I wrote a periodic blog for my local paper for about a year (for free) until the paper changed their online format. I received several leads during that time and one reader eventually purchased a home.

One sale and I probably wrote about 20 articles (300 to 700 words). To me it was worth it (especially for free) because of the increased brand exposure and local backlinks.

Yes, have a call to action, a landing page and a giveaway for the CTA. It's only vanity ad without it; it's a lead capture with it.

Long ago we tried it - 2007.  No noticeable benefit.

I would never pay for posting a press release, legitimate newspapers do not operate this way.

I have summitted many press releases and feature articles, and they do post them.

And a few local people do generally call, and sometimes hire us.

A few years back, I used to write for the Patch.  (it was free).  I did get some sustained traffic from a couple of posts (I think 1 was giving me around 1000 pageviews/month for 2 to 3 years.  I did get a few local customers from it.

See if the links are do follow.  If they are it's probably worth it for the combo of local customers and link juice (which is ongoing).

I have not.

Nope.

no, I've not done that....

I haven't. Do they feature other area Realtors's articles, too?

  A couple of local Realtors already dominate the local rag's website.  It would be expensive to compete with them.

It's almost like a infomercial on their site. It's like a newspaper ad & I'm sure it's priced that way too. What is the readership? Don't forget their goal is to sell space & clear out your wallet .

I have not done this so can't really provide input.

I've been quoted and they have linked to my blog before, but I'd never pay to put my blog on their site.

Depends what is your goal and budget. If you need a brand exposure and marketing~ it will work, if you expect sales from it, it might not work. 

In any case, it is still a better marketing investment if you compare to those benches with realtor faces I see when I drive~ I'll never get benches on the bus stops. 

I have and never got one lead - phone call, text, email, website registration or any other form of reaching out from a potential customer! 

That is my market but, yours may be different, Lynnea.

I have not.

I have in the past.  It's excellent exposure.

No, but I would love the opportunity. 

Lynnea,

I would not pay to have my blog placed.  This no doubt will be disclosed by the paper as an advertorial, which in my opinion just is another ad.  Whenever we have been asked to do a guest post, it has been flattering.  My expectations are slim, brand recognition.  We did get a company branding and marketing from one, and that was after a year or two of posting...and we did not pay for it.  

Agaain, that is just our experience, I have not studied your market in depth, so I am flying by the seat of my pants.  A

I do not believe out newspaper offers to post our blogs on their site. I don't know that they get enough exposure to make it worth paying for that service.

I have not

Sorry, I've never done this.

no

My gut suggest the only value may be the backlinks to your site. 

I would expect the cost to be predatory. However, you do need to spend money to make money.

Two clear benefits come to mind.

#1. Authority. Frequent contributor to New York Times says AUTHORITY. The same applies to the local paper. However, it is up to you to exploit it.

#2. Expertise. Such a forum to deliver the message of your solutions actually validates your solutions. Again, you must exploit it.

#3. Bonus benefit. Google Juice. We all know the most powerful juice has .gov and .edu extensions.  However .news works nicely also. Run analytics on the website is see if there is traffic. If so, get in front of it.

Subscribe to a few programs regarding the creation of exceptional CTAs. Dropping the ball here will waste the big stack of money invested in playing in this arena.

Never tried it. The vendor charging is making money for sure! Just saying!

Not yet.

Well, it depends.  I would ask about their traffic, if the link is Do-Follow and ask what SEO they do on their site.  There are a ton of free stuff out there.

I have not, but depending on the cost, may be great exposure.

No, I haven't.