Newspaper Killer

Newspaper paywalls can be considered the next phase of the industry’s mandatory rehab. Some call it denial, while others call it a last gasp. We call it an opportunity.

If the dominant publication in your town has erected a silly paywall, get down on your knees like Tebow and thank the man upstairs. You’ve been handed a golden ticket. Now’s the perfect time to fire up a simple WORDPRESS site and pull a ‘Huffington Post’ on their sorry ass.

With so many displaced journalists looking for work, the time has never been better to use every web 2.0 trick in the book, and compete directly against the paywall-crippled Newspaper giant in town. WordPress.org is your first step in this battle. It’s easy to use, it scales fast, and it’s cheap. When it’s used correctly, it can kick some tush in the SEO department too.

• Step #1 – Stop spending so much time reading Romenesko and other News/Website pundits. You really won’t learn how to build a profitable business with that stuff. Goofing on FOX NEWS or discussing research is not a business model that drives revenue.
• Step #2 – Avoid any conference, consultant, salaried VP Digital, IT person or research firm that has no local sales background. Why? Because new business development at the local level, is the most critical part of your local news start-up.
• Step #3 – Get ready for my ultimate WordPress webinar. You’ll quickly learn how to use this amazing CMS, ( content management system ) to rule your local market. Attendees get ( at no-charge ) a WordPress install, a powerful NEWS formatted template/theme, domain name, and free hosting for a year. And….one lucky person will be selected to get 3 months of free consulting. I’ll personally help the winner go up against the pay-walled paper in their market.

If Newspaper publishers placed business execs in charge of digital, would the industry be in better shape today? Are those in charge of Internet operations, out of touch and un-qualified?

That was the major theme from our ‘Profit-First Website’ workshop at the America East Newspaper Conference recently. ( See video & PPT below ) Of course, some in the audience were quite uncomfortable with the notion of making money. One such attendee was a  former director at API; the American Press Institute. Here’s what the ex-API director tweeted, soon after my standing room only session:

‘Can not say enough how offensive I found Mel Taylor’s presentation. He might be have been right about stuff, but ugh’. 

With API merging / being saved by the NAA, ( Newspaper Association of America ) one would think that money-making would no longer be seen as a necessary evil. Rather, it would be finally be embraced as a critical component to local journalism. With newsrooms being down-sized almost daily, maybe it’s time get serious about sustainable business models for news? Maybe we look for different advice before it’s too late? Want some different advice? Subscribe to my freebie newsletter below.

Some popular, politically incorrect items that I shared with the room:

• Your publisher has no idea how to run a web business
• Salaried executives have no financial skin in the game
• Separate Internet sales teams will create internal civil war
• Local media websites foolishly cling to CPM sales models
• Your online inventory management sucks. Bad. Really bad.
• Most online media kits & sales packages are pathetic
• Newspaper needs new leadership, not more research & conferences
• Letting outside sales consultants pitch your local clients, is deadly

Below:

• Video from the America East Recap webinar we did on March 22.
• The slide deck we used in Hershey, Pa., at the conference.

Here’s a taste of what we’ll cover in tomorrow’s AMERICA EAST NEWSPAPER recap webinar. Wanna join this free webinar starting at 10am et? Register now at America East Mel Taylor Webinar 

Web Training for Reps: Waste of Time. Publishers need help first. How can you manage what you don’t fully understand? Don’t spend money on sales rep training until you have these 2 critical things in place:

1. Written, digital operations & sales plan
2. Publisher/owner is trained in web business models

Director of Interactive Qualified? Is your VP Digital or web manager qualified to lead a realistic, revenue strategy? While they can build slick sites and collect eyeballs, these skills don’t equal revenue & profit. How much longer can you allow this person to bullshit you about reader engagement, time on site, and Facebook fans, while they tap dance around sales and revenue issues?

Who do you follow? If your company primary follows recommendations for online revenue strategy from research and conference babble, you’re toast. Newspaper doesn’t need more data, analysis and discussion. Newspaper needs action in the field with updated operations, management & compensation structure.

Salary vs. Performance-Based Pay. In the print world, the publisher or ad manager is always compensated based on sales performance. But with most newspaper websites, those in charge are usually salaried. If you delegate sales strategy to a salaried executive, you’re much more likely to get well-trafficked sites with a ton of unsold inventory. And as you do in print, if the person in charge continues to miss budget, they not only lose commission and bonus, they lose their job.

Management Structure Conflict.

1. Web managers typically report to a print ad manager. The print manager has a comp package that substantially encourages traditional sales. This may be one of the most critical choke-points of growing online revenue. Where will print managers place most of their effort?
2. Newsrooms are primary operators of most websites, including where and how content & advertising is placed. If we would never allow the editor to determine the ad mix in the paper, why do we allow them to determine online ad units and placements on the website? Just like your print publication, the website must be ultimately run by those with ‘web profit & revenue first’ goals.

