Your Community Publisher Playbook

Patch is your news and your neighbors, together. It's all the people, places and stories that matter.

Really, you are Patch! 

Why do we say that? Because the success of your Patch hinges upon you, and as much as we can support you, help you, poke you, prod you and give you solicited and unsolicited advice about what you might, could or should do, it’s up to you to make the decisions that will make your Patch great and provide you with a sustainable income.

No pressure, though!

Your role is to do whatever it takes to make your Patch a success. And how shall we define success? A Patch is a success when it contributes to the community in a meaningful way. We want to make lives better. While your Patch also will be a place people visit to look at pictures from the town fair and read about local crime or government controversies, we want your Patch to transcend its role as a provider of information. We want it to be a friend that people in the community trust.

In order to make Patch a success, you’ll do a lot of things, including but by no means limited to:

• Planning and executing an editorial coverage plan; reporting, writing, and posting stories

• Getting to know local business owners and helping them promote their business to your audience

• Attending events and meetings

• Recruiting contributors

• Talking to residents

• Writing a ton of emails

• Tweeting and Facebooking

• Programming daily newsletters and sending news alerts

• Taking photographs and shooting video