From San Diego to New York City, every large market has a resturant week promotion. However many small markets are also launching this event which is relatively easy to produce and ideal for a small staff. Unlike a "Taste of" event in a conference center, Restaurant Week leverages the community. The promoters do not have to pay for and staff a venue and restaurants are happy to have the foot traffic inside their own establishments. Civic organizations will also help sell and co-promote what is perceived as a community service. There are also side benefits: The media builds good will with the restaurant community, shows restaurants the power of the media's advertising, and develops a "foot in the door" for longer term marketing relationships. Below are two case studies of small newspapers whose first restaurant week was well worth the effort; how they created the week on a shoe string, and how it fits into their longer term strategy. Included is a check list for launching an restaurant week in your market. more

Here's another way to monetize a category that has been traditionally strong for local print media: By providing back end services to funeral homes, essentially making them partners in selling obituary announcements and daily text alerts for obituary notices, the Houston Herald built a solid new revenue stream and anchored the franchise as an important community service. Here's the full case study: more

User-generated video news is difficult to get. KXJB television in North Dakota found a way to engage hundreds of viewers in submitting photos and videos. Their site, valleynewslive.com, partners with younews.com to allow citizen journalists to submit videos of weather conditions nearby. more

Buffalo News boosted digital sales by $600,000 with a new CRM and incentive contest. This case study shows how the initiative worked, including the CRM vendor, launch strategy, ongoing tactics and results. more

Local television station WJBF-TV in Augusta, Georgia had a unique challenge. Ferguson Kitchens, a supplier of kitchen products with a retail location, approached the station with an idea for donating services for an Extreme Kitchen Make-over contest, but had no advertising budget. Here's how they did it. more

Case study:  Using Virtual Sales to increase revenues from Automotive categories Company:  Omaha World Herald Owner:  BH Media Technology:  Wehaa Initiative: … more

YellowBook.com is doubled 2009 online sales to $400 million in 2010. Since yellow page companies had a head-start on other media in transforming their companies lessons learned are relevant to all media types. At Borrell Associates Local Online Advertising conference, Patrick Marshall, Chief New Media officer, gave nine keys to their success. more

Draper media-owned WCTV.TV brought in $30,000 in a ten day sale of its new weddings site. Here's a look at the site one year later. more

Wedding contests collect highly valuable and hard-to-find names of current brides and are especially valuable  to expo producers and local merchants.  Contests also can provide content for … more

Newcap Radio in Alberta, Canada created a hockey pool contest among 31 radio station sites. The Ford Hockey Pool generated $75,000 in new revenues and attracted 2250 entrants. Here's how it works. more