While traveling by plane to the Borrell Local Mobile Advertising Conference yesterday, I sat next to a small business man and we had a chance to chat. He employs just more than 100 people and has been in business for 30 years in his own hometown. He still does more than $2 million a year in sales - almost all of it in the local area. For most of that time he's advertised in the newspaper- he described his newspaper rep "as a really nice person." … more

This week we've released a set of reports on a creative way to sell against the football category: Football contests. In the renewed excitement over building e-mail lists that drive deals, the value of sponsorship revenue is often overlooked. We've found that a number of companies have divided contests into two categories, ie "marketing" which primarily drives e-mail capture, and "sales," based on the ability to sell the contest, reporting to two different departments. Football - with a younger and more desirable demographic than baseball - is one of the eminently salable kinds of contests, and one that also drives significant registrations. Beer, auto and fast food chains love this category. Because Second Street Media has such a long history with football contests, we looked at as many of their contests as we could and found ten solid concepts. Best practices can also translate to other kinds of sports contests, so use these monetization tips. more

The following interview is edited from this week's interview with Kurt Lozier, SVP of Dow Jones Local Media Group, which is currently testing paywalls in eight small markets. Looking … more

It was already 9 p.m. inside a industrial warehouse in Las Vegas, when the first people in Nevada tried to print the page of a newspaper on a Macintosh computer. I was 20-something, and let … more

This week's two case studies are from tiny Pottstown, a 23,000 population borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, on the Schuylkill River that survived both an earthquake and a flood this week. The case studies are solid, if small revenue, simple ideas. But what's happening at Pottsmerc.com is important for a different reason. … more

This year's Local Media Association's Ad Director's and publisher's conference focused on new revenue streams. Here are some of our take aways and observations: more

The most talked about presentation at the Borrell Local Mobile Advertising conference last week was clearly Clark Gilbert's, CEO of Deseret Media. A respected Harvard scholar turned local media executive, Gilbert casually noted that in all likelihood, only one in ten traditional local media companies will survive. This isn't the first time Gilbert has addressed cold hard truth at a media convention. But it may be the first time that everyone in the room was listening. Part of the reason is audience shifting from computers into mobile devices in a tidal wave and no one wants to be caught playing catch up for ten more years. Or worse. Clearly, mobile is behaving like a classic disruptive innovation in its early stages. While some publishers think they are "safe" in small markets, most executives at the conference were looking towards early adapters for answers. more

Local mobile revenues - yes, revenues - are finally beginning to develop. Some companies are now selling sponsorships on text alert programs to healthcare services and credit unions for as much as $8000 a month. Cirque de Soleil is a mobile advertiser in several markets, as is McDonalds. Other emerging advertisers include Honda, Cheverolet, Toyota and LandRover in the automotive category - all of these companies have placed mobile buys with local media comanies in various markets. more