Speak Out transition as "go to" web site for local information

The Okeechobee News has always enjoyed a lively and active Speak Out column. For some reason, the concept just really took off in the community when it was first proposed for INI, approximately 20 years ago. In Okeechobee, "Speak Out" is a household word.

Over the past year, the Okeechobee News staff has been working hard to transition the "Speak Out" participants onto our online forum at www.newszap.com. It was slow going at first, but in the past few months we have seen a dramatic increase in posts and in posters. Currently the forum has approximately 300 threads and hundreds of active members. Recent "hot topic" stories, such as the arrest of a JROTC instructor accused of propositioning a student, have brought new posters to the forum.

Another interesting trend is that some public officials, such as the director of the Emergency Operations Center and a spokesperson for the sheriff's office, have also joined the forum and post under their real names and titles.

The Okeechobee Public Issues forum is becoming the "go to" web site for information on what is going on in Okeechobee.

It has also become a good source for news tips. Information posted by forum members has led to several investigative stories in the newspaper.

When the Okeechobee News switched from seven publications a week to three, we also started using the forum to keep readers up to date on breaking news on the days we did not have a newspaper. These forum posts are short and encourage readers to get all the details in the next edition of the Okeechobee News. Sometimes other posters beat us to it, posting breaking news items from government web sites or their own first hand knowledge.

It's exciting to watch the forum evolve.

Marketing In Tough Times seminar

Lorraine Luongo at a recent Delaware State News advertising sales meeting reads a speech she gave to local small businesses for a “Marketing In Tough Times” seminar.

Delaware State News Ad Manager Lorraine Luongo was asked this past month to address a Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce breakfast seminar titled “Marketing In Tough Times.” More than 30 local businesses were in attendance.

The seminar was arranged by Alex Vaughan Mobile Entertainment, an ROP display advertiser in the Dover daily newspaper who could testify to results from his contracted advertising.

“The seminar was very well received and some of our current advertisers were there as well, making it an excellent networking session,” said Lorraine. “I look forward to continuing helping educate the community in these tough economic times and will pursue these types of events as much as possible.”

Here are Lorraine’s remarks delivered at the gathering …

"My Name is Lorraine Luongo, and I am an Advertising Manager at the Delaware State News and Independent Newspapers. I have over 25 years in marketing both print and online advertising. So I have certainly seen quite a few changes come and go in all aspects of the industry, whether it be print, online, radio, or broadcast.

"The Delaware State News has seen its fair share of changes too over the years. In the mid-1990’s, Independent Newspapers purchased the Southern Delaware Group of papers from Chesapeake Publishing. This includes the Milford Chronicle, Harrington Journal, Seaford Leader and Laurel State Register, the Sussex Post and Spotlight on Real Estate, which is now known as Delmarva Real Estate. Along with the Delaware State News and Delaware Capitol Review, Independent Newspapers became the largest newspaper group in Central and Southern Delaware.

"With this network of well read established, tried and true weekly papers and the dominant Downstate daily paper, a new marketplace was formed for both consumers and customers. Large advertisers took advantage of the expanded market coverage and reached more potential customers than ever.

"Sears, Lowes, JC Penney, Macys, Home Depot, Acme, Safeway, Boscov’s, Kohls, and Target are some of our corporate advertisers along with Bayhealth, Beebe, all the larger banks… and we have extensive Real Estate Coverage on the weekends.

"We realized that if these large advertisers and large corporations with huge budgets benefitted by utilizing our products and got proven results , than the smaller local, advertisers and businesses with lower budgets could benefit as well and get a good sound return on their investment dollar and get results too!

"We came up with some new programs, targeted specifically to the local small businesses, so that they too could have a louder, stronger voice and presence in the marketplace. Last year, we developed the Buy Local Shop Local program. It is designed specifically and exclusively for our local businesses and advertisers. There are several sizes available at a very affordable rate and all ads include full color in the price. So, now small businesses can effectively compete in the same market place as their larger competitors.

"We’ve all seen large businesses come and go and seemingly much more so on a national level today. We realize that the true pulse and heart of a community thrives and is sustained by small business people -- like yourselves, whom I admire greatly -- for taking that chance on yourself, investing your time, money, heart and soul to start your own business, make it work and become a vital part of this community.

"With that said, we are all experiencing a downturn and uncertain times these days, with buy-outs, the war, banking industry woes and issues, not to mention Wall Street and the Stock Market. Every day we don’t know what will be reported on or what news will come our way.

"Can we control it? To a certain extent we can’t -- we can’t tell the Fed what rates to charge, we can’t price the gasoline and energy , or our food. BUT, we can look at this downturn as an opportunity .

"During a downturn, some companies disappear or are bought out, but some companies come out stronger than ever. A study by McGraw Hill showed that companies that maintained or increased their advertising during an economic slowdown typically experienced 14 times more growth that companies that cut back. This growth appeared an average of 4 years after the downturn.

