethink their sites’ scrolling lengths and try to need to give each advertiser room to succeed.”
keep the homepage to one “page” or screen view. Examples
He cited Poynter Institute’s EyeTrack research
Ad that showed long-scrolling homepages don’t get Ostendorf recommends newspaper publishers
Ad much traffic beyond the first page. look at the layout of successful commercial Web
“You lose 95 percent of your business after the sites for examples of good Web design. Ostendorf
first screen, but we still make long-scrolling suggests visiting Web sites of companies such as
pages,” he said. “I would say to papers, ‘Why Dell, Southwest Airlines, Google and Apple. All
don’t we just end the page here [at the bottom of of the sites have short-scrolling homepages. Os-
the first screen]?’ They say, ‘Because I have ad tendorf liked Apple’s site because of its clean
ostendorf suggests using three ad positions on a story page in varying sizes and positions, such positions down there.’ But you can see that no- look, white background and focus on a large,
as an ad above the header, along the right rail and within a story (shown at right) or below a
photo within a story (shown at left). Having a fourth smaller ad (shown at right) in the right body is looking there. Nobody even saw this ad visual element.
rail works in this layout because its small size makes it stand out, he said. at the bottom. We have to get people to look at For examples of news sites that have good Web
the ads and click on them.” designs, Ostendorf mentioned the Providence
Ad Ostendorf said the research showed the most (R.I.) Business News at PBN.com and the Bangor
Ad
effective ads were part of Web pages that did not (Maine) Daily News at BangorDailyNews.com.
Header/Navigation Header/Navigation scroll. With scrolling pages, the research showed Both sites have short-scrolling homepages and
that eyeballs tend to flow down the page and skip few ad positions.
over the ads. When the page doesn’t scroll, there “So many newspaper Web sites are just thrown
were more clicks on editorial content and there up there, and they’re using this mediocre design
Video Photo was more traffic on the ads. from 15 years ago,” Ostendorf said. “They’re us-
Ad Ad “Not scrolling forces people to see more of the ing these ad shapes and designs that haven’t been
page,” he said. well thought-out. We’re not doing it well. So
many newspaper Web sites are doing so badly at
Ad positions
the basics.
When designing news sites, newspapers need “I urge you to get back to basics and have fun.
to take into account the hotspots shown in the It’s fun, not scary,” he said. “I knew nothing—
Photo Ad EyeTrack research to ensure advertisers’ ads will nothing—about the Web; now I run a software
have prominence on the page, Ostendorf said. company.
“When we design a page, we have to be aware “You can succeed online.”
Ad of the hotspots,” he said. “We’ve been able to
take ad click-through rates up three to six times. Contact: Bill ostendorf,
ostendorf suggests making a visual element in the center of the page such as a video or photo It makes a huge difference how much you cram bill@creativecirclemedia.com
larger on a story page because it will keep readers on the page longer. onto a page.”

JANUARY 2010 | InlandPress.org | The Inlander PAGE 7

the
Inlander
JANUARY 2011 | Vol. 25, No. 1

Inland
Mailed Monday, Dec. 27, 2010, from Sterling, Ill.
Inform post office if it arrives after Jan. 10.

