SAI: Media Home Tech Entertainment Wall Street Markets Strategy Sports Lifestyle Politics EuropeData Misc. Your Money Video Latest Your News SAI: Media Home HiveTapePR Follow us on Facebook and get updates from SAI: Media posted directly to your news feed Enter you email address and zip code to set up customized email alerts.
Email Zip "A BRIDGE TOO FAR": AOL Requires Patch Editors To Drum Up Ad Sales Leads Nicholas Carlson | Sep. 23, 2011, 1:04 PM | 516 | 2 A A A xEmail Article From To Email Sent!You have successfully emailed the post.
See Also: 
Smart Email Provider Sailthru Raises $8 Million Round Led By RRE Ventures
The Huffington Post Finally Owns HuffPo.com
How Big Was Arrington's Stake In TechCrunch When He Sold It To AOL?
Yesterday, we reported that, as the year ends, AOL plans to use some clever accounting to make it look like 10 or so Patches are finally profitable.
But that's not all AOL is doing to juice Patch revenue numbers!
One self-described "riled" Patch editor from the East Coast tells us that in addition to his or her normal job responsibilities, this editor has also been asked to start drumming up ad sales leads.
"This is a bridge too far, I think by any measure," says this editor.
"Requiring journalists—already run ragged by their normal duties—to do this is so far beyond the pale it actually makes my stomach hurt."
"This was definitely not discussed in the many job interviews that I went through to get this position, and was not discussed during my training. We were told in general terms that we would be the face of Patch in our areas, but there was no mention of having to do actual marketing work and generate sales leads."
He says that in addition to these regular duties…
"Post seven pieces of content a day, with a minimum of four; Edit all copy and photographs; Shoot and edit video for stories and as stand-alone content; Main reporter and writer (with no editor or copyeditor); Main photographer; Contract freelancers and assign stories; Maintain budget (couple grand, more or less) per month; Pay freelancers twice a week; Recruit and edit stable of bloggers; Track all users and comments on site; Acquire guest editor for vacation days (and pay them from my own budget at $100 a day); Post to Facebook and Twitter four to six times a day (twice a day on weekends)"…(s)he has now also been tasked with drumming up sales leads by attending local events.
This editor writes:
Lead editors are responsible for all marketing events: not just suggesting them, but executing them. That includes (most of these are requirements; some are just strongly suggested):Writing up a proposal and running it up the food chain for approvalFilling out an onerous form that is practically impossible for someone not trained in marketing (attached)Setting up the table / boothPaying for the presence at the event (if necessary, which it usually is; we are then re-imbursed. That is, it doesn't come from our monthly budgets)Estimating a number of newsletter subscriptions to be gained from eventSigning up people for newsletter subscriptions while at the event (some REs give a quota of say, 5 or 10 subscriptions)Tweeting before, during and after event, about the eventRunning content on the web site before, during and after the eventGenerating story ideas (Not sure if this is Patch-required, but I've been told of one RE in Pa. who is requiring that at least five, and possibly 10, story ideas be submitted within three days of the event, which seems to really be rubbing salt in the wound—I have not confirmed this particular cruel insult)Estimating cost & number of promotional materials (swag)Formally requesting Patch promotional materials, and promptly returning any unused materialsBringing along the large Patch banner and other items, such as chairs, barrels for bottled water giveaways, iced tea in hot weather, or coffee urns in cold weather; I've heard some places have "prize wheels," or that we're all getting themFacilitating contests (optional; subject to approvals—there are legal implications, etc., that we must also become familiar with)Bringing a large trash can and trash bag, disposing of trash afterwardEstimating the number of sales leads to be had from the eventActually gathering the sales leads for the LE's sales person (again, depending on the region, there may be quotas to hit—and, incredibly, the sales person does not have to attend the event [note: not all LEs actually have a designated sales person]).Taken together, a team of five or six marketing professionals would be able to pull off the above nicely. But one journalist, with no or very little marketing experience? I understand it's a start-up, still, and I'm all for being entrepreneurial, but Good God. They have got to be fucking kidding.We'd like to know more. Reach us at nicholas@businessinsider.com or 646 376 6014.
