#113 — The passion economy enables a new kind of entrepreneurship
Make sure you don't miss this week's top pick about how to write data-driven stories, and the following article about the passion economy. Also included: Instagram as a search engine, the New York Times has more digital revenue than ever — and Cosmopolitan liken their pricing model to chicken nuggets...
💯 Top picks
Continue, pivot, or put it down!
"Making conscious decisions for when to continue in one direction, when to pivot, and when to leave an idea behind make my published stories so much better."
Get an inside look at The Pudding's writing process for writing data-driven stories.
💸 Business models
The Passion Economy: Why now?
"The Passion Economy is an ever-growing ecosystem of platforms, tools, and systems that enable a new kind of creation-based entrepreneurship on the internet"
Martin Anquetil just started a series of posts on the passion economy, starting with what it is... and why it is important right now. Dive in and find out more about the rise of creators and how new monetisation options are allowing creators to leverage the Passion Economy.
Digital revenue exceeds print for the first time at the NYT
"As much of its staff worked remotely, The Times brought in $185.5 million in revenue for digital subscriptions and ads during the second quarter of 2020, the company announced on Wednesday. The number for print revenue was $175.4 million."
Cosmo, paywalls, and chicken nugget math: The shift toward paid strategies for digital content
"Positioning your price relative to chickens nuggets doesn’t hurt either, especially now that we are getting used to the subscription model for so many of the things we use every day, from grocery deliveries to TV."
How Lenny Rachitsky earned $65,000 in his first year of writing
"I write Lenny's Newsletter. It’s a weekly newsletter that's an advice column for product and growth people, and people dealing with working and stress at the office. I launched about a year ago. I launched paid a few months ago. I'm at about 15,000 free subscribers, 500 paid, and it's making me about $65K a year before fees."
✍️ Modern journalism
How the Rivard Report generates 3x revenue than the average nonprofit newsroom
Here are the five things you should know about why The Rivard Report has been so successful at generating earned revenue.
Q&A: Brady Piñero Walkinshaw, CEO of Grist
CEO of non-profit climate news site Grist shaires their growth story of a 51% increase in revenue after a site relaunch.
💻 Technology
People are using Facebook and Instagram as search engines
"Data voids on social networks are spreading misinformation and causing real world harm. Here are some ideas on how to fix the problem."
Craigslist founder Craig Newmark on why he's donating millions to journalism
"A trustworthy press is the immune system of democracy."
Newmark has gone on to donate millions to journalistic programs and schools via Craig Newmark Philanthropies. His beneficiaries include the Poynter Institute, NPR, Consumer Reports and two journalism schools in New York City.
🤷 WTF?
‘There’s no revenue on it’: Why publishers aren’t prioritizing Instagram Reels
Instagram’s TikTok copycat Reels has now been available in the U.S. and 50 other markets for just over a week, but so far many publishers appear to have been reticent to dive in with both feet.
