Subscribe
for just...
plus
Last month, Josh Marshall over at TPM posted two great articles about them no longer partnering with Flipboard: "Are Operations Like Flipboard Scams Against Publishers?" and "All Hail Flipboard?" (both worth reading).
You can't eat 'reach' and we can't pay salaries with 'brand awareness'. I don't pretend to know other people's business models or strategies. But successful business practices are always about having a close understanding of the costs of what you produce and the origins and mechanics of your revenues and more than anything else the interaction between the two.
From where we sit, in their current incarnations, these services are basically scams. I think their success is largely a matter of publishers being snowed by the mass transformations in publishing and particularly digital publishing and not being able to keep their heads about them.
I wholeheartedly agree with him. Many of the things publishers do in the digital world aren't really useful, especially when 'partnering' with social channels (TV and Twitter anyone?). It's more the result of media executives being so lost about what the digital world is all about that they chase whatever shiny object comes their way.
There are exceptions, of course, but most of the times it's just not good business. I wouldn't go so far as to call Flipboard a scam, because that would imply ill-intent. And I think Mike McCue, CEO of Flipboard, is trying to do the best he can.
But let's discuss when or how it might be useful to partner with other sites, and when it wouldn't. As Josh wrote: "There's no single digital news publishing model. [...] Different sites have different editorial and business strategies."
No matter what business you are in, the most optimal path you can have, both in terms of revenue, cost, and profit, is one that is 100% direct. A path with no outside steps between you and your customers.
Register to try out Baekdal Plus completely for free for one week.
Baekdal Plus is your premium destination for trends and analysis for the media industry. Every year you get 25 reports about the future media trends, business and editorial strategies, monetization analysis and insights about how to use analytics specifically for publishers.
As a subscriber, you also get full access to all the Plus reports (more than 200) published over the past 8 years, as well as the ability to share what you read.
Yes, of course, please write to plus@baekdal.com and I will send you a regular invoice that you can pay via your bank. I will need your company name, address and VAT number (if within the EU). Also, please note that due to this process being manual, this will be for an annual subscription only.
Yes, please write to plus@baekdal.com for details. But for 25-99 users: the price is 20% off the subscription price ($79/year per user), 100+ users is a fixed price at $5,000 (for all combined).
Yes, please head over to Baekdal Media to read about consulting where I can help you with strategy reviews, trend and strategy reports, and strategic guidance for you media company or a specific publication.
Free for subscribers
...or full access for $12
Climate change coverage needs a different focus, otherwise we lose our audiences
Free for subscribers
...or full access for $12
Free for subscribers
...or full access for $12
Solve one problem, to solve all of them.
Free for subscribers
...or full access for $12
Churn is something you have to manage long before people even subscribe
Free for subscribers
...or full access for $12
Free for subscribers
...or full access for $12
When publishers want to engage with their audiences, are they really unengaging them instead?
Free for subscribers
...or full access for $12
Only about 15% of the public pays for news, so how we do convert the remaining 85%?
Free for subscribers
...or full access for $12
Free for subscribers
...or full access for $12
Personalization isn't a filter. It's a focus
Free for subscribers
...or full access for $12
Founder, media analyst, author, and publisher. Follow on Twitter
"Thomas Baekdal is one of Scandinavia's most sought-after experts in the digitization of media companies. He has made himself known for his analysis of how digitization has changed the way we consume media."
Swedish business magazine, Resumé
plus
plus
plus
plus
plus
plus