Read: WORKING AT AOL: "Incredible People, But Upper Management Is Insane"
Please follow SAI: Media on Twitter and Facebook.Follow Nicholas Carlson on Twitter.
Ask Nicholas A Question > Tags: AOL | Get Alerts for these topics » Advertisement: Short URL Share: Twitter Facebook Buzz Digg StumbleUpon Reddit LinkedIn Email More about embedding posts »Embed More about Alerts » Alerts Newsletter x
To embed this post, copy the code below and paste into your website or blog.
600px wide (preview)400px wide (preview) 300px wide (preview) Blackboard Home »Edit This » AOL
Summary AOL is an American global Internet services and media company. The Web company was started in 1985 as Quantum Computer Services (from the formerly defunct startup Control Video Corporation), offering an online service called... More » Recent Posts About AOL WORKING AT AOL: "Incredible People, But Upper Management Is Insane" Here Are The "Smoke And Mirrors" AOL Is Using To Make 10 Patches Look Profitable By Year's End AOL Patch Ad Sales Leaders Are Suddenly Gone 
Nicholas Carlson Contact: e-mail: AIM: AlleyInsider Work Phone: 646-376-6014 Subscribe to his RSS feed | twitter feed Ask Nicholas a QuestionRecent PostsMark Zuckerberg Seems To Ha...Big Clear Screenshots Of Wh...Here Are The "Smoke And Mir... The Water Cooler 
Receive email updates on new comments!cvszEmail2 Comments 0 0 Flag as Offensive Eliot Spitzer on Sep 23, 1:54 PM said: I call bullsh*t.Either way, second. Reply 0 0 Flag as Offensive MedillMary on Sep 23, 2:47 PM said: I read this blog a lot and I also know Patch, since many of my former classmates work there. What is the Business Insider's obsession with trying to cause problems for the people that are trying to make it work? I might be missing something but as far as I can tell they are only trying to do good things. They're hiring journalists when no one else is. They're trying to do something good for the places that they have sites. Where is the mal intent? What warrants this drumming up of disgruntled employees (who you can find anywhere, including Business Insider) to try to convince all the other employees that Patch is somehow doing something evil? Has this blog ever written anything about the good things that they do or posted something from the people who love working there, my classmates included? There must be more to this story. Nicolas, can you tell us what it is in your background that makes you so negative on this company? Have you ever worked for Aol? Or why, in your opinion, this company needs to be "exposed"? Because I don't see any signs of malice or any negative outcomes from what they're trying to do. Reply Join the discussion with Business Insider
Login With FacebookLogin With TwitterName (Required)Email Address (Required but never displayed)URLComments (You may use HTML tags for style)Join the discussion with your Facebook Login Send Us A Tip!Get SAI: Media Emails & Alerts Learn More »Customized instant email alerts(sample)More:Business Insider Select(sample)SAI Select(sample)The Wire Select(sample)Clusterstock Select(sample)Money Game Select(sample)War Room Select(sample)Sports Page Select(sample)Politix Select(sample)The Life Select(sample)Tools Select(sample)Europe Select(sample)Your Money Select(sample)SAI Chart Of The Day(sample)Money Game Chart Of The Day(sample)Sports Page Chart Of The Day(sample)10 Things In Tech You Need To Know(sample)10 Things Before the Opening Bell(sample)Politics in 60 Seconds(sample)Instant MBA(sample)Marketing Mondays(sample)Apple Investor(sample)Google Investor(sample)Microsoft Investor(sample)Breaking News Alerts(sample) Advertisement Your Money NASDAQ Composite 2,456 +16.77 (+0.683%) S&P 500 1,130 +3.74 (+0.331%) NYSE Composite 6,727 +12.61 (+0.187%)
Active Users on BI right now...
