With this new acquisition, will we see Mr. Michaels apply his trademark tactics on these once dominant, local media giants? We certainly think so.

That’s why we’re going to dial up the way-back machine, and recall how Randy moved in and revamped the Tribune Company a few short years ago. Here’s my post from back then:

Randy Michaels had a plan. The former chief of Tribune would convert the stumbling newspaper and broadcast giant into a media and marketing company. A company that just so happened to own printing presses and broadcast towers. And the only way to accomplish this, was to first transform the company’s deeply rooted and stodgy culture. They had to think and act differently if they were to beat back the local threat of AOL, Google and other online pure-plays. Randy knew that digital would play a major role in this transformation, much like it did in previous makeovers the ex-DJ spearheaded in his past.

The attempted Trib-culture makeover had mixed results. Some, like embedding radio vets into the ranks certainly ruffled feathers. Many of these so-called ‘Randy hires’ are no longer with the company; Lee Abrams, Marc Chase, Jeff ‘Booger’ Kapugi, Kim Johnson, and John Martin. Other new-culture infusions went over a bit better: removal of redundant positions and activities, hybrid sales teams and smarter newspaper production techniques.

Like him or not for some of the recent accusations, Randy has an enviable track record of smartly using digital tech for innovation in media. His early work with radio voice-tracking around 1996, (ex: seasoned DJ in Miami being pumped into Peoria) was hated by 3rd tier on-air talent that were quickly canned by these so-called robo-jocks. But station management and investors loved this cost-cutting tool. Cash-strapped managers saw voice-tracking as a simple and affordable way to have major market talent on their small market stations. The quick expansion of NYC based Howard Stern affiliates is another example of how operators like Infinity/CBS and Mel Karmazin leveraged emerging technology.

Michael’s take over of Tribune with financier Sam Zell shows similar digital thinking and strategy being applied to the Chicago based company. Take a look at this 5 minute video clip (from almost 2 years ago) that highlights a speech given to employees of The Morning Call, Trib’s print operation just outside of Philadelphia. After all this time, the talk is still accurate and relevant. Unfortunately, some of what Randy wanted the staff to embrace and execute either fell on deaf ears, or was sloppily executed at the local level.

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With a team of internet marketing consultants in most major markets, they have deftly reached profitability by giving SMB’s want they increasingly want…… digital marketing solutions that can be tracked.

Here’s an excellent presentation that Reach Local co-founder; Nathan Hanks, recently gave about Google and their plans for growing local online ad share.

Turn up the volume for his awesome narration of these slides.

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For Publishers Only. The Un-varnished Truth about Newspaper Website Business Models.

Mel Taylor Media exposes why most local media still operate their digital assets in the red. Even if web revenue & traffic have grown over the years, your likely treading water and losing share, no matter how much money you throw at it.

This session is not about sales tips & editorial tricks. It’s not a gee-whiz technology talk. This is not a ‘the future is bright if we only change’ lecture. Rather, we call out the 800 lb. elephant in the room: our sites are not being run like our traditional print business; where profits must come first.

Mel Taylor has first-hand knowledge of these issues and the mandatory fixes that must be applied. He has spent over 13 years working with traditional media and online-only ventures, in their frustrating pursuit of building profitable online businesses.

Topics discussed:

• Pros & cons: the vendors of Internet services.
• Attracting or making 3^rd party digital investments
• Who’s driving your Interactive bus? Do they have the proper license?
• The enemy within. Rooting out the inside saboteurs
• Outsourcing & cost reductions via the latest Internet technology
• Killing the sacred cows. Stuff that doesn’t make sense anymore
• The Checklist. 10 questions to reveal the limits of your online business model.
• They’re quietly eating your lunch; stealth competitors in your own backyard. (Patch, etc)
• The 100% solution. The only HR & commission structures that work for Web.

Session also provides well-documented examples of how local media is using in-expensive tech and tactics to increase editorial coverage, cut costs and drive new revenue. Examples:

• Gannett outsources some ‘soft’ editorial creation to companies like Demand Media. Why this is smart, and how it allows Gannett to focus on hard news.

• Pasadena media property uses ultra-low cost, internationally based call-centers for setting up small biz appointments. Instead of expensive reps spending time making cold calls, they’re on the street with average of 5 qualified, new-biz sales calls a day.

• Partnerships with independent online journalists. Some were smart. Some were really dumb.

