Hosted by:
Don Nicholas
and Kim Mateus
Mequoda Group, LLC

Dear publishing colleague,

Here's an idea that, at first blush, seems radical and wholly counter-intuitive. You decide.

Imagine a successful print publisher giving away the company's valuable editorial content that it previously sold to happily paying customers.

Imagine making absolutely free on your website the very same articles, photos and videos that you previously sold, that comprise your database of editorial content.

Would you do that?

Would you re-purpose your valuable paid content and offer it free online in order to drive circulation and expand your brand?

We believe that if you're not doing exactly that already, you will soon.

In fact, Don Nicholas makes a bold statement:

"For most publishers every photo, every video clip, every story should be moved into the free domain to become part of your audience development program."

"It's not free content," says Don, "It's your new circulation marketing program."

"How many articles do you own, that exist in your archive, that generated zero revenue for you over the past 12 months?" Don asks.

"Every one of those articles needs to be in your Mequoda hub, optimized for search, so that they bring in search traffic."

You've got questions. We've got answers.

Welcome to the new and ever-changing world of online publishing...presenting a quagmire of questions...with no absolutes.

Big question #1: How should our paid content become free over time?

Some of the other vexing problems confronting publishers like you:

• How can we use the same intellectual property to both create products that users will pay for, and use it as webpages, newsletters, podcasts, and other types of free content, in order to build an online audience?

• When does premium editorial content become a commodity?

• When should it become part of our online marketing mix?

• How much of our content needs to be repurposed on our website in a search engine-friendly manner? (Answer: All content should be optimized for search.)

• How does that happen? Who on our staff should do this kind of work? Writers? Editors? Webmasters? Circulation managers?

• Is there a time delay between when the material is published in print as a paid product, and when it should appear on our website as a free or promotional product?

• What constitutes an "evergreen" information product that can be used indefinitely?

Those are just some of the numerous questions Don wants you to consider. And he'll provide you with thoughtful, actionable, multiple-choice answers during the Mequoda Online Editorial Strategy video seminar on July 25, 2008.

That's because there is no one right answer to any of these new challenges. There are usually three or four or five right answers.

Don can help you discover what your options are.

He can help you to figure out what questions you need to be asking yourself.

And he can provide case histories of publishers who are executing this new online publishing strategy to drive circulation and make huge additional profits.

Editorial content: Your competitive advantage in the online world

Most successful website publishers don't buy banners, print ads or television spots for a content-based website. They use editorial content to drive traffic.

The competitive advantage that a print publisher has when launching an online website is the archive of well-researched, well-written editorial content that can be repurposed to become the core attraction of an audience development program.

As you transform your print publishing company into a multimedia publisher, one of your biggest decisions is "what platforms are we going to publish on?"

How will we take our editorial content and expand our brand on multiple platforms?

It's the classic fee vs. free conundrum.

How much of our editorial content should be sold as product, and how much should be used as the driver behind our online marketing strategy? It's a big decision.

And that's only the beginning. How are you going to answer these nagging questions?

• How much of our online content should be original?

• How much of it should come from our newsletters or magazines?

• Where is that content now?

• How does it get repurposed?

• How much does it cost to reuse it?

• Does the content need to be manipulated before we can post it?

• Are the articles as they exist in our archive already in minimum information units?

• Or does someone need to go in and cut them apart? If so, who?

• Must it be someone who is knowledgeable about the subject matter?

• Must it be someone with search engine optimization expertise?

• Or can it be someone working in India or the Philippines?

• Who within our organization needs to be trained in search engine optimization?

• What kind of content management system do we need to facilitate this protocol?

Developing your individual editorial strategy, guidelines and policies

We predict confidently that as your content ages, it's going to become free.

Much of today's premium content will be tomorrow's free content because it has become commoditized in the marketplace.

And make no mistake.

The content that you sold once can now be repurposed as the foundation of an audience development program to get Google, Yahoo! and MSN to send you traffic.

But "one size fits all" doesn't apply here.

Don't bring your publication online and launch a website without a clear editorial strategy for how your paid content will get recycled as online content and become part of your operation's audience development program.

Someone in your organization must set clear guidelines and policies, otherwise this is going to be a haphazard, frustrating, wasteful and futile exercise.

If you don't have rules and guidelines for how you're going to run your new publishing business, you'll have no system (and you will be very inefficient).

This is all about building business rules and then challenging them. You must constantly and continually challenge the rules to assure that they are the best practices to be following today.

The publishing environment is changing... the competition is changing... and the platforms are changing. So you must be prepared to make adjustments.

After the live 90-minute Mequoda Online Editorial Strategy video seminar, you're likely to have even more questions. The answers will depend on the market segment you're in, who your audience is, and a host of other considerations.

We know. Because when Don sits down with one of our Mequoda consulting clients trying to figure out how to develop an editorial marketing system, and develop guidelines, these are the burning issues.

But now you can tap into Mequoda's most recent research and latest best practices on using new media to expand your brand. And the cost is nominal.

Get your most pressing questions answered inexpensively

The Mequoda Online Editorial Strategy video seminar is for experienced publishers, editors, journalists, copywriters, circulation directors, website architects, usability engineers, creative directors and others responsible for website design, website content, Internet strategy and online marketing of newsletters, magazines, books and other information products.

Here's how it will work:

On Friday, July 25, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, you can join the live Mequoda Online Editorial Strategy video seminar for just $247.

You'll dial into the Mequoda Online Editorial Strategy video seminar and simultaneously view a PowerPoint slide show on your computer screen, while you listen to Don's presentation.

If you want, you can invite all your colleagues to huddle around your desk and speakerphone and share the experience. The investment is the same, no matter how many people are listening along with you.

The Mequoda Online Editorial Strategy video seminar will be interactive. That means you can participate in a live Q&A session by instantly emailing your questions to me, and I will relay them to Don.

This is an extraordinary value. Our clients routinely pay up to $5,400 a day to get the entire Mequoda Method online marketing program presented to them in person.

Plus, hundreds of individuals have paid between $1,000 and $1,500 to attend the two-day Mequoda Summit.

Now, for less than $200, you can get the Mequoda Online Editorial Strategy video seminar -- in just 90 minutes.

But you must act soon or you might miss out.

There are a limited number of phone lines, and the Mequoda Online Editorial Strategy video seminar won't be repeated any time soon.

I urge you to register right now.

Just use this link to the Mequoda Online Editorial Strategy video seminar online registration page or call (866) 713-1005, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time to register by phone.

With my sincere wish for your online marketing and publishing success,

P.S. If you are unable to attend the live video seminar on July 25th, you'll can still buy the entire Mequoda Online Editorial Strategy video seminar on CD-ROM to watch at your leisure, by clicking the registration button below.

P.P.S. I almost forgot to tell you about the money-back, satisfaction guarantee. It's simple. You risk nothing.

If you're dissatisfied in any way with the Mequoda Online Editorial Strategy video seminar—if you're not absolutely convinced you received a minimum of 10 times the value for your investment—you'll get a prompt refund of your entire purchase price.

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