11-Profitable Content Business Models
Written by : Rashmi Singh
Every content creator and publisher, be it a small niche website or a big magazine, knows that content creation is just half of the picture. The other half is developing a sustainable business model that can help you generate predictable revenue.
With the advent of new publishing tech, monetizing your content through various methods has become quite easy. Down below is a list of 11 reliable content business models that you can adopt to generate cash flow:
Magazine
Although the print magazine business is declining, the scope for creating digital magazines and selling their subscriptions online is still good. The benefit of adopting a magazine content business model is that you can build a profitable business even if you create content for a small niche audience.
Newsletter
A digital newsletter is much like a digital magazine except that the former is delivered primarily via email. One can either pay a membership fee for the newsletter or keep the newsletter free and serve advertisements to generate revenue.
Portal
A portal is probably the most well-known form of publishing content. A large number of news websites run on the portal content business model. In this model, all you need to do is publish free content in the form of blogs and serve ads on every blog. The advertisement slot can be sold on a CPM (cost per thousand), CPC (cost per click), or CPA (cost per action) basis.
Freebie
As its name suggests, the freebie content business model relies on giving away freebies to attract an audience. The publisher can ask for emails and give its audience freebies like e-books, reports, and white-papers in return. This method is best for generating leads or finding a niche audience to serve relevant ads.
Book
One can create content around books and attract an audience that is interested in buying and reading books. Such a book website can sell either its own books or act as a marketplace to sell the books of others.
Directory
If you publish a directory on your website, it can be beneficial both for your audience and advertisers. While the audience will get relevant information, the advertisers can have real estate on your directory for which they will have to pay. The best part – search engines tend to love directories, so you can expect a lot of traffic from there if you manage to create a truly robust directory.
Community
Over time, people left forums as social media platforms became their go-to platforms for engagement with others. But as more and more people are getting disenchanted with social media, they are returning to community-based platforms like forums. You can attract the audience through free content such as a newsletter or portal and charge a monthly membership fee for joining the forum.
Event
Attract an audience through free content, and once you gain a sizable audience, organize events that are relevant to your niche and sell tickets on your websites. For example, many news websites have started selling tickets for interviews with intellectuals and prominent personalities.
Course
Lately, selling courses has become one of the most popular methods of monetizing your audience. If you have a niche website, you can sell courses that upskill your audience. This model works well if you have a small audience, as you can upsell to the same buyers again and again.
Classified
Just like with most other content business models, you have to first gain a sizeable audience first to adopt the classified content business model. Once you get that, you can show classified ads for products, services, jobs, etc., on your websites. Unlike sponsorship and banner advertisement, classifieds generate lesser revenue per eyeball.
11. Calendar
A calendar content business model is similar to the event content business model as in both cases, your audience will get to attend events through your website. The main difference between the two is that the underlying revenue generator in the calendar-based model is sponsorships.
No matter the size of your audience, you can adopt one or more of these 11 content business models and generate predictable revenue. But you will also need the best tech infrastructure to get the highest possible revenue.
Quintype provides a complete suite of digital publishing solutions, including a smart and flexible CMS, a robust content monetization platform, and much more.