Social Media Week #2 – Digital Journalism for Pay

Toronto – Canada

The one thing that is news, but you mind not find in a newspaper, is the fact that “the news” is going digital. This has wreaked havoc on the paper based business model of journalism. Papers are finding it hard to stay relevant, keep costs low, attract advertisers, retain staff or pay them at reasonable levels. These were some of the issues participants at Social Media Week’s Digital Journalism for Pay were trying to solve. The aim of the night was to discuss alternative business models to print and how a journalist can make money considering their is less money available.

This just in, I might get paid soon.

The panelists for the night were Wilf Dinnick of OpenFile, Toronto writer and novelist Bert Archer of Younge Street Media, and Navneet Alang of the Toronto Standard. With the help of moderator Nate Hendley these three tackled the topic of how to provide the news in the digital era and still make money doing it.

First Wilf Dinnick hit the stage and introduced his new hyper-local news site OpenFile. The idea behind open file is that the news is local and suggested by website followers. There is a chief editor for each locale and they decide and allocate resources according to the reader’s desire. Wilf mentioned that OpenFile’s most popular stories are the ones from professional journalists that are paid at competitive rates. He explained that paying journalists a reasonable rate is an important element of providing news in the digital era. He also elaborated on funding models not reliant on advertising, he stated that OpenFile currently is funded by an investor but also concentrates on strategic partnerships with Universities and national news providers such as the CBC and Global. Although OpenFile still gets revenue from advertisers, Wilf should be commended for his approach to offering an alternative news source and his ability to attract funding from different sources.

Secondly Bert Archer explained the alternative funding model of his employer, Younge Street Media. It is an interesting approach where advertising is not considered an essential component of funding. Instead the company seeks to attract “silent investors” who underwrite a particular issue or topic they are interested in. An issue is not commenced until full funding is received after which the editorial staff directs the writers on what to write about and what to avoid. To maintain integrity the underwriters are not mentioned the articles and they do not advertise. This seemed like a viable alternative to advertising, since as Bert mentioned during his talk, online advertising can be fickle and withdrawn swiftly if advertisers are not satisfied with their results.

Navneet Alang focused more on the elements of what makes a successful writer online. He mentioned that generally there are three types of online writing: light quick, opinion and research based, and long form journalism. These are the types of articles he identified as important for a news site to maintain engaged readership.

The three speakers were incredibly well spoken and did a great job of conveying their enthusiasm for the future of digital journalism. For me the most important take away from that night was what Wilf Dinnick explained as a “Journalism business model problem, not a journalism problem.” According to the panelists within 5-10 years a viable business model will emerge, but no one has figured it out yet. This is an exciting opportunity in an industry that has been struggling for some time. Big news to still to come!

Social Media Week – Monetizing Digital Content

Toronto – Canada

The winter blues in Canada can hit home pretty hard, but this winter has thankfully been quite mild, and in addition to the mild weather Torontonians have been able to enjoy Toronto Adweek swiftly followed by Toronto Social Media Week. Due to school and work commitments I was only able to attend two events, but I managed to keep a common thread throughout: how to make money publishing digital content.

Don't be anti-social, it's Social Media Week!

The first event was graciously hosted by Agility Inc., yes free Steam Whistles and tasty hors d’oeuvres for all those that attended. Andre Gaulin was the night’s moderator, and got the conversational juices flowing. The topic of the night was Monetizing Digital Content for Online Publishing. The panel consisted of Beth Young of Corus entertainment , Laura Baxter of UXD, Ryan Keaveney of RKP Publishing, and Lucia Mancuso of The Blog Studio.

As a combo the panel was well versed in digital marketing. They unanimously agreed that clients are shifting their marketing budget to the online sphere, and as a result present challenges and opportunities. It means that publishers (even bloggers) with space and a big enough following on their websites might eventually have the opportunity to host advertisement on their sites. Yet the challenge faced for some digital providers is convincing clients to go digital with their advertisements. According to the panel, established clients that are accustomed to print advertising are often reluctant to make the switch due to their skepticism about the ROI. However, despite the hesitation there is a general push from clients to go digital, and after seeing their ads up and running they become quite fond of the control and the ability to customize and adjust adspace as needed.

Going back to the theme of monetizing digital content; the panel discussed that it depended on whose content it is. As a blogger you can monetize by having ads and directly related content. The panel commented that, if you are a brand you will find that having an online presence consistent with your other media platforms will help your brand image and indirectly lead to ROI. Ryan Keaveney discussed how his companies print magazines use their online presence to drive viewers to purchase print subscriptions, which has turned out be a successful strategy.

I know you want to tweet about my beard.

Throughout the discussions the panelists frequently reverted to advertising as the most popular form of driving online revenue. This wasn’t quite the breakthrough we were looking for, but they did elaborate on some alternatives. Laura Baxter mentioned that certain associations provide exclusive digital content for members as an incentive to join. For example a “Dentist’s Association” would post exclusive content online for its members, thereby driving membership and providing ROI on the digital content. Conversely RKP’s digital strategy is to have an image consistent with its print publications, but also to encourage vistors to their website to purchase print subscriptions. Besides advertising these were the two alternatives the panel offered for achieving ROI on digital content.

All in all the night was a success and Agility Inc. were great hosts. We will all be looking forward to attending their event next year!

Is Advertising Really Effective?

Toronto – Canada

Nowadays advertising is so ubiquitous that people are exposed to it from the minute they wake up. This advertising can be subtle, in the forms of logos on appliances or blatant like billboards and TV commercials. It has been estimated that on average a person sees about 5000 advertisements a day, all of which are meant to persuade or convince a person to eventually pick up that product and buy it.

With such overexposure, does the individual not become dulled by the constant barrage of ads, do you yourself feel like you are immune to the influences of advertising? Probably so, but if you watch this video clip, you will find that advertising may play a bigger part in your subconscious than you actually thought. View on and enjoy!

This clip was actually shown to me by Tony Marlow during his Adweek presentation. The video pretty much speaks for itself in terms of the power of subtle messaging and repetitive exposure. Considering that both Tony Marlow and Martin Lindstrom have discussed that up to 95% of our purchasing decisions are made at an unconscious level, perhaps advertising is a lot more effective than many of us think.