Preserving advertising revenue as competition grows training
By Michelle Finkler
AssociAte editor Under Siege “I just wanted to send you a
quick note to compliment Inland
Sales pitches from non-newspaper advertising sales people
Non-newspaper sales people are on a Webinar. It’s almost like
approaching your advertising cli- None 7% bits and pieces of great informa-
ents an average of 22 times a month, tion we have received through
according to research conducted by 1 to 4 50% many Inland seminars all came
ITZBelden. together for us through the In-
“That includes Groupon, Living 5 to 9 22% land Webinar, “A Close Exami-
Social, mobile sites, somebody in- nation of the Agency Approach
side a garage who’s got a cool idea for Sales Force Organization,”
10 to 14 9%
for your town—all kinds of peo- with Greg Swanson. Our group
ple,” said Greg Swanson, president spent another 30 minutes brain-
15 to 19 3%
of Portland, Ore.-based ITZ Pub- storming after the session and
lishing, which conducted the re- came out with a shared focus for
20 to 24 2%
search in partnership with Belden improvement for our sales reps
Interactive, also based out of Port- and, most importantly, our cus-
25 to 29 2%
land. tomers. It will take time and a
“Out of the 22 people who asked lot of work, but our team seems
30 to 49 1%
to give a pitch, our local retailers to be on a common path to real-
are taking about seven of those ize improvement. Thanks for a
50 or more 2%
calls,” Swanson said. “What’s go- job well done.”
ing on here is our advertisers are Don’t know 3%
— Jeffrey N. Evans, publisher,
being educated about twice a week /Not sure Ludington (Mich.) Daily News
about ways they should advertise, 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
and we’re either helping them fig- Jan. 13 | Webinar
ure out what to do on the basis of in september 2010, itZ Publishing and Belden interactive completed a survey of small- and medium-sized businesses in
what they’re hearing or we’re active correspondence with local newspapers as advertising clients or prospects. this graph shows data in response to this Demystifying
not.”
question: “in an average month, with how many advertising sales people do you speak, in person or on the phone, among Digital Sales for
these in-coming efforts?” on average, business owners receive 22 approaches a month and listen to pitches from seven of
Unlike other studies that survey those approaches a month. Legacy Print Teams
businesses in general, the ITZ- SOURCE: ITzBELDEN | GRAPhIC BY: MIChELLE FINkLER This Inland Webinar will help take
the fear factor out of online ad
Belden research is based on actual programs for traditional print reps
newspaper contacts. The findings “because we look like we’re lim- other mediums to advertise besides question is, what other products can who still feel more confident sell-
are based on input from 2,840 ited consultants,” Swanson said. the print newspaper; 14 percent use we offer to get some of those $6?” ing print over digital ads. Topics
small- and medium-sized busi- Sales reps need to identify all of two other mediums and 15 percent covered will include simplifying
New model the sales process; comparing and
nesses identified as advertising the different products available in use six to nine other mediums. contrasting the online vs. print au-
clients or prospects for the local their markets and understand how What it boils down to is that The solution isn’t giving “a dience; targeting other media for
paper. The advertisers agreed to they are being sold, he said. newspapers get almost 30 percent whole bunch more stuff for our real incremental revenues; and de-
participate in the study, which was “If we’re not selling keywords in of the local businesses’ total spend- sales people to sell,” Swanson said. mystifying online terminology.
WITH SCOTT ROSENbERg, DIgITAL
completed in September 2010, search, if we’re not selling e-mail ing. Online, the percentage is even The answer is to restructure your MARkETINg SPECIALIST,
upon an invitation by 81 newspa- push, if we’re not helping facilitate smaller. sales organization to more resemble STRATEgY2 DIgITAL, CRYSTAL LAkE, ILL.
pers in 40 states. map-based advertising, if we’re not “If we ask them how much an agency model, with smart bun- Jan. 26 | Webinar
Newspaper sales reps who are selling mobile and video ads, if they’re getting in online advertis- dles based on business category, he
not conversant with the various we’re not selling the things they’re ing, it is 13 percent of total spend- said. ITZBelden data of business Write Tighter and Faster
products that are constantly being buying, all we know for sure is that ing,” Swanson said. “The maximum owners’ interests can serve as a di- With a little planning and a bit of
deconstruction and focus of your
pitched to your customers and the this money is going to someone we’ll be getting between our print rectional aid for newspapers as they story idea, you’ll write more effi-
wide range of advertising options else.” product and online product is some- decide what offerings should be in ciently. You’ll also learn to use
they have, undermine your ability According to ITZBelden, 45 per- where around 40 percent of their powerful words and fewer awk-
to sell solutions to local business cent of businesses use three to five spending, or $4 out of $10. The Advertising: continued on PAge 11
ward transitions in a session that
will improve your story lengths
and writing speed.
WITH kIM STRONg, DIRECTOR OF bUSINESS
READY TO HIRE? READ THIS COMPETITION HEATS UP FELLOWSHIP PROgRAM DEvELOPMENT AND WRITINg COACH, THE
Remove the barriers to hiring the AOL’s Patch joins the fragmented Why a Wick Communication’s web PATRIOT-NEWS, HARRISbURg, PA.

‘best and the brightest’ with these media landscape in search of local developer has a strong passion for
proven tips. advertising dollars. newspapers. Additional training information on pages
17 or visit InlandPress.org. Select “Event
PAgE 9 PAgES 12-13 PAgE 14 Registration” under the “Training” tab.

