Two independent publishers — the Buckeye Flame’s Ken Schneck and Mat-Su Sentinel’s Amy Bushatz — shared tips and ideas for growing revenue from ads and sponsorships at a Tiny News Collective workshop on Feb. 25.

The workshop — an outgrowth of the Homegrown Advertising report released by Tiny News Collective and Rebuild Local News in January — was focused on actionable ideas that small publishers could use to build their ad programs. Schneck and Bushatz joined Tiny News Collective’s Madison Karas, the report’s author, and Erica Perel, the organization’s operations director. Here’s our countdown of five takeaways from the workshop:

5. You don’t have to have a sales background to do it. Schneck noted that his background is as a college professor, with no selling experience at all. He was afraid that going into sales would be inflexible and hard to manage. Instead, he said, he’s found sales to be endlessly flexible. Bushatz worked at a prior news outlet that sold ads, even though she did not, and she drew on that experience to help her lay the groundwork.

4. How do you price your ads for your first sale? You can find online calculators to help with pricing digital ad products such as newsletters and CPMs, but in general pricing ad slots can feel like shooting in the dark without research. Bushatz used her skills as a reporter to figure out how to price sponsorships for Mat-Su Sentinel. She asked everyone she knew about their ad experiences with other media in town and investigated their prices, aiming for her startup to come in just under their rates.

3. In the workshop chat and Q&A, folks discussed another age-old question: Do you publicly post your rate card to make it easy for clients to find your prices? This is a hot topic, because sales experts say you should try to engage with clients and share your publication’s story before sharing prices. But some advertisers get cranky if you are coy about pricing. At Buckeye Flame, Schneck shared that he frequently makes adjustments to his rate card, so it’s not easily available online. Instead, he sends it out via email.

At Buckrail, a site serving Jackson Hole, WY, featured in the Homegrown Advertising report, potential clients have to provide their email address and other information before they can download the rate card. 

2. One key piece of advice for small publishers from the Homegrown Advertising report was “Just try stuff and don’t over-complicate it.” Bushatz shared an example of how she just tried something — and it worked: She writes personal thank you notes to all donors to the publication. One day when she was working on a letter, she realized that the donor also owned a local business in town. She added in a line mentioning sponsorship opportunities, and sure enough, the business owner decided to advertise.

1. Your publication has values, and a unique value proposition. Leaning into both can help you create advertising and sponsorships revenue that reflect your publication. The Buckeye Flame’s mission is to amplify the voices of LGBTQ+ Ohioans, and it has built a lucrative sponsored content revenue line by staying true to that mission, Schneck said. The Flame’s sponsored content is clearly labeled as sponsored, but it is of such high quality and so reflective of LGBTQ+ voices that the content is often picked up by other outlets, he said. He shared a recent example: an article sponsored by the Alzheimer's Foundation about challenges facing LGBTQ+ caregivers. The Flame’s sponsored content has consistently over-performed the budget, he said.

Download a PDF of slides and resources from the workshop here:

Many thanks to the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation for supporting this work.