How to deliver your publication in any platform
Online publishing is a blessing.
The metrics, production costs, marketing options and other benefits create an environment far superior to print publishing. We can do so much more on the Web.
There are new skills and strategies that are required master online publishing, but once they are learned, the benefits are fantastic.
One great benefit is that creating products in multiple platforms has never been so affordable.
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For example, 20 years ago, if you wanted to disseminate information in video you would need rent or own
- Camera equipment
- Audio equipment
- Technicians to run the equipment
- A studio to create footage
- Technicians to edit the footage and add graphics
- A way to disseminate the video, like VHS tapes or a TV station
In other words, you wouldn’t be able to afford sending video to your audience 20 years ago. These expenses were outrageously higher than they are today. Thankfully, almost anybody can send video over the Internet now.
Take YouTube, for example. It’s an amateur video mecca, and 99 percent of the videos appear to have rock bottom production costs.
By adding a little more to your budget than the standard YouTube video has, you could buy a camera and editing software to start creating video for your customers. You, of course, disseminate the video from your website.
We’ve mentioned TravelZoo’s videos before as a great example of how low production costs can provide high value content to users. Check them out to see if their strategy could work for you.
There are over a dozen different platforms you could be using to disseminate content online, not just video.
In fact, we’ve identified 20, including:
- PDFs
- RSS feeds
- DVDs
- Mobile devices
- Podcasts
- Live Events
- Email newsletters
- Reports
- And more
If you are mostly publishing in two or three platforms, you should seriously consider the advantages of diversifying.
The more ways you have to deliver content to customers, the more diverse your customers will be.
If some customers hate to read, maybe they will like Podcasts. Those who prefer instant updates might want content on mobile devices. People that enjoy watching TV might want DVDs.
The point is that by diversifying your platforms, you’re not excluding any customers.
The converse of that statement is that if you are only publishing in one or two platforms, then you are losing customers who refuse to receive content in the context you are providing.
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Start thinking of new ways to create more products, because it has never been cheaper or easier.
The Web has enabled every publication to affordably become a television program, a radio show, a periodical, a daily update, a mobile device update, an email newsletter and any platform imagineable.
Adopting multiple platforms could involve publishing in a different style than you are used to—but don’t be afraid.
Rather than publishing with just one or two formats in mind, you might want to start creating content that is easily interchangeable between platforms.
For a simplified example, pretend you wanted to create a text report and an audio file about the same topic. A profitable way to do it is to draft the report so it could easily be read as an audio transcript. That means having a very limited use of graphics and diagrams.
This will save you production time and money, and help you capture an audience of both readers and non-readers. That means lower costs and more customers.
