It sure is great when people call you up out of the blue with news tips, offers to fill some advertising space, and straight up cash as a way of saying thank you.
Yeah, right.
Running a hyperlocal news site as an independent is hard. If you want some help, you’re gonna have to ask.
If that picture of a tip jar linking to a PayPal page isn’t working, or that Contact Us page with a single email address isn’t generating any contacts, maybe it’s time to try something new.
What do you want?
If you want donations, make a page telling the reader why. Create a visible link to the donation page on your home page. Write a post every couple of months linking to the page. Hire a skywriter.
Focus the call to action. A button that says Help, or Contribute is kind of vague. Asking directly for Donations, or News Tips should be more effective.
Readers may be surprised to learn that it costs a lot of money for a small news organization to operate a website and produce quality news in their neighborhood.
What’s in it for them?
List some recent past accomplishments. It’s not begging if you can make a clear case about why your site is important. If you can’t do this, then you’re in big trouble anyway. Be sure to include whether or not donations are tax-deductible, or if news tipsters can remain anonymous.
Offer rewards, or other special recognition. If someone sends in a really good story, offer to meet them in a well lit place for a cup of coffee. Set up a donor wall with big font for the biggest givers. People love seeing their name in big font. Send out a quarterly State of the Site email to contributors, keep them involved.
What can you do for them?
Simply listing an email address is easy for you, but it might not be easy for your readers. As a writer, you should know that a blank page can be intimidating. List exactly what the reader can do to help. Examples.
Forms
Give them a head start with a form. People think they hate forms. But they really just hate bad forms. Good forms help the user focus their thoughts, and provide hints along the way toward the goal of a final action.
There are several decent sites that will help you build a form and embed it into your page, and can even handle PayPal transactions. Look for the ones that can integrate with your newsletter management system.
Remember to ask only for the information required to complete the task at hand. You don’t need their phone number, or their birthday.
Follow Through
This should go without saying, but be sure to respond promptly if someone takes the time to contact you.
About This | Contact | RSS Feed | Go Hyperlocal Newsletter Powered by MailChimp.
Disclaimer: There is no connection between the directory and the sites contained therein. We just think they're cool.
