COMPANY DESCRIPTION

SpotBrooklyn.com is a new website about the community of Brooklyn. Rather than

publish articles about current events, we will build a multimedia library of stories about
the more durable aspects of our community. Our users will be guided through each
story by an interactive map. Each story will include an introduction to a topic, a
collection of spots important to that topic, and the story behind every spot. Spots are
displayed on the map using an icon

Designed to take full advantage of the trends in mobile computing (also available for desktop).

S
T
O
R
Y

Old School Pigeon Racing

Neighborhood Beer Brewers

Where NYC Water Comes From

Brooklyn Business Owners Need

Better Advertising Solutions

EXPENSIVE

The cost of advertising
for most local online
publications are too
expensive for for
Brooklyn businesses.
National companies

buy most of the ads.

OFF
TARGET

Search burgers
near Brooklyn
delivers an ad for a
tavern in Queens?

OUR PRODUCTS

MAP ICONS

Promote your businesses on the Spot Brooklyn map with a clickable icon
that represents the category and location of your business. Only pay when
a users clicks to view your business info and promotional content!

SPONSORSHIPS

Reach a wider audience with a clickable logo displayed at the beginning of

each story. Users click the logo to view the location of your business on the
map, business info and promotional content.



Spot Brooklyn, LLC is a two-member limited liability company registered in the
state of New York. An intent of use standard character trademark has been filed
with the U.S. Trademark Office under Class 35 and Class 41.

Legal

PAST

FUTURE

FINANCIAL
REQUIREMENTS

1. Staff

We are planning a
Of the $25,095 we have raised
kickstarter campaign for
from personal savings and family April 2015 to crowdfund our
contributions, we have spent
first employee: a full-time
$18,824. The bulk of this cost went writer to increase our
toward equipment, legal fees, and publishing volume from one
to three stories per week.
software services. We have two

2. Prize Money

If selected, we will use the $15K
award to pay for operational
expenses over the 10 month
period between launch and
reaching a profitable level of
visitor traffic.

critical finance goals

remaining.

MARKET ANALYSIS AND TARGET MARKET

1.

TARGET CUSTOMERS*

We will target Brooklyn businesses in the

following three categories because:

Retail
Trade

2.

3.

Arts,
Accommodation
Entertainment
&
&
Food Services
Recreation

Stores of these categories sell

products that have mass appeal.
They sell mostly to local residents

* As defined by the U.S.
Census Bureau

and visitors.
They operate brick-and-mortar
stores.

CUSTOMER CHARACTERISTICS

SMALL

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

92% of target
customers have
between 1 and 19
employees.

*data from US Census Bureau county business patterns

SIGNIFICANT

SHARE OF MARKET

Our target customers
make up 30% all
Brooklyn businesses*

*US Census Bureau

GROWING

NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS

Our target customer base

has increased by 28.2%
over five years.
3

TECH CURIOUS

* according to a survey by Center for an
Urban Future

56.3%

Believe they use
technology
enough to be
competitive

76.9%

83.2%

Believe that using Plan to adopt

more technology
more
would increase
technology
their sales.

ECONOMIC

ADVERTISING EXPENDITURES

Advertising in most local
publications is
disproportionately expensive
for the majority of small
businesses. Over half of
businesses spend $833 a
month or less on
advertising a month on
average, while the average
cost of an ad is $913 a
month in a local online
publication weve surveyed.

YEAR-ROUND

LIKELIHOOD OF ADVERTISING

Brooklyn business owners are

somewhat likely to advertise
all year, and most likely to
advertise in February, March,
September, November, and
December.*
*According to a survey we conducted of
28 members of the Brooklyn Chamber of
Commerce.

LOCATION:

BY CUSTOMER ZIP CODES

We will acquire customers in all
Brooklyn neighborhoods.
However, we identified 15 key
zipcodes for the following
reasons:
1. They contain the highest
quantity of target
customers.
2. They contain important
points of interest.
3. They represent
underserved areas.

Industry Analysis and Trends

INDUSTRY SIZE

Number of Establishments

LOCAL INDUSTRY

In Brooklyn, our industry
has increased in number
of establishments by

159%

*According to the US Census Bureau

LOCAL COMPETITION

BY COVERAGE AREA

According to our observations, there 66

publications that report on Brooklyn. Our count
differs from that of the US Census bureau
because:
- we are including companies operating
outside Brooklyn
- the census classifications are self-appointed,
and not necessarily inline with how we define
our industry.

TRAFFIC SIZE

UNIQUE MONTHLY VISITORS

The website traffic of these

key local competitors
demonstrates the size of our

industrys user base.

direct measurements taken by
analytics company, Quantcast

GROWTH POTENTIAL
PRINT TO DIGITAL $22.5 BILLION IN AD REVENUE...GONE IN 6 YEARS!

