Digital Magazines 2009 — Supplement to Folio - (Page 21) for!) or a few dollars per page for a simple conversion to an average of $1,000 to $1,500 per issue for a full-service partnership with a high-end supplier. The difference per unit between the endpoints of the range is minimal in terms of cost but significant in terms of service. Below are three basic areas of need and/or interest to consider as you go therough the due diligence of selecting a digital-magazine partner: Digital Editions: The Fastest-Growing Format in Magazines continued from page 9 1. Full-service or selfservice. A full-service partner provides the digital magazine, along with rich media options, tracking and reporting services, marketing services, and consultation on circulation- and revenue-enhancement strategies. A self-service solution might work if the publisher has staff with the time, talent, and expertise to produce a digital magazine in-house. 2. Digital rights management. Should the digital magazine be open to the world or locked down in one way or another? The answer to that question will influence whether a simple solution might work or whether it requires the expertise of a supplier who understands the wide variety of DRM capabilities that are available. ers each year—a steady climb over the past three or four years that we’ve been seriously into digital publishing.” Keeping the marketing fresh is a key to that success. Subscribers receive an e-mail blast each time a new digital edition is produced. “We had this old-fashioned notion of protecting print,” says Kilshaw. “Now we’ve turned that on its head and, in fact, try very hard to get the digital edition in front of the reader first. We position it as a sneak preview. After all, why bother logging in to read a digital edition if the print copy is sitting right there on the desk?” The digital edition is also featured on the home page—and virtually every page—of InterferenceTechnology.com, where subscribers can log in at any time and read the last three issues. But one of the most effective marketing efforts has been to feature one article per week from the new issue in an opt-in weekly e-mail newsletter. “That lets us guarantee to the advertisers that there will be traffic to the article in which their ad appears,” he says. “Our spring issue typically has 30 articles, which provides 30 weeks of material for our newsletter.” EH Publishing’s Varied Models Meanwhile, EH Publishing, which specializes in the field of home technology, has four titles with digital editions—three b-to-b and one consumer—and each situation is somewhat different. CEPro, a b-to-b title for home theater installers and one 3. Rich media enhancements. Enhancing a digital magazine with rich media to appeal to advertisers requires energy and expertise; examining those needs will help determine which type of supplier is best. -J.Z. of the company’s flagship publications, has offered a digital option to its 50,000 subscribers for more than a year. Today, the digital-only circulation is approaching the 10 percent mark. Last year, about the same number opted for digital but as a companion to a print copy; subscribers now must choose one or the other. For Live Sound International, which has 28,000 subscribers, the digital penetration has always been fairly high because of its international focus; about 15 percent of the file is digitalonly. “If you add the people who request both digital and print, it’s close to 30 percent,” says Elizabeth Crews, circulation director. Meanwhile, the digital edition of Channel Pro was launched last year as a source of free online content for what was then its brand-new website. Its business model is geared primarily toward sponsorship rather than circulation revenue. “We’re seeing a slow increase in reader acceptance of the digital format,” says Crews. “Each month we get a few more who choose digital, and the cost savings are fairly substantial. Our real push, though, is to figure out the consumer model. Electronic House is our one consumer title, and we’re trying to determine the right price point for the digital edition. Should it be free? Or $2, $6, or $9 a year?” On its Web site, the domestic subscription price for the print edition is currently $19.95; for the digital edition, $9.95. -J.Z. 19 http://www.interferencetechnology.com http://www.interferencetechnology.com
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