Money from the past
As magazines and newspapers hunt for the new thing they need to be to thrive in the Internet era, some find that part of the answer lies in the old thing they used to be.
Publications are rediscovering their archives, like a person learning that a hand-me-down coffee table is a valuable antique. For magazines and newspapers with long histories, especially, old material can be reborn on the Web as an inexpensive way to attract readers, advertisers and money.
The thrust of the article was the benefits that Sports Illustrated and other publications were discovering from making their past issues available either free or for minimal payment on the Web. Other examples cited included the New York Times, Time, Newsweek.
Of itself the concept did not seem earth shattering, though it would be great to see more organisations do this – including in New Zealand say the Dominion Post, NZ Herald and the National Business Review and say some periodicals. In many ways we are poorly served in this regard in this part of the world.
I then began thinking about this slightly differently and it occurred to me that this was an example of Chris Anderson’s concept of the Long Tail or how endless choice is creating unlimited demand. The link is to the original article in Wired. I link here to Anderson’s blog which has a lot of interesting commentary on it.
Put simply, and a good illustration of the concept, is the example Anderson uses of Rhapsody, who make good money out of having an enormous music catalogue of music and where considerable profit comes from not best sellers, but selling a few of a lot.
In a similar manner customers may turn to the archival portion of a site and then read adverts and more recent material, as per this example:-
Popular Mechanics, a Hearst magazine, says about 35 percent of its online readers enter the site through a free archive that contains printed content back to the mid-1990s, and 15 percent enter through Web-only material.
The company does not share specific financial information, but James B. Meigs, editor in chief of Popular Mechanics, said, “we get good ad revenue from this traffic,” in part because it invites the reader to linger, digging more deeply into a particular topic.
This is an example of how information availability is creating new revenue streams for relatively low costs, which add to profitability. It is an example of economic transformation which seems to be beneficial to both consumer and supplier. It would be interesting to find out whether there are NZ situations where the concepts can be applied.
Adam strongly recommends this book. It discusses an interesting concept which helps to make clear ways in which business models are changing and the fuller impact of the digital world.
Where to buy in Wellington
He got his from Capital Books in Featherston Street, Wellington – an independent bookshop. Though I am sure if Parsons or Unity Books do not have it, that they can get it for you. As an aside I am strongly in favour of supporting independent bookshops whenever possible.
