Every newspaper's raison d'etre is to satisfy the needs of its community of readers. Readers who look forward to the latest news items & gossip on celebrities. And look for new products & offers from marketers. (Including the recent trend of special offers co-ordinated by the newspaper itself.)

The newspaper is a product of the print medium. And it is every media owner's dream to leverage its content machinery onto newer media. That's why newsmagazines are promoting television news channels. And radio stations are making an entry into television.

The Internet medium
How does a newspaper make its move into the internet medium ? The obvious answer of course, is by publishing its content on a web-site. And attracting readers to the site for the latest news updates. With ads following.

However, for most newspapers, "hits" have not followed their entry into the Internet medium. Naturally, the same applies for advertisements - the main source of income. (Ever wondered why web-sites branded by TV channels attract more viewers than those run by newspapers? Perhaps, because television has a more "instant news" image than a newspaper, who has traditionally delivered news once a day? Or is it because the Internet medium attracts younger generation - and the average age of the television viewer is younger than the newspaper reader ?)

So what is the best route for a newspaper to get onto the Internet medium ?

Build Revenue-generating Online Communities
By building online communities, which will attract large traffic (eyeballs) and ads. With income augmentation by supporting communication technologies like SMS (on revenue sharing basis). And strong advertising support of the parent newspaper.

To build online communities on the Internet, it is essental to attract the denizens of the Internet - read generation X or the new generation. This naturally translates to subjects relevant to them - jobs, online dating, matrimonials, etc. The traditional newspaper handled these through its Classifieds Section.

Five-point Strategy
Here's a simple strategy that has worked for some newspapers -

* Set up Online Classifieds Booking via the Internet.

* Automate & Connect your Classifieds Depots through the Internet.
(Side benefits: Intercept non-resident ad bookings for your classified section.
Collect ad bookings from small towns. And automate your existing Classified Depots.)

* All along, while enjoying the benefits of automation, also build your presence on the Internet medium.
And build your readers' community on the Internet.

* Finally hive off Matrimonials.com, Dating.com, Jobs.com, Classifieds.com, Obituaries.com ....
And presto! You have built your properties on the Internet medium !