(This is Part 2 of a 3 part series on the changing world of MSM (main stream media), particularly newspapers, and how to USE those changes to your advantage.)

OK, in the last post we established that online newspapers will be and are currently looking for solid blogging talent (even unproven talent) to write/blog about local issues and provide color and commentary on a hyperlocal level.

What do the online papers want? The biggest thing that they want is REGULAR, RELIABLE posts. They need CONTENT and if you provide that for them, you will be fine. For a service industry professional, this is a matter of taking the opportunity and making a time commitment.

Here’s how Service Professionals can extract something FROM the relationship.

1) Have a hyperlocal blog for the same area of your own. (You’ll see why…) Make sure that blog has a ‘my local business friends’ section or similar.

2) Use a digital camera and flip video camera extensively. (Yes things are pretty much text based right now in online newspapers, but that is changing.Quickly. ) You can set yourself apart with skillful use of these.

3) Go out into your area and LOOK for local business, events, restaurants, church gatherings and other subjects to write about. You may not have the skill of a Geno Petro, but which papers would be stupid enough NOT to try get him to write for them on a hyper local level?

4) Here’s the script: “Hi. I’d like to write a story about you on the (insert major paper here) for their online paper. I am a local (REALTOR, mortgage professional or other service pro) during the day, but I also write for them and do my own local blog as well.”

5) With introductions made. WRITE. What you are doing is BUILDING local friends and expanding your sphere of influence by writing colorful articles and posts about local businesses and events. You are USING the trust, credibility and goodwill already ESTABLISHED by the paper to generate goodwill for yourself. Like ideas, trust and goodwill can be shared and it doubles instead of being cut in half.

6) So that you make effective use of your time, focus your efforts on local folks who have WEBSITES. These are folks who CAN and WILL link to your professional website once they are your FRIENDS. Where it is OK, LINK to them as part of your post. It is a nice thing for you to do and it will help them.

7) Hand them your PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS CARD. “This one has my cell phone and my office number on it…you can reach me their anytime..day or evening”.

Once you have done a few for the paper, you will find yourself with PLENTY of subject material. NONE of it will be about your professional services life and yet, when they need services, if you have established a friendship, guess where they will come.

Additional tip: See if you cannot insert the fact that you are a local REALTOR (or whatever) and blogger as well as your phone in your brief bio that appears by your posts.

Why do you create a parallel hyperlocal blog? Because a) the paper isn’t going to make you sign a non compete b) some of these friends you make will want to write as well..why not have fun with them on a blog of your own? c) it is a GREAT place to collect the online authority that you are building. d) you might have a post that doesn’t fit in the paper but FITS well for your blog. (I could go on and on about why this is a good thing…IMO). Be sure when you write about them to LINK to them. Why? Well, in my last post, did you see who was the second one to comment? Brian Brady, who I had LINKED TO. (not an accident.)

OK, so there are the basics… there are a MILLION variations to this theme…but in essence, you are using the mainstream media’s credibility to MAKE new friends whom you will soon call by another name, CLIENT. As well, these folks will refer you to their friends and your sphere will expand further. You are expanding your sphere of influence and online authority by using the credibility of the online version of the local paper as kindling…

Feel Free to add your own creative twists to this in the comment section below.

UP NEXT, PART 3…DISINTERMEDIATION IN REVERSE - Can bloggers beat MSM at their own game? (Hint: I think in smaller markets, the Army of Davids can actually take over the castle and BECOME the Online News Media -Seriously. Remember from my first post that I talked about cost differential? Stay tuned.