Ideas
Advertising: Align your strategy to what clients are interested in buying
CoNTINUed fRom PAGe 1 your share of voice in those chan- which helped people understand tomers will find will deliver them the compensation program to re-
nels or adding additional chan- who you are.’” results is by forcefully tying the ward sales reps not only for hitting
each category’s package. nels.” Swanson said the whole idea of products to a suite,” he said. “What their print and online goals but also
For example, a majority of local the agency approach is not to help we’re saying to our advertiser is, for the total number of customers
Sales reps
businesses still think primarily advertisers select which component ‘We don’t want you to buy the they have. He said the idea is to in-
about their own website when they Successfully launching an agen- of the package works, but rather to Houston Chronicle; we want you crease the total number of customers
think about spending money online. cy model at your newspaper will say all these parts synergistically to buy Houston. The way you do participating with the newspaper.
According to the research, 82 per- require a big commitment in the work together. Secondly, since that is by having a presence on our He said newspapers are also
cent of newspaper clients said their form of extensive training for sales many reps and, frankly, newspaper website, newspaper, specialty pub, well-positioned to offer advertisers
No. 1 marketing strategy is main- reps, Swanson said. When Hearst customers don’t understand the mobile, Facebook, Twitter and on “agency” services, such as graphic
taining a company website. The Corp. decided to pursue an agency value of these new advertising me- many other places, and our goal is design, video production and lead-
second is sponsoring events (54 approach at the Houston Chronicle, diums, it’s difficult to get reps to to drive people to buy your product generation programs, to their local
percent), and the third is maintain- it launched a new business catego- assert their value or convince cus- or come to your restaurant or sale; clients.
ing the company’s Facebook or ry package each month and held tomers to try them. it’s not to get you to buy one or
MySpace page (45 percent). hour-long training sessions every “The way we introduce these another of these products.’” Contact: Greg Swanson,
“Social media comes before in- Monday for 18 months to train staff new products that many of our cus- Swanson also discussed changing greg@itzpublishing.com
store promotions (35 percent), on- on the different components of each
line coupons (23 percent) or selling package.
goods over the Internet (20 per- Swanson said newspapers also
cent),” Swanson said. “The fact that should address misconceptions that
the third most common thing is sales staff have about advertiser
something with social media says interests and align their go-to-mar-
to me that our customers are start- ket strategy with what businesses
ing to explore social media and they are interested in buying, as opposed
could really use our help.” to what newspapers currently sell,
Many businesses have undergone such as display ads.
budget reductions and moved ef- “When we asked our sales man-
forts to inexpensive or free sites agers what the most important met-
like Twitter or Facebook, but that ric was for selling advertisers, the
doesn’t mean they’re successful at No. 1 answer was click-throughs
it, he said. (66 percent),” he said. “When we
“They need a newspaper or trust- asked our advertisers what they
ed vendor to act as a broker for were interested in, first was cus-
these products,” he said. “Busi- tomers visiting their store (58 per-
nesses like the idea of self-admin- cent), next impressions (50 per-
istered advertising, but if we can cent), next frequency (49 percent)
show that we do it well, they’ll buy and next reach (48 percent).
from us.” “Surprisingly, click-throughs (45
But keep in mind that one size percent) came pretty far down the
does not fit all, he said. While so- list, which shows that our advertis-
cial media may be important to ers seem to understand that reach-
some businesses, it’s not for every- ing people with some frequency
one. For example, 60 percent of car and letting them see the ad is more
dealerships were interested in main- important than whether or not they
taining a Facebook or MySpace clicked through,” he said.
page, but only 26 percent of the Another challenge for newspa-
finance category and 33 percent of pers implementing an agency mod-
health care. el involves conquering fears of tra-
“When we start thinking about ditional sales reps, Swanson said.
the agency approach, we have to “The real thing I think they’re
say, ‘Here are the packages right for afraid of is if I show my customers
the arts and entertainment category, that these other mediums really
health care, real estate, financial,’” work, they’re going to leave print
Swanson said. “The product suite and buy that,” he said. “What I’m
you would offer a restaurant saying is bundle it so they can’t. As
wouldn’t be the same as you would we sell these packages, part of what
offer a Realtor, since you don’t sell we’re trying to do is say this: ‘No,
discount coupons for a house. we don’t have a mobile solution not
“The idea here is with the sim- connected to print. You may come
plest packages, you have a share of to believe that this mobile coupon
voice in print, on the website, in redemption is where you’re getting
social media, on mobile, and if you the value. But in fact, the value for
want to buy additional elements, the mobile coupon is partly driven
what you’re doing is expanding by the ad we had in the paper,

JANUARY 2011 | InlandPress.org | The Inlander PAGE 11

the
Inlander
FEBRUARY 2011 | Vol. 25, No. 2

Inland
Mailed Wednesday, Jan. 26, from Sterling, Ill.
Inform post office if it arrives after Feb. 9.

