‘Larryville KU’ – A New Way to Find and Share News Online

Where does your audience get its news? There was a time when a newspaper was the only song and dance in town – everyone picked it up, everyone read it, everyone talked about it. That time ended decades ago. The fact that you’re reading this blog is one piece of evidence of a new development in how we consume news – people are increasingly wanting (and willing) to create their own news and share it with their friends.

That traditional news outlets like newspaper and radio stations have suffered from the fragmentation of audience over the past few decades isn’t new to anyone. And there are some media companies who are adapting to the evolution in media consumption and will capitalize off new ways to generate revenue in an increasingly online world. Some sadly, are not so willing and times are tough. But one traditionally print-centric news group, The University Daily Kansan (KU’s college newspaper) has embraced the change and is even leading the way on grabbing news-hungry and web savvy readers in a way they can accept and share.

I had a chance to speak to you Becca Ross, The Kansan’s Digital+Interactive Manager about the launch of LarryvilleKU.com, their effort to create a forum in which their college audience can share news stories, events and favorite places to shop and eat on their desktops and mobile devices:

LarryvilleKU.com gives KU students a forum in which to share their college experiences

1) What was the goal or philosophy behind LarryvilleKU.com?

Becca: LarryvilleKU was a grant project from the journalism school to make the software program LarryvilleKU more relevant and useful for a news organization. When Jon (Sales and Marketing Advisor) told me about the project, he assigned me to come up with the entire sales model of LarryvilleKU, which is designed in a small-business membership buy-in.  At the end of the day, I want people to plan their days around LarryvilleKU, and use it as a resource to find out everything that is happening in Lawrence at that specific time and day.

2) Tell me a little bit about how the site works, from the user perspective

Becca: The site is a geotagged news source that allows the user to see bargains, events, tweets, police reports, photos and specials in Lawrence. If I am on campus and I want to know when the next Ad Club meeting is, I can pull up LarryvilleKU and see it on the map with the room and time. If I want to know 23rd Street Brewery’s specials for Monday, it will be the first thing I see when I click on 23rd Street’s icon. The user can pin point locations, neighborhoods, blocks and exact addresses for specific information happening in that area. Even Kansan articles can show up on the map as long as it has an address, so users can see where the story actually happened.

The ideal user will not only look to LarryvilleKU for the business side, they will also post their own content onto the site. For example, if they are having a Super Bowl party they can post that to LarryvilleKU, to let their friends know the address, time, attire and any information they want to put up. Also, users can tweet to LarryvilleKU by putting their location in their tweet and #LarryvilleKU.

LarryvilleKU.com Map with customizable and geo-tagged news/info icons

3) Why did a site like this make sense for The Kansan and Kansan Digital?

Becca: Every day the world is becoming more digital. Students are constantly on their computers, phones and tablets trying to look for information in the easiest way possible. They use so many tools to spread information such as Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Blogging, Google+ and many more sites that getting a message to them gets more and more difficult everyday. Therefore this product was a perfect way to combine all those tools into one source of information. Now students can customize exactly what news they want to take in and share it with their friends digitally.

This is a major leap for Kansan Digital, because most of our products are geared toward an older audience and out-of-state audience. LarryvilleKU has completely expanded the clientele of the digital team, who have lists up to seventy clients each. There is no business that isn’t right for LarryvilleKU, because the business can customize the news they want to post.

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My personal favorite feature of the site? The ability of users to share their own stories, or re-share an interesting article, great local deal or event in their local community. Sites like Pinterest have made sharing and re-sharing so much easier and its massive recent success just reinforces the idea that people don’t want or need to be told about your brand and business – they’re already forming (and sharing) their own opinions.

How

Rule #1 of Small Business Marketing: ‘Know Thyself’

” I have no leisure for myths at all; and the reason, my friend, is this: I am not yet able to know myself; so it seems ridiculous, when I do not yet know that, to pursue irrelevant things.” – Socrates

For my first post, I figured I should start from the beginning – the foundation that every good business builds (or should build) long before they set up shop. I’m talking about the ‘brand’, if you’d like to call it that, or the ‘story’ behind the business, the commitment or driving passion behind everything they do.

