what's up w/ Patch.com

Does Patch even have a sales staff? Good luck explaining to the local 72-year-old dry cleaner who has never advertised why he should spend money on a web ad that likely will be blocked by your adware.

 

The 72-year-old businessmen are obviously a coveted demographic that only newspapers can penetrate, and they're mostly responsible for papers' continued financial dominance. And also, all old people are stupid and obviously can't use them new-fangled computers, ESPECIALLY if they're somehow "with it" enough to still have a small business in 2010.

 

It's a legit concern. Many weeklies nowadays don't even have the sales staffs to adequately drum up business. And good luck trying to upsell a guy on a web ad, especially if he doesn't know anything about the Internet.

I've heard/seen little about Patch's financial model. It's great they're hiring and investing, but it'd be nice to know if the business plan was solid, too. For instance: How quickly is each site expected to turn a profit? Two months? Two years?

 

Nope. That's yet ANOTHER title site editors are expected to take on -- sales guy/gal. That's why in the job description aol says they're seeking "entrepreneurial" journalists -- now that's an oxymoron (write a fluff-piece about my business, and I'll buy an ad). ... The ad/sales dept. and the reporters/editorial dept. are located in separate areas of a newsroom for a reason. ... Again, patch editors are expected to wear too many hats.

 

This is completely false. I've been told repeatedly that we are not to sell ads, and I have people to refer them to. You're either just making stuff up, making assumptions, or basing your statements on things happening in isolated sites.

 

Greenwell's right. I know the guy who's been appointed regional publisher for my neck of the woods, and he's looking for sales talent.

 

I guess I didn't make the cut as a local editor. I'm glad, though, since the regional editor I interviewed with listed cutting staff 30 percent and keeping quality "up" as an achievement. He rubbed me the wrong way and didn't seem to have a clue that Twitter and Facebook are just tools and not the Holy Grail of journalism.

 

Where was this interview?

 

I'm not going to out the guy.

 

Stitch,

I don't know what you're talking about. Don't know how Patch can be cutting staff when they're in the middle of a giant hiring push to fill Patch positions all around.

 

I saw the guy's LinkedIn profile that listed that achievement in a previous job. I'm aware that Patch.com is hiring.

 

The whole thing is built upon the idea of using less staffing and thus less expense than a traditional paper, yeah. I mean, you're not producing a physical paper. While there is a significant tech staff, I imagine that doesn't outnumber all of the other personnel (production staff, delivery, secretarial, etc.) you need with a traditional media outlet.

As far as the news and editorial side solely, I don't think it's that different from a local paper, depending on what area you're in. I'm full-time with a pretty healthy freelance budget that's essentially equivalent to another reporter and a quarter. That's a bit more than both of the weeklies in the area. It's definitely a different idea and model, but at least personally, I think it could thrive in the area where I am. The other companies in the area either aren't making money off the web, or aren't even trying,