J-schools respond to demands of today’s newsrooms training
By Michelle Finkler
AssociAte editor “Regarding the Inland Webinar,
‘A Close Examination of the
Gone are the days when copy Agency Approach for Sales
editors would simply edit copy and Force Organization,’ with Greg
write headlines. Swanson ... the information was
The skill set required to excel in excellent.”
today’s newsrooms is growing and, — Paul Burke, advertising
in response, journalism schools are director, The Coeur d’Alene
adapting the way they teach editing Press, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
and restructuring their campus
newsrooms in hopes of giving stu- Feb. 9 | Webinar
dents a better chance of landing Creating a Culture of
jobs after graduation. innovation and Customer
The University of Missouri in Focus That works
Columbia, Mo., and Northwestern Find out how the Sales and Mar-
University in Evanston, Ill., for ex- keting Division of the Palm Beach
ample, continue to change their Post transformed its sales culture
journalism programs to remain vi- by creating a consultative, cus-
tomer-focused sales force, with
able and relevant to prospective solution-based selling to help
recruiters. businesses develop real solutions
“I want to train students who can to help their businesses grow in a
be good thinkers and be nimble and tough economy. Focusing on the
customer and their needs, rather
able to handle any job,” said Jake than “pitching more products” is a
Sherlock, assistant professor and Assistant copy editor Patrick sweet (right) edits a story while graphics staff member chris spurlock watches from his seat at message we can all relate to.
print editor for the Columbia Mis- the interactive copy desk in the columbia Missourian newsroom in september 2010. the transition, an experiment that began Learn how you can take the same
in August 2010, split the newsroom’s traditional rim and slot copy desk into two separate desks: interactive and print. Both concepts and strategies and apply
J-schools: continUed on PAge 10 students are seniors at the University of Missouri in columbia, Mo. PHoTo: CHRISTINA MANoLIS/MISSoURIAN them to your operation to grow
revenue through customer service
and specialized solutions for your
advertisers.

get into the digital game without breaking the bank wiTh suzanne pepper, direCTOr OF
innOvaTive ClienT sOluTiOns, palm
BeaCh pOsT, wesT palm BeaCh, Fla.

Feb. 15 | Webinar
By Adolfo Mendez
editor improve your
newspaper website
With the early success of the iPad, developers saw tre- with Better web design
mendous potential for profit building apps. Media sites are among the most
“It was not at all uncommon to have vendors come in cluttered and dysfunctional sites
and say that they would charge publishers anywhere from on the web, and it’s time to shake
things up. This Inland Webinar will
$100,000 to $750,000 to build an app,” said Ray Marcano, help you find your own way in-
senior manager of Strategic Initiatives for CMGdigital of stead of just following the crowd.
Cox Media Group Inc., a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Cox How can newspapers build audi-
Enterprises. “And I know those prices to be factual because ence and develop content for the
web through better design? What
I sat in on those presentations.” kinds of solutions can we develop
What a difference several months make. for advertising and revenue
daytondailynews.com lets visitors sign up for e-newsletters covering entertainment, sports, business growth? This seminar will chal-
information and local headlines, and breaking news e-alerts. expanding your digital presence doesn’t “You can build apps of any kind now, and the costs don’t
lenge you to change some core
have to break the bank, according to ray Marcano, senior manager of strategic initiatives for approaches you are taking to your
cMgdigital and director of digital strategy at the dayton (ohio) daily news. IMAgE SUPPLIEd digitAl: continUed on PAge 11 website and give you a lot to think
about. Get ahead of the competi-
tion with a better perspective on
Family Ownership inland FellOw ClassiFied sales what makes websites work and
How Shaw Media’s management Inside the one-person shop at a Improve classified sales by what is holding newspapers back.
wiTh Bill OsTendOrF, presidenT,
team copes with challenges to the small Texas weekly and how she forgetting about the old ways CreaTive CirCle media COnsulTing,
prOvidenCe, r.i.
business model. gets the job done. of doing business. Additional training information on page
pages 12-13 page 14 page 22 17 or visit InlandPress.org. Select “Event
Registration” under the “Training” tab.

