“When you turn on your television/computer, what will be the start screen that everyone will use?”

My theory was that convergence (the melding of all mediums) went beyond just television and Internet, but also includes radio and print publications. Most people just nodded their heads and kept talking about interactive television. I started working on a business model that I thought would work in my own backyard: atGeist.com.

My backyard is one of the most affluent and established communities in Indiana. Geist Reservoir is a lakefront community with a high household income and no local government, no chamber of commerce, no town, and no post office. I thought that creating a “platform to increase communications” would be valuable to the neighborhoods so that is where I started.

In 2004, I started doing the local homeowners association website for the state’s largest HOA, GHPOA.com. Other neighborhoods followed suit, all of them wanting to have their own place to post covenants and bylaws, notices of upcoming meetings, and of course the annual visit from Santa or Easter egg hunt.

From these neighborhood websites (weren’t blogs at the time), I met the movers and shakers of my community and they in turn told others about our services. It wasn’t until April of 2004 that we started the print newsletter, the “atGeist Community Newsletter.” We mailed only 2,500 copies the first month, it was black and white, and surprising to me actually billed out over $2,000 which wasn’t bad given I only had $1,500 of expense. Then, a funny thing happened. My phone began to ring off the hook.

“How much is an ad in this, I got this in my mailbox and I want to be in it?”

It grew exponentially in page count, distribution, and more importantly community adoption. Today, we have over 10 local freelance writers, 11,600 copies mailed each month, 2,000 more copies available through local grocery stores, 15 neighborhood blog portals, 5,000 email addresses, a social networking site called atGeist.net, and a new video service we call GeistTV.com.

My goal of providing a “platform for communication” matured quickly to become the “voice of the Geist Community.” We help local not for profits (churches, schools, charities) with our discounted advertising rates, free promotion, and free weblogs. I started a local charity that hosted the Geist Half Marathon which was a fund raiser for health and wellness programs in the Geist area. We sponsor a wine tour of southern Indiana wineries each year that benefits a local charity. We’ve been able to connect the community to the businesses and charities and create something that they just love.

Best of all, I’ve been able to quit consulting for outside clients (at least the larger ones that consumed a lot of my time) and spend all my time on growing the business. Its a fulfilling hobby that doubles as my career and I love it.

If you are interested in building your local community both online and via a print newsletter, fill out the form below.

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• Carmel (atCarmel.com)
• Brownsburg (atBrownsburg.com)
• Eagle Creek (atEagleCreek.com)
• Greenwood (atGreenwood.com)
• Morse Lake (atMorse.com)
• Noblesville (atNoblesville.com)
• Pendleton (atPendleton.com)
• Zionsville (atZionsville.com is taken)
• West Clay in Carmel (atWestClay.com)
• Fortville (inFortville.com)
• Meridian Kessler
• Downtown Indianapolis
• Plainfield
• Mooresville

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• atLawrence.com domain and weblog
• Existing traffic: 5,234 unique pageviews (Jan. 1-June 27, 2008)
• Alexa ranking: 242,806
• Google page rank: 4/10
• Estimated distribution: 10,000
• Entry price: $15,000

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• atFishers.com and FishersBlog.com weblog
• Existing traffic: 4,173 unique visitors (Jan. 1-June 27, 2008)
• Alexa ranking: 242,806
• Google page rank: 4/10
• Estimated distribution: 15,000
• Entry price: $20,000

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