Prescott Shibles - B2B Internet Marketing and Media Insight

With escalating printing, postage, paper costs, publishers are grappling with how to take magazines to the Web as online-only franchises. Having recently relaunched a shuttered magazine as a Web-based business, I thought I'd share my thoughts and experiences on the subject.

Evaluation: The Mendoza Line for Magazines

John French developed a means of monitoring the financial health of the portfolio early in his tenure as CEO of Primedia Business. An avid sports fan, John named his process the Mendoza Line. By closely monitoring properties with diminishing returns, publishers can evaluate and even try multiple turn-around strategies for maintaining the print product against attempting the migration to a 100% Web-based business. It's important to choose the leap to the Web instead of it being the only option.

Once you know a property is nearing the Mendoza Line, you need to evaluate whether or not you have people with the right skills to sustain a business solely on the Web. That evaluation should determine what training the existing staff needs, and if there are members of the staff that don't have the desire or ability to work for a Web-only media site. Be careful not to assume that "print people" don't get the Web. Give them the opportunity to learn the skills they need before you drop print.

Workflow

One of the most overlooked issues with going digital is the radical change in business operations. Magazines operate around issue close dates, affecting both workflow and workload. The transition from a "close"-based workflow to dynamic publishing model has implications for editorial, marketing, and sales. Many will struggle with how to create deadlines without the print product. As email newsletters become less viable due to list fatigue, this will become a greater challenge.

Content Strategy

Your editorial team will need to become experts at writing for the Web, search engine optimization, Web traffic analysis, and community building. It's not just about writing articles we think people will like. You need to do keyword research to know that people are actively seeking the information you are creating.

In addition to learning new skills, you will need to evaluate how important news is to your franchise. Many properties feel that they can compete online as a news product. Personally, I think that news is an expensive proposition versus aggregation and reference content. You need more editors covering more beats to compete in the news space. News content's value depreciates rapidly, within days or weeks. With reference content, you can build out your site gradually, filling in the holes over time. Reference content's value depreciates gradually, often lasting years. Both are viable models, but news is definitely more of a challenge.

Sales Strategy

Hopefully, your sales team is already selling integrated buys and is successful selling Web-based advertising and marketing solutions. However, you probably need to find a way to develop products with a bigger price point in order to support the business. Focus on charging premiums for targeting and segmentation. Don't chase the buzz of the next cool thing (social networks, vertical search, video). You can create a product that happens to be on that list, but make sure it has real value behind it.

Timeframe

Give your team time to acquire the skills it needs before pushing the web-only red button. If you discuss this as an option early on in the process, you have time to train your team and prepare them for the challenges of no longer having print. If you prepare for the migration, you'll see how fun and profitable it can be.