Journalists: An army of secret inbound marketeers

Fascinating. Over the last few days, I’ve chatted to a UK regional development agency, a charity and an international media training organisation about the changing face of communication. In all three cases, the conversation ended on the same theme: inbound marketing.

It’s the practice of being found and valued by your target market, rather than just throwing your product, service or message at it like boiled spaghetti and hoping it sticks (that’s the outbound model we’re all used to).

For me, inbound marketing is as much an attitude as a toolkit. I mean, who’s not nervous about navigating through the swirling solar system of social media, information moving at lightspeed and technology that changes constantly? Look on inbound marketing as just a different sort of map for a different sort of journey. (more…)

What all local news websites need: A Welcome mat

All I was trying to do was dig out email addresses for a few local media contacts in Wales. Simple, ay? That’s what I thought. Before I tried.

We all know how social media has changed the goalposts. We all know that good journalism harnesses the power of conversation.

So, what’s the first thing you’d expect to see when you arrive on the doorstep of a local website? A Welcome mat. Right? Come on in. Pleased to meet you. Join the conversation. We’re human.

Through the Media Trust, I’ve enjoyed helping an inspirational person called Jo Hendry. Having already run the London Marathon this year, she’s now preparing to bike from the top to bottom of Wales to raise money for Crossroads, the charity that supports carers and those they care for (and particularly those suffering with dementia). Great cause. Great challenge. Great lady. Meet Jo at Wheels across Wales 2009. (more…)

Why communities of interest come before hyperlocal

I first heard the word ‘hyperlocal’ around 20 years ago.

Not surprisingly, it was spoken by an American, Ralph Ingersoll III, who had recently shocked us all with his whirlwind takeover of the Birmingham Post & Mail and Coventry Evening Telegraph. No-one had even heard of him.

It was a crazy couple of years that ended in tears for Ralph and a management buyout for the rest of us. One of Ingersoll’s more daring wheezes was to shut a string of profitable free newspapers and replace them with 40-odd hyperlocal, hybrid freesheets – a tad bigger than A4 – for Birmingham’s local communities. (more…)

What wonder-woman Claire can teach our local media

I can’t stop thinking about Claire Robertson.

She’s a bespectacled, friendly, fidgety sort of mum who happened to be the manager of Woolworths in Dorchester when the shopping giant collapsed, putting Claire and her 25-odd staff out of work.

But not for long. Because Claire grabbed the bull by the horms, raised the capital, employed many of her former staff and opened a new shop on the exact same site … called Wellworth. (more…)

So MPs are backing local journalism … Here are THREE things they can do for starters

It’s good news that 70 MPs are today calling on the Government to support local journalism.

The motion calls on the Government to: “Explore innovative solutions to preserve local journalism and to ensure that state support, either in the form of deregulatory measures or financial help, is given only where firm guarantees on investment in local journalism are secured.”

So while the innovation squad, whoever they may be, gets into gear and media chiefs conjure with the notion of ‘firm guarantees’, here’s three ideas to get the ball rolling: (more…)