High Value Publishing

Each week, 28-year digital media veteran, Eric Shanfelt, helps magazine publishers and media companies grow their audiences, drive revenue, and improve their digital platforms. We'll cover revenue, audience and technology tactics including advertising, programmatic, SEO, social media, email, controlled and paid subscriptions, ecommerce, analytics, content distribution, and much more. Whether you publish an enthusiast / hobby magazine, a B2B trade magazine / association journal, a regional consumer / business magazine, or a local newspaper, each session will have something that you can immediately apply to your business.

Two Ways to Grow Your Digital Audience with Meta Ads

If implemented properly, Meta Ads can be a cost-effective way for a publisher to drive website traffic and grow their email list.In this High Value Publishing session, Eric Shanfelt is joined by digital industry legend, Dennis Yu. Dennis is the CTO and co-founder of BlitzMetrics and a former search engine engineer. He's managed billions of dollars with Meta ad campaigns.Eric and Dennis show two different, cost-effective, ad campaigns for publishers: one to drive website traffic and another to...

05-02
56:11

How to Use Google Postmaster Tools

As publishers, our email reputation and deliverability is critical. Google Postmaster Tools is a free tool that any publisher can use to see how well they are doing at delivering email to Gmail and Google Workspace users. Think of it like Google Search Console, but for email. It provides insights into email performance, sender reputation, and potential deliverability issues. Google Postmaster Tools provides insight into your:Spam RateIP ReputationDomain ReputationFeedback Loop (FBL)Email Auth...

02-01
16:20

What's Ahead for Media Companies in 2024

In this week's session of High Value Publishing, we're shifting focus from our usual digital strategies to reflect on what lies ahead for media companies in 2024 including:The enforcement of stronger email authentication by Google and Yahoo.The removal of third-party cookies, particularly in Google Chrome.The integration of Artificial Intelligence into search engines.Google's focus on EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) for search rankings.The need for publish...

01-25
15:44

7 Biggest Mistakes When Selling Digital Advertising

Eric Shanfelt and ad sales expert, Ryan Dohrn, show publishers how to avoid the 7 biggest mistakes sellers make when selling digital advertising.The Wrong Products for the Wrong ClientToo Many Products to SellFaking ItThe Danger of Value AddGiving Too Many DetailsNot Closing the Loop with the ClientSelling Magic Instead of MarketingLearn more at https://nearviewmedia.com/

01-10
33:02

How to Create an AI Generated Podcast

For publishers, a podcast can be more than just an audio format. It can be a convenient way for readers to discover and follow your content, it can drive people back to your website, and eventually it can be a new revenue stream once you reach some scale.But producing daily or weekly podcast episodes can be resource-intensive and expensive. This is where the concept of a fully AI-generated podcast comes in. By creatively combining a couple of artificial intelligence tools, it's easy to create...

10-11
15:29

Simplify Your Advertising Model to Drive More Revenue

In this High Value Publishing session, we'll discuss strategies for publishers to simplify their digital advertising models in order to drive more revenue, including:Consolidating underperforming ad products.Limiting inventory / controlling supply and demand.Delivering differentiated value to advertisers.Having larger ad placements but fewer of them.Properly pricing products based on value delivered.You'll see examples for simplifying website, email newsletter, social media, and programmatic ...

09-13
33:54

SmartNews: What Publishers Need to Know

SmartNews is a rapidly growing news aggregator rivaling Google News and Apple News in usage. As such it can be an important part of an overall content distribution strategy for publishers.But publishers need to go in with their eyes wide open before agreeing to work with SmartNews.In this High Value Publishing session, Eric Shanfelt shows publishers how SmartNews pitches themselves to publishers, but how publisher content is used primarily to benefit SmartNews itself.You'll see how their "Sma...

09-06
23:12

Fix Your Email Newsletter Subject and Preheader Text

Email newsletter subject lines and preheader text play a pivotal role in increasing newsletter open rates and, in turn, ad impressions, website traffic, and overall engagement with your audience.Despite their importance, many publishers fail to utilize the subject line and preheader text effectively. Common mistakes include overly long subject lines, irrelevant or missing preheader text, and the inclusion of unnecessary elements such as 'view in browser' links.In this High Value Publishing Se...

08-30
24:31

Is Google a Publisher Friend or Enemy #1?

Is Google good or bad for publishers? A Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit against Google is bringing this question to the forefront.In this High Value Publishing session, Eric Shanfelt and his guest, Kenny Katzgrau of Broadstreet Ads, delve into the implications of the lawsuit and how publishers should best interact with Google. The conversation stems from a recent subpoena request by Google and the Department of Justice concerning ad tech, triggering reflections on Google's position as...

