RE: [epub] business model

[mtoussaint@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Brian,

As your subscriber base grows, a number of opportunities
present themselves other than selling ad space. For
instance, I read the Internet Tourbus (www.tourbus.com --
I'm not involved, don't know the guys, just a good example,
blah blah blah), which is a very large list (80K+) that
highlights worthwhile sites and services on the net. A while
back, one of their authors gave a recommendation of
Alladvantage.com, which I'm sure you've heard of at this
point. He followed it up a few weeks later with a status
report on what he had earned. Last I remember, the guy was
making over $1400 a month in referral income. They recently
featured PayPal.com and ran a promotion for the service
which I'm sure will also work out well for them. The size of
their list and the trust they've built with their readers
are certainly the driving factors here, but the point is
that opportunities other than typical advertising will be
available.

Another example is a weekly marketing newsletter that I get
that's written by a leading 'net marketer. In a recent
issue, three out of four ads were either internal (leading
to his site) or for an affiliate program. This either means
that the guy has been successful at selling everything but
ads (I don't think this is the case), or he's found
opportunities that pay more over the long term than cash
from ad placements.

I think it's also important to note that the Tourbus is NOT
a weekly sales pitch. I've seen a number of publishers blow
it by going overboard with transparent endorsements that are
clearly just geared toward making them money. Your readers
aren't stupid (well, maybe some of them are, but let's give
them the benefit of the doubt), and will see through this.
Then, their trust in you is gone and your endorsements (even
the real ones) are worth a lot less.

I think a lot of lists tend to make money on a mix of ads
and opportunities like I mentioned above. Also, I may be
very wrong here (and if others have different experiences,
I'd like to hear them), but I think you'll have a difficult
time selling ads in a list of 1,000 unless it's very
focused.

Sorry this is so long. I'd like to hear any comments, either
on the list or privately.

Sincerely,

Mark Toussaint
MyDearDiary.com
mark@mydeardiary.com



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