Live from the Local Media Association/Blinder Group/Florida Press Association Revenue Summit

By Al Cupo, Vice President, Local Media Association

From the presentation ‘Boost Your Revenues by Turning-on Your Sales People’
Presented by: Pason Gaddis, President & Group Publisher, Florida Weekly

4 Simple Steps to Creating a World Class Team

1. Culture - Create an entrepreneurial atmosphere.
   
   • Allow your self-starters to grow.
   • Be a champion of team work.
   • Provide the support necessary for sales staff to be successful.

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Live from the Local Media Association/Blinder Group/Florida Press Association Revenue Summit

By Nancy Lane, President, Local Media Association

The Power of Print

Charter kicked off the session with this announcement, "Two of our weeklies just published the largest billing issues in their history. The Landmark - $100,946 and Milbury-Sutton Chronicle - $18,013. Average issue for The Landmark is $20,000."

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Live from the Local Media Association/Blinder Group/Florida Press Association Revenue Summit

By Nancy Lane, President, Local Media Association

From Bruce Faulmann, VP Sales & Marketing, Tampa Bay Times

Seller Comp Plan – Key Performance Indicators: they influence behavior & drive performance. “No more than 5 KPI’s”:

• They measure active accounts (# per month- ranges from 15 to 40+)
• New account growth (# per month – ranges from 1 -7)
• Customer retention – 80% is the goal from month to month (the # that advertised last month that also advertised this month)
• Revenue diversification – any healthy business does this - % print and % digital/everything else. It is a custom # for each rep.

Performance to budget: 4 KPI’s: +45%; 3 KPI’s: +20%; 2 KPI’s -10%; 1 KPI -20%; 0 KPI -25%. If they miss their budget but make all 4 KPI’s, he pays them $850.

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Live from the Local Media Association/Blinder Group/Florida Press Association Revenue Summit

By Al Cupo, Vice President, Local Media Association

From the Session ‘Evolving Opportunities with Deals, Promotions and Contests’
Presented by Matt Coen, President, Second Street

Promotions
Online promotions will continue to grow and will outpace other forms of online advertising in the next several years. Promotions are all about the ability for people to interact with businesses in their market; it’s what the advertisers want.

Benefits of a successful online promotion include:

• Increases awareness / builds audience
• Generates ad revenue / develops sponsors
• Collects email addresses / grows user database

Promotion Opportunities to Consider:

• Sponsored contests (football winner picks, wedding contests, cutest kids, pizza payoff, lucky dog photos, etc).
• Client-centric agency contests tied to advertisers’ Facebook pages. The local publication makes these contests work by providing a turnkey program to individual businesses that includes design, promotion and tracking services.

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Live from the Local Media Association/Blinder Group/Florida Press Association Revenue Summit

By Nancy Lane, President, Local Media Association

At the start of the second day, Mike Blinder asked attendees to share their top take aways/action items from the first day. More than 20 hands shot up immediately to share with the group. In no particular order, these were the top ones:

1. Start a new business development team and hire hunters (many mentioned this in reference to Chris Edward's presentation from Cedar Rapids - featured yesterday on this site)
2. Have your sales reps collect video testimonials from their clients and share them at the weekly sales meeting. This came from Jim Doyle's "8 to be Great". Jim is the top sales trainer to the TV industry.
3. Many liked the iPad app that Brainworks showcased during the working lunch. It is designed for sales reps and features a location-based map that shows them businesses in the area that are and are not advertising with the paper. Helps with prospecting while on the road.
4. Big format banner ads coming out of Europe (from Nancy Lane's presentation on WAN-IFRA study tour) - many are eager to experiment with them
5. Add more digital expertise to their team (came from several presentations)
6. Have the sales team write their own job descriptions and work with each rep on a new business development plan
7. Getting back to sales basics with the account executives (attendees expressed their plans in a number of ways)

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Live from the Local Media Association/Blinder Group/Florida Press Association Revenue Summit

Session Focused on 8 Hot Trends from Recent WAN-IFRA tour

Revenue Summit attendees were intrigued and inspired by some of the top trends coming out of the most innovative media houses in Europe. Lane's top takeaways included:

1. Multi-Channel Offerings are the Norm
2. European Media Houses Are Making Huge Investments in Mobile & Tablets
3. Sales Structure – Digital Experts Support Sales Teams
4. Home Page Rules – Beautiful Design; Impressive Revenue Results
5. Editorial Supports 360 Advertising Strategies
6. Social Strategies Focus on Facebook
7. Print is Important; Leverage It to Grow Digital
8. Increased Investment in Video or “TV”

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Live from the Local Media Association/Blinder Group/Florida Press Association Revenue Summit

By Nancy Lane, President, Local Media Association

From Chris Edwards, VP Sales/Customer Care, SourceMedia (Cedar Rapids, IA - newspaper and broadcast brands)

New Business Development Team formed in early 2011:

• Prospect and sell non-customers only
• Transition new accounts to the legacy teams
• Work as a “hit squad” for projects, new markets and new product launches

The Good:

• Drove an average of 11 new clients per month; 27% bought multiple products
• Created better working relationships between the teams (legacy reps started asking for their help on sales calls)
• Special section revenue was up in every pub
• Vendor tab revenue was up
• Created a pub designed to re-introduce them to surrounding small markets
• Provided the best feedback on new products
• Cross Roads – small town focus on fringe of circ area went from $2,500 to over $50,000 in advertising revenue; these areas also did over $20,000 in net “deals” revenue in 2011
• 64% of deals revenue was sold by new biz reps (they declared no account protection for daily deals when it started to get tough to fill the pipeline). Gary’s Food was the 2nd largest deal in Second Street’s network at the time (small grocer) that grossed $97,000. Legacy reps started teaming up with new biz reps on deals and splitting commissions.

