Best kept advertising secret in The Gorge; word’s out & it’s EZ
By Tom Peterson
The Dalles, Ore., Feb. 5, 2026 — I am a reporter, editor, and most of all a small business owner here in the Gorge.
… and it is toooough.
There are so many pieces to running a business, and the responsibility falls squarely on our shoulders - products, payroll, employees, taxes, accounting, bills, collections, maintenance, vehicle repair and invoicing to name a few.
It’s overwhelming, isn’t it, especially when you care so much and want to maintain your customer base and grow.
And then somebody throws the word marketing at you…
It can be the straw that makes you snap.
Because here is just one more area of expertise that we’re expected to understand and do well.
But it is impossible to be good at everything.
No one is.
Success rather is rooted in understanding our strengths and finding others to assist in areas where we need help - trustworthy help.
There is, no doubt, literally thousands of advertising opportunities to get your business out there, but what really works?
I submit that CCCNews offers the cheapest and most effective way to reach customers in Gorge.
Cell Phones
They are by far the most popular device for people to get their information and the perfect platform to display your ads with links to your website or facebook page.
75% of CCCNews readers use their cell phones to access our free news, that is distributed via social media including Facebook and Instagram. The graphic above shows the total unique readers and how they accessed our website since our inception in April 2020. Cell Phones are indisputably the way to reach customers.
Ads on CCCNews are in our news stories so readers see them when they are getting their local news on their devices.
As of this month, CCCNews has reached 7.6 million page views and 3.2 million unique visitors on our website since April 2020 . We average more than 100,000 unique readers per month - locals who live and shop in the Gorge.
Click to enlarge image. The proof is in the pudding - here are our number of readers from our inception through 2025. Analytics provided by Squarespace.
Better yet, our advertisers have had a combined 55 million views - that’s no typo - 55 million during the past six years and some 62,000 clicks to their websites.
Sounds like a lot?
It is.
Oh Yeah, PROVE IT.
It's all provable.
Our digital news and ads are tracked second by second. I can tell you how many people are reading any given story at any time.
I can tell you how many people saw an advertisement on any given day and the number of times the ad was clicked and the reader was taken to that business’ website.
Ads are now being seen minimally 25,000 times per month on our website. I know because I send the ad reports to our clients. We track everything.
This is a real example of the ad reports that are sent to our advertising customers monthly. The second column shows the ad was viewed 24,392 times by readers. The third column shows our readers clicked on the ad 79 times. Takeaway - this advertiser told the local community they are open and ready to do business and 79 people went to her website to either find out more or buy her product and service.
It’s an incredibly powerful medium for getting your message out.
And it’s cost-effective, efficient and fast.
We can get stories and ads out in minutes when need be. And, we have low overhead, meaning advertisers benefit from better rates. Annual contracts for digital ads are $299 per month, including design and a link to your website or Facebook page. If you need a landing page, we can help with that as well.
Who can match that? No one. Your advertising runs 24/7 and is always being delivered with the latest local news.
Mention this story in an email or a phone call with me and we will cut your annual digital ad rate to $225 per month, saving you $300.
Give me a call at 541-980-2756 or email tom@cccnews.com
Sincerely,
Tom Peterson
