Jersey Shore Hyper-Local Media: Story of DownbeachBUZZ


downbeach news margate ventnor

To understand how and why DownbeachBUZZ got started, we need to ask this simple question: How do 75% of Margate and Ventnor keep up with local news and info?

If you answered “local newspaper & radio”, you’d be wrong. That’s because 3/4 of Jersey shore homeowners & taxpayers are summertime-only residents. They don’t subscribe to the local newspapers or listen to local radio.

The Eyes & Ears for Jersey Shore Taxpayers

This was a ‘light bulb moment’ for the team here at DownbeachBUZZ.com.

Approx 75% of Jersey shore homeowners pay most of the taxes and have no voting rights.

Internet as Info Savior for Margate & Ventnor.

In 2014, we built a WordPress-powered website devoted to Downbeach News & Tourism.

originally an experimental news & tourism site. We initially used for our day job: training local Newspaper, TV & Radio executives.

Reliance on Facebook & other Social Media for promoting Margate and Ventnor is helpful, but these ‘free’ platforms also have serious limitations. Most don’t know that less than 10% of your Facebook followers actually see your posts. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.

Our game-plan to become the GO-TO destination for news about Margate & Ventnor:

#1. Build a ‘hyper-local’ News & Info website using low-cost digital tools.

#2. Provide a far more accurate, online description of Margate & Ventnor via pictures, video and search-optimized online stories.

Originally we created it as an educational site to train Radio, TV and Newspaper employees. We wanted to show off digital tools, online sales and content strategy on a live, real website.


DownBeachBUZZ.com readers trust us as the GO-TO destinations for all things Margate, Longport & Ventnor. Lots of pictures, video and relevant info. We are NOT at PR company for local governments.

Some call the Internet a ‘Local Newspaper Killer’. Have you seen the non-stop circulation decline of the Press of Atlantic City? Yikes. And listeners to local AC radio stations are dropping like flies.

Traditional media (TV & Newspaper) is not a big fan of our growing success. This type of content publishing disrupts the media monopoly that’s been a profit machine & bully pulpit for a privileged few for quite some time.

Will the Internet really kill local Newspaper and radio? Not totally. But almost. It certainly puts a nasty hurt on their reach & impact. It keeps picking off their local advertisers too.

The former Brigantine Chief of Police was the webmaster and online PR director. Crazy. I knew these bad practices were holding back tourism and Real Estate values on Brigantine Beach.