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Live from the Local Media Association/Blinder Group/Florida Press Association Revenue Summit

By Nancy Lane, President, Local Media Association

From the keynote address:
Turbo Charge Your Sales Team: How to Get the Best Out of Your Sales People
Presented by: Steve Waterhouse, President, Waterhouse Group & Predictive Results

Actions of winners:

• Winners do the right thing.
• Winners have a plan (ask your sales reps to show you their plan for the week – if they don’t, send them home to develop their plan and tell them to come back the next morning).
• Winners follow the plan; they don’t deviate from the plan. Think about the french fry maker at McDonalds. How many times do they get to burn the fries before they lose their job? Why is it different in our industry?
• Winning companies train the plan (Applebees example for wait staff – 2 weeks learning the menu/process and then a week to shadow another waiter. Why would our industry settle for less training?).

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Live from the WAN-IFRA Study Tour

By Nancy Lane, President, Local Media Association

A&N Media, parent company of The Daily Mail and Metro (London), wanted to develop ideas from the ground up.

After visiting companies like Starbuck's, Dell, Virgin Atlantic and Glaxo Smith Kline, the head of their "Idea Management Process" launched their idea factory web site - Let's Start Something Brilliant.

This provides a platform for employees to share their ideas. A top prize is offered ($500 Pounds + a share of the profit) and lots of subsidiary prizes. The winner will also be part of the new idea implementation team.

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Local Media Virtual Advertising Conference – July 24-25, 2012
FREE to Local Media Association Members
 
Local Media Association is adding a new member benefit this year. We understand that times are still tough and that training dollars are few and far between for many companies. We are responding to this reality by creating a two-day virtual advertising conference and it’s FREE to LMA members.
 
This new event will feature two half-day sessions focusing on sales and management.  All employees from LMA member companies are invited to join.

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September 11-14, 2012 – Sheraton Atlanta Hotel

The Future is Local
Disruption Presents Opportunities; Plan Now for the Long Term

An unbelievable program has been developed for this year's annual gathering of publishers and advertising directors. "It's simply our best program yet", said Nancy Lane, president, Local Media Association, "a must-attend for sure." Conference Chair Jennifer Parker (publisher & editor of CrossRoadsNews) added, "Participants will find long term solutions to grow their print, online and mobile business, and get to hear directly from publishers who are having successes right now." and committee member Pete Bakke (Director Digital Media, Wick Communications) said, "Terrific program. I sure would like to be in two places at once and attend every breakout session. They all sound great." The entire all-star committee is very excited about the program (see program for complete list).

More than two dozen media buyers have been invited to participate in the one-on-one meetings and already many of them have confirmed including representatives from Staples, Centro, Geomentum, Vertis/Lowes, Alloy Media, planitretail, Valassis & more. As always, these meetings are scheduled on a first-come, first-serve basis in order of when the conference registrations are received so register early and let HQ know of your intention to participate (email your meeting preferences to hq@localmedia.org).

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20 SCHOLARSHIPS FOR COMMUNITY JOURNALISTS TO BE AWARDED

All costs covered to attend this specialized two-day symposium in Chicago

The LMA Foundation and the Associated Press Media Editors have been awarded a McCormick Foundation grant to conduct a special two-day symposium to educate community journalists on how to uncover local stories on the impacts of the current economic crisis on the mental health of North American families and their communities.

The symposium will take a deep dive into this subject and will feature top speakers from the academic world, as well as journalists who cover highly-specialized aspects of this topic. The ultimate goal is to provide scholarship recipients with a host of tools and information to better cover the topic at a local level in their communities. Follow-up webinars with symposium attendees will also be part of this comprehensive learning experience.

Scholarship applications are due by April 20; click here to access the application form. The symposium takes place July 16 - 17 in Chicago (air, hotel and meals are included). Special thanks to the Sun-Times Media Group for hosting this event.

Editors and reporters are eligible to apply. Special consideration will be given to those who are in a position to drive the coverage of this topic at their newspaper. Depending on the size of the paper, this may be the editor, an assignment editor or a reporter. These scholarships are only being awarded to community journalists who work at daily newspapers with a circulation of 100,000 or less or for weekly newspapers. A number of slots have been reserved for weekly newspaper editors and for smaller dailies under 10,000 circulation. The goal is to have a diverse audience.

For more information, click here.

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All you need is three days in Tampa, Florida to jump-start your sales and increase revenue. Join media colleagues during this highly anticipated revenue summit taking place May 9-11. The summit, brought to you by The Blinder Group, Local Media Association and Florida Press Association is geared to showcase new and substantial revenue streams and best practices from a diverse mix of local media companies. Designed for senior level managers and executives focusing on local SMBs, you won’t be disappointed with the top level speakers and published authors/trainers at this event including:

• Mike Blinder, President of The Blinder Group and author of Survival Selling
• Jim Doyle, President of Jim Doyle and Associates and author of Just Don’t Make A Sale, Make A Difference
• Kevin L. McCrudden, President of Motivate America and author of U – Who Are U?
• Steve Waterhouse, Founder and CEO of Waterhouse Group and author of The Team Selling Solution and Ending the Blame Game: 20 Rules to Live By

Revenue sessions include:

• Turbo-Charge Your Sales Team
• The Digital Agency/360 Selling
• Evolving Opportunities with Promotions, Daily Deals, & Contests
• Streamline the Sales Process & Watch Your Revenue Grow
• SMBs - Are you Aggressively Pursuing these Local Dollars?
• Plus - Many More Revenue Generating Ideas!

Click here for more information and to register

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Al Cupo, Vice President, Local Media Association

An Outsider’s View of Gannett, Now from the Inside

This morning, Maryam Banikarim, CMO, Gannett Corp Inc., shared nine rules for media in a world that has gone local:

1. News Comes from Anywhere
   Bloggers, social sites, user generated content, etc. Use all available sources when covering the local market.
2. Interns are the New Boss
   Senior executives should always be listening to new hires and interns. Gannett has seen great success with their ‘New Talent Development’ program.
3. Relevance Over Rules
   Serve your audience the way they want to be served regardless of what has been standard operating procedure in the past.
4. Don’t Be Afraid to Share the Process
   Let people know where you are when breaking a story – update frequently and be transparent throughout the process.

