The Automatic Member Report e-mail will contain a .CSV file that you can download and open in any spreadsheet software, such as Excel or OpenOffice Calc.

The spreadsheet report will include a list of subscribers and all relevant information: Username, Email, Name, Address, Start Date, End Date, Last Transaction, Subscription Type, the Payment Gateway used to process their order and whether or not any Coupons were applied to their order.

The spreadsheet can be configured to either contain All Active Subscribers on the website, or to only include New Signups Since the Last Export. When using the latter option, each time an e-mail update goes out, it will only include subscribers who are new since the last time an e-mail report was sent.

To Enable the Automatic Memberpress Reports, navigate to your WordPress Dashboard and select Memberpress -> Automatic Memberpress Reports.

This will bring you to the Settings page, where you’ll find several different configuration options — the first of which being a checkbox to Enable Automatic Memberpress Reports.

Below that, you can set the schedule that you’d like to receive reports. You’ll choose whether to receive reports daily or weekly. If you choose weekly, you can choose what day of the week to receive them.

As mentioned earlier, you can also choose whether the report should include All Active Subscribers or only New Subscribers since the last time the report was sent.

Finally, there is a text box where you can enter the e-mail address(es) that should receive the report. You can enter more than one e-mail address — just use a comma to separate each address.

Once you’ve enabled the reports and verified your configuration settings, click Save Changes and wait for your first report to arrive!

Our system will send out new report e-mails in the early morning hours beginning around 4AM EASTERN on the day that you’ve selected to receive your report.

If you have any questions or need help configuring your Automatic Member Report, just drop us an e-mail at ops@our-hometown.com!

The post Receiving Automatic Member Reports within MemberPress appeared first on Our-Hometown.

The discussion ranged from the general importance of offering a digital product to some of the unique reader-engagement programs they’ve been able to offer through their website, including a Curbside Delivery Directory and accompanying sweepstakes that was launched early in the COVID-19 Pandemic as a service to their readers.

We’ve shared some of the highlights below!

1. Digital is Integral

In the first clip, Alison explains how they utilize the full control offered on our platform to carefully curate stories on the homepage in a consistent way that appeals to readers’ interests. Previously, many subscribers who received the print edition would have little reason to visit the website. However, the digital product has exploded in popularity — perhaps faster than expected due to the COVID-19 restrictions that have kept many indoors for the past several months now — with The Wave reporting a near 2:1 increase in mobile visitors. Now, with the news easily accessible on the website at any time and enhanced with special programs and reader-engagement features, the expectation is that the digital product will become as integral to these reader as the print product. 

2. Curbside Delivery Directory

During the early stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic, The Wave launched their Curbside Delivery Directory, which acts as a resource for readers to find out which local restaurants are offering curbside delivery. They launched this Directory alongside a sweepstakes to stoke user-engagement, where a random entry will be chosen to receive a free meal from a supported restaurant of their choosing.

The project helps local businesses by featuring their curbside delivery programs; it helps the community by connecting hungry readers with restaurants that offer these programs, and also by providing a free meal to one lucky winner; and it also helps The Wave itself as website traffic and user-engagement increases. The data collected from sweepstakes entries can be useful moving forward into future projects.

The Wave has also launched a Donations program where funds collected through the website or their GoFundMe page are then distributed to businesses facing financial difficulty due to the challenges introduced by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Alison joined Matt Larson this past Friday in our latest Virtual Conference: Helping Local Businesses from Shutdown to Re-Opening to discuss this program as well as the Curbside Directory.

3. Hitting Home Runs with OHT

The Wave has been a customer with Our-Hometown since ____, and Publisher Walter Sanchez has been there since the beginning of our working relationship. While they initially utilized our PDF Extraction service, the self-service model began to make more sense after they brought Alison in to help out on the digital side. Walter was appreciative of not only the services that we offer, but how we are always researching, learning, and adapting to the newest standards for both Digital and Print publishing.

We look forward to continuing our relationship for many years to come! Thanks to The Wave team for taking the time to chat with Matt and share these ideas and this information with our other publishers. For those interested, the entire interview is available on our YouTube Channel, here.

The post Publisher Interview with The Wave of Rockaway! appeared first on Our-Hometown.

