Hyperlinked version available at: https://whatsnewinpublishing.com/231-ways-publishers-can-make-media-pay/ COVID-19 has reinforced the need for publishers to diversify their revenue sources. With advertising proving to be both a problematic, and an unreliable income stream, for many outlets right now, the race is on to find other ways to make media pay. Last year, in a free report, we set out 50 techniques being used by a range of different companies. This was followed by two deep dives (also free!) into the emerging field of eCommerce. Inspired by a 2014 list of 76 ways to make money from digital, produced by the Editor at Large of Business Insider David Plotz, during his tenure as Editor in Chief at Slate, and this 2015 list of 52 ideas by Josh Stearns, Director, Public Square Program at the Democracy Fund, I’ve been intending to come up with a more expanded list of potential revenue streams for a while. Below I’ve compiled 231 hyperlinked ideas cutting across areas such as: Advertising and Sponsorship, Content, Business Models, Philanthropy and Memberships, as well as Partnerships and eCommerce.

1. August 3, 2020
231 ways publishers can make media pay
whatsnewinpublishing.com/231-ways-publishers-can-make-media-pay
Proven revenue ideas for publishers, both large and small
COVID-19 has reinforced the need for publishers to diversify their revenue sources. With
advertising proving to be both a problematic, and an unreliable income stream, for many
outlets right now, the race is on to find other ways to make media pay.
Last year, in a free report, we set out 50 techniques being used by a range of different
companies. This was followed by two deep dives (also free!) into the emerging field of
eCommerce.
Inspired by a 2014 list of 76 ways to make money from digital, produced by the Editor at
Large of Business Insider David Plotz, during his tenure as Editor in Chief at Slate, and this
2015 list of 52 ideas by Josh Stearns, Director, Public Square Program at the Democracy
Fund, I’ve been intending to come up with a more expanded list of potential revenue
streams for a while.
1/10

2. Below I’ve compiled 231 hyperlinked ideas cutting across areas such as: Advertising and
Sponsorship, Content, Business Models, Philanthropy and Memberships, as well as
Partnerships and eCommerce.
You may disagree with some of the ways that I have grouped these ideas, and not all of
them will work for you, but hopefully you will agree that this list shows that there’s lots of
great examples to learn from out there.
Right, let’s get cracking!
Advertising
Advertising Products
Ads for old media – TV, Radio, Print
Ads for digital – mobile, tablet, website, social media etc. – includes banners and
boxes
Combined ad sell – Print + Digital
Ad networks– i.e. purchase across titles e.g. USA Today Network, MediaNews
Group
Consortium Ad networks, national – Local Media Consortium
Consortium Ad networks, local e.g. past efforts such as Sacramento Local Online
Ad Network (SLOAN) and in Chicago and Boston
Sponsorship of beats – News & Record’s Arts coverage, Greensboro, North
Carolina, the Guardian’s Global Development series.
Sponsorship of site – Longform (sponsored by Pitt Writers, the University of
Pittsburgh’s Writing Program)
Sponsorship of Slack channel – The Boston Globe (for small businesses during
COVID-19)
Underwriting —Common at NPR stations e.g. WCBE 90.5FM (Ohio), also VT
Digger
AdSense from Google
Homepage Takeover – The Guardian
Section front takeovers – The Guardian
Pre-roll video ads
Mid-roll video ads
Post-roll – NPR Visual Newscast on Amazon Alex and Google Assistant
Outstream video – Burger King and Fin24
In-Stream video ads – Reuters on Twitter
Non-skippable ads/sponsor messages – NPR One (app)
Podcast advertising – recorded ads (Mailchimp, Squarespace et al)
2/10