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By Al Cupo

Deseret Digital Media:
The Anatomy of Transformation

Presented by Clark Gilbert, CEO; Chris Lee, VP, Digital Products; Mike Petroff, COO; Eric Bright, VP, E-commerce; Todd Handy, VP, New Media Sales; and Dale Darling, VP, Digital Direct Sales

In a one-hour plus presentation titled The Anatomy of Transformation, the panel of Deseret Digital Media executives discussed seven big ideas currently underway at Deseret Digital Media.

Gilbert and Lee covered the first two ideas related to content innovation: differentiate content and publish digital-only content.

Gilbert noted that in the past, publishers were comfortable providing content for everyone, but now they ask the question, "What can we be the best at in the world?" That question resulted in Deseret identifying six areas of content related to faith- and family-oriented issues that drives their editorial content. According to Lee, this approach has grown both reach and audience.

They also rely heavily on remote contributors through their Deseret Connect program. This user-generated initiative now has more than 2,000 contributors who are only paid if the story appears in print – meaning all digital content is submitted voluntarily and without compensation. Money does not drive the content contributors to submit content; instead, they appreciate the recognition and feedback they receive.

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By Nancy Lane, president, Local Media Association

From Gordon Borrell's opening remarks:

• $96 billion is the forecast for local ad spending in 2012 – will be $106 billion in 2016; still not back to 2008 levels of $108 billion.
• Promotions – “that’s where the money is” – Gordon Borrell. Couponing is driving this. Online just became the # 1 source for coupons (12-14% share) in many markets.
• Media share – mobile is going to skyrocket in next 3-4 years; online is going to dip. By 2016 88% of all local online advertising will be delivered on a mobile device.
• Local online will show strong growth this year and for the next few years.
• Change in local online ad formats – targeted display will skyrocket (+800+% by 2016); streaming video will also be up. Untargeted display and paid search will be down.
• By 2013, online will become #1 category of advertising – surpassing newspapers for the first time.
• In 2011, traditional local media companies controlled 91% of all advertising, including half of all locally spent online advertising.

Everyone is encouraged to join the Borrell group on linkedin – go to Local Advertising & Marketing Trends to join.

Looking forward:

• Bloodletting is over for (most) newspapers
• Yellow pages faces slow motion demise
• Direct mail entering the “perfect storm”
• A new disruptor is about to wreak havoc (mobile)
• Medium companies are shrinking (not newspapers, radio, etc.)
• Media companies are going to morph and move forward

Be sure to check back often as Nancy Lane and Al Cupo will be providing updates from this very exciting conference.

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Study tours and information sharing are the main goals

The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers is known for their high quality study tours and now Local Media Association members will be able to attend these tours for WAN-IFRA member rates. In a reciprocal agreement, WAN-IFRA members will also be invited to attend the annual Local Media Innovation Mission for the reduced rates as well.

Both organizations have also agreed to share information on current trends and hot new business models. Local Media Association president Nancy Lane and Local Media Foundation Board Chair Steve Parker will attend the upcoming 360° Advertising Sales Strategies Tour taking place in Europe this April. Lane will serve as the primary author of a report on the key findings to be shared with members of both organizations.

"Europe is ahead of us in the area of digital agency services", said Lane, "When we visited Upsala Nya Tidnings in Sweden during the 2008 Scandinavia Innovation Mission, they were just launching a full blown agency. We were extremely impressed with their plans and can't wait to revisit them during this tour to learn about their progress."

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from Nancy Lane, President, Local Media Association

Focus. Urgency. Passion.

Kirk Davis, President & COO, of GateHouse Media wowed conference attendees with an inspirational keynote on Tuesday at the Mega-Conference. His three favorite words - focus, urgency and passion - were evident throughout the presentation.

There are five areas of concentration that Davis covered:

1. Drive permanent structural cost realignment to fund growth and innovation
2. Accelerate digital growth in revenue and audience
3. Grow consumer revenue (including circulation) in both print and digital
4. Preserve the power of print by stabilizing ad revenue and improving the product
5. Develop and execute new businesses by leveraging our core strengths and expanding beyond our existing geographical footprint

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Executives from the Tulsa World, The Ottawa Herald and the Columbia Daily Tribune — three newspapers that have shifted their content behind paywalls — speaking at the Key Excutives Mega Conference in San Antonio told newspapers that the shift to paid content was nothing to fear, offering up their papers' success as the benefits of paywalls.

To learn more about this, click here to read "Newspapers: Don't Fear Paywall Plunge," by Michael Depp, Editor of NetNewsCheck.

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from Nancy Lane, President, Local Media Association

Digital Agencies - Hot Opportunity

Lessons Learned from Keith Wilson, Publisher, Kingsport Times-News

• Don't quote fixed rates - go hourly
• Don't host web sites on your own servers
• 3 minute videos take 4 hours to edit; price accordingly
• You are selling ideas - not production
• When estimating a job, double the time your designer tells you
• Every web site that you design must include a marketing campaignThe best leads will come from your print staff
• The only thing you have to sell is the creative talent of your staff - hire talent

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Local newspapers starting to navigate the murky waters of paid content need to develop a good strategy that puts content on the free side and the paid side of the wall — and perhaps come up with a better word than "paywall" — if they want to drive revenue in the digital world, according to executives speaking at the Key Executives Mega Conference in San Antonio, Texas. Excutives also emphasized the need for increased collaboration in the industry, as well as taking advantage of various digital platforms — especially tablets.

To learn more about this, click here to read "Execs: Collaboration Key to Papers' Future," by Michael Depp, Editor of NetNewsCheck.

