Simon Owens's Tech and Media - Freelance journalism doesn’t pay
Freelance journalism doesn’t payPLUS: Why so many publisher ecommerce verticals produce such mediocre resultsWelcome! I'm Simon Owens and this is my media industry newsletter. If you've received it, then you either subscribed or someone forwarded it to you. If you fit into the latter camp and want to subscribe, then you can click on this handy little button: Let’s jump into it… 2024 is right around the corner, it’s time to get your publishing business ready!From the rise of generative AI content to unpredictable platform updates, the past year has seen major changes across the publishing landscape. As the new year approaches, it’s time to stay above the trends and take control of your business and revenue with today’s sponsor, Memberful. Trusted by some of the web’s most prominent independent publishers, Memberful allows you to communicate directly with your most devoted audience through exclusive member content. Creating exclusive content and combining that with existing advertising efforts diversifies your revenue stream so you’re always prepared for the changing economic and media landscape. Memberful has everything you need to run a membership program including in-house newsletters, private podcast feeds, custom branding, gift subscriptions, mobile pay, free & paid trials, and tons more. Plus, Memberful seamlessly integrates with tools you already use, like WordPress, Mailchimp, and Discord — making it the perfect tool for independent publishers, large creators, media companies, and local news sites. Visit memberful.com to get started with a free trial and start off 2024 prepared to handle anything. Freelance journalism doesn’t payA Substack writer wrote about why he has repeatedly passed up on opportunities to write for the New York Times:
A former travel writer named Gary Arndt expanded on this notion in my private Facebook group:
It’s still entirely possible to make a pretty good living as a freelance writer, but not if you want to derive most of your revenue from traditional journalism outlets. In fact, the main incentive for writing for these outlets is so that you can namecheck them when pitching yourself to potential clients. Back when I was a freelancer, the vast majority of my income came from companies that wanted me to leverage my journalism skills to write for their blogs and other content verticals, and my traditional journalism credentials merely provided me a way to differentiate myself from the competition. How Dylan Bowman built Freetrail, a media outlet for trail runnersFor most of his career as a professional ultra marathoner, Dylan Bowman didn’t have much of an online presence, but in 2019, he suddenly found himself with a lot of time on his hands after he broke his left ankle and had to take a year off from racing. That year, he launched a podcast where he interviewed his fellow pro runners, and it pretty quickly became a huge hit. It didn’t take long for Bowman to realize that the podcast provided a huge opportunity for his post-racing career, so in late 2020 he and a co-founder launched Freetrail, a media outlet that operates a podcast network, a YouTube channel, and even its own ultramarathon races. Watch our discussion in the video embedded below: If video embeds don’t work in your inbox, go here. ICYMI: How an interest in whiskey birthed a thriving media companyThe Whiskey Wash capitalized on the rise of craft distilleries and is almost entirely funded through digital advertising. Buzzfeed pivots from social mediaI remember when BuzzFeed executives bragged that they were agnostic as to whether their audience consumed their content on social platforms vs the BuzzFeed website. Now it's shifting its focus to delivering more direct traffic:
The New York Times’s blockbuster success with AIMost of the coverage of the NYT's subscription success has focused on its content strategy, but it's also implemented an increasingly sophisticated paywall that attempts to predict the exact moment a reader is most likely to subscribe:
I’m looking for more media entrepreneurs to feature on my newsletter and podcastOne of the things I really pride myself on is that I don’t just focus this newsletter on covering the handful of mainstream media companies that every other industry outlet features. Instead, I go the extra mile to find and interview media entrepreneurs who have been quietly killing it behind the scenes. In most cases, the operators I feature have completely bootstrapped their outlets. In that vein, I’m looking for even more entrepreneurs to feature. Specifically, I’m looking for people succeeding in these areas:
Interested in speaking to me? You can find my contact info over here. (please don’t simply hit reply to this newsletter because that’ll go to a different email address. ) Henry Blodget’s vindicationBusiness Insider founder Henry Blodget is stepping down from his role as CEO:
Of all the media entrepreneurs to emerge out of the mid-2000s blog era — Arianna Huffington, Jonah Peretti, Nick Denton, Michael Arrington — Henry Blodget ended up being one of the most savvy. His execution wasn't flawless, but he rode the shifting waves of the digital media landscape fairly well and came out of it with a great exit and a solid reputation. Why so many publisher ecommerce verticals produce such mediocre resultsOver the last few years, nearly every mainstream publisher has launched some kind of product recommendation vertical in order to capitalize on affiliate sales, but most went about it pretty lazily:
Do you sell a product targeted toward marketers, media executives, or professional creators?What a coincidence! That’s exactly who reads my newsletter. You can find out how to reach them over here. Want a daily dose of media industry news?I only send this newsletter out twice a week, but I curate industry news on a daily basis. Follow me on one of these social platforms if you want your daily fix: You're currently a free subscriber to Simon Owens's Media Newsletter. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. |
Older messages
How Freetrail carved out a media niche for one of the country's fastest-growing sports
Friday, November 17, 2023
Ultra marathoner Dylan Bowman grew a highly diversified company on the back of his personal brand.
The advertising recession is over
Tuesday, November 14, 2023
PLUS: The internet is a video-first medium now
Was Jezebel a victim of keyword blocking?
Friday, November 10, 2023
PLUS: Writing fiction doesn't pay
A better alternative to micropayments
Tuesday, November 7, 2023
PLUS: The platforms aren't the only ones to blame for declining publisher traffic
How the Sunday Long Read newsletter built a thriving membership by curating longform journalism
Tuesday, November 7, 2023
Don Van Natta Jr. and Jacob Feldman grew the newsletter to over 25000 subscribers.
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