Get Featured in Burlington Free Press

Burlington Free Press is a local news publication, and local newsrooms tend to run on small staffs with more story tips than they can follow. Pitches from businesses usually lose out to public meetings, breaking news and school sports, however good the story is. A guaranteed placement removes that uncertainty: the piece is arranged with the publication in advance, you approve the draft, and it publishes on burlingtonfreepress.com inside a written window, usually one to two weeks. It is a real article on the site that you can put in a proposal, a deck or a profile.

What Burlington Free Press covers

What does a local news publication cover? Whatever matters to the people nearby. For Burlington Free Press, that means news for readers in Vermont: the kind of reporting on local government, business, schools, roads, real estate, events, sports and community life that larger outlets leave alone. A story earns its place by being relevant to the area, not by being big. Its reporting is published at burlingtonfreepress.com.

Business and community stories sit comfortably beside civic news. A local publication is where readers expect to learn about a new restaurant, a practice adding a location, a contractor finishing a visible project, an artist’s exhibition or a company setting up in the area. The writing is plain and factual, the local connection is stated early, and the subject is someone or something readers can find nearby.

Who reads Burlington Free Press

A local audience is small compared with a national one, and far more relevant to a local business. Readers of a publication like Burlington Free Press live, work, shop and vote in the community it covers in Vermont. Many of them are deciding where to spend money, whom to hire and which organizations to support close to home.

That matters for anyone whose work depends on local reputation. Real estate agents, advisers, physicians, attorneys, contractors and restaurateurs all win business through familiarity and word of mouth. A story in Burlington Free Press adds to both, and it can be shared on your site, in your office, in proposals and across your social profiles.

Why coverage in Vermont matters

A business that serves Vermont benefits from being seen where people in Vermont already get their news. A feature in Burlington Free Press places your name in front of nearby customers, suppliers and referral sources who can act on it without leaving the area. It also adds a local reference point for anyone in the state who researches you before making a call or signing an agreement.

Coverage in Vermont is commonly sought by service businesses, restaurants, medical and legal practices, real estate professionals, contractors and nonprofits that depend on local customers. It also suits companies from other states that are opening an office, a store or a franchise location in Vermont and want to introduce themselves to the community.

Local news runs on specifics. A story that says a clinic opened on a named street, hired locally and offers a service the area lacked will hold a reader. A story that says a company is passionate about excellence will not. Before anything is written, the facts, the place and the timing need to be clear.

Before drafting, we identify the strongest of the angles below. Owners often overlook the story behind the business, such as why they started or whom they serve, and it is frequently the one readers remember.

What weakens a pitch

• Nothing new. A local story needs a reason to run now, such as a date, a change, an event or a recent result.
• Missing details. Without a location, a description of what you do and a clear timeline, a feature reads as generic and local readers move on.
• Claims that cannot be supported. Local readers know the area and will notice exaggeration, and we only write what is accurate.
• A story with no people in it. Community news is about neighbors, so a feature needs an owner, a team or a client perspective.