Is it better to sell tools to local media operators than run local media yourself?

When there's a hot idea in business, most people go hard on the thing itself. The people who make the most money are often the ones supplying the tools to everyone doing the hot thing. That's picks and shovels.

The question I keep asking: how do we build a better business around supporting the people who want to do local?

"The better play is not to run local media brands."

Why did I lean this way?

Early on I noticed there's a really big play in being the guy in the space. Selling ads in one local area is hard, and I don't love it. I was making more money consulting with people than I would selling local sponsorships, so that's where my time went. I still sell ads. That same week I closed a realtor and an apartment finder. But it's not the main event.

I'm not going to spend my time making $500 for six months from one advertiser if the bigger thing works.

Why does this work in local media now?

Local content is getting bigger. Real estate agents are figuring it out first. More people want to do local, and most of them don't understand newsletters or the technical side. That's the opening.

I'd say 99.9% of people who see this opportunity don't know the technical side. They don't understand newsletters, payments, advertising or a CMS. They do get the business side, and sometimes the journalism side. Being the back end for that person makes a ton of sense.

What does being the back end look like?

Everything stays the same across locations: detailed onboarding flows, Meta ad strategies and software, duplicated in 500 places. Then we're just business people building back-end technology and strategy, implemented by 500 people on the ground.

The reason most people can't do what I do is the tech, the integrations, managing Meta ads and all the weeds. What if all they had to do was create content? I'm working on directory and job board revenue for exactly this. Say the back end costs three grand a month as a service. That number is made up. If those extras bring in three grand a month, it costs the owner nothing, and they get all the value of becoming a local celebrity.

One honest warning from a newsletter sales consultant I talked with: the person who wants to write a newsletter usually can't sell it. Plan for that.

What does my picks-and-shovels stack look like?

• Software, because it scales best: lightbreak runs a local newsletter, and greetform handles post-subscribe surveys and offers.
• Consulting for larger media companies: I run their Meta ads, they use my form software, and they write their own newsletters.
• A combined package of software, coaching and Meta ads support.

A digital marketer I talked with told me not to sell the software alone. His advice was to put it inside a $300 to $500 package with a course or community.

Who should I sell to?

Companies with money and ongoing needs. Solo newsletter entrepreneurs, like me or the people talking about this on Twitter, mostly won't pay. They'll do it themselves or use AI. They also lack budget and tend to be very opinionated about design.

Legacy local publishers are different, and that's where I'm moving: up-market. They have money. They're better at business than us, but they don't know the stuff we do. More money for me and more value for them, doing the same work.

When I show them they can send six newsletters a week, fill them with ads from advertisers they already have, and make thousands in about ten minutes a day, they react immediately. Get in with one person at a media group and they might have 36 properties.

Existing niche outlets are another group. After one local media conference, I noticed most of the operators I met were doing a poor job of what we do. They either print or have a weak website. For about $500 a month, with the software, best practices and a community to ask questions, I think a lot of them would sign up. So much of my effort had gone into getting new people to start local media companies, when the people who already have them could just use us as their back end.

Is the market crowded?

No, it's fragmented. At a local media conference, the vendors had legacy products and old WordPress builds, yet claimed hundreds of clients at $200 to $1,000 a month. That's good news for anyone building something better.

Why does the audience matter in a picks-and-shovels play?

Because software is getting cheap to build, and selling it is the hard part. At one conference someone offered me 50% of their SaaS product, because they couldn't sell it without an audience. I have the audience.

A year or two from now there will be far more software and fewer ways to sell it. Builders will go to the people with trusted audiences in their industry and offer equity, big commissions or pay just to talk about it.

Is fixing an existing business easier than starting one?

Usually. Getting a new newsletter from zero to $10,000 a month is hard. Helping a company already making $100,000 a month fix its newsletter and marketing for about 10% of revenue is probably a lot easier.