After enjoying an extended break last week, I found myself straight back in to the throng of things. Today, I've spent time with fellow delegates at this year's Global Information Industry Summit which for the first time has been staged in London.
From a content provider's perspective it was an interesting day, the Keynote from Hugo Dixon, Editor in Chief and Chairman of financial analytic news site; breakingviews.com was a handy session full of advice on how to make a successful business from an online content platform.
Hugo outlined how the decline of print journalism has continued to challenge traditional publishing business models, citing that many under 30's rarely (if ever) buy newspapers for the source of their information. Older generations are also moving away to online and mobile platforms.
Of course we've all known that for a while now, but what Hugo discussed was helpful in understanding what does work. He explained that just pushing content online isn't good enough. Quality writing and access to information is key but it has to be paid for. At breakingviews.com they were one of the first to successfully use a subscription model, their rivals have since followed suit.
From what I understand, Hugo believed some of the key questions content providers and problems need to consider are how do they defend their revenue base? Will costs have to be cut and will that lead to a loss of talent if that doesn't happen?
The other issues are that professionals are bombarded with information, yet they demand sophisticated content, anything else is pretty much worthless to them as they don't have time to weed through the detritus. Nor are they prepared to put up with second-rate insights. Add to this the matter of speed, particularly in financial reporting and analysis and the challenge is a significant one.
Something to bear in mind for the rest of the summit...
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