Matt and Kristen discussed some of the tools used on the Wilson County News website, such as the Business Directory that put the newspaper in a position to help the community throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic, as well as additional features like Audio Articles and using custom forms to run Creative Contests. Check out some of the highlights below, our scroll to the bottom for the full interview!

1. Using the Business Directory during COVID-19

One of the first things Kristen and the Wilson County News did when COVID-19 forced businesses around the world to either close entirely or enforce strict new safety precautions was to utilize their existing Business Directory to pass along updates from local businesses to their readers. This provided a resources for the community to check and see if and when a particular business is open, or what restrictions are in place.

Taking it a step further, the Wilson County News took the data from their online business directory and incorporated it into the print edition, making it available to all of their readers, even those who only subscribe to the mailed newspaper.

Best of all, the Business Directory doesn’t just help readers — it also helps the businesses that are featured and keeps the lines of communication open in the newspaper/advertiser relationship.

2. Creative Contests

Kristen uses the GravityForms plugin included with Our-Hometown’s service to create custom submission forms that allow the Wilson County News to partner with local businesses to run contests and giveaways. These contests promote engagement from readers while simultaneously collecting important data for the client, and can be an important part of a newspaper’s digital marketing strategy when executed properly.

In this example, readers are invited to fill out a brief survey-style submission form to be entered for a chance to win a $500 gift certificate to a local shoe store. The Wilson County News collects submissions on behalf of their advertising client, eventually generating a winner of the contest. Meanwhile, the form is collecting high-value market research that can be shared or sold to the advertiser.

3. Audio Articles

The Wilson County News is one of our first customers that began using Audio Articles earlier this year. Judging by the usage numbers recorded on our stats platform, their readers definitely enjoy the feature.

Audio Articles is an excellent way to improve your website’s accessibility to vision-impaired readers, and is a stepping-stone to more media-driven content like podcasts and videos. As Kristen notes, in today’s digital-first world, many “readers” don’t want to actually sit down and read an article — they’d prefer to listen to the article in audio or video format.

Audio Articles also includes some unique advertising options, such as displaying a “Sponsored By” message above the audio player on each article or including a “Sponsored By” ad that gets read aloud at the beginning of each article a reader listens to.

Big thanks to Kristen for taking time out of her schedule to chat with Matt, and for participating in our Virtual Conference on Helping Local Businesses from Shutdown to Re-Opening. If you’re interested in listening to the full interview, you can find the video below or on our YouTube Channel. You can all find a full-length replay of the Virtual Conference here!

The post Publisher Interview with Kristen Weaver of the Wilson County News! appeared first on Our-Hometown.

https://our-hometown.com/join-us-for-office-hours-this-friday-at-1pm/

Watch the full office hour video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLYBdP_qDek

See below for highlight links.

Top Stories:

Recap on our last Virtual Conference – Helping Local Businesses During Shutdown and Reopening

Video: https://youtu.be/WLYBdP_qDek?t=40

Blog Post: https://our-hometown.com/virtual-conference-recap-helping-local-businesses-from-shutdown-to-re-opening/

Next Virtual Conference Announcement – Digital to Print Publishing with Meg Norris

Video: https://youtu.be/WLYBdP_qDek?t=136

Blog Post: https://our-hometown.com/virtual-conference-digital-to-print-publishing-with-meg-norris/

What are Pending Transactions?

Video: https://youtu.be/WLYBdP_qDek?t=171

Blog Post: https://our-hometown.com/what-are-pending-transactions/

Latest Updates on your Dashboard

Video: https://youtu.be/WLYBdP_qDek?t=280

Blog Post: https://our-hometown.com/our-hometown-news-updates-are-now-on-your-dashboard/

Example – http://voicenewsnebraska.demo.our-hometown.com/wp-admin/

Audio Articles and Facebook Live Package

Video – https://youtu.be/WLYBdP_qDek?t=421

Example – https://www.wilsoncountynews.com/articles/c-r-122-residents-lose-home-to-fire/

New Feature Progress Report

Video – https://youtu.be/WLYBdP_qDek?t=523

Blog Post – https://our-hometown.com/new-feature-progress-report/

Glasgow Daily Times converts front print to digital only

Video – https://youtu.be/WLYBdP_qDek?t=815

Article – http://newspapers.org/stories/glasgow,4156528

McClatch Journalists in 7 newsrooms will continue working remotely – for now

Video – https://youtu.be/WLYBdP_qDek?t=877

Article – http://newspapers.org/stories/mcclatchy,4156529

Building a better email program

Video – https://youtu.be/WLYBdP_qDek?t=913

Blog Post – https://our-hometown.com/second-street-summit/

Full Video

FAQs:

