More Web Site Changes

10. June 2009 by pat desmond.

This week we are switching to a photo gallery that begins to offer a way to monetize our local web franchise.

We’ve been on the web for a dozen years and never done more than break even on the venture.

The news that goes on line is only a small sample to what’s available in the print paper. We have tried and failed to create paying subscribers for news on the web and since people have been paying for the printed newspaper, we are going to make sure they realize the way to find news about Milton and its residents is to buy the paper on the newsstand or through the mail.

Anyway, we now have a photo gallery that offers prints, customized merchandise and downloads. We’ve tried an in-house photo gallery without much success. The real problem was the amount of in-house time it took to maintain. We tried a gallery that specializes in working with East Coast newspapers and found the photo galleries didn’t seem to work for our readers - they could never seem to find what they were looking for and so continued to call the office looking for help finding a desired photo.

The new site is something we discovered because it works for Roy Chambers, the photographer who captures MHS sports for us. He has been using a company called SmugMug.com.

We have a couple galleries set up on the site at www.miltonnews.biz but we may be changing the domain to www.miltonpics.com as soon as the new registration takes hold.

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