Resources → The Newsletter • 3 min read

#112 — How publishers can make digital media pay

Last week everyone was compiling lists of the best independently run newsletters, this week it's lists of ways publishers can make money! We've included the most comprehensive list as this weeks top pick, along with all the other stories we've been reading this week. Enjoy!

💯 Top picks

231 ways publishers can make media pay

A huge list of ways to make money from publishing split into areas such as advertising, memberships, partnerships and eCommerce.

💸 Business models

"Back when the World Wide Web was first being created, Tim Berners-Lee and his team were responsible for listing the error codes for when things would go wrong, such as error code 404 when a page was not found. Back then it seemed logical that it would be common to require payment for digital content, so they also created error 402: payment required. Nearly 30 years have passed since then and it seems we have only just recently made progress in convincing people to pay for digital content."

Fundamentals of building a reader revenue business model

Many publishers are finding themselves facing challenging questions around building a subscription based business model.

“We must be ruthlessly focused on our readership”: How publishers are growing subscribers with audience-focused strategies

After discovering that 80% of its readers were only reading 26% of its content, Spanish publisher ARA they started working toward understanding their audience better — and have since grown unique users by 38% and page views by 42%.

How Delia Cai grew Deez Links from zero to 2,000+ signups

"So I started Deez Links. It was on TinyLetter. I made the logo in three seconds in MS Paint. It was an extremely lo-fi situation."

✍️ Modern journalism

A running list of when, how —and if — publishers return to the office

"Regardless of when companies are able to reopen their offices, the way shared workspaces will look and operate is likely going to be very different."

Gossip, jobs, freelancing tips and more. Here are some independent media newsletters to follow

A list of the most popular and most fun media newsletters filled with need-to-know info for the journalism industry.

How The Conversation is turning 100 million pageviews into trust in experts

"Of the 100 million views of The Conversation stories in March, a third of those came from other publications who had republished the content, from the BBC to Le Monde, The Washington Post, El Pais, and more."

Newsrooms can prosper with remote work — but they have to make the right adjustments first

A new report by the International News Media Association offers some insight into how some newsrooms have adapted to remote works and tips for others to make the best of the situation that could become permanent for some media companies."

[Podcast] Lottie Gross, freelance writer, on how to make travel writing work when you cannot travel

"Finding freelance work in a lockdown has been a nightmare for many but travel writing was especially badly hit. Here is how the pandemic forced the industry to reinvent itself"

💻 Technology

Tech in 2023: What will and won’t have changed

"The coronavirus will have a lasting impact on business. But from where we sit today, it is difficult to tell which of the changes sparked by the pandemic will be temporary and which permanent. Will we return to office buildings? Very likely yes. Will we shop in stores as often? Probably not."

Publishers are testing their own versions of Prime Day

"Prime Day has become, for many brands, a significant manufactured shopping holiday, on par with the sales seen during the holiday season."

🤷 WTF?

Get out of your Twitter bubble and into someone else's

Create Twitter lists based on the follows of other uses and get out of your bubble.