3. Podcast advertising – presenter reads e.g. Pod Save America – usually including
trackable podcast promo codes – Crooked Media
Targeted Print Ads – Hearst’s MagMatch (addresses readers by their names)
Promotional Inserts e.g. flyers in magazines, coupons in local papers etc.
Billboard advertising on the outside of your building (outdoor advertising is
growing)
Special sections – advertorial, Christmas guide, travel guides etc.
Sunday Select – opt-in advertorial print product, for non-subscriber homes e.g.
Arizona Daily Star, The Denver Post
Freesheets – free newspapers such as the Evening Standard (London), Metro
(across the UK), Isle of Wight Observer News
Classifieds – Herald and News, Klamath Falls, Oregon
Job Ads – Monster Newspaper Partnership, includes Cherokee County Herald
(Alabama), Beatrice Daily Sun (Nebraska) and the King of Prussia Courier
(Pennsylvania)
Job Package – GeekWire (promo via website, Twitter, newsletter)
Business Directories – Daily Herald, Provo, Utah
Legal and Public Notices – East Oregon Marketplace, a service covering
newspapers such as the Wallowa County Chieftain, Baker City Herald and La Grande
Observer.
Live Stream sponsorship – KPCC (Southern California Public Radio)
Advertising free
Subscription – Netflix, HBO
Tiered – Hulu and CBS All Access have no ad, and limited ad, plans
Membership – e.g. Slate Plus members get podcasts advertising free + fewer on-
site ads
Ad free access to partner sites – Scroll
License fees – BBC in the UK
Events (tickets and sponsorship)
Industry focussed conferences — Recode
Business Roundtable – Central Maine Business Breakfast Forum (Morning
Sentinel and Kennebec Journal), Business Breakfast Forums (Portland Press
Herald)
Study Tours (Professional Development) – Technical.ly, FIPP
Event Business – The Atlantic (AtlanticLIVE)
Event listings – Charlotte Business Journal (Events Calendar)
Pop-Up Magazine
Digital Events (ticketed) – New Scientist
Digital Events (sponsored) – Axios
3/10

4. Digital Events (private Facebook Group) – Women’s Health (Hearst)
Ideas (multi-day/week) — Texas Tribune, Atlantic, New Yorker
Music Festival – MusicfestNW, Willamette Week, Portland, Oregon
Book Festival – The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books (est. 1996)
Women-led – POPSUGAR Play/Ground
Political — NJ Spotlight, Politico
Consumer – ELLE Weekender (fashion, beauty, wellness, talks)
Social (networking, happy hours, games) — City Lab and MinnPost, Geekwire
Wedding Fairs – Chattanooga Times Free Press, Brooklyn Based
Cultural (film, food, etc) - WBEZ Chicago BBQ, Portland Mercury Pizza Week
Variety show– MinnRoast (MinnPost) annual song-and-skit fundraiser
Local Business Showcase – Like A Boss, Portland Press Herald (1-1 Q&A with
local CEOs)
Notable Local Voices – Maine Voices Live (Portland Press Herald)
Awards — GeekWire, Technical.ly, Billy Penn
Education/Training (classes) — Amherst Media, Wanderlust
Meet the Journos – Guardian Live, The Nation Cruise, MinnPost
Celeb Meet and Greet – Makin’ It Magazine (Meet the DJs Industry Meet &
Greet)
Live Shows – podcasts such as Slow Burn, 2 Dope Queens, Ira Glass, Criminal
Professional networking – Marie Claire Power Trip conference (invite only)
Travel / Holidays – Buffalo Toronto Public Media, The Nation
Sports event – The Denver Post Ride The Rockies
Content
Subscriptions and Digital Paywalls
Print Only subscription
Digital Only subscription
Bundle (print and digital) subscription
Corporate subscriptions – WSJ, MIT Technology Review
Student subscriptions – Bloomberg, The Ken (India), Business Insider
Trial subscriptions
Subscriptions for non-news products – New York Times Games (e.g.
Crossword) and Cooking
Hard Paywall– FT, WSJ, Times of London
Metered Paywall — Slate, Medium, Boston Globe
Dynamic Paywall – New York Media, Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ, Switzerland)
Freemium – Le Monde (France), BILD (Germany), Independent (UK) (as of 2019,
data via Reuters Institute)
4/10

