Not even the media gets the media right

Remember when the iPad first came out and some magazine publishers were rushing to get their product into the iTunes store? There were stories of disputes between the publishers and Apple, especially about the rules for approval of their apps. Many of those stories said the problem was the remit — i.e., the percent of the purchase price that the publisher gets.

Nope. That wasn’t it. Apple’s 30% cut of the purchase price is quite fair. The dispute was (and is) about who gets the customer information.

Pimping your brand to advertisers is a losing game

Magazines are losing ad pages to digital, so they’re scrambling to come up with new ways to please advertisers, which is why there’s so much attention on “native advertising.”

I think it’s the wrong way to go.

I don’t like to use this kind of language, but in this case it simply fits, so please pardon my French.

Magazine publishers need to be their own bitch.

Rather than trying to find new ways to please advertisers — who are always fighting to get more and pay less — find new ways to please your subscribers. And charge them for it. People will pay for good content they can trust.

Along those lines, this otherwise depressing article has a kernel of truth in it: Time Inc.’s Q4 and Full-Year Results Show a Company in Decline.

Somewhat promising though, are subscription revenues. Although they were down 7 percent in Q4 2014 versus Q4 2013, YoY revenue only fell by 1 percent. That’s critical considering chairman and CEO, Joe Ripp, recently stated at the American Magazine Media Conference that he expects subscription revenue to become a big piece of the pie.

Publishers made a huge mistake when the Internet first caught on. They put their content out there for free, hoping that digital dimes would make up for subscription dollars. Then digital dimes became pennies. It was a fool’s errand, as most people realize now.

Or … you would hope they realize it. Unfortunately, many publishers are making the same mistake with apps and Facebook and Flipboard and various other free internet services. They keep selling their birthright for a dish of pottage.

My opinion: quit feeding the beast! Stop giving away your valuable content for flighty ad revenue.

Create something of value and charge for it. Make the digital version of the magazine an upsell. Get more revenue per subscriber by charging for “all access.” Quit allowing companies that don’t create any content to profit off of your content.

I mean that as a preference, or a mindset, not as a fixed rule. The ad-supported model does work for some things. But publishers need to resist the temptation to make ad-supported the default. Rather, make subscription revenue the default, and don’t be afraid to charge for valuable content.