Huge congratulations to Joe Pulizzi on the release of the completely updated and expanded edition of Content Inc. Also thanks to Joe for contributing one of the handful of guest posts we’ve ever accepted here at TopRank’s B2B Marketing Blog. Along with thousands of other marketers, I’ve learned a lot from Joe and you will too. Read on to discover 10 ways you can drive revenue for your business through content marketing from the Godfather of Content Marketing himself: Content Inc Revenue ModelWhether you are a marketing professional, content entrepreneur or a media executive, driving revenue from an audience is always the same. Once you build a loyal and trusting audience through your content marketing or media strategy, there are 10 different ways to generate revenue: six direct sources and four indirect sources. Direct revenue options are generally aligned with media models. Indirect sources are considered the result of content marketing strategies. Regardless of what you “perceive” your organization to be, a smart content marketing professional should consider all 10 sources as options when building a content asset. Direct Revenue Options The six different methods by which companies can directly generate revenues from an audience group include advertising/sponsorship, conferences and events, premium content offerings, donations, affiliate sales, and subscriptions. Advertising/Sponsorship The most popular method of driving direct revenues is through advertising and sponsorship programs—companies willing to pay you for direct access to your audience. Traditional Advertising Tested by time, traditional advertising still works very well, especially for those organizations with loyal, niche audiences. How to Cook That. Ann Reardon, the YouTube baking queen who now has more than 4 million subscribers to her YouTube channel How to Cook That, makes the majority of her revenues from YouTube advertising royalties. With very few resources, Ann was able to differentiate her message by focusing on what she calls “impossible food creations.” Morning Brew. The Morning Brew is a daily email newsletter built for millennials that combines business and lifestyle content with a quirky attitude. Each newsletter includes content-based advertising from brands written in the same style as the newsletter. Since its launch, the Morning Brew has added a number of targeted email newsletters and podcasts, increasing revenue from $3 million in 2018 to more than $20 million in 2020. Sponsorships While an advertisement generally Colombia Phone Numbers List involves interrupting a user’s experience with a product or content promotion, a sponsorship entails underwriting a piece of content, generally by one company. The benefits of sponsorships include getting leads (through a sponsored download) and/or achieving brand awareness (by sponsoring a podcast or television program). Content Marketing Institute. CMI favored a sponsorship model over an advertising model for the majority of its products. This included sponsored research reports, e-books, and webinars. Media Voices. UK-based Media Voices started as a weekly podcast designed for publishers in 2016. After launching at approximately $600 per sponsorship, it has evolved the model and charges about $3,000 per sponsorship today. Conferences and Events According to CMI/MarketingProfs research, approximately 7 in 10 enterprises create and manage their own events. Some of these are small client gatherings, while others are full-scale events with exhibition halls and concurrent sessions. Revenues are mostly driven through paid event registration or sponsorships, such as parties or exhibition space. The Chicken Whisperer. Andy Schneider grew the Chicken Whisperer platform into a book, a magazine (with more than 60,000 subscribers), and a radio show, which has now run for more than seven years with more than 20,000 weekly subscribers. But sponsored road shows are a core part of his revenue mix. Inkers Con. After launching multiple bestselling books and a popular book publishing training course, Alessandra Torre created the event Inkers Con Authors Conference. “If you can make it through that first year, the second year [is] so much easier. We made all of our mistakes in the first year, and it still ended up being a fantastic event,” says Torre. The 2019 physical conference sold 400 tickets, while the 2020 virtual event sold 750 tickets at $245 per person. Lennox Live. Lennox is one of the largest manufacturers of heating and air-conditioning equipment in the world. Every year, the event attracts the leading contractors and distributors from across the United States, offering education around technology, marketing, and business practices. Exhibiting partners include companies such as Honeywell, Cintas, and Fluke. Lennox generates revenue directly from attendee fees, as well as from more than a dozen manufacturing and service partners. Premium Content Premium content packages come in a number of forms, i