"And one thing is for sure, even though consumers are cutting back, trying to save money, they are still spending money, they are just watching their money closer than ever and shopping around to find ways to maintain their quality of life.

"If your competitor cuts back on their regular advertising efforts, it is weakening their position in the market. It is the perfect time for you to get creative and continue to get your message out about your products and services. You will get noticed, you will gain new customers in the short term but most importantly in the long term, and then maybe you too you can experience that 14 times more growth than those companies that cut back! History does repeat itself.

"In addition to our Shop Local program, we have many other affordable creative ways for you to get your message out. Last week on 9/11, through a partnership with the Delaware Volunteer Fireman’s Association, we published the first Downstate Delaware Firefighters Yearbook. The book was inserted in five of our Delaware Papers and 2,000 copies were distributed free at their conference at the Sheraton.

"Today, you will see our second NASCAR contest in the paper, where the winner can win driving laps around the Monster Mile. Both of these are new ways that we have adapted to the ever changing marketplace and engage both readers and advertisers.

"Delmarva Yellow Pages was introduced this summer.

"In October, our Wedding Guides will come out and appear online all year long.

"We now have Health and Wellness pages that publish the last Wednesday of every month, Dining Out Guide in Fridays edition, Adopt -A -Pet with the SPCA, and banner advertising on our web site, Newszap.com.

"An online recruitment program is coming soon

"We are a public trust and as such we are constantly looking for ways to improve and create new products and opportunities so that we can serve you even better. We want to help you achieve your marketing goals. We welcome partnerships within this community and will continue to brainstorm and assist you with professionalism and integrity. Please feel free to contact me at anytime to pass on any ideas that you may have- we welcome any and all suggestions, within reason, of course. Our staff is here for you 365 days a year to serve you.

"Thank you for your time... "

Encouraging signs that we’re ‘turning the corner’

With the expense control we have been exercising in every office, we ARE achieving the profit turnaround that INI needs.

Profits still aren’t as robust as we’d like, so we must all continue to seize every opportunity to increase sales and reduce expenses. However, it is encouraging that we are beginning to see some encouraging results.

In today’s economic environment, it became clear that Cambridge and Okeechobee are simply too small to support daily publications. Our staffers did a terrific job of planning the transition, and both communities seem to have embraced the new publication schedule. The product improvement is already obvious with staff members concentrating their efforts on fewer issues.

Now, with initiatives like paid obituaries (and other paid announcements to follow soon), i-Services for Classifieds, Yahoo Hot Jobs on Delmarva and Yellow Pages (on Delmarva, with Arizona and Florida to follow later) and greater emphasis on directories and special sections, our newspapers and newszap.com websites are entering a solid rebuilding phase that will accelerate even more once the general economy starts to improve.

Delaware Printing Company continues to build sales to justify our investments there, and Valley Printing in Arizona is poised to do the same with the new press being installed there. An unknown factor is how long newsprint prices will continue to escalate despite soft U.S. demand. We think we’re seeing some early signs of softening now, but we’ll just have to manage as best we can --- comforted by the fact that the efficiency of our new presses gives us a solid advantage over many of our competitors.

We clearly chose a bold path over the past few years by investing heavily in increasing our commercial printing capacity and efficiency in both Arizona and Delaware, improving the efficiency of our publishing operations through installation of new equipment and systems, and creating a repeatable and expandable platform for community-based websites at newszap.com. This strategic transformation is now complete, and we’re now beginning to see a return on those investments.

These new systems, combined with the growing success of newszap.com, give us a solid advantage over many of our competitors. Our newspapers have “weathered the storm” better than many of our competitors, and are nicely positioned to enter a new growth cycle.

Even while operating under a hiring freeze, our newspapers can build sales by adding commission-only sales projects. This approach significantly reduces our risks by keeping our overhead low. The independent sales agents who prove themselves by successfully selling special projects can later be considered for regular sales openings. Using commission-only sales agents for special projects will free existing staffers to concentrate on building sales in our primary products. (Too often in the past, their involvement in special projects has simply resulted in switching dollars between the newspapers and the special projects --- with little real growth.)

Through all of this, we have not lost sight of our purposes and mission. We have managed to steadily upgrade the quality of our local editors, put more emphasis on our coverage of local issues, and develop vibrant local Public Forums at newszap.com. Our print products may be thinner (and less frequent in Cambridge and Okeechobee), but they are more colorful, more relevant, more compelling, and more effectively cross-promoted with the local newszap.com community websites. The e-Editions we have developed for each print product gives us the opportunity to build readership, reach and sales without proportionate increases in distribution and printing costs.

There is no doubt that the past -3 years have been challenging ones for our industry. However, Independent’s people have stepped up, kept the faith, risen to the occasion, made the tough decisions, and positioned the company for a new era of growth. Thanks, everyone!

As always, your reactions and suggestions are most welcome.

(Joe Smyth is the board chair and CEO of Independent Newspapers, Inc. He can be reached by email at JoeSmyth@newszap.com.)