* Print ad revenue drops
$25 billion.

* Online ad revenue rises

$2.5 million.

note the Newspaper
Association of America and
PEW Research Center.

We Blame
Low-Quality
Digital Ads

31%

15%

72%

of ads were
delivered but

of campaigns
delivered

never seen*

outside the
desired geography

of campaigns had
ads running next to
content deemed

*a likely result of a
consumer scrolling past
the ad before it loaded or a
consumer never scrolling
the ad into view).

such as markets where the advertised
product is not sold (worst offenders).

not brand
safe*

*by the advertiser.

Reclaim $22.5
Billion in Lost
Revenue

SPENDING ON MOBILE ADS

1 out of every 4 dollars
spent on advertising
will be on Mobile ads
by 2018, according to
projections.

73% OF MOBILE SEARCH LEADS TO A PURCHASE IN A STORE

*SOURCE TK

Barriers to
Entry

Generate enough traffic

to attract advertisers.

Compete with
well-established
competitors.

Publish content at significant

frequency.

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS & YOUR STRATEGIC POSITION

5 KEY
COMPETITORS

Based on the following factors:

1. Their primary product or source of revenue is local business advertising.
2. They have a significant user base of Brooklyn residents and visitors.
3. Local news or local mapping is an integral component of their content.

Strengths

An international
business review site
that is primarily
active in metropolitan
regions.

Weaknesses

Popularity: 132 million users and 74

Poor Reputation: Including a 2010

thousand active business accounts

class-action lawsuits by business

owners, 2,046 complaints to the FTC,

Comprehensive: 122,436 listings for

and controversy surrounding fake

business in Brooklyn

reviews.

Detail: Dozens to hundreds of reviews

Price: Costs $300 to $2,200/mo.

for each business listing

Information Overload: The volume,

subjectivity, and contradictory nature of

reviews.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Network: They have publishers

Innovation: Templated publishing

A digital ad agency thats

operating in 7 geographic areas,

platforms and ad formats miss an

works with 11

allowing advertisers a large network. opportunity to deliver unique user

Brooklyn-based publishers
to build their publishing

Market Focus: Their headquarters

platforms, and connecting and most developed market is in

them with local and
national advertisers.

Brooklyn.

experiences.

Sales Force: The company does not
maintain an active sales force*
*According to a conversation we had with
Blankslate Account Executive Andrew
Farquhar in April 2014

Strengths

Weaknesses

Comprehensive: 146,647 business

Content: Neighborhood guides are

listings

very basic, business listings contain

A tourism website

little information.

launched May 2014 by the Market Focus: exclusively on

Brooklyn Chamber of

Brooklyn.

Localism: Enhanced listings include

Commerce. Part of the

mostly tourist friendly businesses.

Blankslate network.

Featured Stories: recommendations

for tourists published daily

Traffic: less visitors each month since

their May launch.

Corner
Media

Publisher of seven
Brooklyn
neighborhood blogs

Strengths

Hyper-Local: Advertising and

Weaknesses

Ad Content: Advertising content

editorial content is focused on one

compete with editorial content for

square mile area.

attention.

Network: They cover seven different Revenue: income and expenses are
hyperlocal areas intensively.

breaking-even*

*According to the NY Times

Strengths

Weaknesses

Popularity: 54% of the worlds

Discovery: Googles focus on search

smartphone users used the app at

misses an opportunity to provide a

Google Business

least once a month.

quality discovery experience.

Listings is a

sub-service of

Value: Free Local business listings.

Human Touch: Recommendations

Google.com, the most

based on user data-mining tend to feel

visited website on the

Network: Appear in Google search

impersonal and algorithmic.

internet.

results with opportunity to buy ads.

WHAT MAKES
US DIFFERENT?

INTERACTIVE
MAP

NATIVE
CLICK-BASED
ADVERTISING

CONTENT

A single story can
A fun new way to
trigger many map zoom
Advertisers only pay when learn about our
and pans, creating
users actively engage with community and the
many opportunities to
their ad, and users only see world around us!
display business icons.
the ads they choose to see.

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths

Content Depth &
Quality

Unique publishing
platform

Weaknesses

Limited Resources

Lack of Experience

Opportunities

Growing Market

Threats

Strong Competitors

Marketing Strategy

SELLING
PROPOSITIO
N

1. Visitors

Interactive
storytelling
experience.

We will offer each
of our three
customers distinct
selling propositions.

Greater

connection to their
community.