In Lawrence, Kansas (home of the Jayhawks), where I received my comeuppance in the marketing world, business owners who are expert pizza makers, or bicycle enthusiasts or retail salesmen will open up a store and rush to push marketing materials or promotions on the public – and are then surprised when none of it works. That’s why advertising in general can build a bad reputation for itself. And I’m sure this problem isn’t unique to Lawrence.

Ready to start marketing yourself? You’d better be ready to define and differentiate yourself. And it’s more than just a mission statement. People say brands are lots of things, but in the end, you just need to be able to answer these five questions before you jump into marketing:

1) Can you describe what your business does in one compelling sentence?

When I started in the ad business, people would ask me: “What is it that you do?” I’d answer, “I sell ads.” YAWN. The conversation was over. And if I was speaking to a potential customer, the walls were up. I learned to go beyond the basic, not just ‘thinking outside the box’, but ‘making the box bigger’. When I answered the “What do you do?” question with, “I help passionate local business owners reach new potentials by communicating their uniqueness to the (student) market,” I found I got a lot more interest, and started a lot more conversations.

You don’t “Sell coffee”, you “Make the stuff that keeps people awake during their boring meetings”.

You don’t “Clean carpets”, you “Make living rooms livable again”.

Have some fun with it, and don’t be scared to be bold.

2) Do you know what people are saying about you or what you do?

A small part of a business’ brand is what they say about themselves. The smallest part. The rest is what your customers are saying about you. So many marketers get this wrong. They can do all sorts of things to ‘reframe the conversation’, or ‘brand through advertising’, but in the end, if that ad doesn’t reflect the product, the customer will know. And be sure, they’ll tell whoever will listen.

Search yourself on Google on a weekly basis. Check Yelp or other ‘customer review’ sites. And do a social media search of yourself on Twitter and Google’s Blog Search option. This isn’t only good customer service practice in general, it’s a good way to identify vocal or influential customers, and how good your ‘word-of-mouth’ actually is.

3) What, or who, are you committed to? 

Don’t listen to someone who tells you that ‘a brand is a promise’. Get out of the business of ‘guarantee’. Promises are made to be broken. Instead, commit to something and make sure that commitment is reflected (and ready to be communicated) at every potential touchpoint. Commit to the happiness or passion or profit of your potential customers, and your brand will resonate with stuff that’s worth sharing.

4) What do you do or offer that brings new people in your door?

I’m new to Seattle-Tacoma. If I’m walking by your storefront, or if I stumble upon your website, what are you going to offer me that I can’t get anywhere else?

The goal here isn’t to be “better” than someone else. The goal is to be the best. If you don’t have answer to this, get working on it quickly. It doesn’t need to be a different product per se, perhaps a different way of doing things, something of value that’s easy to communicate and easy to share.

In my experience, business owners, especially those in a competitive or saturated market, like pizza making, have trouble with this. Maybe you’re just darn good at making pizza. And that’s fine, but it’s up to you (or your consultants, whoever they may be) to dramatize that passion, personalize it and localize it.

5) What do you do that will keep them coming back?

Here’s another tough one. Once you get them in the door, what do you offer that will keep them loyal? If your answer is “having a sale” or “doing a Groupon”, you’re not getting it. Discounting is great for that last bit of merchandise you need to move, but it’s no way to build long-term relationships with your customers.

You need to be able to give them something so unique that the price really won’t matter. Once you find it, that’s what will keep them coming back, and then you’ll see that word-of-mouth start to take off.

Building a brand is hard work. But if you do it, or take the time to discover it the right way, you’re business and its products will market themselves, no ‘traditional’ advertising necessary.

So I challenge you to answer: What’s your brand?

One of the most recognized brands in the world - started right here in Seattle.

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