Online Business Models

Vincenzo Marino does an excellent reporting job on the International Journalism Festival news site, by summarising and distilling the good stuff emerging from an interesting and sustained debate on Twitter (Business Models for Journalism - Storify) on the state of online journalism and its potential future business models, initially kicked off by entrepreneur and Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen.

Among the highlights, what Andreessen calls “the most obvious eight business models” for now and the future:

1. Quality journalism for high-quality ads

2. Succeeding in making readers subscribe and pay for value products

3. Premium content worth buying

4. Relying on live conferences and events

5. Investing across multiple channels

6. Crowdfunding ("Gigantic opportunity especially for investigative journalism")

7. Offering the option to pay in Bitcoin for micropayments

8. Keeping an eye on philanthropy (like ProPublica and Pierre Omidyar's First Look Media)

One stratospherically important point to take home from this valuable roundup is the following: 

"The role played by quality, however, is crucial especially when analyzed in the light of the tendency of the market to expand, creating less accurate content.

The challenge is to make a product (or brand) a point of reference, a lighthouse in the night of uncontrolled content and viral hoaxes."

Informative. Resourceful. Insightful. 8/10

Original article: http://www.journalismfestival.com/news/state-of-the-media-and-possible-business-models/ by Vincenzo Marino 

Reading time: 12 mins.

To build a new business online, it may prove quite effective to develop minimum viable products of the services your community is asking for, before moving all of your resources and money to build a full-featured and complete version.

Vladimir Blagojevic has curated a selection of seven useful minimum viable products that have been already created, as to provide an inspirational reference to anyone wanting to embark on the same journey.

"A minimum viable product is “that product which has just those features and no more that allows you to ship a product that early adopters see and, at least some of whom resonate with, pay you money for, and start to give you feedback on”.

For each one he has provided a good description of the real-world example, a screenshot and good story-description of how the minimum viabe product was put together.

Resourceful. Instructive. 8/10

Full guide: http://scalemybusiness.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-minimum-viable-products/ 

People are more than happy to sign-up for music streaming services, but when it comes to pay for access, very few feel it is something they want to do.

Pandora has for example 70 million users, but only 3 have decided to pay for the Premium version of the service.

While most industry players are attempting to have music fans pay for higher quality audio options and a no-ads experience, it is likely that the future of music monetization will not be anymore in direct music sales.

"Several analysts doubt that streaming companies can attract enough paying customers with only recorded music, citing a sharp drop in music sales over the past decade and abundant free music online. And they say it will be difficult for them to survive on advertising alone."

The key to survival for music producers, whether large or small, may be indeed elsewhere.

"...some see these companies’ success as lying in a so-called subsidy model, in which music sales support another business with higher margins.

Apple, most notably, used low-margin music sales to spur demand for iPods, phones and computers.

“Music is an accompaniment, to add to your jog, your workday, your prep in the kitchen,” said James L. McQuivey, an analyst for Forrester Research. “But it’s not something you’re eager to pay for if you don’t have to.”

The likely outcome is, as it is already happening, that monetization will come from everything that ranges from events, to merchandising and to collector's items. 

Informative. 7/10

Full article: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/12/13/4691034/a-stream-of-music-not-revenue.html 

(Image credit: Woman listening to streaming by ShutterStock)