Click for more live stats »
The 2011 Digital 100: The World's Most Valuable StartupsFacebook Introduces Open Graph, Lets You Share Music, Movies, And More What's Facebook Timeline?Last Month, 500 Million People Used Facebook On The Same DayHere Is The Big Plan Facebook Had In Mind When It Acqui-Hired Drop.io's Sam LessinFacebook Users Are About To Riot Over Massive Changes, And This Is Fantastic News For Facebook 
Startup Document Center Templates To Jump Start Your Business Business Plan Exec Summary SampleBy-Laws Financial
Model See All » Become a ContributorRead Me
Nicholas Carlson|Mark Zuckerberg Seems To Have Killed A Bison 1
"Delicious"
Michael Hourigan|THE TRUTH ABOUT YAHOO: It Is The Core Business That Will Be Sold Off 2
Francine Hardaway|My New Facebook Developer Timeline
Adrian Chen|Conde Nast-Owned Site Reddit Returns To Underage Porn For Page Views 9
Jay Yarow|Google Gives Up On Its E-Commerce Site Boutiques.com After Less Than A Year
Marc Chandler|Meanwhile Things Are About To Get A Whole Lot Worse In Spain
Kapitall|Neuro Economics: This is What Your Brain Looks Like When You Trade
Eric Barker|10 Fascinating Facts About Beauty
Jeff Greenwell|An ESPN Reporter Mistakenly Refers To Butch Jones As “Bitch” Jones
Martin Zwilling|Most Entrepreneurs Should Never Bring On Investors
Unaiz Kabani|Google Offers Is Having A Banner Month In September
Come Recommended|SCAMMED: 4 Signs You've Been Duped By A Job Posting
More »Most Read Read Commented Recommended
The 2011 Digital 100: The World's Most Valuable Startups 550,394 Views
How To Get Your New Facebook Profile In Just 5 Minutes 180,057 Views
The 14 Most Corrupt Members of Congress 107,816 Views
What It's Like Working At The World's Most Valuable Startups 100,584 Views
THE GIRLS OF BERLUSCONI: Who They Are And Why It Matters 84,801 Views
Here's The Viral Video Of Elizabeth Warren Going After GOP On 'Class Warfare' Charge 253 Comments
REUTERS: Business Insider Sucks 181 Comments
OBAMA: 'I Am A Warrior For The Middle Class' 80 Comments
IT'S OFFICIAL: The Recession Has Created A New Lost Generation 72 Comments
OPERATION TWIST BEGINS: FED TO SELL $400 BILLION OF SHORT-TERM DEBT, BUY $400 BILLION OF LONG-TERM DEBT, DOW OFF 220 67 Comments
Loading, please wait... powered by See more » AdvertisementThanks to our partners
A-Z Index Companies Authors Tags Site MapLatestContributorsVideo Tools Job Listings Lists & Rankings Digital 100 Silicon Alley 100 Silicon Valley 100 Clusterstock 50The Life 50 America's Best Colleges Best Business Schools Sexiest CEOsMore Your Account Register Change Your Email Preferences About BI About Jobs at BI Masthead Contact Advertise Mobile Follow BI Email Newsletters Alerts RSS Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Verticals Tech Entertainment Wall Street Markets StrategySportsLifestyleToolsPoliticsEuropeData CenterMisc.Your MoneyVideoLatestPR * Copyright © 2011 Business Insider, Inc. All rights reserved. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Serviceand Privacy Policy.| Disclaimer
Powered by MongoDB | Hosted by Datapipe | Web analytics by Empirical Path var _comscore = _comscore || [];_comscore.push({ c1: "2", c2: "9900186" });(function() {var s = document.createElement("script"), el = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.async = true;s.src = (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js";el.parentNode.insertBefore(s, el);})();View the original article here
This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.
