Going Local in Limburg:

building communities & entrepreneurship

- Sittard, 13 maart 2014

Pleased to Meet You!

The Hyperlocal Highway

The Hyperlocal Highway

Goals dichtbij.nl (dd 2010)

• A hyperlocal, hyperpersonal, hypersocial platform for every Dutch citizen – device independent, well timed Interactive, community-oriented

• Sustainable businessmodels around the

offered hyperlocal information No editorial freedom without business

• A way for journalism to reinvent itself Professional skills + amateur wisdom

How did we start? • 4 task forces (Feb-June 2010)

• ICT, Content, Business, Marketing

• 4 pilots (started august 2010)

•1 Commercial, 1 Community, 2 Aggregation

• Project Team, (6 people)

• Platform: Open Source Drupal

• Businessplan based upon pilot-learnings

• National Roll Out started June 1, 2011

And now… • Dichtbij is integrated in HMC (regional and local

newspapers)

• 45 active platforms, 100’s of subs, 400 “light”

• 140 employees, 150,000 active users (“co-writers”)

• 2.5M uv’s, 5M visitors, 20M pv’s

• Making good mone, but sustainable in this form?

(from: TMG 2013, presented on March 12, 2014)

What we learned • Journalism can be a two way business

• An active community means returning visitors & content

• Social Media essential in community building

• “Urgent” news (accidents etc) is needed for peaks, pv’s

• Aggregation offers a safety net for news

• Go fast, make mistakes - but don’t be wrong for long

• Independence from traditional structures is key, as long as you keep looking for company-opportunities

• Development, content and sales in ONE team

• Tech & Content are pillars, but…

• …describe your businessmodels before starting

In Short: • An attitude that reflects the needs &

opportunities of the community you

are working with

• Closest possible cooperation

between editorial and commercial

activities, people

In Short: • An attitude that reflects the needs &

opportunities of the community you

are working with

• Closest possible cooperation

between editorial and commercial

activities, people

The fields of Journalism are turned upside down

From a walled garden…

…to an open greenfield

…a very crowded greenfield

And if everything moves…

•An ambitious, entrepreneurial journalist will have to move along (and be flexible on the way)

Find your own answers

• It’s up to every individual new journalist to show how relevant or (in)dispensable he is

• There are many ways to do so. Choose the way the fits you best.

• Always be aware of the changed & changing circumstances

Core Values

Finding the truth

Accurate

Finding the truth

Accurate

Explaining

Finding the truth

Curious

Accurate

Explaining

Finding the truth

Curious

Complete

Accurate

Explaining

Finding the truth

Those were the core values

for ages in Journalism

Those were the core values

for ages in Journalism

© glennsasscer.com

New needs for the professional and his Castle

Break down the castle

Break down the castle

Think niche

Think niche

Where is the (local) relevance?

Be personal

© Rikkert Walbeek

No deadlines: publish timely

Be Easy-to-Use

Be transparant

Mistakes are no #Fail

…outside knowledge

Combine…

…outside knowledge

Combine…

…with your own skills

Be involved

Cooperate…

…with your audience too

Curate (the web is a gold mine)

Be entrepreneurial

Collect small change

Embrace the community

Embrace the community

…and be embraced

(you’re not in the charity business…)

And somewhere, find a business…

The Old Business Model

© PJ Cook

Old Media Power #1

Old Media Power #1

Old Media Power #2

Old Media Power #2

Old Media Power #3

Old Media Power #3

The business Model has been Broken

…and whatever we try, we don’t succeed in fixing it

The Business Model is Gone

• Consumers think that information should be free

The Business Model is Gone

• Consumers think that information should be free

• Consumers will get their news anyway

The Business Model is Gone

• Consumers think that information should be free

• Consumers will get their news anyway

• Unlimited competition, abundance of sources

The Business Model is Gone

• Consumers think that information should be free

• Consumers will get their news anyway

• Unlimited competition, abundance of sources

• Copying the old model in a new setting appears to be complex or unfitting

The Business Model is Gone

• Consumers think that information should be free

• Consumers will get their news anyway

• Unlimited competition, abundance of sources

• Copying the old model in a new setting appears to be complex or unfitting

• Production, distribution, and IT: not a USP anymore

The Business Model is Gone

• Consumers think that information should be free

• Consumers will get their news anyway

• Target groups are fragmenting

• Unlimited competition, abundance of sources

• Copying the old model in a new setting appears to be complex or unfitting

• Production, distribution, and IT: not a USP anymore

• Monopoly on information was an illusion

The Business Model is Gone

• Consumers think that information should be free

• Consumers will get their news anyway

• Target groups are fragmenting

• Unlimited competition, abundance of sources

• Copying the old model in a new setting appears to be complex or unfitting

• Production, distribution, and IT: not a USP anymore

• Monopoly on information was an illusion

• Dinosaur complex

The Business Model is Gone

• Consumers think that information should be free

• Consumers will get their news anyway

• Target groups are fragmenting

• Unlimited competition, abundance of sources

• Copying the old model in a new setting appears to be complex or unfitting

• Production, distribution, and IT: not a USP anymore

• Monopoly on information was an illusion

• Dinosaur complex + Pax Brittanica complex

The Business Model is Gone

• Consumers think that information should be free • Consumers will get their news anyway • Target groups are fragmenting • Unlimited competition, abundance of sources • Copying the old model in a new setting appears

to be complex or unfitting • Production, distribution, and IT: not a USP

anymore • Monopoly on information was an illusion • Dinosaur complex + Pax Brittanica complex • Second best is good enough

But it’s not all misery

There are Opportunities too

Examples? How about 33?

Sponsoring

Service

Expertise

Marketing vehicle

Supply & Demand (C2C)

E-commerce

Utilize your Community

Events

Republish

Intelligent ads

Shared content, shared ads

Groupdeals

Affiliate marketing

White label

Subsidies

Angels

Crowdfunding

Memberships

Reader Funded Journalism

Community management à la carte

Non profit

Micropayments

After Content Payments

Native Advertising

Journalist-for-sale

Incubator / Shareholdership

Journalist as a platform

Paywalls

Social

Freemium

Gaming

Bars

Going Local in Limburg:

building communities & entrepreneurship

Bart Brouwers brewbart@gmail.com

Twitter: @brewbart

Blogs: dodebomen.nl

nadedeadline.nl