Terrific chat yesterday sponsored by the Poynter Institute. Mark Briggs, who runs a consulting company and edits a blog answered questions related to the topic of entreprenueurial journalism.
Some of the highlights of the chat were the following-
*When asked about how combining the two concepts, Briggs said, "entreprenueurism is really about creating new products, new ideas and new businesses to capture some of the economic benefit from the vision and the hard work." Precisely. Those that are not only bold in their thinking, but also implement those bold ideas will be the victors. Expecting a significant financial reward should be part of this thinking.
*When asked how to make money in entrepreneurial journalism, Briggs said, "start your own media site, like a hyperlocal news blog, and attempt to make advertising revenue." He also mentions the importance of developing technology that can be used by other media companies. Monetizing blogs is a challenging task in a very noisy environment. The key to sustaining a business model is driving eyeballs to a site where you aggregate your content using technology- ebooks, audio, video. Information marketers call this "building a list" and it is what journalists will have to learn to sustain their business model.
It's not enough anymore to think like a writer. To be a well-fed journalist, you must also think like a marketer.
