Missouri Press Association
Serving Missouri Newspapers Since 1867
Almost two years ago, I got an unexpected call from a fellow publisher and mentor who owns a newspaper in Illinois. During our conversation, I lamented how tough it is to generate steady weekly newspaper print revenue, and he unceremoniously replied, “Peggy, your stool doesn’t have enough legs.”
What?
He explained. For many years our company thrived with a one-legged stool. That leg was print advertising revenue. It made for a strong sturdy stool, but times changed. He told me to find new sources of revenue to support our community newspaper. Otherwise, our stool was going to collapse.
Yikes!
I needed to find some additional legs and fast. But who could help us? Maybe our readers would step up if we asked. They often say, “I love the Leader.” Do they love us enough to support us financially? We decided to find out and organized a Support Local Journalism campaign. Our readers showed their devotion by donating thousands of dollars to shore up our work in the community.
That’s a strong leg for our company. Whew.
Where else might we find a new revenue stream? Events are often listed as good options for media companies. We already produce a lot of community events. We had that revenue leg in place, right? Maybe not. All our events had strong ties to newspaper advertising.
What if we held an event that didn’t include any newspaper advertising? It seemed radical, but we tried a craft fair. Vendors paid for spots. They were “allowed” to purchase newspaper advertising, but it wasn’t required. We sold out of vendor spots, had very, very low expenses and a great turnout. (My hubby played Santa. I think he did pretty good.) This year, we are doing it again at a larger venue to accommodate more vendors.
It’s another sustainable leg for our stool.
My friend asked if we print any stand-alone magazines. “Nope,” I replied. “We are a newspaper.” I remembered other publishers at conferences saying that newspapers leave money on the table if they don’t produce targeted, specialty magazines. Let’s try it, I thought. We launched a magazine in partnership with our local chamber of commerce. It was a big success. The community loved it. And it generated revenue. We have other magazines on deck and a new revenue leg in place.
Another leg, but is it enough?
We knew that digital advertising was something our local advertisers wanted to do. Like us, they struggled with technology. We got tired of watching out-of-town companies come in and rip-off our local businesses with high-priced contracts. On the other hand, we saw businesses struggle when the owner’s nephew developed a partly functioning website in his mom’s basement, but the company had no digital marketing plan.
We took a leap and hired a full-time digital marketing manager. Her first month in the role we sold a grand total of zero in digital sales. Undeterred, we persevered. We now have a solid plan to help our small, local businesses navigate the untamed digital marketplace. We’re becoming the local and regional experts, and our clients appreciate straight talk. Our monthly digital revenue is steadily growing. It won’t support our entire operation, but it helps.
I went back to notes from other conferences. Perhaps I could find more gems.
Could we do a Best of Jefferson County contest? Initially, it seemed hard and expensive. It wasn’t easy to pull off. It took dedication and a bit of a leap of faith. But the results justified both the effort and the upfront expense You may have read last month about our success with this project. (Just do it. You can thank me later.)
Is that a stool or an octopus, Peggy?
I’m not sure, but we are not stopping. In fact, the more we learn, the more we learn. We are working on something exciting. I hope we can launch soon. I’ll share as soon as I can. Stay tuned.
To my friend, who doesn’t even remember having a conversation about the legs on the stool, thank you.
