Micropayments are about to get their biggest test yet
Micropayments are about to get their biggest test yetPLUS: Some famous creators are resisting the "Beastification" of YouTube.Welcome! 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… Enjoy my newsletter and/or podcast?By becoming a paid subscriber, you’ll help put food on my table: Quick hitsApparently giving off a stench of desperation in your fundraising emails can work at getting readers to pay for news. [Nieman Lab] Back in the 2000s, there was this big effort to get the average internet user to start using RSS readers to consume content, but mainstream adoption of those tools never caught on. I kind of think the same rule will apply to the Fediverse: it's cool in concept but how many internet users will get on board? I mean, Mastodon still has a tiny user base despite tons of free press. [Digiday] Some famous creators are resisting the "Beastification" of YouTube — refusing to leverage flashy edits or melodramatic thumbnails and just trusting audiences will show up anyway. [NYT] Ben Thompson, one of the earliest paid newsletter pioneers and a key inspiration for the invention of Substack, just celebrated his 10th anniversary of launching Stratechery. [Substack] The Washington Post is launching a pay-as-you-go system that behaves a lot like micropayments. "His offering isn’t about netting a few quarters and dimes from passersby, of course; it’s about getting their email addresses and credit cards and putting them in the marketing funnel, with the hope that they’ll subscribe down the line." [Puck] Reese Witherspoon has become one of the most powerful forces in book publishing —not only able to catapult a title to the NYT bestseller list, but also to the big screen as well. [NYT] An interview with Hasan Piker, who considers himself a Rush Limbaugh of the Left and streams eight hours a day for his 2 million Twitch subscribers. [Wired] ICYMI: How the Geekout newsletter grew to 30,000 subscribersI’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. ) 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: Invite your friends and earn rewardsIf you enjoy Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, share it with your friends and earn rewards when they subscribe. |
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How TAPinto sells local ads across 90 news sites
Monday, June 3, 2024
Mike Shapiro developed a range of ad products and all sorts of unique incentives that allow his network operators to collaborate on selling sponsorships. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
The rise of the bookazine
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PLUS: How the Creator Economy is upending media talent relations ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Are publishers overthinking their ecommerce strategies?
Monday, June 3, 2024
Media companies don't need to achieve Steve Jobs-level product design in order to succeed in ecommerce. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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Monday, June 3, 2024
PLUS: How The Guardian generated a massive amount of reader revenue without a paywall ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
How Philip Taylor built FinCon, the leading conference for personal finance creators
Thursday, May 23, 2024
You can't open up YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram without encountering an influencer who gives advice on how to make and save money. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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