Don Nicholas

Founder & Executive Publisher

Don Nicholas serves as Executive Publisher for Food Gardening Network and GreenPrints. He is responsible for all creative, technical, and financial aspects of these multiplatform brands. As senior member of the editorial team, he provides structural guidance, sets standards, and coordinates activities with the technology and business teams. Don is an active gardener whose favorite crops include tomatoes, basil, blueberries, and corn. He and his wife Gail live and work in southern Massachusetts surrounded by forests, family farms, cranberry bogs, and nearby beaches. Don is also the Founder of Mequoda Systems, LLC, which operates and supports numerous online communities including I Like Crochet, I Like Knitting, and We Like Sewing.

Articles by Don Nicholas

10 Types of Landing Pages and Knowing When to Use Them

The first thing you need to have to create great landing pages is a basic understanding of the seven types of landing pages used by Internet marketing professionals. With that

Audience Engagement Strategy: Anchor Content, Atlantic, Google AMP

Audience engagement strategy is the alpha and omega of digital publishing. Or, really, publishing of any kind. Or, when you come to think of it, any business whatsoever. So, why hasn't

Digital Magazine Market News: Website Traffic Statistics, Bauer Xcel, Conde

Bullish 5-year study on digital magazine market shows record growth; plus, Forbes' focus on events Monitoring the digital magazine market is a necessity for us to successfully help online publishers establish

Magazine Circulation Numbers: Niche Publishers, AAM, and More

Magazine circulation numbers are by definition always changing, but we're at a crucial juncture when it comes to these stats. For instance, it's hard to believe, but the Alliance for Audited

How to Hire a Multiplatform Internet Marketing Company to Help Grow Your Online Business

If you're reading this post, you’re probably looking for an Internet marketing company, agency or consultant to help with your Internet marketing strategy and execution. Internet marketing is easy to do

Editorial Management: The 7 Daily Tasks of An Online Editor

Ernest Hemingway once said, "We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master." Perfection in editorial management is a fallacy. There will always be deadlines that

Google Publishers: Accelerated Mobile Pages a Success So Far

Google publishers are embracing AMP, but some have questions; plus, niche publishing on Facebook and a glimpse at a top-tier social media strategy in action When it comes to Google, publishers

Twitter Publishing: What Hath Full-Length Wrought?

If you know the Mequoda Method, you know that Twitter publishing is important when it comes to multiplatform publishing. But how much does that importance depend on this social media

Big Names Join Forces for New Online Ad Network

Is an online ad network the answer to publishers' prayers when it comes to digital advertising revenue? We're seeing it with programmatic partnerships and other arrangements, and why not? Brands

Magazine Readership Statistics: Conde, Women’s Health, Forbes

Surveying the latest magazine readership statistics and audience development from the top digital publishers; plus, latest personnel moves Magazine readership statistics are by definition a key in audience development, but they

Ecommerce Publisher News: Vox, PopSugar, and More

Becoming an ecommerce publisher continues to attract publishing executives looking for alternate revenue streams rooted in their content and niche audiences. Selling products isn't selling out; developing an ecommerce content

Magazine Industry Trends: Audience, Digital Ads, Paywalls for Online Content

Making sense of the latest magazine industry trends via top digital publishers: Rodale, Time Inc., Conde Nast, Hearst, IBT So much news about magazine industry trends during the past month, in

Assessing Anti-Ad-Block Efforts From Digital Publishers

Coming up with anti-ad-block tactics is emerging as one of the great causes for magazine publishers who are determined to maintain digital advertising revenue regardless of readers' own aggressive push

News From B2B Publishing Companies: SourceMedia, Dolan, and More

We count many B2B publishing companies as Mequoda Members, in large part because you're hardwired for a multiplatform strategy. You often have built-in niche audiences; you can facilitate events and

