Where a Yahoo-AOL Merger Would Leave Patch
Rumors surfaced again last week that AOL and Yahoo were in talks to merge. Where would such a move leave Patch? Or Yahoo’s own local efforts? It all makes for compelling drama for sure, but one area likely to ‘pop’ in both categories is ‘local’ — i.e. Patch, Yahoo’s ‘Neighbors’ beta product, and a litany of other products on each side that are heavily reliant on local advertisers and audiences…
FundsOn: Deals Site’s Charitable Twist – Getting by Giving Back
Charu Chundury was once an entrepreneur focused on software to help manage local youth sports. But these days, he sees an opportunity to tweak the model for charitable giving with an “effort-free” hyperlocal product aimed at the $290 billion a year consumers spend — all the while benefitting small businesses and consumers. How so? With a new company called FundsOn.
Rethinking Hyperlocal: Not Just a Paper, Not an Address
The Washington Post’s decision to close most of its regional bureaus makes a tremendous amount of sense and moves us further along the continuum towards a new reality when the news doesn’t have an office and hyperlocal is also hypermobile. In fact, I’d venture to say that real estate is something that the traditional dailies should ditch, pronto, as part of their transition into a new kind of news organization…
Ex-NYC Deputy Mayor: Hyperlocals Should Help Citizens ‘March on City Hall’
Journalism and community are rapidly converging in the hyperlocal space. But the big missing piece is meaningful participation by local government. Mayors, city and town managers and other local public officials may have Twitter accounts or Facebook pages, but too often they’re used for carefully managed image messages–not for joining citizens in serious problem solving. Stephen […]
Storming the ‘Geolocals’ in the Eye of Irene
How did some of the clever new geolocation/geosocial applications take advantage of a situation where people suddenly needed to find and purchase things they normally would not? For intel on this I chatted up a couple young guns in the space and found, unsurprisingly, weather is still a money maker…
Why Facebook Killed ‘Deals’
Mark Zuckerberg has said that Facebook operates on the premise that “everything is more fun when it’s social.” In his mind, things like music, photos, events and even simple thoughts, were inherently more enjoyable when shared with others. It’s precisely for this reason that I believe the company killed its Deals service…
A ‘Community Service Model’ for Hyperlocal
When merchants and civic organizations produce content for local publications, they develop their brand, engage their community and, as a result, market themselves. This new hyperlocal model would serve the business, nonprofit and civic sectors by providing the free open source media they need to deliver news and promote their agendas inside the community. Call it the community service media model…
Patch Pitch: 855-Town Gorilla Doles Out Daily Deals
Patch certainly reports the news, but it also seems that often Patch is the news. This is one of those weeks. And not simply because one of their interns recently saved a pedestrian, and covered it. The hyperlocal news destination that AOL’s betting a bunch on (closing in on $200 million invested thus far) announced last week that it had crossed a milestone of one million articles published. It’s also rolling out a shiny new daily deals product in over 800 of its communities…
Hyperlocals: ‘Use Facebook Like the Rest of the Planet’
Facebook, with its semi-walled set-up, is where it’s at for indie hyperlocal publishers like the Valley Independent Sentinel.
We’re in a market with two of the three largest newspapers in Connecticut. The two dailies are in no way ignoring the Web. It’s their top priority, from what they keep saying. Yet we have more followers on Facebook then one of the big fellas — and we’re not too far off from the other heavy hitter.
So here are a few Facebook tips that can help independent publishers rack up the “likes”:
Brownstoner: The End of the Open Thread
One of the biggest challenges facing any hyperlocal publisher is the development, maintenance, and growth of audience. If you are starting from scratch, one of your first challenges is to find that core audience — the rabid readers that will check back 10 or more times a day to see what you’ve got for them next. But as a site develops, and its audience becomes more established, the questions change.
Neighborland Helps Citizens Share Ideas and Shape Their Community
What if people could easily share ideas for improving their neighborhoods? That’s the simple, and in some cases disruptive, question posed by the team behind Neighborland, a beautifully designed hyperlocal tool that launched earlier this year. The site makes you feel good about where you live (if you live in New Orleans that is — the only city the site covers currently) and want to get involved in making what’s around you even better.
What Hyperlocal Startups Can Learn From Mary Kay
What comes to mind when you hear the name Mary Kay? A yellow-tinged business model from the Tupperware era for “housewives” looking to make a little extra money? Maybe so, but if you’re looking to succeed in “local,” you ignore the wildly successful local mid-brow tastemaker at your peril…