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Suburban newspapers see digital as a major front for growth and are rapidly adapting to dominate the online news and advertising space in their local markets, according to Jon Rust, chairman of the Local Media Association and co-president of Rust Communications. Rust and the LMA are in San Antonio this week for the Key Executives Mega Conference, sponsored by his association along with the Inland Press Association, Southern Newspaper Publishers Association and Texas Press Association. Follow NetNewsCheck today and tomorrow for full coverage of the conference.

To learn more about this, click here to read "Suburban Papers Target Digital Ad Lead," by Michael Depp, Editor of NetNewsCheck.

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Site Visits Include Google, Fisher Communications, AT&T Interactive, Black Press and The McClatchy Company

Register Today - Tour is Limited to First 20 Registrations

The Local Media Foundation has set an exciting agenda for the 2012 Innovation Mission. This is the third Innovation Mission conducted by the association’s foundation who’s goal is to see innovation happening in “real time” at some of the most progressive companies and media houses. The week-long tour is intended to expose attendees to some of the best minds in the media and technology worlds.

Highlights include:

• Full day at Google including access to an invite-only private media partner event
• Half day private session with Gordon Borrell - Driving Revenue Using Compass Reports
• Bonus - all attendees will receive a customized Compass report (included in registration fee)
• Half day with AT&T Interactive focusing on mobile and digital agency success (pending confirmation)
• Five hour visit to Fisher Communications, winner of Borrell's Innovator of the Year award
• Visits with some of North America's most progressive media companies including The McClatchy Company and Black Press + bonus visits with the president of the Canadian Newspaper Association and senior executive from WAN-IFRA (World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers)
• Digital immersion - all attendees will tweet, blog and share the learnings throughout the trip (help will be provided)

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Last week, we announced the Local Media Revenue Summit will take place May 9-10, 2012, at the DoubleTree Westshore Hotel in Tampa, Florida. An additional bonus day of programming will be held on May 11. The summit is a joint effort among The Blinder Group, Local Media Association and the Florida Press Association.

The Blinder Group has created a specific website for the conference with fantastic testimonials, the full conference agenda and a listing of top-notch speakers for the event. Make sure you add this conference to your calendar – you won’t want to miss it. Visit http://www.blindersummit.com for more information.

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The Local Media Association Fall Publishers’ and Advertising Directors’ Conference will be held September 11-14 at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel, Atlanta Georgia. Room rates are $159 (single/double occupancy) per night plus tax.

The Fall Publishers’ and Advertising Directors’ Conference is Local Media Association’s premiere conference. Along with a top notch agenda and individual tracks for both publishers and advertising executives, newspaper attendees have the unique opportunity to meet with media buyers and advertising representatives of national companies. The scheduling of these personal, one-on-one meetings is free with conference registration. In addition, you’ll learn about the new technology, products and services provided by the association’s associate member vendor companies. Watch your email for more information. Questions? Contact Local Media Association headquarters at 888-486-2466.

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Local Media Association is pleased to announce that the Local Media Revenue Summit will take place May 9-10, 2012, at the DoubleTree Westshore hotel in Tampa, Florida. An additional bonus day of programming will be held on May 11th. The summit is a joint effort among The Blinder Group, Local Media Association and the Florida Press Association.

The program will tackle the best case studies to showcase new and innovative revenue streams. It was designed to include best practices from a diverse mix of local media companies regardless of platform. Senior level advertising managers and executives that focus on local SMB's as their bread and butter will not want to miss this one-of-a-kind summit that will expose you to new ideas and new ways to engage your customers.

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Quality of summit is comparable to a course at Harvard Business School according to Local Media Association Board Chairman Jon Rust

A bonus pre-conference executive-level summit on daily deals has been added – at no additional cost – to the agenda for the Key Executives Mega-Conference next month in San Antonio.

This two-hour session will be led by Matt Coen, president of Second Street Media Solutions. It is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 26, from 3:30 - 5:30 p.m. Please note this when making your travel arrangements.

"I attended a two hour deals boot camp led by Matt Coen at Second Street Media last year that proved to be one of the best conference sessions of the year for me. I felt like I was back at Harvard Business School – it was that compelling. More importantly, I was able to go back and implement changes to our deals program that will set us up for strong growth in 2012. This is a high level summit – ideal for senior executives. I highly recommend it to my colleagues in the industry."
~ Jon K. Rust, co-president of Rust Communications and publisher of the Southeast Missourian

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Register now for Industry Mega Conference February 27-29 San Antonio, Texas

Last year SNA, Inland Press Association and SNPA joined forces to produce one large mega conference for its members.  It was indeed “mega” – nearly 500 attendees descended on the Vinoy in St. Petersburg, Florida for a three day event.

"We are pleased to once again partner with Inland and SNPA to produce the industry's must-attend event for local media executives", said Nancy Lane, president of Local Media Association (formerly SNA), "This year's program is even stronger with a focus on new revenue streams and new business models all supported by successful case studies and best practices. As a bonus, the trade show will feature over 40 of the industry's premier vendors that will showcase new and proven revenue producing tools and services."

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Matt Coen, CEO of Second Street Media, led a terrific two-hour boot camp in advance of the Daily Deals Summit that took place in Tampa in November.

Here are the top headlines from the boot camp:

Understanding “Deal Appeal”

Deal Appeal Checklist:

• Brand recognition
• Location(s) – multiple locations work best
• Audience appeal
• Deal uniqueness (deals no one else has)
• Pricing and discounts
• Restrictions
• Multiple quantities
• Expiration date
• Deal category (certain categories just work better than others)
• Seasonality

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The Southern Newspaper Publishers Association’s Annual Convention took place in Williamsburg, Virginia, last week. Below are a few highlights and top quotes of the conference:

“I can’t compete with your brand.”
From Warren Webster, President of Patch, when asked how newspapers can compete with Patch.