> Philadelphia Magazine uses TechPhilly.com for coverage of regional tech issues.
> New York Times uses BayAreaNewsProject.org for coverage of San Francisco
> Allbritton Communications pulled together 200 bloggers in Washington, DC area.

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Now we find that TBD has pulled the plug on the hyper local ad & blogger network that was going to support the effort. Remember, Albritton’s smart online effort was described as the model to follow.

So what happened? My 2 cents:

Like other online news sites run by traditional media, most of the TBD strategy seemed to be lead by editorial, newsroom and tech-savvy execs. It was also heavily influenced by traditional employees who worried about losing control of their legacy kingdom. For a key piece of sales strategy, TBD outsourced that skill to another group of talented editorial, newsroom and tech savvy execs. WTF?

This unfortunate situation begs the questions: Why didn’t TBD owner; Robert Allbritton, install much better local/direct sales expertise into the mix early on? Why did he allow jealous meddling from the TV staff ?

AOL/Patch recently hired a seasoned, local sales VP. Even Tim Armstrong knows that the massive collection of brain cells featuring John Brod and Warren Webster still needs someone who can bring home the bacon. Zillions of page views + community engagement + great editorial + crappy sales = FAIL.

Outdated model that keeps traditional websites operating in red: Editorial Drives Web Strategy

Successful model that leaders like GAWKER use:  Advertiser Spending Flow Drives Web Strategy

TBD.com relied on the sales force from their sister property that already has their hands full with selling TV spots. It’s also no secret that Television sales reps can always use some extra training and motivation to sell web.

This is just another in a long history of online journalism/business model mis-steps. These continual errors allow pure-plays like Reach Local, Patch, Groupon, Pandora and others….. to grow local reader & advertiser share.

• The sheer stupidity of a ONA conference attendee asking Tim Armstrong: ‘is Patch evil?’
• The New York Times handing over ‘The Local’ to professors & local blogs
• Media companies pouring millions into plans developed by those with NO sales experience
• Having web department report to newspaper/broadcast department head.
• Over-reliance on research, analysis and conferences to craft a sales & business model

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How To Beat PATCH and Other New, Local Web Competitors

Tuesday, December 14, 2010 1:00 PM Eastern Time

From Suburban Newspapers of America website:

An overwhelming number of SNA members have recently inquired about Patch and its presence in and around their market(s). In response to these requests, SNA has arranged for Mel Taylor to present a Patch.com specific webinar and a Q & A opportunity for all SNA members. About the Webinar:

A comprehensive look at the business and revenue models of Patch; the hyper-local initiative from AOL. Attendees will learn who they are, what some of their current & future plans are, and how and what they’re pitching local business. Most importantly, this webinar will offer proven methods in how to effectively beat Patch. This session will also take a broad look at others going after local ad budgets: Reach Local, DataSphere, Groupon, Facebook, Hyper-local sites and Pandora.

About our Speaker:

Mel Taylor is a Philadelphia-based consultant specializing in online revenue strategy and staff training. Mel also conducts ‘Web 101 workshops’ for small business. Recent clients include Tribune Newspapers, Philly.com, Fox-TV, CBS Radio, & various hyper-local websites. Mel’s website can be found at www.MelTaylorMedia.com.

HOW TO REGISTER

SNA Members: FREE, Click here to register; Nonmembers: $59, Click here to register

Note: Registration is required no later than 1 hour prior to the time listed above. If you have any questions regarding registration, please let us know: sna@suburban-news.org or 888-486-2466.

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Tribune recently launched

Forward-thinking media companies like Tribune are smartly diversifying their advertiser product line, with digital first offerings like social media, seo, site development and other services that small business is asking for…. more often.

As we shared in a previous post, consumers now get over 50% of their media & information from online. Compare this to the fact that local businesses still only allocate 4% of their marketing budgets to online. Imagine when local businesses wake up to this disparity.

While it’s true that local business is quickly moving online, unfortunately they’re making quite a few mistakes along the way. I recently spoke with Tracy Schmidt; a social media consultant from 435 Digital to share some of these far-too-common errors.

1. Jumping on the social media bandwagon without a plan.

Local business operators often think: “Oh geez, we have to get on Twitter! Don’t we have an intern who just graduated high school? Everyone’s on Twitter and Facebook. We have to be there too!”

The problem is they haven’t developed a plan, and a set of objectives. This is a recipe for failure.

