With 85% of consumer purchases occurring within 25 miles of home, the incentive for local merchants to leverage the Internet to establish online relationships with consumers in their geographic area is enormous.
Major 'universal' Web Portals, even large city sites, attempt to be all things to 'generic' consumers. The consumer's ability to find local information, shops, promotions, etc. is encumbered by the sheer quantity of information presented by these very large portals. Truly 'local' merchants and businesses are not easily found, and advertising is predominately national.
The targeted community portal has emerged as the best way to aggregate truly local information and capture the essence of the smaller geographic community. Based on a Yahoo! type business model, but applied on a smaller scale, this market space is wide open and ready for exploitation. It is an opportunity for anyone who provides useful information, services, and a compelling user experience to their neighbors.
Soon, with the bandwidth increases being ushered in by cable modems, DSL, and wireless, all media will converge on the Web platform. All players will compete for the same audiences and labor resources. All the traditional media companies will compete against one other and against new media competitors. Digital audio and video will become very affordable for all to produce and distribute. And most of all, the Web will become a 'given' in everyday life as it merges with television and wireless media.
TownSource Interactive™ - Pursue The Opportunity
With these trends in mind, TownSource Interactive™ lets you quickly build a Web brand and market share in your community. It provides a strong information systems foundation that can scale with your e-business. This powerful engine allows you to focus on content and sales instead of the technical distractions of Website design and operations.
TownSource Interactive™ also compliments and supports other Web services. Its popular WinNT/2000/ColdFusion platform allows you to readily take advantage of other new technologies, products, and services as they become available for your audience. Quickly integrate Java or XML applications, e-stores, auctions, secure online payment processing, email server, Real Video, etc.
Content Management - Efficiency Is Everything
A portal by nature collects, organizes, and presents content - lots of content. The only way portal content can be efficiently maintained is for it to be dynamic (database driven), integrated, and to have recurring administrative functions automated. Removing expired listings from the site is one example. Or entering a category, a topic, or a business listing once and never retyping it again. And highlighting content anywhere on the site with a few mouse clicks.
Reducing administration costs is what dynamic publishing is all about. TownSource Interactive™ was designed to be simple to learn and easy to use. Once set up, neither Web page design experience nor programming know-how is required. All content, including graphics, is uploaded to the server using just a Web browser. Content can be submitted directly to the site server, freeing up the administrator for reviewing, editing, and publishing responsiblities.
TownSource Interactive™'s most powerful content management feature is its ability to support community self-publishing. Enabling your members/audience to self-publish in real time is what really promotes participation, 'ownership', and loyalty. Self-publishing builds content faster, and your audience receives a much wider variety of content. Higher participation from your audience translates into more page views to your site, resulting in higher advertising revenue potential. Higher revenues, lower costs. That is what TownSource Interactive™'s community self-publishing features can achieve!
Enriching The Local Portal User Experience
Another fundamental philosophy of TownSource Interactive™ is that it was designed to compete and win against regional and national portals. The sheer scope of coverage of these mega-sites dictates separate, complex content management systems. Their visitors have to work harder to find information, and usually have to filter out most information as irrelevant. Their administrators have to learn many different, complex systems. With TownSource Interactive™, visitors can find information easier and quicker, and without the clutter. Site content is fully integrated in a single, simple-to-use system.
Integrated local portals realize the benefits of dynamic publishing. Administrators can add or revise information once and have it reflected throughout the site. They can easily place content on the Home or Channel / Topic Pages. Visitors can view everything about a business or organization from one place - its Directory Page - promotions, news, events calendar, product catalog, and jobs. Content that can be easily self-published - without administrator involvement!
The large portal software systems also tend to limit the customization and individuality of sites, primarily due to their complexity and their need to accommodate a broad range of clients and applications in one gigantic information system. This forces all sites to share categories that may not apply to a specific locale, and leads to other user un-friendly characteristics. TownSource Interactive™'s module names can readily be changed during site setup, and its dynamic categories can be changed anytime, in real time. Your site quickly reflects the 'essence' of your unique community.
Personalization is the most compelling user feature for a local portal. TownSource Interactive™ provides real content personalization - not just bringing in local weather forecasts, but allowing site members to personalize the delivery of the site's core content. The personalized page allows each member to be one click away from the content he's interested in, whether it's a particular news section, regional links, or specific shops or companies.
Connecting Local Merchants With Local Residents
Connecting local merchants and consumers is the name of the game for increasing advertising revenues, and TownSource Interactive™ was designed to make it happen. Banner ads, which are much more effective on local sites than on regional and national ones, can be targeted by page and by topic or category. Content sponsorships, now becoming a common online marketing strategy, can be accommodated quickly and easily. Sponsors can also connect with your audience by participating in polls or email lists, hosting forums, running contests, and other interactive Web marketing activities.
Local businesses can explore a variety of online marketing opportunities. They are able to self-publish e-promotions or coupons, showcase their unique products or services in an online catalog, and 'soft-sell' by publishing a community newsletter, events calendar, and company/group announcements. Posting job openings also increases exposure and brand/name recognition.
The local portal provides high visibility for local merchants, where they can attract residents through an assortment of online services and relationship building features. This variety of marketing opportunities for local merchants promotes their participation and establishes a strong foundation for providing complimentary e-commerce and other commercial Web services.
The eBusiness Side
Business process controls are inherent in TownSource Interactive™'s design. Banner ads and e-promotions are controlled by contracts. Date sensitive listings are automatically removed upon expiration. The site accepts public submissions directly to the server (not via email!) for administrator review and approval. Administrators manage the site in a password controlled area using simple data-entry type forms. There are 3 self-publishing privleges: none (public visitor), individual site member, member-agent (business / group).
Regional and national Websites require expensive computing platforms, staff programmers, and very high-end database architectures. They offer expensive back-end integration with existing small business information systems. TownSource Interactive™ provides robust functionality running on inexpensive, popular, reliable computing platforms. That tranlates into lower capital costs and lower total cost of ownership.
TownSource Interactive™ - Built For The Web
Another fundamental aspect of TownSource Interactive™ is that it is built for the Web - without prejudice as to how information is disseminated in other media, and without regard to 'protecting' traditional media revenue streams. It is designed to fully utilize the strengths and unique attributes of the Web.
TownSource Interactive™ was built 100% on the Web for the Web. For instance, the Classified Ads application allows 64k of space (many book chapters) for ad descriptions, not 1 line (x characters) or 2 lines, etc., like many newspaper Websites. A color photo or animated graphic can accompany an ad. All routine administrative tasks require only a browser.
The presentation of the content in TownSource Interactive™ is also intended for the Web audience. Quick text searches and advanced search pages are provided for savvy users; Web novices enjoy locating information without typing text - just by clicking on categories and listings. As the content grows, intelligent search indexing tools can be easily added, providing the ultimate in ease of content retrieval.
TownSource Interactive™ is the most affordable, full featured solution on the market for quickly producing a local community portal. Let us show you how easy it is to build a compelling online community! Contact us today for more information and to try our online demonstration.
