January 17, 2001
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*** MarketingSherpa’s ContentBiz.com ***
Practical News & Case Studies on Marketing, Syndicating &
Selling Content Online
Jan 17, 2001 Volume 2, Issue 3
THANKS for telling your pals to get their own free
subscriptions at http://www.contentbiz.com P.S. Please only
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1. NEWS: bitpipe, NetContent Inc, MediaCentral, B-to-B Works,
Pohly & Partners, BISG, ClickSmart, Brian Alt
2. More Headlines
3. CASE STUDY: Controlled Circulation SAM Magazine Tests an
Online Contest to Generate Qualified Subscribers
4. INTERVIEW: Adventures in For-Fee Publishing: NewsRX.com
Attempts to Profit With Content Online
*****
NEWS
*****
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generating additional revenue on the Web. Selling your content
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running quickly, and we do all the work. What are you waiting
for? It's a no-brainer. Check it out at:
http://www.pqarchiver.com/?cmid=contentbiz200101
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* bitpipe Markets IT Research Reports for Free
Here's news that could rock the biz models of online research
stores such as MarketResearch.com and AllNetResearch.
bitpipe, which charges B-to-B technology marketers $3000+ a year
to plant white paper hotlinks on every major IT site from CNET
to TechRepublic, is charging marketers of related research
reports absolutely nothing for the same service! So far
Cahners In-Stat, Giga, Zona, Yankee Group and Forrester are
among the many research and analysis publishers happily taking
advantage of this free marketing service. Fran Firth,
bitpipe's marketer, says, "We're sending them incredible
traffic. We don't plan to charge for this anytime soon."
To put this in perspective, generally 3rd party marketing
services charge anywhere from 30-60% of a report's sale price.
Want to learn more? Contact VP Sales Trum van Middlesworth at
trum@bitpipe.com
* NetContent Inc Actively Seeking Deals With Smaller
Publishers Other Syndicators Ignore
Bill Hobbs, VP at NetContent Inc., contacted us when he saw
last week's article on larger syndicators turning away small
publishers. He says, "We do carry content from smaller
publishers and we will continue to do so. If ScreamingMedia
and YellowBrix desire to offer their clients a narrow, shallow
pool of content, so be it." Currently Hobbs is eager to
supplement NetContent Inc's news feed from aggregator Bell &
Howell with more technical, scientific, healthcare,
engineering and legal content. Contact him at
bhobbs@netcontentinc.com or call him at 615.240.5500.
In related news, iSyndicate's Director of Content Business
Development, Nandita Jhaveri confirmed the Company is not
turning away small publishers just because they are small per
say. She says, "We have niche requirements in a lot of areas
that only small publishers can fill; but we are being
increasingly selective about who we partner with. We want to
work with companies that will be around for a long time, who
have a reliable publishing schedule, and those who we feel
confident that we'll find a market for. So, we are raising
the bar and looking closely at what we get."
Last week's story on syndicators:
http://www.contentbiz.com/sample.cfm?contentID=1330
http://www.netcontentinc.com
http://www.isyndicate.com
* News Briefs: MediaCentral, B-to-B Works, BISG, Pohly & Partners,
Clicksmart.com, Brian Alt
- In a slightly confused announcement, Primedia said it's
launching a "new venture" with Steven Brill to be entitled
MediaCentral. After we read the details, it just appears to
be the same-old, same-old MediaCentral that launched in 1997,
only with a big new exec on the masthead.
http://www.mediacentral.com
- It's beginning to seem like if you are a trade publisher and
your online ads aren't being repped by B-to-B Works, you're the
weird kid in school. VNU eMedia, whose pubs include AdWeek
and Beverage World, just cracked under peer pressure and
joined up as well. http://www.b2bworks.net
- The Book Industry Study Group's Jan 31st meeting's entitled,
"What Can the Publishing Industry Learn from the Music
Industry?" (Oooh, does that mean Seth Godin's Idea Virus is
gonna be a lot like Napster?) To register go to:
http://www.bisg.org/newtech.html
- Ouch! Custom original content publisher Pohly & Partners,
who made a big stink 60 days ago about their new online
content division, just launched a print-only newsletter to
educate potential clients about the wonderfulness of custom
content. (Ok, you can also download a 4-color PDF version
from their Web site, but it's laid out in such a way that you
gotta print it out to read it.) http://www.pohlypartners.com
- Ubrandit.com's Clicksmart.com which creates and hosts online
book and video eStores for more than 50 major magazine
publishers, is expanding their private-label program to help
independent book publishers sell online much more easily. Now
independents can focus on publishing and marketing, while
Clicksmart takes care of ecommerce and fulfillment for them.
