Presentation I gave at Journalism Entrepreneur Summit 2015 on 27 Feb 2015 at the London Google Campus. It's about our experience of building and running OnTheWight over the last (nearly) ten years.

1. #JES2015
@SimonPerry
http://wig.ht/jes2015
Overview of OnTheWight
10th year
Gained trust of the Island
23k+ articles
Built commenting community
112k+ comments
Uniques peaking at 100k/month
(Pop. 140k. 66k households)

2. #JES2015
@SimonPerry
http://wig.ht/jes2015
What we’ve tried
Donations - Social media campaigns
– Competitions - Building Web sites –
Video presenting for others - Event
promotions - Display ads - Sponsored
Features - Site Take Overs - Recruit
sales people

3. #JES2015
@SimonPerry
http://wig.ht/jes2015
What we’ve stuck with
Industry-standard Display ads
(Need good graphics skills;
Educate clients; Guidelines)
Sponsored Features
(Highly effective; Great distribution; Offer Packages)
Site Take Overs
(THE best way to be noticed; takes
design/programming time; Good money)

4. #JES2015
@SimonPerry
http://wig.ht/jes2015
Still struggling with
Recruiting a sales person
Sales is a different mindsets to writing
Selection; Approach; Pitch; Close – All takes time
As does account handling
Tips
Don't pick just on personality – Not enough
You need a 'closer' – with proven track record

5. #JES2015
@SimonPerry
http://wig.ht/jes2015
What’s next
Long-life content
Non-perishable
eg 4g coverage
Open Data a good basis
Reliable regular monthly income
Collected via direct debit
Ryde OnTheWight - Enhanced business directory
Focused publications
- eg Schools

6. #JES2015
@SimonPerry
http://wig.ht/jes2015
Thank you
OnTheWight
http://OnTheWight.com
Simon Perry
@SimonPerry
Supplementary notes
http://wig.ht/jes2015