Statistics
| Site Twitter handle
@NewCanaanite |
| Facebook link |
| Year launched
2014 |
| Tax status
|
| Monthly visitors
30,000 |
| Revenue
|
| Primary revenue sources (50% or more)
|
| Secondary revenue sources (20-49%)
|
| Smaller revenue sources (less than 20%)
|
| Publishing platform
|
| Mobile
60% mobile (three-quarters of that smartphones) |
| E-newsletter
|
| E-newsletter subscribers
1,567 |
| Is your site indexed on Google News?
|
| Other products
We host many of Broadstreet's dynamic ad formats (as opposed to "traditional Web display" |
| City
New Canaan |
| State
Connecticut |
|
Last Publisher Update
|
New Canaanite is a local news webiste that covers and provides in-depth reporting in a town of 20,000 in Connecticut. The site was founded in 2014 by Michael Dinan, who previously oversaw coverage for 48 news sites in Fairfield County, Conn. and Westchester County, N.Y. as a senior regional editor for Patch.com. Dinan has reported the site receives 30,000+ monthly unique visitors and 105,000+ monthly page views. Revenue: Advertising.
I purchased the URL NewCanaanite.com and launched it two days after Patch.com was sold in January 2014 and laid off nearly all of its editorial staff. My goal is to cover quality-of-life matters for residents of New Canaan, Conn.—traffic, parking, local history, the downtown, pets, public parks, schools and youth sports. We run on the Blargo Wordpress theme from Broadstreet, which includes an ad server and multiple ad formats. Successes include achieving profitability within the first year, and building a solid advertising revenue business. Love what I do.
Daily newsletter (via Mailchimp). We are up to 1,567 subscribers on our M-F newsletter and the open rate is 65.5%, click thru rate 31.1%. The average for Media & Publishing for those same numbers is 17.5% and 3.8%.
Figuring out exclusivity rates is difficult, and it's a difficult conversation both with the current advertiser who wants to lock it down, and the prospective advertiser who may need to hear "Not now."
- Suburb
- Other
Cover quality-of-life matters in a local voice and with a local sensibility.
- Government & politics
- Planning & development
- Other
Local history, traffic, pets/wildlife and parking.
- Yes, occasional
- Library
- Other
We partner all the time with the Chamber of Commerce, local nonprofit organizations (arts centers, human services agencies) and businesses.
- Professional journalists
- Students
- Full-time, paid staff
- Interns who are paid
- Full-time, paid staff without commission
- Do not publish names of donors or foundations
Three articles since last June:
Grown from Patch: A crop of new hyperlocal news sites has sprung up from AOL’s failed platform (Nieman Lab): http://www.niemanlab.org/2015/11/grown-from-patch-a-crop-of-new-hyperlocal-news-sites-has-sprung-up-from-aols-failed-platform/
Who’s Making Money—and Who Isn’t—in Local Online News? (Nieman): http://www.niemanlab.org/2015/07/whos-making-money-and-who-isnt-in-local-online-news/?utm_source=Daily+Lab+email+list&utm_campaign=7ef271c041-dailylabemail3&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d68264fd5e-7ef271c041-395922073
7 Ways Local News Sites Can Grow Their Digital Audiences (Street Fight Mag): http://streetfightmag.com/2015/06/04/7-ways-local-news-sites-can-grow-their-digital-audiences/