The Pay-For Content Debate

Every business, big or small, needs a healthy and regular revenue stream to maintain quality and continually improve what they do. Running a content website is no different. If you believe you can achieve your financial goals whilst giving your content away for free, then do it, but as Warren Buffet famously said “only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.” As the recession bites, there will be a lot of website owners exposed to the harsh truth.

The good news is a lot of the rubbish on the web will disappear and the quality content will become more visible. The key to success is generating multiple revenue streams.

• Every content website should provide free content. This will drive traffic, help build credibility and, of course, generate some advertising income.
• Affiliate marketing will become more important in bad times as merchants try to get more bang for their marketing bucks. Online publishers need to hook into this lucrative market.
• eBooks, research and other downloadable products should be sold.
• Events, webinars and courses should be created and promoted via the site.
• Every website owner should strive to find a way of getting monthly subscription income to give their site financial stability.

Ultimately, free content is good, but you need paid content to survive.

The recession will lead to thousands or maybe millions of free content websites closing down.

I think this is a good thing.

As Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, recently said the internet is a cesspool of false information. A major clearout will give oxygen to quality content and allow it to float to the surface.

If you are already an online publisher producing quality content for a niche target audience, keep going, your time has come.

If you are considering setting up a niche online publication, I would say there has never been a better time to get started, since the internet began …. provided that:

• You focus on creating fantastic content
• You know your audience
• You plan on making multiple revenue stream(including, if possible, subscription revenues)
• You understand that it will take hard work and persistence

What are your top 3 favorite social networks?

"A cord of three strands is not easily broken."

That's applicable where social networking is concerned as well. It's a matter of strengthening your social graph. Being networked with a given individual in three different places makes for a strong connection.

More and more business professionals are using social networks to build relationships, meet new contacts, and market themselves. For the uninitiated, however, diving into the virtual meet-and-greet can be daunting. Where to begin?

LinkedIn

For first-time users, the answer is LinkedIn. LinkedIn is your business suit. Developed specifically for business, the site doesn’t run the risk of blurring your professional life with your private one; and with more than 25 million users, it serves virtually every industry and profession.

While LinkedIn is not very conversational in its orientation, having a profile there has become expected. LinkedIn lends a degree of professional credibility. It is also the site that requires the least amount of upkeep.

Facebook

Now Facebook... that's business casual. Facebook allows more of a 360-degree view of you, combining both professional and personal sides. Plus, it's a more conversational platform.

Twitter

Twitter is cocktail hour. Think of after hours social networking events and you've got Twitter. It's the most informal of the three and allows for the greatest degree of conversation.

It's not enough that you have a presence on each of these sites, but that you leverage your presence to connect with others who are also present on each. Social media is about being "social." Each platform offers its own distinctive advantages, but it takes all three to build the strongest connection. Plus, it gives you ubiquity. You're everywhere!