2. Not sure which metrics are important.

You have to know and understand which specific metrics you’re following, in order to judge the success of your strategy. Some important metrics are: customer conversions, purchases, increase of readership, opt-in emails collected, Facebook fans/Twitter subscribers, etc.

3. Using rogue social media gurus.

There are a lot of so-called social gurus out there who claim to be interactive experts. Sure, they can build a Facebook page, but they have no clue how to craft a social media strategy that works for a specific business or objective.

4. Having the intern do everything.

I’m not making fun of someone who’s between the ages of 19 and 21. But just because you can text on your iPhone or post pics on Facebook, that doesn’t qualify you to handle the critical online strategy for a business. Far too often, the business owner dumps off all that ‘icky’ web stuff to the intern or youngest person on the staff.

5. Not getting professional assistance to get started.

Most small business owners need some level of assistance, at least while they’re getting started in the online space. This early hand-holding and direction will make a huge difference in attaining goals and objectives.

6. Hiring web developers who keep the client in the dark.

It’s a dirty little secret of some web developers. They won’t explain all of the tools they’re using to build your site. They’ll simply say: “just spend $5,000 so we can build you a really sweet Flash website.” They conveniently forget to tell you that your beautifully animated site won’t be seen by Google and it won’t display on your iPad or iPhone. Bummer.

7. Thinking “Me, me, me, me, me”– instead of sharing first

Often when somebody starts to tweet, they’re not sharing information or having a conversation. It’s all about them. It’s about what they think personally and what they are trying to sell. If you’re not going to share and be a part of a conversation, you’re most likely going to fail.

8. Mixing business with personal

I follow many people on Twitter that are experts at one digital thing or another. 90 percent of the time they turn me on to something I wasn’t aware of. It makes me sort of bond with that person from a business perspective. But then all of a sudden, they’ll tweet or post something that pushes their personal thoughts on something like politics, sex or religion. It’s like your mother told you: these are the three topics you never talk about in mixed company. For some reason, people often forget this golden rule when online.

9. Not adopting “slow & steady wins the race.”

You don’t need to do everything all at once. You’ll burn out. Just do one or two things a day–build up slow and steady.

10. SEO is important, but content & conversation should play lead role

Don’t automatically think that SEO (search engine optimization) is the most important thing. Example: Let’s say I find your site in position #1 on Google, and then I click through. When I get there and the site is confusing or lame, I’m outta there. I don’t really care how great your SEO expert is, and how high up your listing was on the search engine results page.

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The ONA keynote this morning featured top execs of Allbritton’s TBD, the DC based online news effort steered by Jim Brady and Steve Buttry. These guys are some of the smartest in the business….when they’re discussing editorial and online news gathering procedures.

But when it comes to sales and revenue strategy, the discussion disappoints. Badly.

Journos are screaming at me now: ‘so what, it’s all about gaining audience for now’. Well, if the moderator thought it was important to ask questions about revenue, one would assume it’s a key part of keeping TBD, and others like it, sustainable? Or was she just filling time trying to sound ‘entrepreneurial’? I doubt that parent company; Allbritton Communications (Politico, WJLA) is willing to burn through millions to see what might emerge. Maybe they have too much confidence in their mature TV sales force as well?

The New York Times made content and traffic a top priority with THE LOCAL, and we know how that flamed out with little advertising support. Not even the top flight professors at CUNY could save that one. Like the NYT and their hyper-local plan, TBD.com might be committing the same fatal mistake of  NOT adding seasoned sales expertise to the mix, early in the process. Foundation support, angels, tip jars and the HOPE of future profit… is no way to run a  business.

I could sense from watching Mr. Brady answer questions about money, that the topic of sales is not his strong suit. And God bless Steve Buttry for trying to help Jim out with some tired, local-revenue factoids. Still, why are we asking two brilliant journalists about sales? I get the same nauseous feeling when I watch NYU’s Jay Rosen or Jan Schaffer from J-lab talking about those so-called ‘elusive revenue models’.

The folks at Reach Local and Patch are snickering right about now. These new local competitors are hell bent on revenue. They’re likely amazed and thankful that Allbritton put newsroom and old-school TV execs in charge of TBD revenue generation. They also love to hear college professors ask: “is patch evil?”

Some things mentioned from this keynote, that kinda made me cringe…..(para-phrasing)

• Our ad network is not gonna make the blogger rich, but it’s more than what they’re used to
• No magic bullet to revenue…only shrapnel
• Maybe 5 different revenue streams we could tap
• Quality staff & news coverage is long-term strategy, profit will follow later

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