Lion Publishers Podcast

Kenny Katzgrau of Broadstreet and Kim Clark of Noozhawk discuss how publishers might set their ad rates. Topics include whether to sell ads by the month, week or day; whether to charge a flat rate or by CPM; how many ad positions are too many; how to set rates for sponsored content; and more.

Jay Senter is the founder and publisher of Shawnee Mission Post in Northeast Johnson County, Kansas.  He joined us at LION’s Reader Revenue Conference at Montclair State University to talk about the success of his transition from an advertising-supported business model to a metered paywall. Senter discusses his challenges with revenue during the early years of his site, the layoffs that ensued, and how he righted the ship to now achieve record annual revenue goals for his company. This episode of the podcast was hosted by Uriah Kiser of Potomac Local.

Can a paid subscription/paywall business model work for local independent online news sites? LION members Jay Senter, publisher of the Shawnee Mission Post in Kansas, and Mark Henderson, publisher of the Worcester Sun in Massachusetts, led a webinar discussing their paywall experiences and best practices on Nov. 14, 2017.

This LION Publishers webinar from September 2017 focused on hiring, managing and paying advertising sales reps. The featured speakers are Kelly Gilfillan of Homepage Media Group in the Nashville, TN area; Scott Brodbeck of Local News Now in the Washington, DC area; and Jay Allred of Richland Source in Mansfield, OH.

Jay Allred is the president of Richland Source, a thriving LION site in central Ohio. Jay and Richland Source have found business success through a diversified revenue stream that includes advertising, marketing services and membership. And it has done so while serving a small Rust Belt city, staying true to its altruistic local mission, and eschewing clickbait and negativity. We talked with Jay about Richland Source's founding, growth and future -- and about what an inevitable economic downturn may mean for LIONs and legacy media companies. 

A frank discussion with CTNewsJunkie.com co-owner Doug Hardy about state capital coverage, political advertising, finding new sources of revenue and the challenge of growth and sustainability.

Charlottesville Tomorrow is one of the most well-known non-profit indie local news websites in the United States, oft cited in the journalism trade press and elsewhere for its deep civic coverage, its unique newspaper partnership and its fundraising successes. Based in Charlottesville, Va., Thomas Jefferson's hometown, the publication has its sights on expansion. We talked with Executive Director Brian Wheeler about Charlottesville Tomorrow's past, present and future.

Liena Zagare is the publisher of BKLYNER, which covers Brooklyn, NY. She and husband Ben Smith, editor-in-chief of Buzzfeed, penned an article for the Columbia Journalism Review which argues for changing laws requiring that legal notices be published only in print. We asked Zagare and Smith about that and the impact it might have on LION sites, and also discussed BKLYNER and the future of local news.

It didn't take Field Walsh long to find success publishing a local, indie news site in his hometown of Texarkana, Texas. Despite not having a journalism background, Field quickly grew an audience thanks in large part to dogged coverage of breaking news, at a time when the local dead tree paper was mostly reporting things that happened the day before. We talked to Field about a range of topics, from using drones for breaking news coverage to racking up tons of engagement on Facebook to growing banner ad sales at a time when sponsored content is trendier.

LION member Jesus Sanchez is the proprietor of The Eastsider LA in Los Angeles. We talked with Jesus about being a one man band, making ends meet when you're covering communities in a big city (including communities that are gentrifying), and about the differences between LION sites in large metro areas and smaller towns.

Kelly Gilfillan is one of the premier sales pros in LION Publishers. She started Home Page Media Group with a partner, journalist Susan Leathers, and grew it from one site in a suburb of Nashville, TN to numerous local sites in the region. We asked Kelly about sales strategy, finding sales talent, launching (and monetizing) special sections, the difficulty of expanding, financial bumps in the road and about email marketing and client service.

LION members know Matt DeRienzo from his work as our executive director. But March 6 marks a milestone for Matt: his first day as LION's *full time* ED. Thanks to a grant from the Knight Foundation, Matt is focused full time on serving members and growing LION as an organization. We talked with Matt about his work with LION, his print media background, the future of LION, and what LION members are doing to sustain and distinguish themselves and grow in an increasingly Facebook-and-Google dominated online advertising landscape.

LION member Joe Hyde, publisher of San Angelo LIVE! in Texas, talked with us about a variety of topics, from earning extra revenue from programmatic advertising to keeping your readers on your site longer. He also explained how he went from flying bombers for the Air Force to starting a small ISP to launching a LION site.

Kenny Katzgrau needs no introduction for many LION members, as his company, Broadstreet Ads, is the advertising technology provider many of us rely on to keep the business side of our shops humming. We talked with Kenny about the current state of online advertising, competition with Facebook for ad dollars, and where he sees the online ad business going over the next couple of years.

Host Scott Brodbeck (ARLnow.com, RestonNow.com) interviews "OG" LION publisher Howard Owens of The Batavian and the Wyoming County Free Press. We talk about Howard's path to launching the Batavian, growing readership and advertising, and what the future might hold for LION publishers in the age of Facebook.