Allied Press Backs Post a Note

Allied Press Backs Post a Note

Look out Trade Me, there is a new kid on the block - Post a Note.co.nz - and it has the backing of the most powerful media organisation in theSouth Island.

Allied Press, publisher of the Otago Daily Times and 14 community newspapers throughout theSouth Island, is putting its full weight behind Post a Note.co.nz, a free buy and sell website. The site has grown steadily over the past two years and now has close to 16,000 items for sale with 40,000 visitors to the site each month. The numbers are small by Trade Me standards, but almost all of the items on Post a Note are private, second hand goods and centred around theSouth Island.

“We’ve always been in the classified business, Post a Note is just the next iteration of classifieds,” Sir Julian Smith, the Managing Director of Allied Press, said.

“The depth and reach of our publications in the South has opened the door for Post a Note customers to reach new markets.”

“We are delivering an eight-page Post a Note shopper publication to 290,000 homes in theSouth Island. That's an amazing market penetration and could even beNew Zealand’s largest circulating print product,” Sir Julian said.

Nathan Weathington, Post a Note’s General Manager and founder, feels Post a Note’s free model is a defining point of difference against other classified sites in the market.

“Post a Note is not an auction website likeTradeMe.What we are doing here is a much smaller idea. I would describe us more as a local, moderated version of Gumtree or Craigslist,” Nathan said.

“There are no buying, selling, or commission fees to use Post a Note, and we are confident our business model is sustainable.”

People are posting homes for sale, all varieties of vehicles, boats, sporting goods, even a church, and at one point a late night poster (possibly after a few pints) even tried to sell her “worthless” husband.

Post a Note has made a careful and deliberate entry into the marketplace and that strategy is paying dividends.

“You’ve got to have a long runway to get over the hump. We’ve been lucky to have Allied Press behind us. The Post a Note community is also very patient and loyal. We depend on them to help us design and improve the site. That little print product Allied Press helps us put out also doesn’t hurt,” Nathan said.

Launching a giant print classified product is not the typical marketing move of an Internet start up, but Post a Note seems to be excelling at atypical business plans. Maybe the key all along was to not fight fire with fire.

ENDS

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