Newspaper organizations can increase revenues by as much as 15% by consistently targeting the best sales opportunities with the right type and amount of sales resource. This revelation is one of many identified in a new American Press Institute white paper report, Sales Resource Optimization: Bringing Science to the Sales Force.
"API reveals huge revenue opportunities through Sales Resource Optimization" »
Which business models work online? Should news organizations charge for content? What paid access approaches are successful?
"Paid Access Models: Practices and Profiles," a must-have report from the American Press Institute and ITZBelden, informs these critical decisions facing news executives. It provides actionable data, case studies and approaches for success in the transitioning landscape for news.
This article is second in a series of paid online content profiles. Each case will be posted on this site as well as included in a list of Paid Content Profiles that you can download by clicking the link
MARY PESKIN | When newspaper publishers look around for a pay model for premium online content, Packer Insider is often at the top of the list. Since 2001, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in Milwaukee, Wis., has offered extended Green Bay Packers content to "Insiders" who currently pay subscription fees for specialized content they can't find elsewhere. For $6.95 a month or $44.95 a year, avid fans can access commentary and analysis from regular columnists, including Bob McGinn, who has covered the Packers since the early 1980s, and twice-weekly live chats with Journal beat writers.
Charging for access to digital content has sparked one of the biggest debates within the newspaper industry. The idea seems to gain momentum whenever another news organization announces it is taking steps to move from free to paid content online.
Newspaper executives are eager to know what their peers in other organizations are doing. What are the current practices in generating revenue from digital content? What are the various pay models? Are they successful? What approaches are news organizations taking to issues like site registration, electronic editions and tracking original content across the Web?
American Press Institute, working in partnership with ITZBelden, set out to answer these questions. Initial results of an ongoing online survey show that industry executives are exploring multiple options for increasing revenue in the short term. You may download a free copy of the Online Revenue Initiatives 2009 report by clicking the link.
MARK MULHOLLAND | Without a doubt, much of the current crises in newspaper revenue can be traced to the loss of the classified franchise to craigslist.com and other non-newspaper classified sites.
Within crisis, however, there may be opportunity. Now more than ever before, newspapers throughout North America have the motivation and the circumstance to create a single classified platform to rival non-newspaper sites - through better leveraging of technology; superior user experience; and a powerful, unified national brand.
In May 2009, the American Press Institute produced a report designed to address the challenges and opportunities of a unified classified platform, with a recommended agenda for action. Creating an Industry-Wide Classified Platform and Brand identifies three areas critical for a solution, and offers detailed suggestions for what will be needed to make such an effort successful. You can download a free copy by clicking the link.
MARY PESKIN | Paid content is one of the biggest debates within the newspaper industry. Rocked by declining print circulation and advertising, disruptive Internet technologies and competition from a variety of new players and industries, the traditional bedrock of American journalism stands at a precipice. Pay-for-content models have surfaced as the hope for saving the industry (or at least holding on) as the economics of the Internet, and the behaviors of its consumers, are evolving. Numerous plans have emerged in recent months, fueled by the momentum of paid content ambitions from publishers, vendors and consultants. Each day brings a new vision and a new discussion.
Databases are an indispensable tool in building online audiences and developing new revenue streams. In this new report author Steve Buttry reviews the many ways databases can be employed to enhance news coverage and address critical consumer and business jobs to be done, and discusses some of the organizational and technological decisions that will need to be made as newspapers expand their online database offerings. The report costs $19.95.
To order a copy, please fill in and submit the form below.
Welcome to Newspaper Next 2.0 -- the next generation of Newspaper Next research from the American Press Institute. This new report, entitled Making the Leap Beyond 'Newspaper Companies,' includes:
View the archived Feb. 19 Webcast here.
The biggest challenge facing virtually all newspaper companies right now is creating new revenue. Even among the most innovative companies -- those that are quickly diversifying their offerings and creating innovative new products and services for consumers -- the revenue performance often isn't as good as they hope.
That's why the Newspaper Next 2.0 report urges newspaper companies to redouble their focus on non-consumption among businesses, not just consumers. The revenue opportunities are huge, especially in two categories: small and medium enterprises that rarely advertise in newspapers, and larger businesses that have advertising objectives a newspaper can't meet very well. There's a lot of money in those two zones for newspaper companies that figure out how to meet these needs.
A new case study from NAA provides a great example of how to do it. Here, as so often before, the Bakersfield Californian is leading the way. You can download the excellent NAA report, written by Stacy Lynch.
"A great process for discovering new revenue opportunities" »
As part of Newspaper Next 2.0, the American Press Institute worked with Borrell Associates to provide an overview of the most promising online revenue opportunities, along with tools and resources to help newspapers take maximum advantage of them.
Below are links to spreadsheets outlining current local online spending by business category in every designated market area (DMA), as well as Borrell's Future Tool to enable newspapers to calculate what their potential revenue opportunity could be in any size market.
Download the Data Overview here. This is your user's guide to the data offered below.
Download the Market Selector here.
Download online spending figures per DMA here.
Download the Online Spending Analysis here.
Download the Future Tool for Quintile 1 here.
Download the Future Tool for Quintile 2 here.
Download the Future Tool for Quintile 3 here.
Download the Future Tool for Quintile 4 here.
Download the Future Tool for Quintile 5 here.
Download the Web Audit for Quintile 1 here.
Download the Web Audit for Quintile 2 here.
Download the Web Audit for Quintile 3 here.
Newspaper Next's report and recommendations on how to restore growth in the newspaper industry were delivered to the newspaper industry in September 2006, capping a year of study and research. To receive a free copy of the full report in English, please click here.
Newspaper Next: Plan de Acción para la Transformación.
In addition, many newspapers and newspaper companies are booking on-site training workshops to get them started in implementing the N2 approach in their organizations. To schedule a workshop for your organization or association, please contact Steve Buttry, API's director of tailored programs.
The Newspaper Next Training DVD is now available!
Download the Newspaper Next OASYS form here.
Download the Newspaper Next Idea Resume here.
Download the Newspaper Next Disruptive Innovation Barometer here.
Subscribe to this blog's feed