My Daily Find Site Expands Outside Valley

Karen Young Three years after launching My Daily Find, an online lifestyle publication serving the San Fernando Valley, entrepreneur Karen Young now is extending her business to other cities. Writers and bloggers can start their own site at MyDailyFindSites.com, and Young charges users a monthly fee for services such as online web support and marketing to advertisers. “It gives them independence and that is what it did for me,” said Young, a Studio City resident. Young had been the editor of the Sun Newspapers, a three-paper chain serving Studio City, Sherman Oaks and Encino until the papers closed in 2009. She started My Daily Find in June of that year. New My Daily Find sites already have cropped up — one in Berkeley operated by a student, another in Chicago started by a young freelancer and food blogger, and a third in Key West. The sites have a similar look, but the owner can customize it and decide the type of content for the site, Young said. She made the Valley’s My Daily Find site a resource for dining, shopping and entertainment information. Her goal: to grow the number of My Daily Find sites to 250 nationwide. “I have been successful with my model and there are other people who are writers, editors or bloggers without jobs or writing for free,” Young said. “I wanted to give them the opportunity to work for themselves.” — Mark R. Madler