Welcome to the content forum.

There are many issues that we will be discussing here, ranging from the simple sourcing of content and commercial deals, to more technical questions such as how to maximise the value of content through editorial style and the manner in which it is managed and updated.

And do not forget, while we should strive to provide users content more original than "joke of the day", some of the most simple content tools have been the the most effective generators of traffic across all paltforms... so I will be on the lookout for bizzarely successful crowd pullers.

If you have any questions on where to source content, please do ask, however you could ask yourself two key questions:
1. Do you know anyone who provides the content either on or off-line?... in which case it may be worth going straight to the source
2. Could I produce the content myself?... it is often quicker with better results to do so!
I have grappled with these issues many times, and would be interested to hear any questions or "solutions".

I am also currently interested to hear people's views on the Global vs Local debate:
In my view, the former is cheap, syndicatable, the latter expensive, and hard to buy off the shelf - intrinsically there is a competitive edge to doing local content well... and this is where much of the potential advertising revenue growth will come from...
I am working with a "Global" local-services provider and it is interesting to see how the commercial discussions revolve around this very axis.

I will also be posting some interesting content sources for dynamic entertainment-type content which can be sourced for free in exchange for the right reciprocation.

I look forward to our discussions.

Sooz

I haven't come across any case studies on the value of content per se. I think this is because the market is still such a melting pot of different models and partnerships. Please let me know if you come across anything, the most I can offer is a sort of framework for reaching a sensible value....

In my experience the starting point is to ask: "How is the value being derived from the content?"... and then derive a commercial model around this "value proposition". This will place the onus of revenue generation on either the creator or the distributor.

With establish content creators such as Women's magazines I can see no reason why they would pay anyone to distribute their content, unless as an entry strategy to launch their brand on the internet they would pay for a content partnership on a major portal. In this instance the distributor (portal) values their site as "real estate", very much like advertising where you pay to get you content infront of people.

Sometimes there may be a reciprocal / mutual benefit but, increasingly, content players are able to charge for their content. For a long time content was freely exchanged via the MSN " framed clipping" method. This is when content headlines are framed on the distributor site... with hyperlinks back to the content owners site when vewing the full article. Here the content owner clearly gets the benefit of the page impressions and advertising. The dsitrbutor gets the benefit of being able to attract people in the first place because of a good range of content... but is always in danger of losing the traffic and user. This is a weak form of relationship and I tend to advise people to integrate their activity with partners to a greater degree. The results are invariably better.

Here are a few more questions that might help you:
Is presenting the content going to lead to a transaction ?
Can advertising be sold on the pages displaying the content?
Is the content being used to entice new users to the site (e.g. Olympic results, or Euro 2000 scores), and can a value be placed on "new users"?
Is the distributor going to benefit by additional user time spent online?

Finally there is the "opportunity" cost model... how much would it cost you to produce your own version of the content? It is sometimes not appreciated that the rights to display pictures on-line can be expensive... and the whole management of teams of journalists is not desirable unless you are already in that business. I have paid £10 -50 for a review and £50-100 for an article or interview, when outsourcing original content creation. I thought this was good value and you may be looking at a lot more for top qaulity original content with pictures, in the format you require. If more than 4,000 people are going to look at the content .. then you'll be able to re-coup your costs through advertising without any problem.

I have worked a lot with the major magazine publishers... so if you have any specific quesions, please ask.

Barney

On 15:56:49 12 October 2000 sooz wrote:
>A content forum, just what I need
>
>I've just come back from a meeting with a very well known
>publisher of Women's interest and Lifestyle magazines.
>Although they obviously have an abundance of content at
>their fingertips, they are quite obviously struggling with
>the concept of the "value" of their content in
>the digital marketplace...
>
>Other publishers seem to pluck numbers out of the air when
>it comes to negotiation....apart from exclusives,
>non-exclusives, branded v white label, how can we
>establish the real value of content...? Are there any set
>criteria by which we can measure, ie
>content/traffic/community/commerce?
>
>any good case studies backed up with stats?
>help
>S
>
>
>
>On 23:14:23 9 October 2000 Barney wrote:
>>Welcome to the content forum.
>>
>>There are many issues that we will be discussing here,
>>ranging from the simple sourcing of content and
>commercial
>>deals, to more technical questions such as how to
>maximise
>>the value of content through editorial style and the
>>manner in which it is managed and updated.
>>
>>And do not forget, while we should strive to provide
>users
>>content more original than "joke of the
>day",
>>some of the most simple content tools have been the
>the
>>most effective generators of traffic across all
>>paltforms... so I will be on the lookout for bizzarely
>>successful crowd pullers.
>>
>>If you have any questions on where to source content,
>>please do ask, however you could ask yourself two key
>>questions:
>>1. Do you know anyone who provides the content either
>on
>>or off-line?... in which case it may be worth going
>>straight to the source
>>2. Could I produce the content myself?... it is often
>>quicker with better results to do so!
>>I have grappled with these issues many times, and
>would be
>>interested to hear any questions or
>"solutions".
>>
>>I am also currently interested to hear people's views
>on
>>the Global vs Local debate:
>>In my view, the former is cheap, syndicatable, the
>latter
>>expensive, and hard to buy off the shelf -
>intrinsically
>>there is a competitive edge to doing local content
>well...
>>and this is where much of the potential advertising
>>revenue growth will come from...
>>I am working with a "Global" local-services
>>provider and it is interesting to see how the
>commercial
>>discussions revolve around this very axis.
>>
>>I will also be posting some interesting content
>sources
>>for dynamic entertainment-type content which can be
>>sourced for free in exchange for the right
>reciprocation.
>>
>>I look forward to our discussions.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>