When Multi-Platform Advertising Isn’t Enough

Stop trying to sell multi-platform ads and start selling marketing partnerships as sponsorships "[Publishers] are not selling ads — they are selling desired outcomes," David Leskusky, NAPCO Media president wrote in an article for

Tips for Boosting Your Subscription Revenue Model

For digital publishers not fully reliant on ads – which hopefully is you if you're aiming for high multiplatform performance – few components are as crucial as your subscription revenue

FTC Guidance on Native Advertising Provides Clear Boundaries for Publishers

FTC provides sponsored content labeling guidelines in ‘Native Advertising: A Guide for Business’ The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidance on native advertising for publishers, released late last year, greatly helps publishers

Digital Media Publisher News: Branded Content Agency, Digital Newsstands, and More

Are you a digital media publisher keeping tabs on the competition, looking for success stories, cautionary tales, and cutting-edge intel? Well, you've come to the right place, because that's what

Magazine Ecommerce: Digital Publishers Taking the Plunge

Magazine ecommerce represents a major opportunity for digital publishers, provided you have the tech and infrastructure to pull it off – or can crank it up in the coming years. Here's

Social Media for Magazines: Audiences Up in 2015

If you want to drive traffic – and revenue – as a digital publisher, social media for magazines is no longer a religious discussion. It's a must-have component of your

Test Your Landing Page Copywriting Expertise by Taking this Copywriting Test Now

Test Your Landing Page Copywriting Expertise by Taking this Copywriting Test Now

My publisher friend is a fervent believer in creating A/B splits for his landing pages, focusing specifically on the titles of his paid handbooks. The graphic design of each cover

Online Magazine Subscription News: How One Publisher Succeeds

Online magazine subscription tactics will key digital publishing strategy in the coming years, as advertising challenges like ad blocking and viewability could force small and midsize, regional and niche, publishers

How Platform Distribution Is Fueling Publishing Strategy

Robust and varied platform distribution is, by definition, the bedrock of multiplatform publishing, but the spray and pray strategy isn't really a strategy at all. You must pick and choose your

Print to Web Success: Stories From the Digital Publishing Industry

Going from print to web is no longer the terrifying proposition for entrenched traditional publishers it was 10 years ago, but it's still an intricate migration that requires you getting

You’re Not Multi-Platform Marketing Successfully without Multi-Platform Publishing

Your multi-platform marketing automatically improves when you plan, build and optimize a successful multi-platform publishing business – the Mequoda way Over the years I've personally worked with hundreds of media brands

Digital Publishing Products: News From WaPo, AOL, Bauer, Magzter

Determining the digital publishing products your company can excel with is a key consideration when launching or remaking your magazine business model. This might seem obvious, but it's not difficult to

Leading Publishing Executive’s Take on Transitioning From Print to Digital

Migrating your publishing operations and editions from print to digital might at first feel daunting, but don't fret: It's a manageable move – just ask any Mequoda Member – and

News for Social Media Publishers: Google AMP, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Facebook

If successful social media publishers can count on one thing, it's that they can count on nothing. Magazines on social media must have a social media strategy in place, but they

Niche Advertising News and Strategy for Publishers

Welcome to a special all-niche edition of our daily news post, wherein we'll drill down on the topic of niche advertising, a crucial component of any magazine business model for

Registration Open for the Mequoda Intensive: Save $200 and Join Us in Boston

Join the hundreds of publishers who have dramatically increased revenue and profits using the Mequoda Method for multiplatform publishing success… If I told you I could teach you Mequoda’s proven strategies

Publishing Podcasts Could Give Digital Magazines an Edge

Are you publishing podcasts? If so, then you're leaps and bounds ahead of much of your digital magazine business competition. But the better question is, are you publishing podcasts and actually

Are You a Publisher, Tech Company, Platform, or All Three and More?

