by Pat Kitano on December 24, 2011 in Hyperlocal, Local advertising, New business models, Social Media, Trends
Here are six trends in 2012 that will impact hyperlocal media and business models. This was originally published at Street Fight last week. 1. Cross platform conversations Livefyre and Disqus show glimpses of how conversations can move from Facebook and Twitter to online media and blog commentary. Local conversations happening on social media, especially Facebook, [...]
by Pat Kitano on November 29, 2011 in Advertising, New business models, Social Commerce, Social Media
The advent of Klout and other new forms of social influence tabulation mirrors the power shift of media influence from traditional to social channels. Anybody with a voice can build a following, and the new business models evolving around influence metrics allow businesses to reward influencers with the hopes of converting them into advocates. Klout’s first foray [...]
by Pat Kitano on October 26, 2011 in Advertising, Local advertising, Marketing, New business models, Social Commerce, Social Media
Klout is known as a metric for assessing social influence. Like Google Page Rank, few understand what else Klout can do beyond being an iconic metric. One overlooked practical role that Klout faciliates is influencer curation. Through curation, brands garner good will by providing recognition, even rewards, to influencers who have synergetic relationships with that [...]
by Pat Kitano on September 12, 2011 in Advertising, Hyperlocal, Local advertising, Mass Media, New business models, Newspapers, Publishing, Social Media, Trends
Journalists continue to search for a viable business model that supports online hyperlocal publications, but they won’t ever reach the threshold of revenues to maintain operations if they rely solely on traditional advertising fees from local merchants. That doesn’t mean local advertising is also poised to fall off a cliff. On the contrary, BIA/Kelsey states [...]
by Pat Kitano on July 7, 2011 in Advertising, Breaking News, Hyperlocal, Local advertising, New business models, Newspapers, Publishing, Social Media, Trends
The classic, and perhaps only business model supporting hyperlocal journalistic efforts like Patch.com and other local media is local advertising. On StreetFightMag.com last week, Ted Mann, Digital Development Director for Gannett NJ, discusses why Gannett’s hyperlocal experiment InJersey.com failed. The main and obvious reason is simply local advertising cannot adequately cover expenses. So… What if [...]
by Pat Kitano on June 8, 2011 in New business models, Real Estate, Social Commerce, Social Media, Social travel
Airbnb (see my previous article on Airbnb for a description of the business) creates a new revenue layer in real estate that supplements cash flow for property owners (and even renters). Yes, vacation rental sites like HomeAway and VRBO have established rental classifieds system but they operate as advertising media and require upfront annual subscription [...]
by Pat Kitano on June 6, 2011 in Facebook, New business models, Real Estate, Social Commerce, Social Media, Social networking, Trends
Airbnb, according to Techcrunch and others, is planning a mega-round raise at a $1 billion+ valuation, and validated social travel in one swoop. It redefines what a “hotel room” is, even one year ago the only viable short term rental space for the masses. Airbnb allows anybody to rent out living space – a refurbished basement, [...]
by Pat Kitano on April 11, 2011 in New business models, Technology, Transparency, Trends
Through one of my new favorite “social discovery” services LetsLunch.com, I had the pleasure of lunch with Sarah Lacy. She brought me her latest book Brilliant Crazy Cocky, a tome to the universal entrepreneurial spirit in six countries she surveyed last year. I read most of it over the weekend (and recommend it highly). One [...]