December always seems to be housekeeping month here at DFE and today I get to announce a new bit of advertising that I’m actually super-excited about and I hope you will be, too. Yes, I realize adverts are the bit about blogs and news websites we generally studiously avoid. But for once, I think I’ve discovered a new service that is much a benefit to my audience as to the website.
The new service is called LocalVox and they’re all about getting you local adverts and getting us little guy blogs a hefty leg up in advertising. I’ve been continually frustrated since I started this blog twelve years ago at the lack of genuine local options for advertising. Google pretends to have local adverts, but if a bigger national company buys into ads at a higher rate (which is always the case for hotter keywords) you still end up getting crappy national ads. Most of which read and look like scams.
There is not to the best of my knowledge a local advert company that is willing to take a fly with us small blogs. Most of the larger news websites roll their own advertising systems. That leaves little to nothing for my audience to look at. I’ve tried a few other options, but blog advertisement companies seem to be getting pretty long in the tooth and a lot seem to be just vanishing.
In steps LocalVox with a dedication to useful local adverts and a business model focused on rather than capitulating to independent publishers like myself. And so far, I have to say I’m pretty stoked about the advertisements that are currently in my sidebar: DogTown Hots, The Public Market, Open Face, the Museum of Play and Victor Gymnastics. All great local businesses, all stuff I know my audience will like. Best of all, instead of just static banners, you get a rolling Twitter-like list of their latest offerings. Up-to-the-minute special deals sound pretty good to me.
But here’s the thing, and here’s where I’m asking your help: in order to keep these great adverts on the site – and in order to increase the number and variety of them – you need to patronize our sponsors. Click on the adverts and let them know you came to them through my website, the LocalVox sidebar! Check back often and see what is new. With your help, maybe LocalVox can be a success here in Rochester and independent science news like what we deliver here every day will continue to grow.
Thanks you guys!
