I'm doing all the reporting the old school way, basically, though I am hoping at some point to have help from either freelancers (we have a number of good journalists in town) or community members (like on the schools page) and if I'm lucky, some combination of the two.
As far as how my advertising is priced, I took a look at what other sites are charging to get a handle on where I thought I could start. My goal at this point is just to earn as much as I was earning in my old job, and go from there. I am doing it myself for now but am exploring some other avenues for getting ads sold (which I will be more than happy to share when something is finalized).
And when you talk about success - Clearly, figuring out how to make this work out financially is key. We've got to get journalists back to work. But honestly, my main goal is making sure that news continues to get reported - and even improving on what's available to folks in terms of local news, and enhancing the involvement that people have with their local media outlets.
Thanks for the detailed response. This is really great stuff to hear. I don't know your story, but Brava on stepping out and doing this.
Also, I like your take on advertising. If you are doing more or less the same thing you were doing before, your first goal should be to get back to that point earnings-wise. That seems as good a way as any to set the first revenue goal.
One thing that comes up a lot in discussions of startups is that, as useful as "business people" are, what they do is not always rocket science. The ability to close sales and find new leads can be learned if someone wants to learn it badly enough.
I'm doing all the reporting the old school way, basically, though I am hoping at some point to have help from either freelancers (we have a number of good journalists in town) or community members (like on the schools page) and if I'm lucky, some combination of the two.
As far as how my advertising is priced, I took a look at what other sites are charging to get a handle on where I thought I could start. My goal at this point is just to earn as much as I was earning in my old job, and go from there. I am doing it myself for now but am exploring some other avenues for getting ads sold (which I will be more than happy to share when something is finalized).
And when you talk about success - Clearly, figuring out how to make this work out financially is key. We've got to get journalists back to work. But honestly, my main goal is making sure that news continues to get reported - and even improving on what's available to folks in terms of local news, and enhancing the involvement that people have with their local media outlets.
Thanks for the detailed response. This is really great stuff to hear. I don't know your story, but Brava on stepping out and doing this.
Also, I like your take on advertising. If you are doing more or less the same thing you were doing before, your first goal should be to get back to that point earnings-wise. That seems as good a way as any to set the first revenue goal.
One thing that comes up a lot in discussions of startups is that, as useful as "business people" are, what they do is not always rocket science. The ability to close sales and find new leads can be learned if someone wants to learn it badly enough.