Chiperoni ku Basel

Where are the business models for content?

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nchenga

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News of dying newspapers and print magazines have been making the rounds. But also some well-established and respected blogs are closing, or struggling.

Mlle A. of Handmade2.0 recently commented on a design blog’s call for donations:

It’s not just print mags that face hardship. Meaning, blogs that started out with an unpaid version and that are now shooting stars among the design-spotting blogs have a serious problem: keeping up the level and quality, expanding the team AND being able to pay their editors, while at the same time people expect blogs to be completely free of charges. It’ll be interesting to see how this develops.

It’s not just online vs. print. It’s about new business models for content.

More than ever we need good and independent journalists, who have time to research and follow up on stories.

I noticed that some digital photography blogs have been bought by large online shops, e.g. Amazon bought dpreview.com in 2007 and another digital photography blog war recently acquired by a big player. Can’t think of the name. It was mentioned on a TWIP podcast and I remember thinking that it is a great example how content can help drive traffic to a site. Before buying a DSLR I spent a disproportionate amount time on photography equipment blogs.

But what about the less gadget-orientated news? The Watergate kind of journalism. News about local politics in your home town. How will that evolve?

Lots of questions, while I dive into the next chapter of “Principles of Business Economics”.

Comments

One response to “Where are the business models for content?”

  1. nchenga

    Recommended read via Mlle A.”˜s Delicious bookmarks:

    How we killed social media

    And probably a reason why many companies that are latecomers to
    the social media circus will never understand, why everybody
    is was so excited.

    Instead of following the latest social media advertising trend,
    my advice is: Be yourself.

    Be your-crazy-self.

    If it means only 20 unique visits per day, that’s much better
    than selling your ideas, your soul and well-being for 5K hits
    that will not return and will make you look trashy.

    Imagine 20 people walking into your brick-and-mortar shop per
    day.

    Don’t try to blog or post photos or twitter or upload videos or
    bookmark articles or share RSS feeds for advertising purposes
    only.

    Have fun.

    Don’t copy.

    Don’t be fake.

    Be Visible.

    Persuade with good content at regular intervals.

    When I presented a talk about blogging for content developers at
    an STC conference in Zurich, it was a photo collection of Nutella
    alternatives that Mlle A. and I started at http://www.flickr.com/groups/nutellaalternative/
    that people noticed. Lots of craziness in there.

    But I’m also using my energy for other projects such as the
    Malawi group at Flickr:

    My talk about cell phones in Africa was well received because I’m
    genuinely interested in ICT developments in Africa, because now I
    can connect with family and friends. Which I couldn’t in the
    early 90s, due to very high telephone costs.

    I don’t need to push my own business. Chiperoni and all of its
    side streams is just a fun project to try out new technologies
    and practice my writing skills and keep online bookmarks. And as
    such I’m probably a lot freer than somebody that needs to pay
    their bills with their online shop.

    Consider these facts:

    Social media is really disrupting the traditional conventional
    advertising and news world. Maybe at the end of it, all kinds of
    media will be dead”¦ new and old. C.f. my recent post on
    “Where are the business models for content?”    .

    Search engines have become all powerful. Important facts and
    knowledge are getting ignored because they’re not in the search
    results on page 1.

    That’s why independent niche blogging is important to me.
    Excellent research skills are much needed.

    That’s why your point of view and your understanding of a topic
    can make a difference. And that’s why you should continue to blog
    and tweet and post photos”¦ But IMHO the gold rush is over. It’s
    hard work. No quick wins.

    In a corporate environment, asking all of your company employees
    to digg an article or tweet by command is fake, if you don’t
    engage further and learn to use the new tools and make networking
    part of your company culture. C.f Scoble on Zappos.

    I would try to move away from “all about me and my beautiful
    company” kind of articles to showing your expertise and
    understanding for your particular part of the world market.

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    distribution tool set”¦     Hiding in Full Public View

    Reply

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