Local news and niche publishing wrapped in hyper-local advertising are the inevitable future of profitable media. Large publishing companies are going under with the weight of many mouths to feed and long, expensive distribution channels to get their messages to their readers’ coffee tables. As the canopy opens on this space, nimble, smaller, even home based media businesses are sprouting.
How has this happened? I believe it is a combination of diminishing returns on the old ‘rivers of gold’ (once controlled by the big end of town), with the advent of a glut of media channels and technologies for new delivery models. The financial ‘backbone’ of traditional newspaper publishing was always the classifieds, real estate and automotive, along with per-copy purchase revenues. To start a newspaper or magazine you needed to already have a dozen other titles in the stable, invariably launched by your father’s father.
Then the internet hit. Initially the impact was minimal, but in the last few years as readers start looking elsewhere for their information, the industry has been whisked into a storm of panic. Suddenly Dear Dolly does not have all the answers. Suddenly the same news on the homepage of a $1.50 newspaper is available earlier online, with related links, videos and community opinion…for free!
Having a magazine on a niche topic can be very beneficial for a number of different reasons. Not only is it possible for you to get a regular readership which can add up to a lot of advertising income and income from subscriptions, you can also use the magazine to direct people back to your website on a regular basis. Over the past 10 years or so, a large change has taken place in magazines and they have gone from being something that you hold in your hand to something that is digital and is read only computer screen. Of course, you can still have the paper magazine and it is always a good idea to do so but the digital age has added a new twist to the entire subject.