We Mean It, Get Out: Weekend Sherpa Uses E-Newsletter to Target Outdoor Enthusiasts.
San Francisco-based Weekend Sherpa is using a weekly e-newsletter and companion Web site to target folks who want to get away from their computers and into the great outdoors.
Founder and managing editor Brad Day says his original idea was to start a magazine targeting people who loved the outdoors lifestyle in the Bay Area. But the more research he did, the more he realized it would be tough to get a print magazine up and running.
Then, he stumbled upon Daily Candy, the e-mail newsletter and Web site which currently operates in about a dozen markets, targeting women who aspire to the “Sex and the City” lifestyle. ” I thought ‘Why couldn’t you take this idea and focus it on people who like to get out and want to know their city better?'” Day says.
The target audience is career people between 18-48 who are looking for something to do in their own backyard. Subscribers – an even male/female ratio — are usually influencers who love to get outdoors and plan and think about what they can do next weekend.
So far, Weekend Sherpa has been primarily promoted through grassroots advertising. Many readers forward the newsletter to a friend, which helps build the database.
The newsletter debuted in September. No print advertising has been done yet, and the site is testing paid search on Google.
Day hopes to get the circulation up to 10,000 by mid-2007; while he wouldn’t reveal the current number of subscribers, he did say the base was growing about 50% per month. “Even in the tough months of November and December, people are excited about it, and forwarding it to friends telling them to check it out. That’s pretty cool for us.”
The newsletter’s business model is advertiser based. There is no fee to subscribe. Day notes that the sign-up process is kept as simple as possible, and no demographic questions are asked right off the bat.
The company offers advertisers standard banner or sponsored slink options, as well as an ad buy called the “fourth topic,” where sponsors can work with the newsletter’s copywriters to create advertorial about their product or service that fits in with the tone and style of Weekend Sherpa.
So far, advertisers have included Teton Gravity Research, a touring ski film festival; bike convention VeloSwap; and SKYY Vodka. Weekend Sherpa has also partnered with some nonprofits, something Day would like to do more of this year. “Our keyword in 2007 is partnership. We’re looking to partner with people who have great audiences and databases that we can share.”
Weekend Sherpa writers include Andrew Nelson, an editor at large at National Geographic Traveler and Don George, Lonely Planet’s global travel editor.
The company has talked about podcasts and blogs but “right now it’s about focusing on what we do best,” says Day. “Before we ad bells and whistles, I want to make sure that’s not happening at the expense of building our database.”
Expansion to other geographic areas is “absolutely something that’s in the cards,” says Day.
“Our target markets outside San Francisco and the Bay Area include southern California. Seattle makes a lot of sense, as does Portland, OR. Anything on the pacific seaboard or major metropolitan cities would be perfect for Weekend Sherpa. [We’ll even look at] moving inland to Denver and possibly on the east coast with Boston and New York,” he notes. “It could be tailored a bit to each city, but the idea that you’re tapping into somebody’s mind about what they want to do for the weekend is really cool. I think it’s a fun idea that people look forward to getting each week.”
