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Our hyperlocal experiment and why it works

Posted by Cory Bergman on September 23, 2008

Soon after we moved to the Seattle neighborhood of Ballard last year, my wife Kate reserved MyBallard.com after we noticed there was no daily news source dedicated to the community of 35,000. We rolled out a standard WordPress blog and started writing about news in the neighborhood. We added an events calendar, restaurant guide and a forum, too.

Ten months later, My Ballard has exploded in popularity beyond our wildest expectations, surpassing the weekly neighborhood newspaper in monthly reach (unique users compared to the paper’s physical subscription base.) We’ve even launched similar blogs in surrounding neighborhoods with the help of friends and friends of friends, forming a news blog network covering the core of Seattle’s fastest-growing communities.

It was all an experiment, really. We fashioned My Ballard after WestSeattleBlog.com, the neighborhood news site we mention frequently here on Lost Remote. We don’t cover nearly as much news as WSB, but the appetite for neighborhood news has been tremendous. Newspapers are covering less, and TV stations only storm into a neighborhood when there’s breaking news or a quirky story with regional interest.

We receive so many email tips, comments and forum posts, we’re able to provide a steady stream of original stories. We’re also able to beat the traditional media on larger Ballard stories, thanks to our active readers. In effect, we don’t “cover” the neighborhood, we “moderate” it. Users are our eyes and ears, and we provide a layer of journalism over the top, confirming stories before we post them.

We’re not selling any advertising (coming soon), but the West Seattle Blog has proven there’s money to be made. They have a full-time sales effort and 30 active advertisers. They’re not getting rich, but it shows the model works and has real momentum behind it.

I have so much to share about our experiences with our network of blogs — as well as the explosion of neighborhood blogging here in Seattle, the new epicenter of hyperlocal. I’ll be writing a series of posts on Lost Remote in the weeks to come, so stay tuned.

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