Ideas
J-schools: Expanded skill sets attractive to prospective employers
CoNTINUED FRoM PAgE 1 where “primary content producers ognize that the world has changed,
sit,” such as the city editor, graph- and there are fewer and fewer people
sourian, the 5,900-circulation stu- ic artist, photo editor and conver- employed as just copy editors. And
dent newspaper at the Missouri gence editors, he said. you can bemoan a perceived drop in
journalism school. The Missourian “What we did on purpose is posi- quality, but we’re trying to prepare
is published five days a week and tion The Hub and the interactive our students for the real world, and
serves as the city’s morning news- copy desk as the focus of the news- for them to be successful they have
paper (the Columbia Tribune cir- room so everyone would be thinking to be able to edit themselves.”
culates in the afternoon). about online,” he said. The print Duke said he emphasizes to his
“The days of specialization are team was “given our little corner of students that there are fewer layers
waning and waning fast,” Sherlock the newsroom—we’re not in the of editing at print and online publi-
said. “To get our students ready, boiler room or anything—and we’re cations alike, and that their stories
they have to have a wide and deep in charge of thinking about what is may not receive extensive editing.
range of skills.” best for our print readers. Everyone Michael Deas, a lecturer at Medill,
else is in charge of thinking digital- Columbia Missourian reporters write and edit stories in the newsroom in Lee Hills also stresses self-editing in his class-
A unique experiment Hall in September 2010. The newsroom recently underwent some changes through
first. Getting furniture and comput- es, as well as speed and accuracy.
In August 2010, the Missourian ers where they needed to be, making an experiment that separated the copy desk into two teams for interactive and “I emphasize how important it is
print operations. Photo: ChRIStINA MANoLIS/MISSouRIAN
started an experiment called “The a home for everybody, helped to that they’re fast and accurate be-
Transition,” which restructured the shake us out of our old habits.” our website than we had before, that copy desks operate differently cause they’re going to be working
paper’s newsroom from a rim and more frequent and thoughtful up- all over the nation,” Sherlock said. in the field and won’t have the tra-
Interactive team
slot-style desk to two separate copy dates, making better use of social “The more important thing to us is ditional backstops to catch mistakes
desks: interactive and print. The interactive team includes 17 media.” that they’re gaining the skills to be that the industry had before,” Deas
Sherlock said having two sepa- editors from the News Editing successful on any type of copy desk said. “All of my exercises are dead-
Print team
rate desks gives editing and design Class, Jungman said. The students they may join. Some of them will line-oriented.”
students a better educational expe- work in shifts, with one or two in- The print team typically has eight no doubt end up on desks that still Duke said Medill has also
rience and helped shift the news- teractive copy editors on duty dur- staffers working on the paper each focus primarily on print, but it changed the way it teaches headline
room’s focus from the print product ing the day and three or four in the night, including designers from the doesn’t mean those web skills won’t writing.
to the website, ColumbiaMissou- evening. This is in addition to at Advanced Design Class, a copy come in handy down the line.” “We teach search engine optimi-
rian.com. least one faculty member and one editor from the interactive team, a Changes on the print desk next zation, things to think about in
The interactive copy desk is teaching assistant working on the media assistant and teaching assis- semester will include more integra- terms of getting keywords into
staffed from roughly 9 a.m. to mid- interactive copy desk most of the tants, Sherlock said. tion between news and sports, Sher- headlines, not using puns and other
night during the week and focuses time, he said. “The website and the print prod- lock said. On the interactive desk, sorts of wordplay, which is OK for
on the paper’s web operations, said “A lot of papers have a web pro- uct have two completely different Jungman said he wants his interac- print, but you would need a differ-
Nick Jungman, Knight Visiting ducer who manages a lot of the audiences—different sets of read- tive students to take on additional ent headline for online,” he said. “If
Editor in the Missourian newsroom interactive,” Jungman said. “We ers,” he said. “A small minority print desk shifts so they receive you look at publications, the head-
and a visiting assistant professor. didn’t have any web producers; we read both, so what we’re trying to more practice writing headlines for lines in print and online are very
The print team still works in the thought instead of creating web do is to tailor content specific to print. He also wants to put more different for the same story.”
afternoon and evening but focuses producers, we would make copy the different mediums. What can emphasis on students initiating con- Duke and Deas said Medill incor-
on the print product, Sherlock said. editors handle some of the tasks that we do best for our print reader?” versations on stories that may not porates multimedia strategies into
In general, students on both copy web producers do. Copy editors can Sherlock thinks the print product be getting a lot of web traffic by its classes, such as teaching students
desks only work in the newsroom be seen as needing more to do at has improved with The Transition asking readers questions. the basics of video, audio, photog-
eight to 12 hours per week, he times, and the experiment shows us by offering readers more thoughtful “Our students need to have some raphy, design and social media.
added. this is a good place to fill in the gaps presentation of stories and pack- basic web skills to get jobs,” Jung- “One of the things Medill does
Print staff still sits in on after- between when copy arrives.” ages by adding elements such as man said. “Now, they can say, ‘Not with its students is give them expo-
noon meetings to choose content Jungman said interactive copy info boxes, graphics and timelines. only do I know AP Style, how to sure to all of the tools they need as
for the next day’s issue, though the editors have a list of tasks they can Sherlock cited presentations for the write a headline and how to edit a journalists, but they can’t be mas-
print product is not discussed, Sher- do during downtime, such as tweet Missourian’s homecoming cover- story, but I know how to get a ters at everything,” Duke said. “We
lock said. a story, post a story to Facebook, age, a barbeque festival and the new breaking news story in front of an have a three-tiered approach: lit-
“At our 3 o’clock budget meet- make sure conversations are civil Harry Potter movie as examples of audience, I know how to engage an eracy, competency and mastery. We
ing, some of the editors were talking in comment sections, look for ques- the benefits of having a team of audience, I know how to moderate want them to have literacy in every-
about what to put in the paper, and tions to answer within comments, editors and designers solely focused a conversation on a message board.’ thing from writing, reporting, video
I had to say, ‘No, we’re not talking create survey polls and manage the on print. Those things would be attractive to and audio editing, interactive skills.
about print. We’re here to talk about homepage of ColumbiaMissourian. employers.” Then they can self-select what they
Making changes stick
web. We’ll figure out what to do com. want to do from there. They may
Medill expands instruction
with print,’” Sherlock said. “I had Since The Transition, Jungman Overall, Sherlock and Jungman decide they really want to be in
some push-back at first, but for the said traffic to the website has in- said The Transition has been a suc- The Medill School of Journalism broadcast or be investigative report-
most part, they were very happy to creased by 10 to 15 percent. Cur- cess and that the separate interac- at Northwestern University in Ev- ers, but at least everybody will go
give up that print control.” rently, the site gets 12,000 to 15,000 tive and print copy desk system will anston, Ill., has also changed the through here with the basics.”
To help prepare students for The unique visitors every day, he add- be used during the spring 2011 se- way it teaches copy editing in an
Transition, Sherlock said staff rear- ed. mester. effort to increase the skills of stu- Contact: Jake Sherlock,
ranged the newsroom’s desk layout. “We’re seeing more interactivity “I think we’ve been pretty good dents. sherlockj@missouri.edu; Nick Jungman,
“We set up the print desk to be away on the website,” he said. “There’s about telling students that what “My background is primarily as jungmann@missouri.edu; Steven Duke,
from everybody else,” he said. more of a conversation with readers they’re experiencing under The a copy editor,” said Steven Duke, s-duke@northwestern.edu; Michael Deas,
What emerged was “The Hub,” in the comments, more presence on Transition is an experiment, and associate professor at Medill. “I rec- m-deas@northwestern.edu

