How To Create A Profitable Magazine Archive With Minimal Investment
As a magazine publisher we know you’re aware that the future of your brand relies heavily on your digital presence, particularly on the ability to access your archives online. Having a digital archive has become as essential as having printed issues of your publication in terms of creating a lucrative future. Large publications invested in their archives years ago, knowing they would now be using them to repurpose content in a variety of ways. 
We know as a small publication it can be difficult to figure out how to take the first step to digitize your archives, since the only two options seem to be either invest a large amount up front to create the archive and maintain the rights to its content, or have it created for free but give up a large portion of the revenue moving forward. These have been the only two archive business model options available so far on the market, both designed for larger publications that can afford a substantial investment.
For this reason we have created a third model specifically for small to mid-size publications to have the best of both worlds.
A common concern we have heard publishers voice when faced with creating their archive is justifying the initial investment needed to create one that allows them to maintain the rights to its content. The truth is that while there are numerous providers out there that offer off-the-shelf digital publishing solutions as a way of combatting expensive premium plans, these solutions often fall short when it comes to delivering all of the standard features you want, such as branding, indexed back issues, advanced search, subscription and security, and the ability to customize the product depending on your own unique needs.
Here is how we came with our solution:
At Realview we recognize this problem and so have devised a publishing package just for you, providing you with all of the technology, features, support, and marketing guidance you need to get your archive up and running at an investment point that is less than a fifth of the going rate for a standard archive cost. Not only is this package affordable but can also open up numerous channels for revenue growth that you may be currently missing.
That fact may serve you well as a starting point for your digital plan, but what about long-term profitability? A common concern, especially amongst small publishing companies, is that they do not have the resources to maintain a digital archive and that it will end up costing them more than they thought over time. Let us put to rest this idea once and for all, as we believe a digital archive product should never require you to hire a new tech team. A sustainable digital solution should provide this for you.
A common concern we have heard publishers voice when faced with creating their archive is Realview’s user friendly digital archive solution uses the latest technologies to process, convert, and host your files for you, and since the solution adapts and grows to meet new technologies, it requires no upkeep on your end to ensure it is up to date. Through our user friendly publishing portal will can simply complete any and all tasks, such as uploading new issues, enhancing them with interactivity, and then making them live on your site. And yes, it really is that easy.
If the concern is that you don’t have the technical know how to support your digital products, then rest assured that Realview’s support system is a phone call away, ready to assist you with any questions you may have about your digital archive.
James Schweder, the Vice President of Technology at Kalmbach Publishing Co, finds that the ease and consistency of Realview’s system, along with how seamlessly it fits into their ongoing publishing process, has helped them alleviate all of their frustrations with previous solutions. “I don’t have to even think about it, sometimes I forget it’s there from a support perspective. If anything were to happen I would just give you guys a call, but that has never happened as of yet.”
One of the biggest roadblocks holding publishers back from digitizing their archive is that they do not foresee how they can make a return on their digital investment. In order to ensure the long-term success of your digital archive a solid marketing plan must be established. Once you decide which streams of revenue you want to encourage (ad/subscription), then Realview can help you put together a marketing plan to go hand in hand with your business plan.
Experience has shown us that implementing small adjustments like raising the price of each of your ads by .50 can cover your monthly archive investment, often your entire monthly digital overhead. And with all of the added interactive enhancements you can give to these ads it is not a stretch to assume your advertisers will not be discouraged by this change.
Here at Realview we recognize that a lot of smaller publishers often don’t have the resources and funds to dedicate to a digital plan that some of the larger companies do, which is why we have put together a package which is not only easy and affordable, but will open up numerous monetization options, helping you to make a continued return on your digital investment. For $199 per month the “barebones” archive package includes:
– Processing and page conversion
– Automatic hyperlinking of URLs and emails
– Viewer Branding and Functionality
– Content and Data Ingestion (the single most costly item for an archive investment)
– Subscription
– Search engine indexing
– Advanced interactive features
We also recognize the importance of working closely with publishers so we can put together a digital publishing/marketing plan that is tailored to meet your business goals and encourage a return on your digital archive investment.
Want to learn more about this Barebones Archive model?
