January 12, 2012

At local online Cary Citizen, multiple revenue streams create profits

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By Julia Scott
One secret behind the profitable local news site Cary Citizen is that none of the four founders has a journalism background. But what they lack in news sense they make up for in business acumen.

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As the most visible arm, Cary Citizen has become a digital calling card for its parent company, Goodtree & Co.

“When we’re selling people [website services], we can show the best of what we do and how effective it is,” Chester said during a phone interview.

The pairing of a news site with website design services is what makes Cary Citizen viable.

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Because of its news content, Cary Citizen shows up high in search engines, getting 36-54% of its traffic from organic searches. Once on the site, links to its business services are prominent.

Would a clickity-clack journalist create such a wide range of revenue streams, let alone boldly promote them? I haven’t seen it.

Cary Citizen publishes two dozen stories a week, certifiably light news items, including upcoming events, business listings, and job opportunities in Cary, an affluent suburb of Raleigh, N.C. The site was founded in July 2009. A print edition is not a priority, partly because of cost and partly because it won’t necessarily drive traffic online.

“What we think we’d rather do is get out to community events and create awareness,” Chester said.

One unusual way the site has gained awareness - and made money - is by hosting the annual Cary Scavenger Hunt. The second annual hunt in July drew 133 scavengers and 30 sponsors, despite 103 degrees of heat. The event represents 16% of the company’s revenue.

Here’s a breakdown of Cary Citizen’s revenue streams:

 
• Website creation and design - 55%

 

• Banner ads and advertising - 25%

 

• Annual scavenger hunt - 16%

 

• Photography services - 4%

 

• Hiring out bloggers - less than 1%

Chester said the lesson of diversification was the big takeaway from an interview to get into KDMC’s Boot Camp. “Don’t be just that website because you’re not going to make enough money from that,” she said. “You have to have several irons in the fire.”

Cary Citizen supports three full-time employees, including Chester, associate publisher; Hal Goodtree, publisher; and Leslie Huffman, editor at large. Everyone else is paid as a contractor, if they are paid at all. Cary Citizen relies on more than 20 volunteers, including seven photographers.

Cary Citizen has been profitable from year one, supported by the existing revenue streams under the Goodtree & Company umbrella.

Cary Citizen gets about 1,000 hits a day and 26,000 to 30,000 unique visitors a month, Chester said. The site has 1,400 Facebook fans, 530 Twitter followers, and 800 email subscribers.

Long term, the team hopes to take the business model to other markets.

Julia Scott writes the money-saving blog, BargainBabe.com. She is an alumna of KDMC’s 2009 News Entrepreneur Boot Camp.

The News Leadership 3.0 blog is made possible by a grant to USC Annenberg from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

By Michele McLellan, 01/12/12 at 2:13 am