5. COVID-19 Hybrid – coronavirus content free, range of other models for other
content
Subscriptions via third party sites – e.g. The Seattle Times on Groupon
PAYG / Micropayments — Winnipeg Free Press, Blendle
Geo-targeted – Dallas Morning News
Google Consumer Surveys – complete to unlock access to content
Email sign-up – complete to unlock access to content
Cryptocurrency payments / Tokens – Chicago Sun-Times, Time, Brainpickings
Large versus Regular Print products – Reader’s Digest
Newsletters
General, Specialist + Events (sell banner ads) – KPCC (Southern California
Public Radio)
Niche – e.g. Coronavirus, Education (The Seattle Times), Oregon Outdoors
(Statesman Journal, Gannett)
Advertiser/Sponsor supported — POLITICO Nightly: Coronavirus Special
Edition
Subscriber only – Charles P. Pierce Membership Program, Esquire
Membership Funded (e.g. Patreon) – Water and Music, Cherie Hu
Reader-supported (e.g. subscription, no ads/sponsors) – Advisorator
Newsletter Archive – Water and Music, Cherie Hu 2016–2019 archives $5+ on
Gumroad
Daily Audio Briefings (Amazon Alexa and Google Home)
Premium Content
Global Live Streams – CNBC Pro (U.S., Europe and Asia streams available)
Paid for Research — Skift, Economist Intelligence Unit, Business Insider
Intelligence
Org Charts (of tech companies) – The Information (free to subscribers)
Paid for Insights and Analysis – Politico Pro, Stratechery, Harvard Business
Review
Specialist publications – FT’s Financial Adviser, weekly newspaper for UK’s
financial intermediary community
Subscriber only emails – Digiday+, MIT Technology Review
Subscriber only reading lists – Harvard Business Review (HBR)
Paid for Apps — This American Life (full archive on iOS and Android), the Skimm
Substack newsletter subscriptions – Nicole Knows, A Media Operator
Long form content in audio form – Audmn (subscription)
Subscriber only stories – AdWeek, Digiday+
Subscriber only app – The Economist, The Information (Tech Top 10)
Subscriber/Member only podcasts/audio – Slate, Washington Post
5/10

6. Platform based exclusive and ad free content – Stitcher premium
Archive series – Ricky Gervais XFM shows and podcast
Archive episodes – This American Life (iTunes and Amazon MP3)
Back Issues – The Denver Post (last 30 days)
DVDs, Audiobooks etc.
Obits – Bay Area News Group (Digital First Media), Daily Herald (Utah), Over
1,000 newspapers partner with Legacy.com as the vendor
Sell movie and TV rights – Home Coming, Pod Save America et al
Make movie and TV series – This American Life (Showtime), The New York
Times Presents (FX – FX Networks)
White Papers “free vendor-supplied technical content” – TechRepublic
Doubling down on Trump (NYT and others)
SMS / Texts e.g. from journalists on specific beats – Subtext, from Advance Local
Personalised newspaper front page – Times Union (Albany, New York)
Print Magazines for a Digital Outlet — LoDown (monthly to 2015), Digiday+
(quarterly)
Local Guides (food, outdoor, etc…) — Watershed Post (h/t @Josh Stearns)
Special Editions – e.g. USA Today Black History Month 2019
Commemorative book – Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl-winning season –
Inquirer and Daily News
eBooks – Londonist
eBooks based on online special features – TechRepublic
Quarterly (printed) book of long reads – Tortoise
Business Models / Biz Dev / Other
Business Models
Mergers
Acquisitions – New York Times buys WirecutterandSerial Productions
Split broadcast and print businesses – Tribune into Tribune Publishing (print
and online) and Nexstar Media Group (broadcasting)
Investment from old media – NBCUniversal and BuzzFeed, Disney and Vice
Investment from VCs – Mic
International Expansion – e.g. Quartz moved into the Indian market in 2014
New language services – TIME for Kids
Products aimed at children – The Gazette (daily newspaper in Cedar Rapids),
The Week Junior
Grants, Investment and Donations from Foundations and NGOs – Seattle
Times Education Lab
Investment / Donations from the public – NPR stations
6/10

7. Investment from Government – BBC Media Action, Voice of America, Middle
East Broadcast Networks
Selling off downtown buildings – Tampa Bay Times, Chicago Sun-Times
Match Funding – NewsMatch, Longreads (WordPress.com matches every dollar
with another two dollars)
Services + Spin-off Businesses
Wire Services – AP, AFP, Reuters, Press Association et al
CMS and Digital Publishing Tools – Arc (Washington Post)
Content syndication – Guardian, Washington Post
Premium/Specialist syndication – Tribune Content Agency
Branded Content Studios – T-Brand (NYT), R29 Creative (Refinery 29), Reuters
Plus
Digital marketing – TEGNA Marketing Solutions
Web Design
App Creation
Copywriting / Content Marketing – e.g. authoring White Papers for businesses /
B2B publishers
SEO advice and consulting — Hearst Localedge
Product development + consulting for other brands – BuzzFeed
Dating – Guardian Soul Mates (closed in 2020)
Archival Stories – Denver Post (goes back to 1993 online)
Print and Deliver publications for others – NYT does this for Newsday
Rent out studios + other facilities– Buffalo Toronto Public Media
Research and Surveys – Harvard Business Review Analytic Services
Subletting unused office space – NYT renting out four floors in their HQ
Unused office space as a movie set – LA Times (netted $4m one year)
Book Publishing – HBR Press (Harvard Business Review)
Food Halls – Time Out Lisbon, Time Out New York, The Monocle Café – London
Wine Club – The Sunday Times
Physical Retail Stores – Monocle, National Geographic (London store now closed)
Foreign Money Exchange – The Times Currency Services
Partnerships with Platforms
Ad revenue split (articles) – Facebook Instant Articles, Apple News
Paid to pilot new service – Facebook Live, (perhaps Spotify video podcasts?)
Premium content exclusive to platforms – Snapchat Discover, Facebook
Watch, Apple News Plus
Creator Funds – Tik Tok, YouTube
Digital Newsstands – full subscriptions or articles, Kindle, Magzter
Digital Newsstands – subscriptions, unbundled articles, Magzter, Scribd
7/10