We like that arrangement! To see a sample private labeled
store go to: http://www.clicksmart.com/doityourself
- Brian Alt, a well-known reporter covering the "do-it-
yourself" email newsletter publisher beat for List-
Universe.com, has started his own consulting company, Email
Possibilities. Alt plans to provide just about every service
an email newsletter publisher would need help with, including
editorial, circulation marketing, and list management. He
will not, however, offer help with ad sales.
http://www.emailpossibilities.com
*****
MORE MARKETINGSHERPA.COM HEADLINES
*****
* Advertising on Trade Show Web Sites Significantly Lowers
Businesses' Cost Per Sales Lead
http://www.b2bmarketingbiz.com/sample.cfm?contentID=1347
* Anthony Muller's Top Five Tactics for Getting Higher Search
Engine Rankings
http://www.b2bmarketingbiz.com/sample.cfm?contentID=1345
* Interactive Agency Lounge Lizard Gets 4-5% CTRs on Email
Newsletter Sponsorships
http://www.marketingtowebmarketers.com/sample.cfm?contentID=1339
* View past ContentBiz.com issue archives at:
http://www.contentbiz.com/archives.cfm
*****
CASE STUDY: SAM Magazine
*****
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forum on meeting your online advertising and marketing objectives.
http://www.dcdotcomm2001.com
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((( )))))))))))))))))))))))))))
* Controlled Circulation SAM Magazine Tests Online Contest to
Generate Qualified Subscribers
CHALLENGE
The team at SAM Magazine, a controlled circulation
trade publication targeting marketing professionals at medium-
sized fast-growing companies, threw their 25+ years of direct
mail expertise behind getting qualified subscribers for the
magazine's launch. Their mail campaigns were highly
successful, however, publisher John Katnic wanted to
supplement direct mail with an online campaign. He explains,
"There's a big, untapped, audience out there that's not
necessarily responsive to direct mail. There's too much noise
in their in-boxes -- other trades, direct mail, etc."
CAMPAIGN
In September 2000, SAM Magazine launched an online
golf game, featuring a variety of prizes ranging from a
$35,000 sports car to embroidered golf shirts. The team drove
traffic to the online game through space ads in the magazine,
notes in the magazine's sister email newsletter, and a single
broadcast text email letter to all opt-in subscribers.
In order to play the game, visitors had to answer questions
that would qualify them for the magazine if they chose to
receive it. Katnic says, "We said, as long as you're
answering the basic questions to register for the game, would
you also like to subscribe to SAM while you're here? They
already had their hands on the keyboard, so it's pretty easy
to get one more box checked."
Also included was a question asking if the player would like a
chance to double their odds of winning at a later date. Those
who checked yes received an email telling them they could
increase their chances by recommending the game to a friend.
Katnic says, "We gave them three slots to fill out with
friends' names."
RESULTS
More than 5000 people clicked through to the game,
and of those 3600 (70%) either subscribed or renewed their
subscription online at the same time. The traffic driving
device that worked best was the broadcast text email, with a
whopping click through rate of almost 9%.
About 650 (18%) of the 3,600 game players checked the box
asking for additional chances to win. Of these, 114 (17%)
sent back their friend's names, resulting in another 250 or so
qualified game players.
NOTE: The prizes for this campaign cost less than you think.
Most publishers running sweepstakes either buy relatively
inexpensive sweeps insurance against the chances of having to
pay out an expensive prize; or they buy a share of a group
sweeps which allows many publishers to use the same exact
prize for different campaigns.
http://www.sammag.com
*****
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: NewsRX.com
*****
(((((((( Top Ten Tips )))))))))))
Get "Top Ten Tips on Starting An Email Newsletter" when you…
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* Adventures in For-Fee Publishing: NewsRX.com Attempts to
Profit With Content Online
Last February NewsRX launched a personalized health news-
service they hoped consumers would pay a monthly subscription
fee for. Recently, we checked in with the Company's
Editorial Director Alan Henderson (AH) and President Charles
Henderson (CH) to see how things worked out and what other
online revenue streams this print newsletter publisher has
found.
Q: How did the big test work out? Were people willing to pay
for online subscriptions?
CH: We decided not to continue with it. It wasn't generating
the types of returns we wanted. However, it's apparent to me
that people are fast approaching the time period when they'll
buy content online. If you go to the UK, they're convinced
you'll never be able to sell an article on the Internet.
