This past year, I published my first book: A Member is Worth a Thousand Visitors. In the book, I outlined the Sterling Woods Group’s approach to driving revenue online through the Five Forces Framework.
In this roundup, we take a look at the five forces that can come together to revolutionize your publishing business and help you achieve a 50 to 600 percent increase in sales.
1. Focus on Your Whales
Your whales are your most loyal customers and vocal brand advocates. While they’re a small portion of your readership, they account for the majority of your revenue. Listening to what these readers have to say can help you make informed business decisions that will lead to revenue growth.
2. Be Conversion-Oriented
In this article, we discuss the importance of demonstrating your value and differentiating proposition to new visitors to drive conversion. What are you doing that makes you stand out from the rest? And do you have enough confidence in the product you offer to give some of it away for free?
3. Upsell
Once you’ve proven your value and made the conversion, your job is just beginning. In this article, we take a look at how to create an effective product pyramid, and how you can guide someone from casual user to whale status at the top of the pyramid.
4. Measure and Experiment
Online publishing is a dynamic, ever-changing landscape. The only way to stay ahead of the curve is to know how you measure success and to keep track of the numbers that matter most to you. In this article, we look at the importance of creating a dashboard and using that data to drive strategy experiments.
5. Create Bandwidth
Change is important, but it’s only possible if you create the space for your team to achieve it. Once you know you need to change course, don’t hang on to old methods and processes. Only by pruning workflows that are no longer serving you will you be able to create space for new ideas and methods to flourish.
About the Author
Rob Ristagno, Founder and CEO of Sterling Woods, previously served as a senior executive at several digital media and e-commerce businesses, including as COO of America’s Test Kitchen. He started his career as a consultant at McKinsey. Ristagno holds degrees from the Harvard Business School and Dartmouth College and has taught at both Harvard and Boston College.
Rob is the author of A Member is Worth a Thousand Visitors: A Proven Method for Making More Money Online. He regularly speaks at key media conferences, including at Niche Media events, Specialized Information Publishers Association meetings, and the Business Information and Media Summit.
