Readers land on your events, jobs, directory and stories. Every page can carry a sponsor or a paid listing.
Consulting for modern local media
Build a local media business that lasts.
A website that earns, newsletters people open, readers for cents on Meta, and the AI to run it all. We run 20+ local publications on this playbook, and we help you do the same.
Not sure yet? Grab a free 20-minute call.
Your town, this morning
$0.00spent on Meta$0.00earned back
Paid for itself
Example math. Real Meta costs run about 30 to 90 cents a subscriber.
20+
Local publications we run
175K+
Subscribers across them
30-90¢
What a local subscriber costs us on Meta
3
Software products we built to run our media company
The model
Grow for pennies. Make it pay for itself.
Get a real local reader for well under a dollar. Then, the moment they sign up, that same person starts paying you back four different ways.
Step one · acquire
30-90¢
for one real, local subscriber through Meta ads, run as a real machine.
A signup survey captures who they are. Data you own and can sell against for years.
Route interested readers to local businesses that pay real money for them.
An offer wall of deals, yours or partners', with every claim tracked.
Old playbook vs modern engine
Keep the mission. Change the machine.
Same mission: serve the community. A very different playbook. Slide between them and see what changes.
The Daily YesterdayEst. 1952 · Late edition
- Print first, slow cyclesPrinting and postage eat the budget before a story runs.
- A website nobody visitsA few stories a week and a page of ads nobody sees.
- Cold calls and CPMSales lives and dies on rate cards.
- Hours on every issueSomebody spends a day building each newsletter by hand.
- No idea who the reader isSubscriber data is a mailing address, at best.
The modern engineLive · every morning- The website is the hubNews, events, jobs and businesses, all in one place people use.
- Unlimited pages to sellFeatured events, featured jobs, sponsors and pro listings.
- Many ways to earnSponsors, leads, offers and paid plans, not just ad slots.
- Issues in minutesAI builds the newsletter. You edit and send.
- You know every readerFirst-party data from the moment they sign up.
Drag me
We had three problems. So we built three products.
Running our own publications, we kept hitting the same walls: a website that didn't earn, newsletters that ate whole days, and subscribers we knew nothing about.
So our team built the fix for each one. Now you can use them instead of spending a year building your own, and longer keeping it up.
Problem 01 · The website
Your website should be the business.
Most local media sites get little traffic and nobody wants to update them. larkfeed is the site we built for our own towns: news, events, jobs and businesses in one place, with AI doing the grunt work.
- A full job boardLocal employers post, you feature.
- A real event calendarEverything happening in town, filterable.
- A business directoryEvery local business, with pro listings.
- Stories by voiceTalk it through, get a finished article.
- Council meetings coveredWritten up for you, ready to review.
Every page is something to sell
Problem 02 · The newsletter
Stop losing a day to every newsletter.
We were spending hours on every issue. lightbreak pulls in the news, homes, events, pets and jobs, writes it in your voice and builds the issue.
Time to build one issue
Before3 hours
With lightbreak15 min
Problem 03 · After the signup
Every new subscriber is a sales lead.
Most publishers say thanks for subscribing and stop there. greetform asks a few smart questions right after signup, then shows the offers and partners that fit, so readers can start paying you back on day one.
65%+New subscribers who finish the entire survey
Work with us
Strategy, ads and AI from a team that runs it daily.
Pick one piece or bring us the whole thing. Every recommendation comes from what is working in our own publications right now.
Some of the cheapest, best-performing audience growth in local media, run as a real machine.
- Subscriber growth for your newsletter and site
- Event and local news promotion
- Sponsor and advertiser campaigns
Bring your website, newsletter, sponsors, Meta or AI. Leave with a concrete plan and a recording.
- Built around your actual operation
- Clear action items, not theory
- An honest read if we're not a fit
Month to month help growing and running your media company with AI.
- We help you build your company's second brain
- Proactive AI agents that run parts of your brand
- Pricing, products and sponsor systems
Not sure which one fits? Book a free 20-minute call and we'll figure it out together.
Our network
The playbook, running in real towns.
These are markets where our publications run, from Texas and California to the Carolinas and Florida. Every tactic on this page runs on them first.
Advertise in our publications
The Local Media HQ Podcast
Learn what's working, from people doing it.
Operators from all over the country share how their local media businesses actually make money.
NewLocal Directory is his Best Sponsorship Funnel (Part 2)Watch and read the episode
His Local B2B Newsletter Sells Out Expert Columns (Part 1)Watch and read the episode
He Left His W-2 to Go All in on Local MediaWatch and read the episode
170 Roofing Leads From 12 Social Media VideosWatch and read the episode
How to Build a Local Media Business that ScalesWatch and read the episode
The Unique Marketing Strategy Home Service Companies Are MissingWatch and read the episode
TJ LarkinFounder · Williamson County, TX
The founder
Meet TJ Larkin.
TJ founded Local Media HQ in Williamson County, Texas, in the greater Austin area, after building a portfolio of 20+ local publications across the country. He hosts the Local Media HQ Podcast and still spends his days inside the business, testing ads, launching markets and shaping the software.
That's the idea behind everything here. What we recommend has already run on our own publications, so you get what's working right now instead of theory.
Thinking bigger? Partnerships, acquisitions, or bringing our team into your company. Tell us what you have in mind.
Reach outAn 8th replay company
The software behind the playbook.
Local Media HQ and the three products we built all live under one roof, working for the same people: local media companies that want to grow.
Strategy, Meta ads and AI ops for local media companies.
- Strategy calls and ongoing advisory
- Meta ads that bring readers for cents
- A second brain and AI agents for your team
The AI-native platform for local media.
- News, businesses, events and jobs on one site
- AI does the grunt work, you approve
- Built to be found and cited by AI search
Turns a week of local news into one edited newsletter issue.
- News, homes, events, pets and jobs pulled in for you
- Written in your voice, with auto GIFs
- Pushes to Beehiiv or ActiveCampaign
Smart questions and matched offers, right after someone subscribes.
- Smart signup questions that sort every reader
- Offer wall and inline lead capture
- A live media kit for sponsors
Honest answers
Questions every owner asks.
Who is this for?
Established local media brands ready to grow again, and new operators who want to build a modern local media business the right way. Publishers, journalists, creators and local businesses all fit.
Do I have to give up print or broadcast?
No. The modern layer grows alongside what you have. We build the channels that compound and let the rest keep doing its job.
Is this just advice?
No. We run this across our own publications every day. Hire us for strategy, the build, or both. The recommendations come from a live operation.
Who actually does the work?
Our team, the same people who built the software and run our publications. You won't be handed off to a junior account manager.
Do I have to use your software?
No. We recommend what fits your operation. larkfeed, lightbreak and greetform are there if you want them, and we work with the tools you already use.
Do we own what gets built?
Yes. The audience, the subscriber data and the systems are yours and portable. The goal is to leave your business stronger and independent.
What does it cost?
You'll see the strategy call price when you book it. Ads management and advisory depend on scope, which is exactly what the free 20-minute call is for.
Let's build the version that lasts.
Book a strategy call, or reach out about anything bigger: partnerships, acquisitions, or bringing our team in.
Just want the playbook? Subscribe to the newsletter free.