A community in conversation with

itself

Bluffton

“Community in conversation”

Hyperlocal focus

Short, pithy, fun –

like a commuter paper

Introduce people to

each other and to the

things that make

Bluffton special

Not like the

competition

2+2=5 Everyone gets a free paper (17,500;

98.9 percent of households “regularly receive” BT)

Everyone gets a free blog Use the paper to drive people to the

Web site; use the Web site to drive content in the paper

Do you or some member of your household read any portion of Bluffton Today?

Readership estimates

72%

24%

2%

2%

Certified Audit of Circulations, Inc.155 Willowbrook BoulevardWayne, NJ 07470

Where’s the conversation?

BlufftonToday.com Web site performance

8,000 registered users 13,400 blog items posted 600,000 page views 68,000 unique visitors

BlufftonToday.com Web site reach

65% of visitors return more than once per day

10 minutes spent per visit; 25% spend 1 hour or more per visit

Each household visits 6.8 times per month

Page views

Growth since launch - page views doubled in less than one year

When people go online

Consistent visits throughout the day

How we use blogs Users advise each other Reporters post breaking news Take story ideas from people Print insightful blogs in Bluffton Today

Readers to each other Break news, warn others

Reporters to readers Newsroom can post breaking news

stories before the paper can get the word out

Is it journalism? Readers give us story ideas

When they do, we jump on the story.

Whoa, we can use this We started seeding the blogs.

Getting choosy Now we can really make Best of the Web the best of the Web.

Reporters’ jobs are safe Much of our blogging is chitchat and

speculation; only rarely do our bloggers research their opinions…

Reporters’ jobs are safe, II …or their facts

We spell relief B-L-O-G Editors of truly local papers can’t

rely on wire services to bail them out

Blog content isn’t as pithy as wire, but at least it’s local

Why we think it works Takes readers seriously Connects directly Short ’n’ sweet Deeply involved with the

community

Community Involvement Works

Community Focus Works Local editorial cartoons

Community Participation Works Go Seek / Find Fang contests

Community Participation Works User submitted photos

Community Participation Works Vox

Lessons Learned Understand time commitment Use a ‘Blog Wrangler’ Don’t try to predict passions or

problems Set the tone Fluffiness is in the eye of the

beholder