A little something new here on Bloggerlens.com. A video intro to my latest article. If you have an opinion on this, good or bad, please share in the comments. No need to mention I need a shave, I already know that. I’m pretty scruffy! The intro was made with my favorite little flip camera, the [...]]]>

A little something new here on Bloggerlens.com. A video intro to my latest article. If you have an opinion on this, good or bad, please share in the comments. No need to mention I need a shave, I already know that. I’m pretty scruffy! The intro was made with my favorite little flip camera, the Kodak Zi6.

Have you planted any seeds lately in your hyperlocal garden? If you are wondering what the heck I’m talking about, I’m talking about networking and building relationships in your community. When you make the decision to go hyperlocal, you will immediately broaden your horizons and your your circle of friends and business relationships will start to grow.

If you are new to Bloggerlens, I started this site to share my ups and downs on my journey as a hyperlocal blogger. If I find something that works for me I will share it with you. If I find something that bombs, I will share that with you also. What may work in my community, may not work in yours and vice-versa. Wherever you are and whatever type of site you publish, it’s a good idea to plant seeds everywhere in the hopes that one day the harvest will come.

Today I’d like to share a little harvest with you. I’ve been working on a business relationship that is starting to pay off a little and I want to share how I did it and how you may apply the same principal. I created my hyperlocal blog, the Monroe Scoop, in an effort to create my own job. The site gives me tremendous personal satisfaction as well as the potential of a full time income in the future. I have tried not to be stupid with it so far as to not alienate certain parts of my readership. I want everyone to feel welcome when they arrive and I want the site to be beneficial to my community.

Here’s the Scoop. This is how it all went down from the beginning. My little case study:

Early on I republished some articles and information I found that pertained to our local shopping mall. I was basically passing on some good community information I found readily available and used my hyperlocal blog as an additional outlet for exposure to the Mall. Every time I published anything, I would go to the Mall website and use the contact form that was provided and notify them of what I did and give them a link. (you can easily do the same in your community)

I probably did this 3 times and finally received a response and a thank you from the Director of Marketing of the Mall. The Director wrote me a nice e-mail telling me how much she enjoyed my site and felt like I was filling a need in the community. She especially liked the fact that I posted a lot of community videos. That did a lot for my ego as well as send me a message that I was on the right track.

I did the same thing a couple more times. When I would send an e-mail, I always asked to let me know of any special events at the Mall so I could cover them on the site. I always received a thank you email from the Director.

One day I received an email from her with a press release that the Mall was going to have a huge fashion show which was co-sponsored by prominent local businesses. She invited me to cover it on my site. I agreed and expressed that I might even shoot some video. She was thrilled at the possibility. Long story short. I covered the Fashion Show and shot video. I met the Director of Marketing that evening as well as many local prominent business leaders that she personally introduced me to. I handed out business cards all over the place. I was pleasantly surprised when many told me they were already aware of my site and they visit everyday. I was extremely encouraged at this point.

I worked pretty hard on the video I shot that evening. My goal was to establish a business relationship with the Mall. I wanted to impress them with what I could do. I also hoped that other business would see what I did for the Mall and it might open up more opportunity. Here is the video that I shot of the Fashion Show.

As you might guess, the video was a huge hit in my community. I received a ton of traffic to my site. I gave free publicity to the Mall. I had a very happy Director of Marketing. This was actually very good publicity, not only for the Mall, but for the Director personally. These folks are usually looking for anything positive they can send to their bosses and it helps build their portfolios. I burned a copy and gave to the Director for her to use in the future and the video was also played at the next Board of Directors meeting for the Red Cross in my community.

The video was actually worth several hundred dollars if someone were to pay for such a video, but I did it for free. Sometimes you have to give before you receive.

Let’s move on. I have now basically worked my ass off for free but I have developed a relationship that I previously did not have. I have spread some good will in my community and more and more people are becoming aware of my site. One of the other features on my site that I do are called 5 x 5 videos. I shoot 5 video clips that are 5 seconds each in my community. You have to guess where I’m at. As it turns out, the Mall Director loves these videos. The 5 x 5′s are not my idea as I’ve seen them posted on other sites. The one’s I’ve seen are usually just that, just 5 x 5 clips period. I decided to put a spin on the idea and make people guess where I’m at. They have been popular on my site. These are quite easy to make. Here is an example of one below.

Here’s the good part. She liked them so much that she wants the Mall to sponsor 2 of these per month. The Mall will be giving away Mall gift certificates to the winner who guesses all 5 locations. It’s taken quite a while to get to where I’m at in my opinion. I feel extremely fortunate and a little bit lucky. Many hyperlocal bloggers will tell you that you can’t really expect to monetize your site for 2 years. I was definitely on a mission to break that time frame. Just like a hyperlocal blog that focuses on a community or even a small section of a city, I focused on a business that I wanted to be my flagship sponsor. I’m seriously hoping that Mall Sponsorship will give me the street credibility I need for other advertisers to jump on board. I can’t discuss the financial arrangement but I’m happy that the site is going to produce income.

Just this week, I kicked off the article and video interview with the Director of Marketing announcing the Mall Sponsorship. My 5 x 5 videos start next week. Here is the video interview that appeared on my site this week.

Harvest Time

Building a hyperlocal blog is not easy, it’s hard work and requires a time commitment but the rewards are out there. I consider myself to still be somewhat new at this and I never know what’s waiting on me around the next corner. Why don’t you start a 5 x 5 video series on your hyperlocal blog? They are a lot of fun and will get the attention of your community. Get out there and start building some relationships. Do you have your eye on who may be a great flagship advertiser of your site? If so, my advice to you would be to go do something for your advertiser for free and let them know about it. Plant those seeds. Plant them all over your community. At some point in time, the harvest will come.

Don’t forget my free offer to help you get set up with your own hyperlocal blog in your community.

I made the quick intro video at the top of this article with my favorite flip camera. The Kodak Zi6. I recommend that every hyperlocal blogger get one. Go get one today.

Copyright 2009 bloggerlens.com Hyperlocal Blogs & Citizen Journalism