A Business Model For Hyperlocal

There has been a good deal of talk on the blogosphere about hyperlocal websites lately in response to an article in the Wall Street Journal about the Washington Post's "Hyperlocal Flop", LoudounExtra.com. Hyperlocal is seen by many as the new way to do local content, replacing your local newspaper with neighborhood and small-region-centric content, and moving away from standard "news items" to items of a more personal interest.

Fred Wilson blogged about hyperlocal yesterday, and his main point was that hyperlocal will not be successful unless it is peer produced (as opposed to being run from a news desk). I agree with this assertion.

I think communities will only exist when people have incentive to create them, and peer-produced content proves that this incentive exists. It is self-fulfilling.

I have a proposal for a hyperlocal business model, and since it will be awhile before I'm out of school, I'll share the seed of the idea here and risk some genius picking it up and running with it!
Hyperlocal Business Model:
Government Centered, Peer Produced

The product: software or web service sold to local governments (towns, counties) that allows for open debate of local issues and law.

Aids government and locals by streamlining process by which input is gathered, voices heard, and decisions made at the council level.

Also serves as a content aggregator for blogs on local issues, with a crowdsourced ranking system for sites and opinions, almost like a digg front page of ideas. Community announcements would also find a place here.

By giving local government an incentive to promote the use of the software by the citizens, it has built in promotional potential. This allows it to quickly take advantage of network effects.

Just some thoughts on a potential business model for Hyperlocal content. A brainstorm, if you will.