A couple of weeks ago, I attended the Niche CEO Summit in Alexandria, VA. It was great to talk with niche publishers about new revenue streams that are working well for them. Mark Hintz, a keynote speaker and CEO of Sovereign Homestead Magazine Publishing, led an interesting, lively roundtable discussion with B2C publishers about custom publishing opportunities.
Some of the publishers were paid circulation, some free, some newsstands only–and hybrid models. All of them wanted to learn more about ways to generate new revenue with custom products!
Here is a short list of some of the successful custom product ideas that came out of the B2C roundtable:
- Team with local arts organizations to produce a magazine/brochure for them. Produce their editorial content too.
- Approach associations to produce their materials.
- Meet with hospitals about developing promotional materials for the community and their other audiences.
- Create a “fan-zine” for local schools focusing on their athletic or music programs.
- Featured an organization in one of your past issues? Show them how you can wrap a cover on the specific article for a promo piece that they can distribute for added credibility.
- Find out about new local businesses from the Chamber of Commerce and approach those businesses about getting the word to the community with promo pieces–published by your magazine.
Make it low-stress for the customer and you.
Finally, most of the publishers agreed that a flat fee for custom products works best and simplifies the process, versus splitting the advertising dollars.
If you create some new publishing opportunities now, you can have a recurring revenue stream for the long-term. What new products are you going to develop in the next 12 months? Tweet us your ideas @nichemediahq.com.
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About this blogger: Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Niche Media. A former sales director and corporate marketing hack, she has now found nirvana in writing and wrangling quality content. Diana is a food, wine, art and SF Giants enthusiast…who sometimes gets carried away.
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