Copyright 2006 by Rules |
Suburban Newspapers of AmericaHome | Contact Us | Join SNA
November 19, 2008
skip to the main content area of this page
Posted in
Advertising/Marketing forum by
CarrieA on
11/14/2008
Anyone using HitBox? Other traffic tracking tools?
Rick Craig from Hood County News (TX) takes a look at one of the many hand-outs
from the Great Ideas session.
Last month’s SNA Fall Publishers’ & Advertising Directors’ conference received resounding
praise on all fronts — stimulating agenda, excellent exhibitors, valuable
networking. The gathering in Minneapolis brought almost 300 professionals together,
despite the tough economic times, and the group was eager to both learn from and
coach one another. Publisher Charlie Pankey, a first time SNA conference attendee,
commended the overall tone of the gathering and the inspiration he felt as a result.
“The biggest thing I brought back from the conference,” said Pankey, “was the vision
that our future is bright. The group that went to Scandinavia* blew my mind with
the information and vision they brought back. It encouraged me to not be satisfied
with status quo and that in order for us to reach that level of growth again here
in the States we, as leaders, need to be on the front line making the decisions
for our future, sometimes even risky decisions.”
read more
Jan Schaffer
Building new journalism networks, not offering more digital versions of stories,
was the prevailing model for creating and distributing news of the future at the
Oct. 23 New Business Models for News Summit in New York City.
To begin constructing those networks, however, you’ll need to redefine the business
you’re in, focus on what adds the most value, and reconfigure your current infrastructure.
You can’t tether new networks to old models and mindsets, asserted nearly all of
the presenters.
“The network is the critical model for how we go forward,” said summit organizer
Jeff Jarvis. Jarvis gathered 120 people for the day at the midtown campus of the
CUNY Graduate School of Journalism where he directs the interactive journalism program.
Tom Evslin, founder of ITXC Corp., a voice over IP company, said he, too, was “making
the assumption that newspapers in the future will be a networked business... A newspaper
exists in the context of a community that it helped to create. That’s the past,
and I also think it’s the future.” read
more
Steve Parker: Nokia N95 “...a game changer for us.”
During the Great Ideas session at the SNA Fall Conference in Minneapolis last month,
notepads got a work out when Steve Parker started to talk. Equipped with examples
in hand — and none were much bigger than his hand! — Parker delivered
a wholehearted plug for equipping your mobile journalists with the tools needed
to add pizzazz to your online offering. They’ve tried a sampling of tech-gear at
his company and with varying degrees of enthusiasm, he described a few devices that
have found a niche in his operation.
Parker is co-publisher at Recorder Community Newspapers in Bernardsville, NJ. The
company publishes several weeklies with a total circulation of about 90,000. Their
website is found at www.recordernewspapers.com.
In a privately owned company like his, Parker and co-publisher Liz Parker are no
doubt keenly aware of what it takes and what it costs to stay on top of the technical,
productivity and efficiency needs for a media company working to keep their print
and online applications at the center of their community’s attention. His credibility
and knowledge earned him a top slot in the best 3 ideas of the session so for those
who weren’t in Minneapolis, here’s a rundown of his views.
read more
National Geographic's My Shot feature.
As a sponsor of Mediapost’s OMMA Global New York Conference September 18 and 19, I attended
the first day at the Marriott Marquis in New York. Every session touched on time
— time savers, leveraging timely topics, or engaging your prospects and customers
for longer periods of time.
Noah Elkin of Steak Media
led a workshop entitled “Your Customers are Telling You What They Want — Listen
to Them! How to Take Search Beyond Search Engine Marketing.” Elkin discussed saving
time by using Pay Per Click (PPC) to test marketing messages in a cost-effective
manner.
With 1.5 million searches conducted every minute one can accomplish amazing market
research, he told us. Elkin explained that testing three or four versions of new
campaigns empowers marketers to make informed decisions before rolling out a soup-to-nuts
marketing effort that might otherwise misfire. The example Noah used was a mortgage
company that wanted to focus on the terminology “secure loan,” a la industry jargon.
He pointed out that PPC tests indicated that “home loans’ was a better phrase, one
commonly searched by those seeking loans. Another example was the wise use of “dental
care” rather than “oral care.” Small changes can have big impacts, Elkin showed
us. read more
The Fort Myers News Press “Media Wall”
By Deb Shaw
The tides of change in editorial divisions are flowing quickly now — it’s
evident at many levels including the adaptation from weekly newspapers to daily
on the Web, from newspaper companies to media houses, and from 9 to 5 newsrooms
to 24/7 information centers. Local papers far and wide are in the enviable position
of being the dominant source of important news and information at the community
level and many are leveraging that position with masterful innovations in the world
of new media. To aid the effort, SNA conference planners purposely seek out those
who can share new expertise and at the last Publishers’ and Editors’ Symposium attendees
heard first hand from a team of editors from the Fort Myers News Press (FL) about
their transformation from a traditional newsroom to a Web-first information center.