PAGE 10 The Inlander | InlandPress.org | FEBRUARY 2011

the
Inlander
MARCH 2011 | Vol. 25, No. 3

Inland
Mailed Monday, Feb. 21, from Sterling, Ill.
Inform post office if it arrives after March 7.

Who needs Groupon when you’ve got aunt clara? training
By Michelle finkler
aSSocIate edItor “The Inland Webinar
information was well presented,
While many newspapers are jumping and the techonology worked
on the bandwagon and partnering with well. Even though the presenter
daily deal sites such as Groupon or Liv- was from a newspaper much
ingSocial, the Record-Journal in Meri- larger than ours, I took away
den, Conn., has created its own model information that I will use. It is
for offering consumers discounts on easily worth the time and
goods and services from local busi- money.”
nesses. — Curt Jacobs, general manger,
For the past two and a half years, the The Madison (Ind.) Courier
Record-Journal has put together Aunt
Clara’s Online Store, which sells local March 3 | Webinar
businesses’ gift cards to consumers at
30 percent off their face value. The busi- for editorial
nesses receive the full face value of the Departments:
cards through advertising dollars at the narrative Writing
newspaper. This Inland Webinar will help your
“We actually got the idea from The newsroom tell superior long, me-
dium or short narrative stories.
Daily Hampshire Gazette in Northamp- Ideal for both new and veteran
ton, [Mass.],” said Carolyn Wallach, journalists, you’ll learn techniques
assistant managing editor-online/ that are the foundation of good
weeklies for the 18,000-circulation writing. Among the highlights of
this presentation will be the sev-
daily. “They had an online store that eral examples of writing that we
sells gift certificates, and we took that will closely examine with the ulti-
idea and launched our own in October twice a year, the record-Journal in Meriden, conn., puts together aunt clara’s online Store, which sells local businesses’ mate goal of becoming better sto-
gift cards to consumers at a discounted price. although the store is only open for one week, it is preceded by a month- rytellers and producing products
aunt clara: contInued on paGe 5 long Sneak peek pre-Store, which helps create buzz and advertiser interest. IMAgE SuPPlIEd that truly engage your readers’ in-
terests.
WiTh Kim sTrong, DireCTor of business

tom Slaughter named Inland’s executive director
DeVelopmenT anD WriTing CoaCh, The
paTrioT-neWs, harrisburg, pa.

