iProduction Blog

Digital Transformers

April 23, 2013 - In this occasional series, IProduction takes a look at some of digital publishing’s movers and shakers. These digital transformers use new ideas and reinvent old ones to make sure their digital publications perform to the highest editorial and revenue standards.  Read more

Reader Metrics: A Step Beyond Analytics

March 15, 2013 - What is so different about the Web and digital distribution that makes advertisers place less value on online readers? I believe the answer is because we give the advertiser Web analytics instead of reader metrics to qualify our digital audience for advertiser attention.  Read more

Ramp-up Online Revenue with Matrix Advertising

January 16, 2013 - Print is not dead. It’s not even dying—witness the brimming magazine racks in bookstores and news kiosks—but it is definitely past its prime. Yet, if you compare ad rates for print publications to those of online pubs, you might still think that print was king. Cost-per-thousand impressions in print can be 1,000 percent—or more—higher than the cost of online impressions. Part of the reason is habit; part is questionable assumptions; and part is the market.  Read more

Two Cases of Successful Use of Social Media to Increase Audience

August 17, 2011 - For a number of years I have been listening to the Social Media advocates with a fair amount of skepticism. I just could not understand how placing valuable content from a named brand publication on a social network would help anyone but the social network. Articles on Facebook, and LinkedIn only generate page views and advertising dollars for Facebook and LinkedIn. In my view, it is a “help only” situation. The publisher is only helping the social network with nothing in return.  Read more

Increase Revenue by Increasing the Length of Editorial E-newsletters

June 13, 2011 - A few weeks ago I attended the ABM Spring conference in Austin TX. The theme was marketing services, but the real buzz was online revenue. In many of my conversations with publishers I discovered a common theme and question: how can I get more online inventory?  Read more

Lessons From Snowboarding

April 12, 2011 - I had a breakthrough last weekend in my desire to learn how to snowboard. It gave me some revelations about why print publishers have such a difficult time with the transition to digital.  Read more

SEO is a Discipline, Not a Project

January 26, 2011 - Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is often approached as a project: once the steps are completed, nothing more needs done. However, it requires regular attention and maintenance in order to remain competitive.  Read more

Good Editorial is the Key to Successful E-media

April 9, 2010 - In March my days were dominated by editorial. IProduction had the honor of sponsoring the ABM Neil Awards . It was extremely refreshing to see all the great editorial work and listen to very passionate editors' acceptance speeches. I am a firm believer that all publications begin with good editorial. To be in a room of dedicated professionals who live to provide good news, features, and research to their readers was very invigorating.  Read more

Book Review of Digital Body Language

February 26, 2010 - When I happened across the book Digital Body Language: Deciphering Customer Intentions in an Online World by Steven Woods, I ordered it without hesitation.  Read more

Don't Leave Money on the Table With Your Paid Content

December 21, 2009 - I am on an airplane. It is Sunday afternoon and I should be watching the Vikings vs. the Packers. I have a 9:00AM meeting with a B2B publisher on Monday morning in New York and have to fly from Las Vegas to JFK, but the only flight available is during the first quarter of the football game. At the gate, I watched the Vikes take an early 7 to 3 lead and then I had to board the plane. My son had texted me that it was 14 to 3 by the time I was told to turn off my phone. To my excitement, the flight offered Internet access.  Read more

Why Search Engines Are Not Publishers

November 25, 2009 - I finally purchased an iPhone. Over the years I have transitioned from an early adopter to somewhat of a late adopter. I purchased one of the first PDA/cell phones in about 2000. You had to place it in a cradle on your PC, run a program and it would sync your contacts, appointments, email, and anything else you tried to sync to it. iProduction even did a few products with Post-NewsWeek Tech Media to download high tech articles onto your PDA. We received a sum of five figures from a mobile provider. Those were the days.  Read more

Off the Grid

September 29, 2009 - The last week of May, 2009, I spent a week off the grid. I went on a fishing trip in Ontario, Canada to a very remote lake. There were no telephones, no cell service, no internet, and not much power.  Read more