Patch is in 863 neighborhoods covered by 1,000 journalists. In 2010, they were ranked the 10th largest local property by comScore in terms of monthly unique visitors – in 2011 they moved up to number five. They are investing in infrastructure. In terms of town penetration, 50 percent of a town population visits Patch within 7 months of site launch and over 80 percent of the population will visit monthly after one year. Currently, 90 percent of their advertising is local and 10 percent is national. They want to be the “concierge” of the web.

When asked about revenue needed by Patch, Webster noted the example that they would need $10-$12,000 of revenue per month in a 26,000 populated market.

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If you were able to attend the SNA Fall Conference in Phoenix, you noticed a distinct thread of innovation that was visibly woven into all of the sessions…the “MediaMorphosis” theme resonated throughout the conference. From the keynote of a “World Class Sales Force” to digital agency initiatives and case studies to remarkable new products such as Metroland Media’s ShopTalk, you walked away with the distinct feeling that something exciting is happening: Newspapers have immersed themselves in new media. If you didn’t have the chance to attend, you will find coverage of the SNA conference in the upcoming issue of Suburban Publisher as well as an upcoming “Lessons Learned” webinar from the conference.

To learn more about the conference, click here to visit the SNA Conference page on NetNewsCheck.

NetNewsCheck is the media partner for the SNA Fall Publishers’ and Ad Directors’ Conference.

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Separate digital staffs or integrated staffs? How about this answer: yes and yes. It became clear during the Innovation session at the SNA Fall Conference in Phoenix last week that selling digital isn’t black and white. While many companies feel they need a separate digital staff, they haven’t given up on current reps selling digital programs. There are a number of products and services that media companies can offer well beyond what is on their horizon. It takes someone from the outside with the digital experience to lead the companies into areas they haven’t even imagined. With that said, there are also a number of core products and services that existing sales teams can leverage based on long-standing advertiser relationships.

To learn more about this and other takeaways including from this session, click here to read "’Innovation Mission’ Yields Digital Must-Dos," by Michael Depp, Editor of NetNewsCheck.

NetNewsCheck is the media partner for the SNA Fall Publishers’ and Ad Directors’ Conference.

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SNA is pleased to announce two upcoming conferences scheduled for the second week of November in Tampa. The first is a brand new one-day Local Media Daily Deals Summit, created by SNA in response to tremendous interest and explosive growth in daily deals programs. All local print and broadcast media companies are invited to attend. The second three-day program is a newly developed Classified Multimedia Conference designed to take community classified departments to the next level. This program is targeted at advertising directors and classified managers who are looking to expand their marketing footprint through new technology and a targeted sales approach. Although held at the same time in the same hotel, these two events are distinctly different from one another and feature two very different and unique programs.

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With preconference bonus session on November 9th

Suburban Newspapers of America is pleased to announce the creation of a brand new conference dedicated to the topic of daily deals. The “Local Media Daily Deals Summit” has been created by SNA in response to tremendous interest in the deals programs. “In the last year the deals programs have just exploded,” said Nancy Lane, President of SNA. “We thought it was important to showcase success stories during a one day summit to help all members grow this segment of the business. We have some outstanding case studies to share from markets and companies of all sizes. This is a must-attend event for any member that is serious about daily deals."

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Silent Auction to be held at the SNA Fall Conference in Phoenix!

Today more than ever, newspaper companies need help as they transition to multimedia companies. The SNA Foundation (SNAF) continues to develop new learning initiatives, research and reports specific to digital transformation. That work cannot continue without the generous support from our donors. Recent Foundation sponsored programs include multimedia e-learning courses, a specialized reporting symposium and a North American Innovation Mission visiting progressive media companies with followup best practices report and learning webinars (click here to learn more about the work of the SNAF).

This is where you come in...

Everyone has items that are new or in almost-new condition that they aren't using. Maybe it's tickets to a major sporting event, a gift card that's not up your alley or a bottle of wine from a local vineyard. These are the types of items that the SNAF needs for our silent auction to be held during the SNA Fall Publishers' and Advertising Directors' Conference in Phoenix in September. All contributions are tax deductible.

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Save the Date!
November 9-11, 2011

SNA is pleased to announce a newly re-tooled Classified Conference focused specifically on innovative solutions for Classified Departments. The SNA Classified Multimedia Conference will take place at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in sunny Tampa, Florida, this November 9-11. Rooms are a low $99/night!

After important and honest feedback from our 2011 conference committee, SNA decided it was time to take this conference up a notch. These won’t be the same-old classified sessions. "This conference will address higher level issues and will focus on the hottest opportunities for classified categories of business," said Nancy Lane, SNA President. "Technology is allowing us to sell differently in print, online, mobile and more; we'll focus on the areas with the greatest revenue potential by showcasing promising trends and new success stories."

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Includes Best Buy, Staples, Centro, Most Major Agencies and More; Novus Just Added This Week

SNA is pleased to announce more than 15 confirmed advertiser/agency representatives to engage in one-on-one conversations with SNA attendees in Phoenix this September. SNA provides a unique attendee experience with these personal meetings that are pre-arranged by SNA staff. “It’s really a productive day,” says Tanya Henderson, Advertising and Membership Relations Director with SNA. “Picture more than 15 media buyers each meeting every 20 minutes with a different newspaper company with just a few breaks all day long. It allows attendees to meet with a number of advertisers they may not otherwise have the chance to visit, and it allows the advertisers to see everyone at one venue.”

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The last session of the SNA/Blinder Conference on Thursday was all about retooling the sales department. Here are the highlights:

From Chris Edwards, VP of Sales, Cedar Rapids Gazette/TV-9:

• Created new business development group focusing only on non-customers. Once businesses are sold, they are handed off to another group. They work as a “hit squad” for new projects.
• After doing some research, they found that 15% of the community uses them, but 85% do not, leaving a huge pot of potential and justifying the need for a new specialized group.
• They hire by personality profile – if you don’t pass, you don’t get the interview. If you do pass, you are given a sales aptitude test. In all, it’s a four-interview process. Media experience is not required.

