The Media Pioneer awards were established by the Specialist Media Show, to recognise innovative and entrepreneurial activity by independent and specialist publishers across print, digital media and events.
Ryan O’Meara’s specialist media business began online; he only launched a print magazine in response to advertiser pressure, but he quickly found the economics of newsstand distribution and promotion untenable for an independent publisher. So just over a year ago, he stopped the print edition of K9 Magazine and went digital only.
K9 Magazine targets a different audience from the traditional print pet magazines – younger and more technically savvy – and the digital version has plenty of video clips plus live links to buy products. The content of K9 Magazine is deliberately designed to be “evergreen” focussing on practical tips on dog ownership, as all topical and news content is online. The logic behind this becomes clear when Ryan explains his sequential delivery strategy. Members receive the current monthly edition for their £20pa. They also get access to the magazine archive; these editions are delivered one a week from the day they sign up. So an edition can be consumed (and valued) by new members a year or two after first publication.
The content is also repurposed into ebooks, which are sold online at $9.99, and provide added value for members. Ryan uses search tools to check the level of interest in ebook topics, and most of their sales are driven online by search. All the ebooks carry heavyweight marketing for the magazine. Content on the pet websites is carefully optimised, and searchers arriving on the sites see promotions for the magazine and ebooks, creating a virtuous circle of re-used content and cross-promotion.
Data is a key part of the business model – members are happy to provide information about their dog, and that provides valuable segmentation for K9 Media and their advertisers for targeted email communications. Sister digital magazine Total Dog is completely free for readers; its value is in the email database it creates.
K9 Media works closely with advertisers, providing a mix of online advertising, digital magazine ads and sponsorship, targeted email marketing, and affiliate commission deals. Their ad rates are impressive, as they have a dominant position in their niche online.
Ryan is exploring international markets and business to business propositions for K9 Media, and also applies his publishing approach to niche luxury markets for Vivo Media.
Ryan’s top tips for digital specialist publishers:
• pick a niche you can dominate and check the content on search engines
• create evergreen content that can be re-packaged
• use ebooks to find customers interested in a specific topic
• create a valuable membership package and get the value from your archive
• use interaction in digital magazine and emails to build relationships
• provide a marketing service to your ad clients – don’t just sell space
Contacts: www.k9media.net, www.vivomedia.co.uk.
The overall winners of the Media Pioneer awards will be announced at the Specialist Media Show on 11 May 2011. If you know a business that you think deserves to be nominated as a Media Pioneer, please let us know – call 01733 367230 or contact us through our website.
