Problems at Patch.com

She's talking about more than tripling the number of sites by November, 2012.

You're talking about $100,000 minimum in salary & benefits if she hires just one editor for each of the more than 2,000 sites they would have to add to reach that number.

With little to no advertising on most of the current sites, do you really think that's going to be how she grows the site?

More likely, she'll have paid editors/managers for multiple sites, each of them will be manned by unpaid "citizen journalists".

 

But...but...it's AOL! They threw hundreds of millions at this, it's got to work!!

 

More guesswork. As I said, if she really tries to do that, it will be a complete disaster.

 

And I once covered a game along with a reporter from a major metro who did pretty much the same thing with his two kids. He's still there and, in fact, has since been promoted to a major college beat.

 

It's total guesswork, but what's more likely?

There are 625 days between now & the 2012 election and she's talking about launching over 2,000 sites. That's over 3 per day for every single day.

I'm not even sure if they can accomplish that or will try to. But, if they do, it will be with citizen journalists.

And, we'll know the answer to the question pretty soon if they're really going to try to accomplish that growth rate.

 

If you don't have a stake in wanting Patch to succeed, you're certainly doing a great impersonation of someone who does.

 

This whole thing just makes me feel dirty and undervalued.

 

Why? Because I told a true story? Want the guy's name and publication? I'll send it to you in a PM.

Newspapers employ journalists who do unprofessional things, too. That's all I'm saying.

And as far as me arguing strongly about something on SportsJournalists.com -- Hello. My name is outofplace. I thought we had met, but apparently not.

 

Like I said, guesswork. And if she does it that way, it will fail miserably.

 

It's getting kind of annoying with people killing the business model. I get it, and it's important to consider the business model before working there, but, AOL has enough cash to last through start-up costs.

This isn't jsut this thread, my own shop people scoff with the lack of ads and say "they won't be in business long."

Really? They have cash to burn. I imagine they don't plan on turning a profit in about 5 years.

I think too many of us here are cash and carry people. We look at this as "how do they make money?"

The fact is, they have budgeted to lose money, quite possibly for some time. They aren't interested in revenue right now in much as they are interested in content creation. That's clear because they are hiring a lot more writers and I have seen few ad people or sales.

You me, and local business that needs to turn a profit would fold after 6 months. AOL can lose money on this until a shareholder revolt.

Places like Amazon.com and other internet startups lost money for years to increase market share. Who here thinks facebook is profitable?

AOL thinks it has a chance to build a local news brand, and, that's what they are investing in. Hell, they may just try and develop market share and then end up spinning it off or selling it.

This isn't simple expenses over revenues business. They have plenty of cash to burn, and with the addition of huffington post (which is going to use Patch) it is going to become a behemoth if done properly.

AOL looks to have committed vast sums of money here, and, most importantly, they have cash to burn.

As long as they don't lose much more than forecast, they should be OK. But, I have seen no indication they aren't going to keep launching sites.

AOL has cash flow, and, that will help them withstand the startup. Also, some sites may never turn a balance street profit, but, by being in all these towns they kind of saturate the market with the brand.

Considering they are paying $40,000 per person with full benefits, I would say it's a nice job for many.

I think it will work long term if they can survive the startups. These people know how to run a business.

 

I'm pretty sure facebook became profitable very recently.

 

But people saw the potential in Facebook, so they were able to raise money.

Do you see potential in Patch?