Townsquare Publications: When innovation pays dividends

Town Square is a story of innovation, and I was there from the beginning.

More than a decade ago, I began as the editor of the Niche Publications division of the Daily Herald, planning editorial themes for dozens of newspaper special sections, targeting content with advertising, and looking for ways to create new and engaging publications.

Tasked with coming up with ideas and plans to grow the business in new ways, Paddock's senior management created Town Square Publications.

Our first marketing partnership was with the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce to produce its annual community guide and business directory.

We started small, a test of sorts, partnering with our hometown chamber in 2009. This was different from the special newsprint sections the newspaper had been producing for years. It took a lot more work to produce a glossy color magazine. But we created something we were proud to show off to other prospective clients.

We talked to chamber directors across the Chicago market. One partnership quickly turned to two, and then three, and so on, and we soon emerged as the leading publisher of these magazines in the suburban market.

Then we took a step back, looked ahead and realized there was a tremendous market for our services. We tested the waters outside our home base and were successful in developing relationships in southern Wisconsin, eastern Iowa and northern Indiana, capturing new marketing partnerships and revenue across the Midwest.

But why stop there? Unlike the Daily Herald newspaper, which is anchored in the suburbs, this kind of business could be scaled coast to coast.

With that in mind, Town Square acquired several smaller marketing companies that complemented our growth. Today we're publishing more than 400 titles annually. We are the largest publisher of these products in the country.

Every day we look to grow the business in new and different ways and have branched out into other product offerings: our Welcome Home new mover marketing program, community maps, quarterly magazines and digital publications.

The sky is the limit. What started out as a small effort to diversify our company's business has turned into a strong performer that we grow every year.