08-14
30:06

How Publishers Can Make 6-Digit Revenue with Donations

Would you like to develop a 6-digit reader revenue stream without launching a paywall? If so, look no further than The Berkshire Edge, a small, regional publication in Massachusetts.A couple of years ago, The Berkshire Edge launched an online membership that was donation only ... no paywall. They now have over 1,600 members approaching $120,000 per year in donation revenue.David Walsh with Web Publisher PRO joins Eric Shanfelt in today's High Value Publishing session to talk about the The Ber...

10-20
35:13

Your Direct Traffic in Google Analytics Is Wrong ... Here's How To Fix It

Did you know that Google Analytics is misleading you?If you look at analytics regularly, you see a lot of web traffic coming from the Direct source.Most publishers think this represents people who directly type in their website URL. But it doesn't.Up to 90% of "direct" traffic is actually "unknown". Google Analytics doesn't know the actual source, so it classifies unknown as direct traffic.This misleads us into thinking our audiences are more loyal than they actually are, and hides how effect...

10-06
29:27

Google Search Console for Publishers

Google Search Console is the key to understanding how Google sees your website and how get more traffic from search.However, it is amazing how many publishers don't have Google Search Console set up, don't know how to use it, or don't use it regularly.Let's change that! Learn how Google Search Console works and how you can use it to improve our visibility in search and grow your website traffic.Learn more at https://nearviewmedia.com/

09-22
34:01

How to Sell Cobranded Social Media Advertising

Cobranded social media ads are a strong, 6-digit revenue stream that most publishers haven't tapped into yet. It's not difficult to implement and you only need a few social media followers to do it.With cobranded social media, you sell advertisers the ability to reach your audience through your Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn accounts. This gives you a unique selling proposition that no advertiser or agency can do on their own. And your inventory is virtually unlimited.This week's podcast, Er...

08-25
35:41

Why Email Isn't Good Enough for Publishers Anymore

Gone are the days of utilizing our email deployment system solely as a distribution platform. To stay competitive as media companies, we must incorporate muti-channel communication (broadcast email, automated 1:1 emails, text messages, website messages, chat, snail mail and more) ... and our email systems must aggregate reader data and handle marketing automation. Using automations to trigger activities and tasks to improve response time and decrease people time to manage.Watch as Eric talks ...

07-28
31:22

Top 5 Digital Ad Mistake Publishers Make

As publishers look for answers to declining digital media sales, the answer is sometimes not found in what they are selling but how they are going about selling it.During this session we talk about some of the most common mistakes publishers make in their approach to selling digital media. From trying to sell too many programs, using digital programs as incentives, to losing the energy and excitement following a new program launch. All are simple changes publications can make to start regaini...

07-15
32:24

Fix My Website: Los Angeles Magazine

Watch as we take an in-depth analysis – on-the-fly – at the website of Los Angeles Magazine, a consumer city magazine. We'll identify what they're doing well and what they could improve upon.In the analysis, we'll look at the design of the site to see how effective it is for content, advertising and audience development ... both for desktop and mobile devices. We'll also do some search engine optimization (SEO) analysis of the site and look at other technical factors as well.You'll walk away ...

06-30
45:35

Facebook Business Manager: The Right Way for Publishers to Set It Up

In this High Value Publishing session, we’ll go over the right way for publishers to set up Facebook Business Manager and how it relates to the new Meta Business Suite.To be honest, most publishers haven’t set up Facebook Business Manager properly and it’s hurting their business. And some publishers don’t even have a business manager account.In this session you’ll learnWhy you should still use Facebook Business Manager instead of Meta Business Suite.How to switch between business manager and ...

06-17
35:33

Improve Your Sponsored Emails with This Simple Template

Sponsored emails are a big revenue generator for publishers. But the creative advertisers send us are usually horrible.From single big images, to ultra complex HTML emails, advertisers and agencies often send creatives that:Don’t work on mobile devices.Aren’t compatible with popular email clients.Don’t solicit the kind of response that they should.In this High Value Publishing session, I’ll show you a simple sponsored email template you can quickly implement to solve all of these problems.Not...

05-19
24:36

Switch Now To Google Analytics 4

On July 1, 2023, Google will replace the current version of Google Analytics (also called Universal Analytics) with Google Analytics 4 (GA4). But I'm counseling all publishers to implement GA4 by July 1 of this year.In just over a year from now, Google will no longer feed data from our websites into the current Google Universal Analytics And they will not bring over any data from the old Google Analytics into Google Analytics 4.To see any trends or annual growth, you need at least a year's wo...

05-05
24:24

Successful Paywall Strategies for Publishers

Are you considering a paywall or registration wall for your website? Are you having problems getting the kind of results you want from your paywall / regwall?My guest during this High Value Publishing session is Peter Ericson, founder of Leaky Paywall and host of the Paywall Podcast. During this session, Peter and I talk about the keys to a successful paywall for publishers, hard versus metered paywalls, and the biggest mistakes we see publishers make when implementing a paywall.We also talk ...

04-21
42:16

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