Tom Abate at MiniMediaGuy has an interesting idea: combine a blog with a small, short-run, locally distributed publication as a way around the fact that niche online publishers can’t make significant money from advertising.
Tom crunches some numbers, makes some realistic assumptions, and figures out a hyperlocal blogger could, with a little hard work and sales ability, do better that they’ll do be relying on banner ads. He writes:
Could a monthly or quarterly print zine be a profit-making complement to a Web publication? I think so….
I think so, too, at least as a transitional strategy. Print still has an aura that online doesn’t, particularly to small advertisers who can’t afford viral advertising, major campaigns and all the rest. And the ad rates that a small-readership local blog can realistically set are low, low, low and not likely to start rising any time soon.
That will change. The net is increasingly mainstream and the value of hyperlocal sites and tightly targeted readers is becoming more evident. Operating costs for the typical hyperlocal blog are significantly less than a print-centric publication. Eventually, the economics will favour good, well-positioned local news and blog sites. (Of course, at that point the smart local newspapers will launch their own hyperlocal neighbourhood sites. Or buy out the good ones.)
Until then, adding a little print to the mix might not be a bad idea.
TAGS: PUBLISHING, BLOGGING, HYPERLOCAL JOURNALISM
