The St. Petersburg Times is launching a new, paid, press release site today that has a lot of potential. Businesses already pay to submit releases to PRWire, and a local service makes even more sense, because of the SEO value. Here's how it works, with images, vendor contacts. more

Chris Edwards, VP of Sales and Customer service at Source Media group, had no direct background in media. But in 2009, he was tasked with organizing a multi-media sales organization (broadcast, print and online properties) to achieve 60% year or year digital growth. Here's a case study on his approach. more

Show us the compensation system and we'll predict the behavior of the organization. Building new business models means that compensation has to be realigned. Here are seven best practices in use by sales managers having great success - more than 50% year-to-year increases - in digital selling. more

User-generated revenues may become the annuity that classifieds used to be. Director of Interactive at the PostGazette.com, Pat Scanlon, is leading the charge: “We’ve neglected this category for 15 years." Here are his top four initiatives that promise to yield at least six figures each, plus five more, with vendors suggested. Understanding this source of new revenues is one key to creating a successful local media business model. more

Update: LCE's E-commerce banners are now being marketed directly to Facebook users, rather than media companies. more

The (Pittsburgh) PostGazette.com's PG+, members-only club, includes extra local coverage, access to writers and a discount club. Here's how refinements to the site doubled members plus two new revenue streams targeting its avid sports fans, from Pat Scanlon, Director of Interactive Media. more

When a survey of advertisers told the Palm Beach Post "stop pitching us products" and help us go digital, Palm Beach Post decided to create an internal ad agency. In its first quarter of operations, the "agency" conducted 55 "brain-storming sessions" for clients that resulted in 22 advertising campaigns and a collective growth rate of 90%. Here is how the department was put together: more

There are a few must-have technologies to grow digital sales that all local media companies should have in their arsenal to do what interactive media does best: targeting and conversion-tracking. more

One of the more lucrative categories in the local marketplace is healthcare: From large hospitals and clinics to plastic surgeons and chiropractors, the healthcare industry supplies a stable source of somewhat recession-proof local and regional advertising. One approach is compete for this category is to develop health-related niche sites and channels. How much money do these sites make and what are the advantages versus simply running a campaign or contest? Here are three examples, all of them profitable, in different markets using different strategies. more

The local media sales force of the future will be comprised of digitally savvy experts able to tailor suite of products and services to deliver measureable results for clients. Legacy media will be an important but smaller portion of total revenues. But only a few, companies, are moving at sufficient pace to accomplish this transformation in time to replace diminishing legacy dollars. Among them, Hearst Newspapers' Chron.com stands out. Typically the beta site for new product launches, the site's sales force is the number one in sales in the Yahoo Consortium. VP of Digital Sales, Stephen Weis, shared his strategies in transforming Chron.com sales culture with us. Here are ten key take-aways from that interview: more