By Julia Scott

One week after a pink slip capped her 32 year career in journalism and communications, Teresa Wippel became a news entrepreneur. She has found success tapping into a revenue stream untouched by her four competitors. (Yes, four.)

Her husband gave her the idea for the site. “There’s this online news site in the community right next to ours,” he told her.

“Edmonds doesn’t have one. I think you should start one because if you don’t, someone else will.” MyEdmondsNews.com was born.

Wippel, 54, an alum of KDMC’s 2010 News Entrepreneur Boot Camp, started covering her hometown of Edmonds, Wash., by posting city council meeting stories on a no-frills WordPress blog. Not exactly cutting edge, but in a city with the second highest voter turnout in the state, civics matters.

Timing was her competitive advantage. “I write about them that night,” Wippel said, “so people can wake up and find out what happened.”

Three months later, in January 2010, after elected officials began reading her stuff, she re-launched her site with a professional bent. Now MyEdmondsNews gets 150,000 80,000 monthly unique visitors, has 841 Faccebook fans, 1,071 Twitter followers, and 250 email subscribers.

Small town controversies are the site’s fodder. Intersection updates, land purchases, the fate of a bowling alley that has hung on since the 1960s. “I was updating on Christmas,” Wippel said. “People lost power and that’s what it’s about.”

When I ask Wippel her hours, she finds it easier to pinpoint when she is not working. “I get about five hours of sleep a night.”

Wippel publishes six to eight new stories a day, seven days a week. She has two paid columnists covering food and the arts, and a handful of photographers. She pays $50 per story or photo. Another eight non-paid writers contribute content semi-regularly and she has an intern from the local high school who covers sports.

The site has just two revenue streams, display advertising and sponsorships of Warrior Radio, live Internet streaming of high school football and basketball games that Wippel arranged.

Streaming radio sponsorships range from $200 to $3,500 and account for 60% of her total revenue. Football games average about 50 listeners; basketball gets half that.

In exchange for rights to the games, Wippel hands over 15% to the athletic booster club. Her announcer, a dad of one of the players, receives 30%. After burning through four ad salespeople, she sells the sponsorships herself.

“It’s hard to find someone with the passion you have,” Wippel said. Try impossible.

Display ads make up the other 40% of her revenue. She prices them $55 to $300 depending on size and frequency. When she started, she knew selling 50 ads a month would tide her over. If she could sell 80, she would be flush. In reality, she sells about 20 ads a month.

Wippel has considered other revenue streams, but believes there is deeper potential in streaming sponsors. Cover more sports, add nearby communities, sell more sponsorships.

Wippel bootstrapped from day one. She doesn’t pay herself, per se, pushing most of it back into the business, which she says is still in “start up mode.” Her major monthly costs are $800-$1,000 for freelancers, a couple hundred for website maintenance, and still less for marketing materials.

MyEdmondsNews is “barely” profitable so Wippel freelances on the side. “I would love to do nothing but this. I’ve never had as much fun in my life. I’ve never felt so passionate in my life. It stretches me everyday.”

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.