1. 2 requests this week about changing a user name that appear in comments. User names can’t be changed but, the display name can be changed in the reader’s profile. I don’t believe readers have the ability to change their public display name but, publishers can by editing the reader’s profile. VIDEO –
2. This might be an upcoming topic for a newsletter or webinar: In light of CoVID-19, we all know that publishers have lost ad revenue as well as permanently losing some advertisers. But, they’re also seeing new advertisers – or “potential” new advertisers – as small businesses are realizing the benefits of advertising online during the pandemic. What creative ways are publishers using to harness the opportunity to gain new advertisers as businesses come back from the shutdown? (Will Cover In Another Office Hours)
3. new feature of being able to setup periodic reports from memberpress. VIDEO –
4. How to setup automated promotions in newsletters. VIDEO –

The post Office Hours – June 12, 2020 appeared first on Our-Hometown.

1. Register as an Apple News Publisher

The first thing you’ll need to do (if you haven’t already) is Register as a Publisher with Apple News.

On this page, you’ll be asked to login with your existing Apple ID or create a new one if you don’t already have one.

(Note from Apple: The Apple ID you sign in with may or may not be your personal Apple ID. If you’re the sole publisher, you may want to use your personal Apple ID rather than create a new one just for publishing. However, if you’re part of a team—publishing content from a magazine or news site, for example—you should use an Apple ID created specifically for publishing to avoid mixing personal and business data.)

Once logged in, you’ll need to enter a channel name, upload a logo, and enter your contact information & details.

Apple has documentation available for completing this part of the process.

2. Enabling the Apple News API

Once you’ve registered as an Apple News Publisher, you’ll be given a Channel ID and some API Keys that we can use to link your website with your Apple News Publisher account to easily submit new articles.

Please contact Our-Hometown’s Support Team to enable the Apple News Plugin, and provide us with your Channel ID, the API Key and the Secret Key so that we can fill out the appropriate settings in the plugin.

Once the Apple News plugin is enabled, it can be set up to automatically submit all new Articles to Apple News, or you can manually submit only articles that you choose by marking a checkbox in the Article Editor. You’ll also find a handy new Apple News menu in the editor that includes options for publishing the article as Paid, Hidden, or Sponsored, along with settings for Maturity Rating, Cover Art, and Pull Quotes.

3. Submitting for Approval

Once you’re registered as a Publisher with Apple News and the Apple News plugin is configured on your website, you’ll need to submit your account for approval by Apple before your content will begin appearing on Apple News. You’ll need to submit at least three articles to Apple before they will approve your account.

Select at least three articles from your website and submit them to Apple News.

Once you’ve submitted three articles from your website, log back into your Apple News Publisher account page and click the “Submit for Approval” button to begin the process.

It may take several days for Apple to approve your account, but once they’ve done so, your content will begin appearing in the Apple News feeds.

If you have any questions or need any help getting started, e-mail ops@our-hometown.com at any time.

The post Submit your news to Apple News appeared first on Our-Hometown.

Office Hours is a new program we’ll be hosting where CEO Matt Larson (& friends!) will highlight some of our products and features, as well as discuss any topics relevant to the newspaper industry and answer questions from those in attendance.

Customers are invited to jump in and ask questions live during the show, or submit them ahead of time by e-mailing ops@our-hometown.com. During the show, attendees will be able to communicate via the text-chat box to ask questions or leave comments.

Reserve your seat by Clicking Here to Register!

The post Join us for Office Hours this Friday at 1PM! appeared first on Our-Hometown.

Our-Hometown CEO Matt Larson will be joined by Margaret Norris, publisher of The Garden City News, The Jericho News Journal, The Syosset Advance, The Bethpage Newsgram and The Mid-Island Times, to discuss the advantages of Reverse Publishing and how it has helped her to increase productivity across all five of her publications.

The conference will also include a demonstration of each of these features so that you can see them in action!

As always, our Virtual Conferences are free to attend. Please register in advance on our Virtual Conferences page.

We hope to see you there!