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From Nancy Lane, President, SNA

The SNA/Blinder Revenue Summit rocks. Here are a few of my favorite take-aways:

From Top Ten Revenue Ideas session:

Daily Deals (Ashley Pyle, Product Rollout Manager, Lee Enterprises, and Tim Corcoran, Regional Director of Advertising, Toronto Community News): Impulse buys/vanity offers working very well; both have had deals that were over six figures; at Metroland they have had huge success with car washes (recent deal has 1,200 vouchers) and men's shirts.

Microsites and Facebook facelifts for local advertisers (Doug Dixon, Sales Manager, ThisWeek Community Newspapers): These are sold as part of larger package. For an example on Facebook, check out Bel-Lago Waterfront Bistro. Microsite examples: www.motoristallstars.com and www.wowwhatamovie.com.

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SNA President Nancy Lane has been providing daily reports from the road while she traveled with the Innovation Mission. Eighteen community media executives took part in this week-long study, visiting some of the most innovative media houses in North America. The group focused on new business models and emerging content strategies.

Innovation Mission:
Attendee Feedback/Key Take-Aways

At 4 PM on Friday afternoon, Innovation Mission attendees debriefed in a conference room at Torstar's offices, hosted by Metroland, on the key take-aways of the past six days. There was no shortage of enthusiasm despite the exhausting travel schedule that took the group to four states and two countries in a short, compact period of time.

Emotions ranged from aha moments to outright confusion on next steps. Everyone walked away with new ideas and new friends. Many are going to make dramatic changes upon their return as a result of this experience.

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SNA President Nancy Lane will provide daily reports from the road while traveling with the Innovation Mission. Eighteen community media executives are taking part in this week-long study to visit with some of the most innovative media houses in North America. The group is focusing on new business models and emerging content strategies.

Friday Afternoon Report from Metroland Media – Mashing Up Mobile and Group Deals with UofCheap.com

With a specific target of college/university students, UofCheap.com takes the student discount card concept to the medium of choice for most young people – the smart phone.

UofCheap.com has gone hyper-local and is targeting all of the colleges and universities in the province of Ontario. The site includes a mix of daily and stagnant deals (stagnant deals are anytime deals – not necessarily deeply discounted). On the daily deal side, users get email alerts each day when the new deal is posted.

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SNA President Nancy Lane will provide daily reports from the road while traveling with the Innovation Mission. Eighteen community media executives are taking part in this week-long study to visit with some of the most innovative media houses in North America. The group is focusing on new business models and emerging content strategies.

Friday Morning Report: Selling Video Advertising Packages

“Every client in your market should have a video.” These words of wisdom came from Meriel Bradley, Executive Producer, The Digital Video Group, Metroland Media, during one of the major aha moments of the entire Innovation Mission.

According to Bradley, “90% of consumers say that watching a video influences their buying decisions,” and “67% of Canada’s population viewed more than 5.6 billion videos online last year.”

Bradley came to Metroland with a background in TV and video and wowed attendees with a new product that she created called “ShopTalk.”

ShopTalk combines print, video, blogs and QR codes into a packaged buy. QR codes act as a bridge between print and digital experiences and “put product right in the palms of your customers' hands.” The typical ShopTalk package includes a 60 second video; 12 print ads (one per month); and 12 professionally written blogs (one per month).

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SNA President Nancy Lane will provide daily reports from the road while traveling with the Innovation Mission. Eighteen community media executives are taking part in this week-long study to visit with some of the most innovative media houses in North America. The group is focusing on new business models and emerging content strategies.

Thursday Morning Report:
Question of the Day – 'What if We...'

Prepared by Al Cupo, Vice President, Operations, Suburban Newspapers of America

Linda Grist Cunningham, Executive Editor at the Rockford Register Star in Illinois, joined the SNA Foundation's Innovation Mission in Boston by way of Skype. Linda is one of those people who are always asking the types of questions that lead to innovative solutions. More times than not, these questions start with the words 'what if we...' These three simple words have been asked over and over again as Linda and her team continue what she refers to as their 'Cyber-Fiber Integration.'

Linda provided several examples of this innovative thinking during her one-hour presentation to Mission participants. As early as 1998, she was experimenting with different types of front page formats for their web site. Today, the Register Star's web site, www.rrstar.com, features 15 to 20 top stories with a brief description of each. The reader can then make the decision to dive deeper into each article. Their web site is both clean and easy to navigate and readers have been very receptive to this format.

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SNA President Nancy Lane will provide daily reports from the road while traveling with the Innovation Mission. Eighteen community media executives are taking part in this week-long study to visit with some of the most innovative media houses in North America. The group is focusing on new business models and emerging content strategies.

Wednesday Afternoon Report: JRC's Open Community Newsroom – The "Torrington State of Mind"

Open and transparent best describes Journal Register Company's Open Community Newsroom in downtown Torrington, CT. And what they have created in this former sewing machine factory is simply remarkable and serves as a model for the entire industry.

The Register Citizen (daily with circulation of about 7,000) has redefined the meaning of community contributions. The renovated building includes meeting rooms, a café, access to archives, a copy machine (free of charge to the public), and perhaps most importantly, community input in the news-making process.

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SNA President Nancy Lane will provide daily reports from the road while traveling with the Innovation Mission. Eighteen community media executives are taking part in this week-long study to visit with some of the most innovative media houses in North America. The group is focusing on new business models and emerging content strategies.

Wednesday Morning Report: Digital First Revenue Strategies

The nearly three hour bus ride was worth it for Innovation Mission attendees to see the nation's first open community newsroom in Torrington, Connecticut.

The group met with Journal Register Company (JRC) executives for five hours to learn about the open newsroom (to be covered in a related article to be released this afternoon) and revenue success stories in this digital-first company.

Adam Burnham, Vice President of Local Sales for Journal Register Company, shared company strategies, success stories and lessons learned.