March 10 | Webinar

Patty Slusher named Inland’s director of Membership and Programming Creating effective
sales scripts
By Inland Staff chosen me as its next chief execu- “We have been so fortunate to have Every sales presentation should
tive,” he said. “I believe in the mis- enjoyed Ray Carlsen at the helm for be scripted, but they should never
Tom Slaughter, a former execu- sion and goals of the organization more than two decades; but, times sound scripted. This old adage is
true whether your reps are out-
tive with The Associated Press, was and its members and will do all I are different and the challenges are bound prospecting for new busi-
named Inland executive director on can to help them thrive in this chal- greater for our industry and our as- ness, upselling voluntary advertis-
Jan. 27 in a unanimous decision by lenging environment.” sociation, which will require excep- ers or soliciting renewals. Some of
the Inland board of directors. As Tom Shaw, CEO of Shaw Media tional leadership from our chief these “conversational scripts”
should be followed as closely as
part of the transition at Inland, Slaughter Slusher in Dixon, Ill., and head of Inland’s executive. Speaking for myself and possible, while others should be
Patty Slusher will now play an ex- search committee, said the choice the entire search committee, with- “points to cover” in the sales pre-
panded role at the 126-year-old of U.S. Newspaper Markets for AP, of Slaughter was undertaken with out hesitation or reservation, we sentation. This Inland Webinar will
provide a few sample scripts that
trade association as the director of created AP Digital before heading due diligence. “Inland is such a could not be more pleased that Tom you can modify for use at your
Membership and Programming. the company’s new media business great organization, very special to publication, as well as learn the
Slaughter, former vice president unit. “I’m honored that Inland has those of us it serves,” Shaw said. Inland: contInued on paGe 4 “dos and don’ts” of effective sales
script order, phrasing and timing.
WiTh riCharD ClarK, presiDenT,
There’s no app for ThaT The fuTure of mobile The VerY soCiable WeeKlY ClassifieD DeVelopmenT, Johnson CiTY,
Tenn.
Shaw Media forgoes an app for The CEO of Forkfly explains why How a weekly newspaper editor
the iPad and creates tablet-friendly newspapers are in a strong in Bay City, Texas, leverages
websites instead. position to leverage mobile. Facebook and Twitter. Additional training information on page 17
or visit InlandPress.org. Select “Event
page 12 page 13 page 14 Registration” under the “Training” tab.