But, the only reason free content works is because publishers
are trying to generate ad revenues. If that doesn't work and
if the content business is important to you, then you'll have
to start selling content to make money.
Q: So how are you going to sell content to make money?
AH: We're enormously excited about our new deal with
ClickShare. They're a group who saw our BizWire press release
for the subscription service and approached us. They'll be
selling our articles through their network starting at $1 an
article.
Also, a couple of months ago, we came up with the idea of
creating a reports series. I've been able to generate 5,000
niche topic reports by taking the past six months of news
stories from our 19 weeklies and processing them past 20,000
keywords. The reports have a minimum of three articles in
them, some have 300 articles! People can buy them online for
$3-$30, depending on how many articles are included. We think
a consumer would rather pay $10-$20 and get all the
information they need in a report from a reliable, trusted
source than spend all day long surfing the Web for
information.
When someone comes to our system, they can search by topic,
for example Alzheimer's therapy. The results page gives a
summary of what's included in each report. Then they can
order online and hit print and they've got it!
Our online order form also asks if buyers want to be informed
of news updates, so we can email people with offers for new
reports later. So far more than half of our buyers have
wanted that.
Q: How are you going to drive traffic to your reports store?
AH: We've established partnerships with other Web sites.
We're given them a 35-50% commission on sales in exchange for
participating in the program. All they have to do is provide
a link to our store.
If I were to have come out with this program a year ago, I
would have gotten more doors slammed in my face! People would
have said, "Why do I want to send my user to your site?" I
used to hear that all the time when we offered a co-branded
newsfeed. Sites would have rather paid 25% higher fees to us
in order to keep people at their sites. However, things have
changed. About 40 sites signed up to be a part of this new
partner program on the first day we offered it!
Q: How are your content syndication sales going? You compete
head-to-head with Reuters in that arena.
AH: We put a testimonial from OBGYN.com on our booth and
marketing materials at the Fall eHealthcare World show. It
was an unsolicited quote saying they preferred us over
Reuters. Virtually half of the stack of business cards we got
from prospects at that show were influenced by that quote!
We know our content is better. We also compete in the areas of
cost and flexibility. We organize and maintain our data in an
easier fashion for clients. You can subscribe to any niche
from us. We also have great customer service.
We also syndicate through iSyndicate and ScreamingMedia. So
far Screaming's been by far the best. We started getting
revenues pretty much from the beginning from them. We're
still trying to figure out how to parse out and use our
content with iSyndicate. We foresee money coming from them
but so far it hasn't worked out. We signed contracts with
both companies in Spring 2000, and got our first royalty check
from Screaming in September and the amount's been going up
every month.
We also get a lot of excellent leads for direct syndication
sales from Screaming. People see us there and say, "Well heck
I can probably go to NewsRX and get it directly." It all
boils down to how you want to receive your news feed. The
Screaming model is excellent for a great number of folks. I
also have referred people to Screaming -- I do that at least a
couple of times a month when somebody wants something very
nichey we can't provide.
Q: What about ad sales? The main NewsRX.com site only seems
to have a few button ads.
CH: The ad sales program has been a total failure. The ad
sales model is a weak one. We've gotten some ancillary
income, but you certainly can't support a site or consider it
a significant source of income. It just doesn't work. That's
why a lot of sites are folding.
Q: Where is your money coming from now? Can you give us a
breakdown of your revenue model?
CH: Our model is very broad. We sell stuff in print, we sell
electronic weeklies, we license content, we have the new
reports and articles program....
Most of our income is still coming from print, but we're
seeing electronic revenues increase pretty rapidly. In fact
we're expecting them to equal print revenues within 24 months.
We signed a deal with Factiva in October. We're also the
first electronic publisher to be put on EBSCO Online. It's an
electronic ordering and delivery service for librarians. That
academic marketplace is a tough nut to crack. It's reserved
exclusively for journal publishers, so you can't go directly
info the library market unless you're associated with an
aggregator like EBSCO or Gale Group. We've been doing
business with Gale since the 1980s. They're launching a new
health and wellness product that we'll be a big part of.
We're trying to hit every conceivable way to sell content or
to do something with partnerships with people. I think
overall as an industry, health and medical publishing print
sales are declining. They have been for the last year
industry-wide. So all the print publishers are scrambling to
figure out how to make money off electronic.
Everybody's still supported by print sales, but their future's
dependent on doing something with electronic.
http://www.newsrx.com
http://www.clickshare.com
*****
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