Benefits of a Social Calendar

Mar 10, 2009 Live Local, Newspapers, TownSync, Video

As the initial launch of townsync.com approaches, we wanted to lay out some of the benefits to using an online social calendar.

So What is a Social Calendar?

A social calendar is a calendar with social functions – when events are posted they can be synchronized with others so the event is seen on both calendars.

What are the Benefits of a Calendar on TownSync?

TownSync brings social calendar functions to small towns across the country. With an account a user gets a free public and private calendar that can be synced with anyone on TownSync. The communities on TownSync are arranged by location so finding things going on and meeting new people in a local area has never been easier.

Private

The private calendar can be used as a personal scheduler unseen by the rest of the community.

Public

The public calendar can be seen by connections and used to sync with friends, colleagues and others in town.

Sync Function

If there is an event displayed on someone’s public calendar you can “sync” the event so it displays on your calendar. If you like everything that person has on their calendar you can also sync their entire calendar to your own. This way all the events in town you would like to remember or be reminded of are on your personal calendar.

When you are promoting an event you can display it to the community and others can sync it with their own calendar. Not only does this help to spread the word, but when someone syncs the event it is displayed on their public calendar to be a constant reminder of the date and location of the event.

Location

TownSync is based around US Zip-Codes. Unlike other global social-networks, TownSync connects people based on a radius around their Zip-Code. This benefits every user on the site because it connects them and allows them to sync their schedule with people that matter. Instead of finding events based on what is posted to the entire world, TownSync gives people the ability to find things happening, and people living nearby.

National

Say you’re going to another city for the weekend, or moving to a new town. You would probably want to find out what that town is like, see some pictures and search through local events, right? TownSync also gives the ability to go to other Towns/Zip-Codes and see businesses, classifieds and events happening in that town.

What Would You Like to See?

We are very excited for the launch and are looking forward to hearing what people think of the site. What features would you like to see on TownSync?

Tags: benefits, calendar, TownSync

The Web vs. Printed News: How can Newspapers keep up?

Jan 14, 2009 Newspapers, TownSync

A recent article in Seth Godin’s Blog discusses the dying realm of newspapers and inspired us to pass it on to our readers.

Newspapers are quickly losing steam along with the rest of the economy. The growing popularity of blog journalism and the birth of localized websites and search engines are further eroding newspaper revenue. Now anyone can become a journalist for their area, and people are beginning to put down the paper and pick up the computer or mobile phone. Godin discusses what people would miss if the newspapers were gone. He argues the sports, weather and reviews sections, the ads, inserts and coupons, and the editorials and op eds, will not be missed by many as their counterparts online are just as good if not better. “What’s left,” he says, is “local news, investigative journalism and intelligent coverage of national news.”

His issue is that when all local news comes from the blogosphere and there is a lack of what he calls “intelligent coverage” the government can do whatever it wants. He worries “about the quality of legislation when there isn’t a passionate, unbiased reporter there to explain it to us.”

He makes the argument that if it really is the valuable duty of the newspaper to have this unbiased reporting then we will find a way to pay for it in some way. “Newspapers took two cents of journalism and wrapped in ninety-eight cents of overhead and distraction.” His main argument is that the newspaper will be boiled down to their essential parts and those parts will be the only thing that can coexist with the blog/social-media world.

“The magic of the web, the reason you should care about this even if you don’t care about the news, is that when the marginal cost of something is free and when the time to deliver it is zero, the economics become magical. It’s like 6 divided by zero. Infinity.”

We do not consider TownSync to be a competitor with Newspapers, or even local journalists. We consider TownSync to be a place to learn more about your local town, meet people, visit business pages, discuss topics, and find new information sources – be it newspaper, blog journalism or what have you.

However, we are still selling ad space and attempting to capitalize on the local market, the same market that newspapers have been supplying and profiting from for decades. If anything else, we believe in supporting local businesses and the local economy, and with the current economic turmoil and the shift toward online consumption and news, print newspapers are struggling mightily. We have been working hard to develop our franchise program for newspapers, allowing them to purchase zip-codes in exchange for a % of revenue in their town. The hope is that our program will help papers expand their revenue base while providing us a media outlet in local markets we cannot reach otherwise.

You can read Seth Godin’s full post here.

Tags: franchise, Newspapers, print, social-media, web

Franchise Your Town(Sync)!

Dec 18, 2008 Businesses, Newspapers, TownSync

In order for people to enjoy visiting their local TownSync page we need a solid network of users in each town. Although some people and businesses might enjoy spreading the word about their TownSync profile, we know we will need a way to reach people in towns all across the United States. To expect that the site will grow virally (like facebook or myspace) is a hard concept to “bank” on.

At the same time, we realize that local newspapers are looking for ways to gain exposure online and grow their revenue sources. As small town guys, we appreciate local businesses and local media, and with the shift in consumer tendency toward online a lot of newspapers are feeling the pain (especially in today’s economy). Therefore we’ve developed a way to answer the following 2 questions:

1. How do we gain media exposure in local communities across the country?
2. How can we help local newspapers gain exposure online while growing revenue?

The answer is in the TownSync Franchise Program!

Newspapers buy TownSync zip-codes in their area (the cost is based on users). In return, we offer to share a certain % of revenue in the zip-codes they purchase. All we expect in return is for these papers to notify people about the site; write articles, post adds, and ultimately help us spread the word. We hope that Newspapers see the program as a cost effective way to increase revenue online. As much as it will help our local exposure, we are just as excited about the opportunity to help local media.

Let us know what you think! And if you know anyone that works at a local Newspaper, tell them to shoot us a message if they like the idea. (The earlier you sign up, the less expensive it is to buy a zip code)

Tags: exposure, franchise, local, marketing, network, Newspapers, TownSync, viral