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SNA President Nancy Lane will provide daily reports from the road while traveling with the Innovation Mission. Eighteen community media executives are taking part in this week-long study to visit with some of the most innovative media houses in North America. The group is focusing on new business models and emerging content strategies.

Tuesday Report - Creating the Digital Agency, Pay Walls, ROI-based Advertising and More

The digital agency initiative has become a core pillar of the Dow Jones Local Media Group. Senior Vice President of Digital Media and Product Management Kurt Lozier met with Innovation Mission attendees in Boston over dinner on Tuesday night.

The agency approach was developed after using Borrell Compass reports as well as other research to determine that 67% of local digital dollars are going to promotions and infrastructure (development of web site, social media, pay-per-click, etc.) They want to go after those dollars; they want to be the trusted consultant.

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SNA President Nancy Lane will provide daily reports from the road while traveling with the Innovation Mission. Eighteen community media executives are taking part in this week-long study to visit with some of the most innovative media houses in North America. The group is focusing on new business models and emerging content strategies.

Monday Afternoon Report - Content Strategies

"Strategy is never more than 49% of the solution; you must have great people" - Clark Gilbert, President & CEO, Deseret News Publishing Company and Deseret Digital Media.

One thing was clearly evident, the greatest disruptor in our industry has assembled an unbelievable team to execute. All come from a digital background (0 years of collective newspaper experience).

The innovation mission attendees met with more than 14 of the top managers at Deseret Digital. The afternoon focused on content strategies and after a tour of the amazing converged newsroom, executives shared some of those strategies.

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SNA President Nancy Lane will provide daily reports from the road while traveling with the Innovation Mission. Eighteen community media executives are taking part in this week-long study to visit with some of the most innovative media houses in North America. The group is focusing on new business models and emerging content strategies.

Monday Morning Report - Commerce Strategies/New Business Models

Will digital revenue account for 25% of your revenue and 50% of your profit margin by the end of 2011? It should according to Clark Gilbert, CEO of Deseret News and Deseret Digital Media.

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SNA President Nancy Lane will provide daily reports from the road while traveling with the Innovation Mission. Eighteen community media executives are taking part in this week-long study to visit with some of the most innovative media houses in North America. The group is focusing on new business models and emerging content strategies.

Sunday Night Report: Rick Blair, CEO, Examiner.com

"Probably the largest network that no one has ever heard of!" It is large indeed with 22 million monthly unique visitors.Blair focused on their amazing content strategy:

• 70,000 "examiners" defined as passionate, credible, local insiders
• 48% of applicants are accepted
• Goal when choosing examiners - thought leadership/high standards/quality
• Vast majority have some writing experience
• They process 2,000 applications per week

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Additions to 10 Best Ideas Session at Leadership Summit

SNA is proud to announce an expanded two-hour revenue session at the upcoming SNA/Blinder Group conference in Chicago May 18-20. SNA and The Blinder Group, after attending dozens of conferences last year and working personally with hundreds of media companies, have collected their best ideas for revenue growth over the past year and narrowed them down to the TOP TEN. Criteria included: easy to implement; substantial revenue potential (relative to print and digital standards) and a new twist or angle (or brand new idea altogether). Also, to make the final list a representative from the chosen company had to be available to present and willing to share important information including sales and marketing materials. Finally, the top ten had to include a mix of print, online & mobile.

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Conference to Cover Print, Online, Mobile & More -- May 18-20, Chicago

NEWS RELEASE
Traverse City, MI. Suburban Newspapers of America is once again partnering with The Blinder Group, this time to produce a world-class revenue summit this May in Chicago. This three day event is all about the money, and that is absolutely reflected in the program.

“Mike Blinder has literally traveled the world over the past few years conducting sales blitzes and providing training to media companies of all sizes,” said Nancy Lane, President, SNA. “He is in a position to identify the best and most innovative revenue-producing ideas and bring the people behind these ideas to an event such as this one. We couldn’t be more excited to team up with Mike for what is no doubt going to be one of our best events of the year.”

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Exceptional opportunity to visit some of the most innovative media houses in the U.S & Canada -- Reserve your spot now as space is limited

New Business Models; Emerging Content Strategies; Digital-First Initiatives; Revenue Growth

May 1 - 6, 2011

The community media landscape continues to change. New opportunities and new technologies continue to emerge and the busy publisher is often feeling overwhelmed. Print still rules when it comes to revenue share and the digital landscape is becoming more and more fragmented with mobile and group deals emerging in the last six months as “must haves”. And still, a sustainable business model on the digital side has yet to materialize for most.

The SNA Foundation has identified media houses in North America that are making bold changes in their company to adapt to the changing landscape. All of these companies are showing early success and many of them are in the top tier of their peer class when it comes to digital revenue performance. The working tour will focus on four key areas: the most promising new business models (that are sustainable) for community media companies; emerging content strategies with a special emphasis on community contributions; digital-first initiatives (both editorial and advertising) and above all, strategies to grow revenue (in print, online and mobile).

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Suburban Newspapers of America, Inland Press and Southern Newspaper Publishers Association to Collaborate on Key Executives Conference in St. Petersburg, Florida in February

One of North America’s leading authorities on media innovation will headline the upcoming Mega-Conference designed for key executives in the newspaper industry. Clark Gilbert, President & CEO of the Deseret News Publishing Company and Deseret Digital Media, will address conference attendees on the subject of media innovation - both in principle and in practice.

Gilbert is best known in the industry as a contributor the NewspaperNext project produced by the American Press Institute. He was a founding partner of Innosight (a Boston-based consultancy that specializes in media clients targeting disruptive innovation) and professor of entrepreneurial management at Harvard Business School where he published numerous award-winning articles on innovation. He has an extensive background in digital media and also authored the book “From Resource Allocations to Strategy” in addition to numerous articles on media innovation and the growth of the internet.