The folks in Fort Myers are sharing knowledge again, this time about their command
central ‘media wall.’ read more
Lessons Learned from Norway & Sweden
Scandinavian newspapers and their Web sites are experiencing explosive growth while
maintaining print readership in the 80% range. What is their secret? What can US
and Canadian community newspaper companies learn?
To find out the answers to these and many other burning questions, the SNA Foundation
commissioned an innovation mission to Norway & Sweden. Last month fourteen newspaper
executives made the trip and met with more than a dozen companies. Planes, trains,
automobiles and ships took the group from one end of Norway to the other end of
Sweden. And the lessons learned were valuable indeed.
The SNA Foundation is pleased to make "Building the Local Media House —
Lessons Learned from Norway & Sweden" — available to the industry
free of charge. This comprehensive report offers nine lessons learned and comes
complete with suggested action plans, resources and discussion points for community
media companies to consider. read more
Posted 10/6/08 by Dave Greber, Innovation Mission Multimedia Reporter
When designing newsrooms, the Bergen Tidende has created
an interesting “boat” concept. Their offices allow for open conversation areas in
a unique layout.
To learn about this interesting design, view my new video titled,
"Bergen Tidende Tour" in the video player on the right.
Also, be sure to read my trip highlights and ask me some questions in the
Innovation Mission Forum.
And finally, don't forget to check out my photo gallery
for more information.
Last week, SNA co-hosted a call with Wachovia Equity Research to share the second
quarter community newspaper advertising results with the financial community. The
audio recording of that call is now available free of charge.
Click
here to download the MP3 recording (10 MB)
Donna Barrett, President/CEO of Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. and David Black,
President/CEO of Black Press provided extensive commentary during the call that
was handled in a Q&A format by John Janedis, Media Analyst, Wachovia Equity Research.
read more
“Community
newspapers are doing well because they provide much needed hyper-local news and
advertising,” said SNA President Nancy Lane. “Advertisers, especially at the community
level are reaching an engaged audience that no other medium can effectively serve.”
August 13, 2008 — Community newspapers remain the sweet spot of the industry
with only a slight downturn in advertising revenues, according to second quarter
2008 financial data collected by the trade association — Suburban Newspapers
of America (SNA). The SNA financial reporting group reports total ad revenue at
$482 million, a 2.4% decline from the same quarter in 2007.
Hundreds of daily and weekly community newspapers, representing nearly 14.5 million
in circulation with annual revenues of over $2 billion, now participate in the SNA
financial reporting group. A beta report conducted earlier this year by SNA showed
a 2.7% decline for the first quarter of 2008 against the same quarter of 2007. The
group also reported total ad revenues were up .5% (2007 vs. 2006) as compared to
the overall industry decline of 7.9% as reported by the Newspaper Association of
America. read more
With the first sale under their collective belts, the LocalPoint Media sales staff
is fired up and on the move, with 100+ proposals on the table. As media buyers from
across the country seek a more valuable alternative to metro dailies, they’re recognizing
that LocalPoint Media and the community and suburban newspapers it represents, more
than fits the bill. With its one order, one bill structure, media buyers have an
awesome opportunity to delve deeper into local communities like never before and
at fantastic rates. Media buyers are now able to advertise in a number of community
newspapers with just one simplified buy. It's simply never been easier for media
buyers and planners. What was once a good, hard buy is now a good, easy buy.
read more
Bob Cole
Who is Bob Cole?
I am Vice President and Group Publisher for Minnesota Sun Newspapers a division
of American Community Newspapers. In this role, I oversee the day to day operations
of our 44 community newspapers in Minnesota. We deliver community news and advertising
to more than 457,000 homes with our print products and serve more than 1.8 million
web pages monthly to more than 254,000 unique visitors of our online products. read more
The SNA Foundation is the only organization of its kind that focuses solely on suburban
and community newspapers and supports their role as the leading local information
providers, now and in the future, through research and education.
read more
sna.analysisonline.org
Copyright © 2008 SNA | Visitor Agreement |
Privacy Policy | Site Map
| Contact Us
| --BEGIN VALIDATION CODE-- M bWuByL pFhZpHiUmYhJqX tAoSuMiY bIaPzDcO vCwPyE rGpRlY lUwCmLsCoBsF pAa YiPwVdQ gKkDiCb JuDu OkXs DnEwS z TtJoKjWyMiXaS cCiIxBbDyJpQfVn Y aEfNmN iJhBbTxQbF hTcZ kBoI nFaBpS oK hFk WnAyG oRvQiZxQcRxBlHg XqLfV fIjPaRlD eH eR dFzJdYzUvGbD wEeKk hohositeX2006 --END VALIDATION CODE-- |