Crappy Inventory & Yield Management. Nothing says poor web-sales management than seeing a lame Google AD Sense or network ad on your home page. Geez, you can’t sell your most valuable, most powerful ad unit to a local sponsor?

1. Can’t sell your premium home page placement at top dollar?
2. More than 25% of your available inventory is sold to 3^rd party ad network?

Mr. Publisher, you have the wrong person in charge.

Confusing Media & Sales Kits Local business owners prefer simple offers, delivered using retailer-friendly vocabulary. They’re not sure of the value of 1 or even 10 million page-views. Most can’t even spell the word: CPM. Excel spreadsheets with ad units, cpm’s and other confusing data only frustrates the advertiser. It also freaks out the sales rep who’s trying to clearly explain the features & benefits of a cross-platform marketing program.

We’ll do a 2012 America East RECAP webinar from our Hershey session– this WEDNESDAY March 21, 10AM ET

The recap will feature take-aways & best practices….from this WILD, standing room-only session:

For Publishers Only; Run Digital as Profit-First Business.

Turned away due to overcrowding? Miss the live event on March 13 in Hershey, Pa? This FREE webinar will provide Q & A and deeper insight into topics covered during event. Register now. Space is very limited. We’re not kidding.

Register here: America East RECAP

Once registered you will receive an email confirming your registration with information you need to join the Webinar.

Newspaper, TV and hyper local websites could learn alot from a guy like Nick Denton, of Gawker. His site’s subject matter may not be your cup of tea, but the way Gawker Media uses web 2.0 tech to enable cash flow and profit is EXACTLY what traditional media needs to adopt. We reported on Gawker’s Online Revenue plan a while back.

Local publishers would be wise to study success stories like Gawker Media, as well as Huffington Post, Drudge, Breitbart.TV, Perez Hilton and Craigslist. These pioneering sites continue to break new ground in both – content operations and revenue generation.

We’ll discuss issues like these at the upcoming America East Newspaper Conference in Hershey. I’ll do a session called: For Publisher Only; Run your Website as a Profit-First Business. Watch Nick Denton of Gawker Media profiled in the video below. (Recently broadcast on NBC’s Rock Center)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The America East Newspaper Conference in Hershey, Pa., starts on Monday, March 12. With online revenue, web strategy and digital-first discussion being a hot topic, I’m looking forward to doing a must-attend session there.

‘For Publishers Only’ is a session that will likely upset some, but will be incredibly valuable to anyone with a financial stake in their publication’s online success. Publishers, owners, CFO’s and private equity investors will watch as we call out the 800 lb. elephant in the room: Why don’t we run digital like print; where profit and simple business tactics always come first?

America East attendees of this session will learn:  

• How & why private equity firms are depressing your newspaper’s valuation
• How to place valuation on your digital assets
• How to reduce costs of overall operations via digital
• Determine if person in charge of digital, is qualified to reach online profitability
• Staffing best practices; why separate digital sales teams are recipe for disaster
• How CPM & 3rd party sales efforts are harmful to your business
• Best practices of online inventory & digital yield management

Here’s a short video clip from the 2009 America East conference. I interviewed video journalist pioneer; Michael Rosenblum, about the future of newspaper and online news. Has newspaper progressed much since this video was shot 3 years ago?

Digital-first media and workflow for newspaper is one of the topics I will discuss at this week’s 2012 WNA Wisconsin Newspaper Association convention in Madison. We worked with and tracked hundreds of local media sites over the last two years to put this amazing session together.

With online sales and revenue generation finally becoming a top priority for Newspaper, TV, and Radio companies, the system below is truly gaining traction. Click on the image below, in order to expand.

NENPA, Feb. 10 & 11, 2012 in Boston. The New England Newspaper and Publishers Association invited me to speak on 2 critical topics; Running your Website as a Profit First Business, and Hyper-local Revenue Success Stories. See full NENPA 2012 agenda here.

UPDATE: Here’s the presentation deck I used at NENPA 2012, New England Newspaper and Press Association

For the upcoming 2012 Mega-Conference in San Antonio, we wanted to prepare attendees with info that’ll help them get the most out of the show.

Here’s part #1 in a series leading up to the event, put on by the SNA, Inland Press & SNPA.

As readers know, we’re wickedly focused on the fast changing business models of local media. We’re also a bit curious when a really smart news exec with limited sales & biz-dev background, is put in charge of digital operations.

Rick Surkhamer

Recently, Rick Surkhamer; president of the Chicago Sun Times ( and keynote speaker at the Mega-Conference ) announced a new business operation called STM Digital, which will be lead by Fred Lebolt, his senior vp of news. Lebolt will oversee all Sun-Times Media digital content delivery and advertising sales, and will coordinate online activities throughout the company.

We love the fact that Fred has the news chops, but wonder if Lebolt’s editorial-first focus will affect STM’s ability to reach profitability. We suggest that Mega-Conference attendees review the pros & cons associated with placing a salaried newsroom exec in charge of your new ‘digital start-up’.

That being said, we wish the Sun Times all the best with this move, and look forward to checking in on future results.