Owen gave extensive advice to publishers who wants to try selling corporate subscriptions to local businesses:

Start from journalism, not “sales talk”
Be clear that the goal is to fund independent local journalism, not just to flog a product. That makes it easier to talk to business leaders with integrity and confidence.

Identify businesses that need local news to exist
Look for SMEs that rely on local visibility, political awareness and community reputation. Those are the ones most likely to “get it” and buy access for all staff.

Create a simple corporate offer: “subscriptions for your whole staff”
Price it close to your consumer product, but position it as: “This is how your company backs local journalism and keeps the community informed.”

Use LinkedIn as your main stage
Build a personal presence (editor, CGO, sales lead) on LinkedIn. Post regularly about local business, democracy and the importance of news. If you work in regional media and you’re not visible on LinkedIn, you’re missing your key business audience.

Tell customer stories on video (or at least photos)
When a company signs up, go there, shoot a short, low-budget video (or take a good photo) and post it: “Here’s Company X, backing local news with subscriptions for their staff.” This public recognition is the “killer feature” that helps close deals and triggers FOMO among other businesses.

Invest a little in video skills and kit — it’s cheap now
You don’t need a TV studio. Train one or two people to talk straight into camera and edit simple clips. Modern equipment is affordable; not using video is now the bigger risk.

Activate all commercial teams, not just one silo
Everyone who sells anything (ads, events, subscriptions) should know the corporate offer and be able to pitch it. Leads can come from anywhere.

Use “challenger” questions with CEOs
In meetings, ask: “What are you doing to invest in this community?” Then present corporate subscriptions as one practical answer among a few options.

Combine it with events and awards
Use business events, awards and summits to talk about the offer, then follow up by email and phone. Events are powerful moments to launch and reinforce the idea.

Be loud about your relevance
Push back against the narrative that local news doesn’t matter. Use executives and editors as voices explaining what happens if local journalism disappears — and make corporate support the logical way for businesses to act on that insight.

Protect editorial independence, and say so
Make it explicit (internally and externally) that buying subscriptions never buys positive coverage. You’ll still report if a subscriber business does something wrong. That clarity builds trust with both journalists and business owners.