The post Virtual Conference: Digital to Print Publishing with Meg Norris appeared first on Our-Hometown.

June 9 at 3pm EST

“Smarter Ways to Use Email with Quizzes, Polls, Ballots, and More”

Speakers:

Jennifer Williams

Tim D’Avis

LIVE UPDATES:

Email and Promotions Work Together

87% of new email opt ins come from promotions

The Cycle: Run Promotions. Send Emails. Repeat.

1. Follow-up promotions by moving your audience to the next digital action.
2. Feature promotions and interactive content in newsletters to capture valuable segmentation data.
3. Use segmentation data to send more and better targeted email. Reduce churn, increase opportunities for engagement and revenue.

Group-wide focus on actionable data

1. Asking for Permission and Interests. This can be done with gravity forms to get newsletter subscribers to opt in to specific categories or topics.
2. Send updates related to interests.
3. Acknowledge interests within email. “Looks like you are a music fan, so we thought you’d want to know about this concert coming up downtown”.

Treat your email relationships like…relationships

1. Keep an open dialogue and listen
2. Be inquisitive and ask questions
3. Focus your listening and asking on improving the relationship

The post Second Street Summit – Smarter Ways to Use Email appeared first on Our-Hometown.

Alison and Kristen shared some of the strategies they’ve employed at their respective publications, such as The Wave‘s Curbside Delivery Directory and front-line workers donations program, as well as the Business Updates Directory used by the Wilson County News to provide status updates on local businesses. They also graciously answered any questions posed by attendees, demonstrating their willingness to share this information and help other publishers be successful.

We’re happy to provide the full-length conference below for those who were unable to attend.

Special thanks to Kristen and Alison for their time and interest in participating, and to all those joined in to listen and ask questions. We will be hosting another Virtual Conference in the near future; so be on the lookout for an official announcement soon!

The post Virtual Conference Recap: Helping Local Businesses from Shutdown to Re-Opening appeared first on Our-Hometown.

https://summit.secondstreet.com/schedule/

See below for some of the ideas that stood out to us:

Session 1

June 9 at 1pm EST

“Building a Better Email Program: How to Use Newsletters to Drive Relationships and Revenue”

Dan Oshinsky

dan@inboxcollective.com

Live notes:

Why Email Works

Email is a place to engage and start a 1 to 1 conversation

Drives revenue for converting readers to paying subscribers.

Additional revenue through newsletter sponsorship, affiliate partnerships, or ticket sales.

Ways to Grow you lists

Sign up pages

Pop ups

Modules in your navigation or footer

In Article promotions

Banners or alerts

Social Media Promotions

Remnant Ad inventory

Paid Acquisition ($1 per email address)

Engagement + Capture

1. Engage reader around a topic or issue they care about (News Quizzes, Games, Polls)
2. Showcase the value of your work
3. Then ask them to sign up for a relevant newsletter

Brackets

1. Let people vote on best restaurant
2. Follow up for them to sign up for newsletter

Contests

1. Partnership with a local business
2. Enter to win gift card from local business for newsletter sign up

Surveys

1. Lead generation tool
2. Good thing for editorial to get feedback on coverage
3. “What stories do you want to see covered this month”, provide a list
4. Email sign up

Rules for Successful Newsletters

1. Relationships come first. Deliver on your promises (follow through on newsletter schedule). Ask readers questions and follow up with answers. Be respectful of their space and thoughtful with your interactions.
2. Meet the moment. Re-evaluate your newsletters on a month-to-month (or even week-to-week) basis. Be willing to adjust the content or timing of a newsletter. What do readers need to hear from you right now? What do they have questions about?
1. Weekender newsletter planned to launch preCOVID. They turned it into a Series on Gardening and other family activities at home.
2. UTAH Eats was about going out to eat. Pivoted to cooking, groceries, and what restaurants are opening.
3. Start with a building block. Identity (who you are, what you care about). Service (content and stories you want more of). Utility (content and stories you need more of). Personality (newsletters build around a specific voice).

Onboarding

Engage with your readers

1. Ask questions and answer questions from previous days
2. Getting readers to reply to your newsletters can improve your placement in the inbox!!!
3. “Placement” meaning getting into the “Primary” tab and not the “Promotions” tab on Gmail.

The post Second Street Summit – “Building a Better Email Program” appeared first on Our-Hometown.