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The Rural sets out to give city slickers a hand out on the farm

City slickers who have given up on the big smoke but can't tell the difference between a cow and a fence post have a new site to look to for advice on rural living. Launched at the beginning of May, TheRural.co.nz is a blog catering to lifestyle block owners and those living rurally, with news, advice and how-tos for getting things done on the paddock.

The Rural is run by APN-owned display ad network Adhub. Editor Juanita McConnachie says there's an unserved niche for rural community news and along with it untapped advertising. However, there are already many New Zealand lifestyle and rural communities online which the site will be competing with, including Fairfax's NZFarmer.co.nz portal which launched in April.

"There are other news sites dedicated to the rural community, but not many covering people who've moved from the city to their new rural lives. We have advice and tips that generational New Zealand farmers don't necessary need," says McConnachie.

Currently there are two main bloggers on the site – including an Auckland who's picked up and left for the rural lifestyle – with additional contributors and supplied content from the agricultural industry. McConnachie says the site is aiming for at least 20 fresh articles each week.

According to McConnachie, The Rural has had over 13,000 page impressions and just under 4,000 unique browsers in its first month. 

The first major advertisers on the site is Mitsubishi, which has taken a full-page take over which will last six weeks. McConnachie says an insurance agency is also in the wings as a future advertiser.

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