NOTE: I posted this press release on Peoria Pundit and just now realized I never posted it on Blog Peoria. I’m reposting because it makes perfect sense for BPP members to get involved with TellPeoria Online Media. As the administrator of both sites, it’s very easy for me to ad the appropriate ad code once a site is accepted as an advertiser.

And there are a few bloggers here who would make good money because of their popularity with readers.

Here is the rest of the release:

TellPeoria, an exciting new business that links local business with local websites, is open for business and is accepting clients.

People who own and operate Websites — anything from personal blogs to commerce sites to online news organizations — can sign up to run ads. Likewise, anyone eager to promote their product, services or ideas can sign up as an advertiser.

TellPeoria also offers a business directory for advertisers without any official Website, making it possible to be found by customers who should in the Internet. We also offer free WorkPress blogs for anyone who wants to get paid to blog

There are other online ad networks (like Google AdSense) and free blog platforms (like Blogger). But TellPeoria is local. Our clients are those who live in the Peoria area and surrounding counties. The owners are Debbie Adlof, owner of the Community Word newspaper, and Billy Dennis, owner of the Peoria Pundit and Blog Peoria Network. Adlof and Dennis have commitments to community-based journalism and both have life-long family and professional ties to the community.

And no one from Google is going to call you at home and walk you through the registration process.

Now is the time.

Very few media experts think that 100 years from now, we’ll be getting our news and information from printing presses. But few will name a date when they think the last newspaper will be printed on paper, or the last newscast will go out on an antenna.

It’s time to pull the trigger.

TellPeoria is founded on the proposition that the end of print and air-wave journalism is a good thing, and we need to bring it about sooner rather than later. The only reason it hasn’t happened yet is money. Newspapers still make money by selling print ads. Potential advertisers are scared away from online ads because they don’t understand it or because it costs too much (as do print ads).

We want to make it easier for advertisers to place ads on specific blogs and Websites. We want to make it easier for blogs and other Websites to run ads. Think of TellPeoria in this way: We want be YOUR advertising department so that you can grow your blog or Website.

In an era in which newspapers are closing, firing workers and shrinking the number of pages per issue because of declining ad sales, more and more advertising is going to online media. The Interactive Advertising Bureau [1] says that online advertising grew 1.7 percent from the second to third quarter in 2009. Advertisers now spend $5.6 billion in the third quarter. That’s compared to the $2 billion in the first quarter of 2000.<

According to Wikipedia, [2] there are more than 112,000,000 blogs. Some of these blogs were made by people who live in central Illinois. And according to Technorati, [3] 52 percent of all blogs carry some sort of advertising, and 28 percent using three or more advertising platforms. The report states that the mean average annual revenue for U.S. bloggers is $1,800. This figure is scewed by a handful of high-traffic, high-earning blogs. The median average annual revenue for all bloggers who chose to advertise is $200.

Peoria is part of this evolution, Dennis said.

"There are at least hundreds, if not thousands, of blogs that are owned by people who live in Peoria alone. Most of these blogs aren't updated often. But many are. And they get read by thousands of people every day."

Our services

Advertising: We use the fully secure and supported AdQuick adserver platform to sell ads to visitors, and to publish ads on Websites and blogs. Advertisers can run ads across the entire network or target specific sites. Advertisers can control how much they want to spend and change their ads at will. Our publishers earn 75 percent of the revenue from every ad that runs on their site. TellPeoria focuses on central Illinois, so local Web sites will carry ads from local businesses.

People used to use the yellow pages. These days, they use Google Search. This leaves business that don't have a Web site on the outside looking in. The TellPeoria Business Directory gives your business a presence on the Web that will direct customers to you by giving you a basic Web site that is full of useful information. There are other business directories out there. We’re different. Our listings get visitors from links placed on popular Peoria-area news sites, citizen journalism sites and blogs.

TellPeoria offers blog site hosting through WordPress, a very popular blogging platform. Smart businesses realize the importance of communicating directly to their Internet-savvy customers. Clients also can set up your blog as a static Website, giving potential customers a way to learn about their businesses. Citizen journalist can also blog on TellPeoria by creating a brand new site, or by moving their posts and comments to TellPeoria.

Our future

This is an exciting time, but more is to come. Our long-range goal is to hire full-time ad representatives. We're going to expand out news offerings by encourage new citizens journalists in communities all over central Illinois. We are also going to work with educational institutions by offering Internships.

Sources

[1]http://www.iab.net/about_the_iab/recent_press_releases/press_release_archive/press_release/pr-112409
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog
[3] http://technorati.com/blogging/article/day-5-brands-enter-the-blogosphere/

Contact:

Website: http://tellpeoria.com
Ad website: http://tellpeoria.com/ads
Directory Website: http://tellpeoria.com/directory
Phone number: Bill Dennis: (309) 863-5748. Debbie Adlof: (309) 692-0644
Email: sales@tellpeoria.com
Twitter: httpL//twitter.com/tellpeoria
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tell-Peoria/183533011582

About the owners

There are more than a dozen platforms out there that promise to let you buy and sell ad space on blogs and other Websites. But how many of them are owned and operated by someone who just might live in your neighborhood? Tell Peoria Online Media (http://tellpeoria.com) is operated for and by people who live your community. It's our business philosophy to operate in a transparent manner, and we'll openly discuss our rates, our policies and our associations. If you have a question or a concern, you can reach us in person. We aren't taking your ad dollars out of the community. Instead, we are promoting local businesses and promoting a healthy environment for community-based journalism.

Billy Dennis

Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. Born and raised in Peoria, IL, he graduated from Woodruff High School in 1981. He attended Illinois Central College and later graduated from Eastern Illinois University in 1987. He began publishing Websites in the mid 1990s and discovered blogging in 2002, when he created the blog that would evolve into PeoriaPundit.com, where he comments on media, news and politics. He soon concluded that free-to-use blogging platforms like Blogger and WordPress.com effectively gives anyone with access to the Internet the same freedom of the press that once belonged exclusively to those who own printing presses. So he created The Blog Peoria Project, which promotes community-based citizen journalism in his hometown. Realizing that if citizen journalism is to grow to fill the void left by an increasingly shrinking mainstream media, then community-based citizen journalism would have to be monetized. He and Debbie Adlof then created Tell Peoria Online Media to connect bloggers and Website publishers with those who want to advertise on their sites. He lives in the Randolph-Roanoke neighborhood on Peoria's West Bluff.

Debbie Adlof

"My experiences have ranged from being a cashier, a bookkeeper, an artistic administrative assistant, a virtual assistant, a reporter, and now as a newspaper owner. I served as a reporter for the Community Word for five years before becoming its owner/editor. For the past nine years, I’ve worn all the various hats necessary to keep growing/nurturing the paper. I embraced the Internet whole-heartedly and became one of the first papers in Peoria to have a web presence with all the news stories online and started a blog site for the newspaper. I’m convinced print media needs to embrace and incorporate the Internet with their publications, or they might not survive. It was my strong desire for such new ideas and uses for the newspaper that lead to becoming one of the co-owners of TellPeoria.com!" Debbie lives on North Foxpoint Drive in North Peoria.

Contact us with any questions: sales@tellpeoria.com or call us at (309) 863-5748 or (309) 692-0644