Profitability and journalism

One of the primary drivers for starting Edmond Business was because I believed such a publication could operate at a significantly lower cost than a traditional print publication. And with a staff of writers, photographers, and others, mainly composed of volunteers, we’ve managed to keep our magazine in the black from the very beginning.

While our magazine’s primary mission is not to make a profit, keeping it profitable is key to continuing to fulfill our actual mission.

Over the first few months of being a publisher, I’ve discovered several methods to generate revenue with a publication. Here are just a few of them.

1. Sell print copies
2. Sell advertising that appears alongside stories
3. Sell placement as the cover story
4. Paid press release placement
5. Classified ads
6. Paid access to some or all articles on the website
7. Take donations
8. Advertising in news emails
9. Dedicated email blasts
10. Social media promotion

I’m sure additional revenue models exist as well. There’s nothing wrong or immoral with any of these models. We’ve chosen to utilize 2, 7, 8, 9, and 10. We have also decided that we will never charge for access to articles.

If we have no print costs and no staff costs, why do we even need revenue? Well, I did say that our staff is composed mainly of volunteers, not wholly. Roles like editing, photography, marketing, and even last-minute stories can take a lot of work. We plan to compensate some of our contributors financially in the future. Of course, we will continue to rely on volunteers as well.

For nearly a decade, I volunteered as a columnist for The Edmond Sun’s Business Times publication. My columnists Mike Crandall and Nick Massey were also long-time columnists for The Business Times. So I definitely believe there is value in volunteering your time.

Would you like to help support the work we’re doing here at Edmond Business? If so, feel free to email me to start a conversation. I’d be glad to talk and see if we can plug you in by either volunteering or helping financially in some way. You can even donate online.