How Media Companies Can Generate Revenue

By Marisa Peacock | Published Mar 17, 2010

It’s safe to say that many media publishers are focused on creating new streams of revenue. But how many media revenue models can there be and how do you identify the one that works best?

Ross Dawson, author and blogger, has been working to create a Media Revenue Models framework in an effort to give companies a sample of what is available.

Media Revenue Models

At the core of the framework is the concept that the more value added the more revenue that can be generated. While most newspapers offer the same types of revenue-generating formats from classifieds to subscriptions, in order to successfully benefit from them, it’s important to know which are valuable to users.

In his article, Media Revenue Models Framework: 12 categories of income sources for media companies, Dawson outlines a draft of the values publishers and content creators can seek to incorporate, as well as the different ways from which revenue can be generated. Dawson says the lists aims to “help executives to think in new ways about their own business.”

Roadmaps for the Future of Media

His article, Creating the Future of Media: 4 Driving Forces, 4 Strategic Issues, 4 Essential Capabilities Dawson goes into much further detail, examining the most central driving forces, strategic issues and capabilities in the evolving media landscape.

He provides yet another framework outline social media strategies:

Dawson’s mission is to create models that articulate not only the directive but the course of action as well. With the challenges being faced by magazines, newspapers and online media, sometimes we are quick to judge, suggesting obvious options and changes, that may not be as obvious as we think.

Media is valuable purely because it’s information. But in a global economy and with web that encompasses a mass of information, greater than any media organization can appropriately aggregate and synthesize, some media is more valuable than others.

Evolving at the Right Pace

As many others and we have pointed out before, it’s about experimentation. Finding a new niche audience or investing in a new technology doesn’t happen overnight. In an era of rapid technological advancements, it often seems unnecessary to work so hard and wait so long for the payoff.

Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1440. But it wasn’t until the 1500s that the printing press proved successful. And even then, it took centuries for print publishing to be refined and profitable. Those that continue to experiment and challenge current revenue models, will see the media landscape evolve, improve and profit from the value added.