If you're a publisher, tech considerations have emerged as a crucial component of your day-to-day decision-making. This likelihood increases exponentially if you're creating mobile apps and dedicating resources to serious

Top Magazine Publishers Busy in First Month of 2016

While most of us are still ramping up, the early days of 2016 haven't seen much of a break in the action when it comes to the top magazine publishers'

Digital Publishing Jobs: Data, Generalists, Additions, Subtractions

If you came here seeking digital publishing jobs to apply for, don't be disappointed that you don't see any listings in this post, because we've got something better for you:

Top Mequoda Gold Member Haven Nexus Systems of 2015

2015 was a blockbuster year for our Gold Members who, when following the Mequoda Method and using the Haven Nexus CXMS, have seen tremendous gains in traffic year over year. We

How An Internet Marketing Services Agency Could Catapult Your Multiplatform Publishing Capacity

How An Internet Marketing Services Agency Could Catapult Your Multiplatform Publishing Capacity

Whether you're outsourcing your Internet marketing services or building an internal Internet marketing services department, these 11 content marketing job functions are key I've been running marketing services departments and companies

Native Digital Advertising: Will New FTC Rules Restrict Revenue?

F0r some publishers, native digital advertising is the next big thing, while others have been perfecting it for years. Still, many have steered clear altogether, and there are more who

Digital Consumption, Particularly Mobile, Drives Magazine Growth

Since its inception in late 2014, we've been paying close attention to the Association of Magazine Media's 360° Brand Audience Report, an innovative data study of digital consumption, as well

The Online Magazine Revenue Streams That Grew in 2015

As any compromised comment section can tell us, there are a whole lot of ways to make money on the Internet! Online magazine revenue streams comprise some solid volume in

Major Magazine Publishers Making Major News

We do our best work with niche publishers and legacy publishers looking to become digital publishers, but we also like to monitor major magazine publishers' successes and setbacks, because at

Digital Magazine News: Time Inc., Wired.com, New Republic

Digital magazine news about multiplatform strategy, increasing website traffic, mergers & acquisitions, and white papers and freemiums is what we love to share with our Mequoda Members and visitors to

Digital Profits Account for One-Third of a Dominant Publisher’s Total

Digital profits are what it's all about, right? This business is about results, not process, and with a business operating with a small margin of error, the more inroads publishers

Digital Magazine Publishing

Creating Digital Magazines: From Press to Plate Faster Than Ever

Publishers aren't just going digital anymore, they're creating digital magazines that are evolving as quickly as the technology that hosts them In 1967, an eight-page issue of Computerworld was published for the

Digital Media Trends: Ad Blocking and Viewability Even Bigger in 2016

If it's 2016, and we're writing about digital media trends, you know it must at least touch on the topic of ad blocking and/or native content. Today it's mostly the

The Importance of Phasing Projects for Content Management Systems

The larger projects online publishers face when becoming multiplatform publishers are often broken into multiple phases to keep the work manageable and the project moving along. Phasing brings focus to

Publisher-Advertiser Alignment Crucial for 2016

The publisher-advertiser dynamic has always been a fragile one, but it needn't be a fractious one. After all, it's a symbiotic relationship, and the success of each, in theory, depends

3 Subscription Website Publishing Predictions for 2016

Consumers will respond to memberships over subscriptions and publishers will thrive with more integrated publishing systems The one thing you can count on as a magazine publisher is that there will

In Marketing + Publishing, Conferences Best for B2B Attendance, Getting Execs’ Attention

Publishing conferences and publishing events are without question among the pillars of the Mequoda Method, so much so that we host many ourselves during the course of the year. Events generate

Examining the MMA’s Mobile Native Ads Guidance Report

We're not even through the first week of 2016, and this is already our second digital publishing trends post on native advertising. That should tell all of us in the

Digital Magazine Publishing

3 Digital Magazine Publishing Predictions for 2016

Publishers will reinvent their digital magazines across platforms and newsstands in 2016 This year print magazines saw a sharp downturn in newsstand sales, with a 10.3% drop year-over-year in single issue

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