Attention! Classifieds are dead! Long live classifieds 2.0!!
Christopher Ryan and I have channeled our frustration as well as our optimism, and some concrete solutions, into the Classifieds Manifesto, an 11-point document that explains how newspapers can take the downward-sloping revenue line that represents their classifieds business, and turn it upward again.
We don’t believe that it’s […]

In our recent contest for best idea for reinventing classifieds, student edition, winner Will Sommer suggested that the dullness of newspaper classifieds is part of the problem. Make them fun, he suggested, and newspapers might have a chance of fighting back against Craigslist and the other forces lined up against them.
The other day I ran […]

We all know that incremental changes won’t save newspaper classifieds. It’s time to try some truly innovative ideas and experiments. So check out the latest NewsInnovation blog post by publisher John Newby:
Now Here’s A Game Changer For The Industry?
I love this idea. OK, I haven’t thought Newby’s idea through carefully enough to say whether or […]

A couple of great advice pieces were published recently by some smart folks I know. Their ideas definitely pertain to classifieds reinvention, even though they may be speaking about online advertising overall.
1. Five Fatal Flaws that are killing local Internet plays - Dave Chase, SunValleyOnline.com (published on NewsInnovation.com)
This is an outstanding critique of fatal flaws […]

 
More great ideas…
Don’t miss descriptions of some of the best other ideas submitted by contest entrants who want to turn around newspaper classifieds. Scroll down the page or click.

Also see our student contest winner!

We were looking for innovative and unusual ideas to reinvigorating newspaper classifieds when we offered $500 to the media professional who sent […]

Congratulations to Will Sommer of Georgetown University, who has won our student competition for best idea to save newspaper classifieds (and will be receiving $500 from ReinventingClassifieds.com).
More about Sommer and his idea below. But since he made his entry a multimedia presentation, first take a couple minutes to watch, then read on. (Clicking the image […]

Earlier I wrote about the importance of “curating” ads from other sources, adding them to your own classifieds site (with credit and links to the original source, of course). I have an anecdote for you — from my wife, Suzanne — about why this is important.
She’s currently looking for a new school librarian position (after […]

In the short life of ReinventingClassifieds.com, a lot of outstanding ideas have been floated for helping newspapers resurrect their classifieds businesses. As the year 2008 has closed out (and is there anybody out there in media land who isn’t happy to have seen it pass?), we thought we’d save you the time of combing through […]

Just a last-minute reminder: The deadline for ReinventingClassifieds.com’s Best Idea for Reinventing Classifieds competitions (one for media/advertising pros, one for students, each with a $500 cash prize) is the end of the day on Dec. 31, 2008.
We’re not looking for lengthy proposals (though it’s possible one might win). We’ll judge on the merits of the […]

As we end 2008, we media people can only hope that 2009 will be an improvement. Of course, all signs indicate that it’ll be even worse. Well, whatever happens (ad sales and circulation for newspapers plummet even more; some media companies follow over-leveraged Tribune Co. into bankruptcy; some newspapers, in big towns and small, shut […]