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By Tanya Henderson, Advertising & Membership Relations Director

SNA’s Classified Alliance Real Estate Webinar given by Borrell Associates’ Pete Conti and Gordon Borrell last week hammered home the point that realtors need your help. In today’s housing market Borrell says that realtors are “jumping ship” to other firms to obtain better leads and better commission splits.

According to Borrell’s latest research, 33.7 percent of total local real estate ad spending is going to online while 30.5 percent is going to newspaper. This category includes real estate development, mortgage loan providers, realty agents and brokers, and rental property management.  Brokers and agents provide the largest percent of ad spend.

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By Nancy Lane, SNA President

In just the last two weeks, some great new speakers and topics have been added to the Fall Conference agenda. As always, all sessions at SNA Conferences strive to provide immediate ROI. This means covering actionable items (“show me the money” as Gordon Borrell or Mike Blinder would say). While we do throw in a few big picture items, these are few and far between.

New Sessions/Topics/Speakers Just Added Include:

• Roger Coover, Publisher, The Record (Stockton). We recently learned that Stockton is having success with pay walls. When we heard the news, we immediately contacted Roger and he graciously agreed to come and share his story. Many SNA daily members have called us over the last six months asking for case studies on this topic; now we will have one to share.

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By Tanya Henderson
Advertising & Membership Relations Director, SNA

SNA always includes panels of national advertisers and agencies during our yearly Publishers’ and Ad Directors’ conference (you’ll get to meet a bunch of them in Philly this fall). At the SNA Boot Camp in conjunction with the E&P Interactive Conference last week, it was only slightly different. The panel was all about online advertising and how to get more of it for newspaper’s web sites.

Shona Mattingly, Publisher of Inquiries & Visits with Centro and Spencer Griffith, Assistant Media Planner/Interactive Producer with R&R Partners discussed a number of issues when working with newspapers.

Some we’ve heard before with the print agencies — communication and standardization — although Mattingly had said she’s seen some positive movement with standardization with the introduction of the IAB ad sizes.

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March 3-5, 2010 — Orlando, Florida

Presented by SNA & SNPA — Only $495 to Attend

Revenue hungry publishers will not be disappointed! The strategic revenue summit is shaping up to be one of the best conferences ever. Plan now to attend.

New session descriptions/new speakers added — see below:

• Non-traditional revenue streams — a fast paced panel led by Gareth Charter. We're talking new and innovative — things like gift card programs, premium subscription models, online consumer stores, deal sites, event marketing and paid content. A follow up session will include small group exercises to uncover what conference attendees are doing to drive non-traditional revenue at their companies.
• Think classified is dying a slow death? Think again. You will leave the "Top 10 Ways to grow your Classified Marketplace" session with a renewed enthusiasm about this category of business. The spectacular Beverly Crandon from Metroland Media Group will lead this thought-provoking and inspiring session.
• One of SNPA's most dynamic board members, Jason Taylor, President/General Manager, Chattanooga Times Free Press, will present 75 ideas to build your future. This "idea guru" will also lead the Wednesday keynote — Reinventing our Sales Organizations for Tomorrow’s Opportunities. This session will examine everything from sales structure/compensation to creating an atmosphere of innovation to readjusting priorities/products sold. It will set the stage for the entire conference.
• Sales structure — the debate continues. Online-only or print/online combos? Gordon Borrell will take on three publishers. Borrell says — "print reps can't sell online so stop trying". The publishers say, "they can and they will sell both". Bring your boxing gloves but more importantly, learn what is working.
• New session speakers are being added regularly; check back often for new updates.

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March 3-5, 2010 — Orlando, Florida

Presented by SNA & SNPA — Only $395 to Attend

Plan now to attend the most exciting event scheduled for the newspaper industry in 2010 — a strategic revenue summit brought to you by two of the industry's premier associations, Suburban Newspapers of America and the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association.

Publishers and top level executives are encouraged to bring senior staff including Advertising Directors, Interactive Managers and anyone that is charged with generating revenue.

“Combining the SNA Spring Publishers' Conference and the SNPA Key Executives Conference into a single program that taps the strengths of both associations is a winning proposition on many levels," said Edward VanHorn, Executive Director of SNPA. "This joint effort will result in an exceptional conference program and an enhanced networking opportunity that will save SNA and SNPA members both time and money.”

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By Deb Shaw

Crowned with crystalline blue skies and wall to wall sunshine, Kansas City opened her arms to hundreds of media professionals last week and the embrace was strong and renewing. The spectacular weather and surrounding Country Club Plaza district with its stunning architecture and lively fountains seemed to mirror the disposition of those gathered for the SNA Fall Publishers’ and Advertising Managers’ Conference — confident, eager and bullish in their continued pursuit of leveraging the unique position that community media holds in markets across North America.

According to E&P’s Jennifer Saba, who moderated the keynote session, “I was pleasantly surprised when I landed in Kansas City earlier (last) week for the Suburban Newspapers of America annual fall publishers' conference. The mood was extremely lively — not wake-lively either. I'm not the only one who noticed. Take it from John Cribb, principal of Cribb, Greene & Associates, who surely has one of the most difficult jobs in the world as a newspaper broker. Cribb noted a change in attitude this year compared to last: Community newspaper publishers and executives have a sense of optimism that was nowhere to be found in 2008.”

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By Deb Shaw

We’ve all heard about the less is more concept. Perhaps you should consider following the lead of the folks at Red Wing Publishing in Minnesota and apply the principle to your website advertising. They did, and the results are impressive. So far, over 3 sales blitzes in the last 11 months, more than $225,000 in online ad commitments have been inked.

‘Nascarnage’ is how Red Wing CEO Mark Poss describes the old look of advertising on their sites. With a bunch of logos down the side, the original web advertising model was jumbled, off-putting and looked like a Nascar racecar cramming in sponsor logos. “It’s easy to spot newspapers which adhere to this dated model,” says Mike Blinder of The Blinder Group. “You can simply go to their Web site and look for a litany of small, boxed ads appearing one on top of the other, all the way down the side of the Web page.”

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