2. Local Businesses

3. Community

Affordable and
effective
advertising
solution.
Personalized
customer
service

Partners

Promote their
causes with an
engaged
userbase

Help shape a
community
resource

BUILDING AWARENESS

Our goal is to reach 60,000 unique monthly visitors and 150 business customers by November
2016. In order to reach these goals, we will target the most active, engaged, and vocal members
of our community. We believe that through these community mavens we will reach the wider
Brooklyn community.

Public Relations

Build brand loyalty and trust

Emily Lloyd
by building relationships with Cynthia Lopez
President, Prospect
Commissioner of the
the most active members of
Park Alliance
Mayor's Office of
our community, like:

Media and
Entertainment

Danny Simmons
Philanthropist, older
brother Russell
Simmons

Networking
Events

Face-to-face contact and

an element of serendipity.

Expense

Brooklyn Chamber of
Commerce


Brooklyn Historical Society

Business Cards

Description

Events with members of
business community

Events & Library
resources

Nice ones

Yearly Cost

$300



$70


$300

Social Media

Press

Spread awareness by
engaging with socially
Nikhita Venugopal
engaged members of our
community, such as these @nkvenugopal
Brooklyn Reporter for
three key groups:
@DNAinfo

Leaders

Marty Markowitz
@MartyMarkowitz
Former Brooklyn
Borough President

Business Owners

Brittany's Biscuits
@BrittsBiscuits
The Baking Bandit has
arrived.

FUNDRAISING

Campaign

Prizes

HELP WANTED

If you like our content, help us
make more! Donate to our
campaign so we can hire our first
full-time story producer and well
bring your 3 new stories per
week!

8X10 photographs of Brooklyn as
seen by us.

Map of Brooklyn as interpreted by
local artists.

Special map feature on our
website to thank every contributor!

Campaign marketing will

reach the wider Brooklyn
community as we ask for
their support.

Platform

Facebook




Targeted social media
users based on interests Twitter
to drive traffic to our
website and gain social
media connections

Advertising

Pricing Structure

Cost-per-click




Cost-per-click

Cost

$1.56 (based on our
previous campaign)


$0.26 - $0.43

Budget

$200




$100

Business Name

Brooklyn Academy of Music

Scottos Wine Cellar

We will also generate leads based on Flatbush Food Co-op

businesses who are currently
advertising on other publications and
platforms.

Cold Calling

Ad Location

BrooklynBased.com

The Brooklyn Paper

Ditmas Park Corner

SALES FORCE

Lead Generation

Responsible for converting the broader community

into quality leads to feed our Customer Life Cycle.

Sales Operations

Responsible for directing sales operation by utilizing the Customer

Life Cycle.





STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS

Reach out to the directors
of Brooklyn BIDs to
discover common goals
and for introductions to their
local business members.

Reinforce our companys
commitment to our local
community, and increase our
brand equity by using the Made in
NY logo on our product and
marketing materials.

&
Corner Media
Outsource part of our sales
operations to these companies in
order to find value in our
competitors.

PRICING STRUCTURE


MAP ICON

When you pay-per-click, you know

99 cents

youre paying for a customer who is

per click

highly likely to make a purchase in your

store. Thats because users only see

the ads they choose to see!

When you pay-per-view, you know that

STORY
SPONSORSHIP the name of your business will stick in

peoples minds. Thats because your

$50
per thousand views
(impressions)

logo will be the only one on the page,

front and center!

FREE TRIAL

Dont take our word for it. Sign up for a

free 3-month trial and see how you like
us. Well send you progress reports
about how your ads are performing as

$0
no credit card needed

3-months

often as you like.

Operations

PRODUCTION CYCLES

LABOR
REQUIREMENTS

Writer/Producers
Paid Interns


Recent graduate to Intern turns staff
and creates two
learn our
stories per week.
publishing
workflow from the
ground-up

Developer

Manages day-to-day
web development for
30-hours per week.

OPERATIONS
SERVICES

Service Name
Evernote

Salesforce
Adobe
Getty Images

Key services that we

use in our day to day
operations.

Description
Research organization and
storage
Customer Relationship
Management System
Image creation and editing
Stock photography

Cost
$21.78/mo.

$600/year
$49/mo.
$199/mo.

COWORKING
SPACES

Locations

Bedford Stuyvesant
& Gowanus


Greenwood Heights

Downtown Brooklyn
& East Williamsburg

Monthly Rent

$1450-1700



$925-1025

$750-1800

DISTRIBUTION

Description

Map tile server
Website host
Search engine
optimizations
Content Delivery

Cost

$49/mo.
$199.88/year
$129/mo.

$10/mo

Name

Brooklyn
Creative League



offers private offices, shared
Brooklyn Works
amenities, and provides

opportunities

cross-pollination of ideas.
Green Desk

Company Name

Mapbox
Bluehost
Brombone
Servers optimized for
different features of the site.
Amazon S3