8. TV series about your work – BuzzFeed (Netflix)
TV Series developed from your work – Homecoming (Gimlet Media + Amazon
Prime)
Podcasts with ads sold by the platform – Acast
TV series about your work – BuzzFeed (Netflix), NYT “The Fourth Estate”,
TV series brand extension – Axios on HBO, “Explained” by Vox for Netflix
TV Channel – Viceland (Vice)
Philanthropy
Cash Donations — MinnPost, Vox
Tip Jar
In Kind donations – office space, equipment etc.
Donations through Alexa – KUOW
Donation of a car/vehicle – KLCC
Pledge Drives – NPR + NPR affiliates
Legacies / Planned Giving – NPR
Crowdfunding — New Brunswick Today, The Lo Down (h/t @Josh Stearns)
Crowdfunding stories – Guardian series This Land is Your Land, Spot.US
Grant for specific series – Guardian’s This Land is Your Land via Fund for
Environmental Journalism (FEJ)
Crowdfunding roles – Little Bit of Stone, Texas Tribune
Kickstarter fundraising for a series – 99% Invisible
Memberships
Patron Programme – The Guardian
Membership program with freebies – Bungalower (Orlando)
Member only events – e.g. Tortoise digital ThinkIns
Investment Club – Jim Cramer’s members-only investing club, TheStreet
Professional Networking hub – Forbes Communications Council, – Invitation-
Only Organization For Senior-Level PR And Communications Executives.
Data
Sell your subscriber data
Sell your email lists
Lead generation e.g. White Papers for third party
Lead generation – upsell to your own products e.g. Pars.ly, GWI research docs.
Audience insights for Product Development – BuzzFeed
Audience insights for partnerships – POPSUGAR at Kohl’s (apparel range)
Market Data plus access to content – Bloomberg, Reuters
eCommerce / Retail
8/10

9. Licensing / Product Partnerships – BuzzFeed Tasty (p/ship with Walmart),
BuzzFeed Goodful (w/ Macy’s)
Locally produced merchandise – Richland Source: “Made in the 419”
Publication’s own photos and prints – The Denver Post
Subscription Box — POPSUGAR Must Have (quarterly)
Deals by Text (Weekly) – POPSUGAR Must Have It
Online Fitness Classes – Hearst (Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Runner’s World,
Cosmo)
Online Tutorials/Workshops – Family Handyman DIY University
Online Store – Times Union (Albany, NY), Digg, BoingBoing
Fashion – Marie Claire Edit
Software – Digg
Archival prints (digital and physical) – The Seattle Times
Sales on platforms – Pink News and Snapchat
Selling on third parties – Seattle Times (Groupon), Reader’s Digest (Groupon),
Magazines (e.g. Hearst and Meredith) on Amazon Prime
Hotel Bookings – Culture Trip
Cruises and tours – The Times Expert Traveller (discount for subscribers)
Shop the Ads – NBCUniversal
What ideas have I missed? Drop me an email damianr@uoregon.edu or hit me up on
Twitter @damianradcliffe and let me know!
By Damian Radcliffe
9/10

10. Damian Radcliffe is the Carolyn S. Chambers Professor in Journalism at the University of
Oregon, a fellow of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, an
honorary research fellow at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Culture
Studies, and a fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers
and Commerce (RSA).He is an experienced digital analyst, consultant, journalist, and
researcher who has worked in editorial, research, teaching, and policy positions for the past
two decades in the UK, Middle East, and USA.Damian is a regular writer, commentator
and speaker on digital trends, social media, technology, the business of media, and the
evolution of journalism. Follow him on Twitter @damianradcliffe and see links to his work
via www.damianradcliffe.com and http://journalism.uoregon.edu/member/radcliffe-
damian/
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