Michele's List
Building blocks in the emerging local news ecosystem

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Statistics
Choice question

  • Choice 1
Open question

Test
Unique monthly visitors

3,524,320
Average page views

25,231,291
Average visits

16,031,403
E-newsletter

  • Yes, a single newsletter
E-newsletter subscribers

240,000
Facebook likes

1,265,000
Facebook followers

1,292,000
Twitter followers

23,400
Instagram followers

148,000
You Tube

3,950
Revenue

  • More than $1 million
Primary revenue source(s)

  • Transactions/e-commerce
Ad products

  • Traditional Web display advertising sold directly by your organization
  • Video advertising
  • Sponsored content or native advertising
  • Other(s)
Other products

Digital Radio Ads
Paywall

  • No
Distribution

  • Direct to web/mobile
Total personnel/contributor FTE

30
Date of most recent publisher update

02/26/2020
Last Publisher Update

  • 2020-02-26 21:22:15 UTC
30A
Florida
30A

With over 1.4 million social media fans, 30A (www.30A.com) covers life in small beach towns along Florida's Gulf Coast. The brand is inspired by a beach-front road named "Scenic Highway 30-A" that runs across the region. In addition to 30A.com, there are also free 30A iOS and Android apps, a 24/7 digital radio station (www.30Aradio.com), a local real estate site (www.30Arealestate.com) and an e-commerce platform (www.30Agear.com). Key metrics cover multiple 30A platforms.

Who is in charge?

Mike Ragsdale

Job title

Founder

City

Santa Rosa Beach

State

Florida

Zip code

32459

Year launched

2007

Tax status

  • LLC

Geographic scope

  • Other

Other geographic focus

Florida's northwestern Gulf Coast

Population of coverage area

15,000 full-time residents; 4 million annual visitors

Scope of coverage

  • Several related topics under a common umbrella (such as a group of topics that fall under the umbrella of government or politics)

Primary focus

  • Current news and events

Topics of coverage

  • Business in coverage area
  • Entertainment & arts
  • Environment
  • Events in coverage area
  • Food

Watchdog journalism?

  • No

Facebook link

www.facebook.com/Scenic30A

Site Twitter handle

www.twitter.com/30A

Effective engagement practice

We use our social media platforms (1.29 million Facebook fans; 148,000 Instagram followers; etc.) to drive traffic directly to our feature articles on www.30A.com and to various destinations across our digital network.

Revenue challenges

We're hitting some revenue ceilings on ad banners and sponsorship opportunities, so we continue to think creatively to establish new monetization opportunities, including e-commerce and licensing.

In the news

"Local independent news publisher Mike Ragsdale has strong, iconoclastic opinions about the direction of his industry. The founder of 30A, which he started in 2007 'with virtually nothing' to cover the dozen small resort towns and developments of Santa Rosa Beach on the Florida Panhandle’s Gulf Coast, says local news continues to struggle because it too often ignores what it claims to do: put community first."
–Street Fight
https://streetfightmag.com/2018/12/06/mike-ragsdale-says-putting-community-first-makes-his-indie-30a-site-a-big-winner/

In 2017, 30A was invited to speak at the "3D Journalism" conference, Russia’s largest forum for journalists and media professionals. Here is 30A Founder Mike Ragsdale's interview with Russia's largest radio network: https://www.facebook.com/echomsk.ru/videos/1594366687259001/


“30A is a brand that celebrates small town beach life along Florida’s Gulf Coast. 30A has 900,000 Facebook fans and its inspiring videos, photos and stories reach millions of beach lovers every week. ”
—Huffington Post
[https://www.huffpost.com/entry/design-the-life-you-want-to-live-not-the-idea-you_b_5a5e49e7e4b0d8c653bc0008]

"I confess I hadn’t heard of 30A, a site all about the beach lifestyle along Scenic Highway 30-A in the Florida Panhandle. Not exactly an investigative site, to be sure, but a remarkable success nonetheless, one that has expanded into podcasts, retail, online classifieds, and more."
–NeimanLab
[https://www.niemanlab.org/2015/07/whos-making-money-and-who-isnt-in-local-online-news/]

"While Lady Antebellum takes on the duty of being the first artist to perform at the 30A Sessions Concert Series, they open the door for many more musicians to get involved within the coming years."
–Sounds Like Nashville
[https://www.soundslikenashville.com/news/lady-antebellum-30a-concert-series]

"For Mike Ragsdale, his 30A.com serving the Gulf Coast beach communities of Santa Rosa in Northwest Florida is much more than a website. It’s an 'international brand' that includes a digital radio station and a retail operation that sells everything from to T-shirts to beach chairs to beer. Ragsdale tells Street Fight how he did it, and how traditional local and hyperlocal news sites can present their communities in new and compelling ways — reaping new revenue."
–Street Fight
[https://streetfightmag.com/2014/11/06/30a-com-is-more-than-a-website-its-a-brand-for-the-laid-back/?doing_wp_cron=1556571395.5808210372924804687500]

In 2015, 30A was ranked the #1 Independent News Site in America in a study conducted by The Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism in New York City.

“You may recognize 30A from the signature blue, white, and yellow stickers stuck on cars across the country, but now you know where the name comes from: East County Highway 30A, also known as Scenic Highway 30A, which stretches down the Florida Panhandle’s Gulf Coast from Grayton Beach to Rosemary Beach, passing through several charming beach communities along the way.”
–Coastal Living
[https://www.coastalliving.com/travel/gulf-coast/what-is-30a-florida]

30A won Street Fight magazine’s 2018 Local Visionary Award for “Most Innovative Local Media Business Strategy”
[https://streetfightmag.com/2018/02/10/sfsw18-street-fight-announces-winners-of-the-2018-local-visionary-awards]