Inland News
Aunt Clara: Businesses earn advertising dollars through the paper
ConTInued fRoM PAge 1 Aunt Clara’s Online Store also mation, such as the full value and
has a Sneak Peek Pre-Store that discounted purchase price, and a Promotional special section
2008. We have since run it four opens one month prior to the regu- link to the company’s website, she To promote the opening of Aunt
more times.” lar store’s open, and a special sec- said. Businesses also can become Clara’s Online Store, which sells lo-
On average, Wallach said Aunt tion runs in the Record-Journal a “featured business” on the pre- cal businesses’ discounted gift
Clara’s Online Store attracts be- promoting the store. store for about $100. Featured cards to consumers, the Record-
tween 130 and 150 local business- businesses receive a bolder listing Journal in Meriden, Conn., publish-
Who is Aunt Clara? es a special section that runs in the
es and brings in $70,000 in revenue and tile ad on the Sneak Peek Pre-
for the newspaper each time the Aunt Clara is a fictional charac- Store site. For the fall 2010 store, newspaper.
store is open, which happens for ter originally created by the news- Wallach said 25 businesses par- “We promote [the store] very
one week twice a year, in the spring paper for Aunt Clara’s Closet, ticipated in the pre-store as fea- heavily in our print products,” said
Carolyn Wallach, assistant manag-
and fall. For the most recent fall which was a free classifieds section tured businesses.
ing editor-online/weeklies for the
2010 store, 790 orders were placed featuring items for sale under $100, Customers can’t purchase any- daily. “The week before the store,
and 4,360 gift cards were sold, she Wallach said. thing from the pre-store, so as a we print a catalog with display ads
said. “We already had an association way to bring traffic to the site, Wal- for each advertiser.”
with Aunt Clara for savings and lach said the newspaper created a For the fall 2010 store, the special section came out Nov. 4,
How Aunt Clara’s is different
repurposed her for the new media contest to win a $500 shopping four days prior to the store’s opening, she said. The newsprint
Wallach said Aunt Clara’s On- age,” she said. “We had stopped spree. The winner got to choose 10 tabloid was 24 pages and featured ads for each participating
line Store is different from sites like running the section in classifieds a $50 gift cards from the featured business, including gift card pricing information, Wallach said. All
Chicago-based Groupon and Wash- couple years ago and brought her businesses. Internet users could of the ads are the same size, but ads from featured businesses in
ington, D.C.-based LivingSocial in back for the online store.” register to win once per day, and the Sneak Peek Pre-Store ran in color.
structure, since Aunt Clara’s gath- the fall 2010 contest had 1,477 en- Copies of the special section were printed to meet the Re-
Better-than-expected results cord-Journal’s daily circulation of 18,000, she said. The store also
ers local merchants in one place, tries representing 667 different
was promoted in five of the company’s weekly newspapers by
rather than the one-at-a-time ap- For the first Aunt Clara’s Online people, she said. featuring participating businesses in those areas on one or two
proach of daily deal programs. Store in October 2008, the newspa- Opening day excitement pages, she said.
Aunt Clara’s sells gift certificates, per built the online and shopping
while Groupon and LivingSocial cart components for the site in- Aunt Clara’s Online Store opens
offer coupons. Also, sites like house, Wallach said. But the de- at 9 a.m. on a Monday, which Wal-
More online
Groupon require a minimum num- mand for the gift cards was a bit lach said the newspaper has found To view the fall 2010 Aunt Clara’s Online Store promotional
ber of purchases or the deal is can- more than the website or staff could is a good time for customers to sit special section as a PDF, visit NBDN-Inland.org and select the
celed; Wallach said there is no “tip- handle, she said. at the computer and buy gift cards. “Ideas” tab. When Aunt Clara’s Online Store or Sneak Peek Pre-
ping point” for the gift card deals “The rush on the store was im- During the week, there are an aver- Store is open, they can be viewed at AuntClarasOnlineStore.com.
available on Aunt Clara’s Online pressive,” she said. “It happened so age of 33,000 page views and 3,400
Store. quickly; we can’t process that many visits to AuntClarasOnlineStore. offer at least $1,000 worth of cards aren’t well-known in the commu-
“We sell gift certificates, not orders at once with everyone trying com, she said. to participate, and the required nity have cards that don’t perform
coupons,” Wallach said. “The gift to put gift cards in their cart all at Customers without Internet ac- minimum value on each certificate well. Or if certain gift cards are go-
certificates are accepted as cash, the same time. The first time we did cess can call a 1-800 number that is $25, she said. ing quickly, people will jump on
and they do not expire. The cou- the store, we processed 800 orders the fulfillment company has, though Advertising dollars acquired board just because it’s a popular
pons offered by daily deal programs with 4,000 gift cards in-house. That the reps are using the same website from participation in the store can item. A lot of times, if it’s not sold
are usually more restrictive and do was a tremendous task for our staff as the general public to input the be used in print or online, with in the first day, it’s probably not
expire. Also, businesses that par- to handle, and we quickly realized orders, she said. With the last store, about 90 percent of the dollars go- going to sell.”
ticipate in Aunt Clara’s receive that this wasn’t the best use of our Wallach said the company received ing toward print, she said. Also, Wallach said gift certificates to
advertising trade equal to 100 per- resources.” about 140 calls. The fulfillment these acquired advertising dollars restaurants are popular, as are cards
cent of the gift certificate face After the first store, Wallach said company charges a fee per order must be used during the paper’s for grocery and liquor stores. An-
value. This is generally higher than the newspaper brought on a local and per phone call, she said. “slower periods.” For example, other popular card is from an oil
the revenue share offered by daily fulfillment company to manage the After the high demand experi- businesses that participated in last company offering 30 percent off
deal programs.” pulling and shipping of orders and enced with the first store, the news- year’s fall store, which took place heating oil. Gift cards that tend to
Wallach said the Record-Journal provide the live inventory count on paper also decided to limit the num- in November, must spend those be hit or miss include ones for car
doesn’t see these other sites as com- the website, AuntClarasOnline- ber of gift cards purchased from dollars during January and Febru- dealerships and auto services, she
petitors to Aunt Clara’s Online Store.com. one business to three per order, she ary of 2011. said. Gift cards for hypnosis also
Store, though it does plan to try out said. On average, 77 percent of the gift haven’t performed well in the past,
Creating a buzz
a daily deal program in the spring “You could still go back in, cre- card inventory is sold, with 52 per- she said.
through a partnership with Bounti- The Sneak Peek Pre-Store was ate another order and purchase cent sold in the store’s first 20 min- Although exact dates for the next
ful, Utah-based MatchBin, the ven- an initiative launched with the more, but we wanted to give more utes and 70 percent sold in the first store haven’t been determined yet,
dor the newspaper used for its on- spring 2010 store, Wallach said. people more of an opportunity to three and a half hours, Wallach Wallach said it will be in May with
line business directory. “At the time, we had had three buy the cards,” she said. “A lot of said. The Record-Journal’s graph- the pre-store launching three to four
“It will not run at the same time successful stores and we were look- items sell out in the first 20 min- ics department prints the gift cards, weeks earlier in April. Planning for
as the store,” she said. “Our plan is ing for ways to create more buzz utes.” or businesses can submit their own. the spring store began in February
to implement the program for a around the store,” she said. Gift card performance Gift cards that are not sold are re- to allow time for the newspaper to
month’s worth of daily deals and The pre-store launches about a turned to businesses, so they don’t make changes or implement new
see how it goes. We look at it as a month prior to the opening of Aunt Selling gift card spots for Aunt earn those advertising dollars, she initiatives, she said.
potential revenue stream that is Clara’s Online Store and includes Clara’s Online Store is open to all said.
separate from Aunt Clara’s Online the list of participating businesses of the Record-Journal’s 11 sales “It’s sometimes hit or miss,” she Contact: Carolyn Wallach,
Store.” with gift certificate pricing infor- reps, Wallach said. Businesses must said. “Sometimes businesses that cwallach@record-journal.com

MARCH 2011 | InlandPress.org | The Inlander PAGE 5

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