Diversify your income

Donation, membership, subscription… Many media outlets finance themselves through their audiences in order to maintain independence (from major press groups, platforms, etc.). Readers or listeners pay to consume information in more or less direct ways by donating, joining as members, or subscribing. We return to these models in a practical guide dedicated to the definition of the business model: reading it beforehand is required to help you first determine your primary revenue source.

1. Why diversify your income?

In addition to your primary business model, the idea is to secure other revenue streams for your project. The key is to avoid depending on a single source: dependence creates model fragility. If one day your primary revenue source weakens or disappears (whether due to your actions or external factors), you could face financial difficulties.

To diversify, many options are available — you can act at the level of your news organization's structure, the products you develop, the services you offer… We present you with a non-exhaustive list of diversification strategies observed in the media world.

2. Overview of Revenue Sources

Choose your edition

Declining an existing product, recognizing the work of contributors (authors, photographers), launching your own publishing house… Many media outlets choose to diversify their revenue through books: a good way to align the economic model with the editorial promise of the project. Developing publishing requires a strong brand, a particularly well-known editorial product, and a developed community.

Case Study: XXI In the spring of 2023, the narrative journalism magazine XXI announced the launch of its publishing house and book series: XXI Bis. The goal? “[…] to create a collection of long-form nonfiction stories, sold individually in bookstores, to document this reality on the edge, in the cracks, between destruction and construction.” The launch was carried out through a pre-order campaign on KissKissBankBank, offering early access to the books and subscriptions to XXI. A great way to showcase the publication’s editorial expertise.

Open up capital to its audiences

Opening your capital to your audiences is a way of making your model cooperative: readers are invited to become shareholders of the media outlet. This initiative strengthens the sense of belonging to a community and audience engagement, as they become true partners in the media venture and key players in its success. The approach also promises everyone the ability to contribute to building a media company that truly reflects their values and concerns. A concrete way to empower readers… and to preserve editorial independence by reducing dependence on potential advertisers or investors.

Case Study: La Déferlante In the summer of 2023, the feminist media outlet La Déferlante — also supported by the Médianes studio — launched an ambitious crowdfunding campaign aimed at opening up its ownership to readers, in partnership with the platform Lita.co. The goal is clear: to raise a total of 300,000 euros. Rather than asking for donations, La Déferlante offers its audience the opportunity to actively participate in the project’s development, highlighting a key argument: the fight against reactionary ideas. This approach has received support from influential figures such as Annie Ernaux and Mona Chollet, further strengthening the momentum behind this initiative.

Offer paid events

At POLITICO, events consist of thematic roundtables where global opinion leaders and influencers come together to discuss key issues, big ideas and trends emerging from a given subject. Beyond news in the form of articles or newsletters, POLITICO's offering for professionals and decision-makers also allows them to operate on another front: networking through events. An additional way to stay informed, a key argument for accepting to pay.

Propose a new editorial product

Whether developing a new product or extending an existing one, ask yourself what steps would be good to put in place to generate direct or indirect revenue from your editorial offering.

Case Study: Vert Vert, a leading media outlet on environmental issues, launched a campaign on KissKissBankBank in late 2022 to launch a series of posters titled “Désordres de grandeur.” Among the projects mentioned at the time was the development of a “poster library.”

Vert chose to use crowdfunding to finance a product. While posters are now available for free on the media's website, the campaign raised money — a way to diversify revenue streams with the launch of a physical product, the first of its kind for Vert. Vert relies on donations, grants, services, and B2B subscriptions (businesses, schools, etc.).

Bet on the object

Many media outlets offer merchandise products that complement their flagship editorial offering. This merchandising approach has gained particular momentum in the magazine sector. Some media companies have even become known primarily for their products rather than their editorial content.

Case Study: Climax As part of the launch of the fourth issue of Climax, the publication offered a series of rewards: riso posters, a newsletter subscription, an invitation to the launch party, a mention of the contributor in the next issue, digital access to a back issue… Climax, which stands out for its strong visual identity, offered contributors the option to purchase the posters separately from a bundle that included the magazines. This is a great way to expand the audience: people passionate about graphic art and design may be found outside the publication’s existing community.

Case Study: Reliefs Reliefs is a magazine that, through the arts, history, literature, and science, explores the lives of great travelers, adventurers, and nature. Reliefs’ maps have perhaps become more famous than the magazine itself. By focusing on cartography—a project made possible through a network of cartographers, illustrators, and artists—the publication has reached a new audience. “Each of Reliefs’ annual collections features a series of vintage maps published in poster format. With a map on the front and its history on the back, the ‘Nostalgic Geography’ collection corresponds to the column of the same name found in the magazine’s opening pages. These cartographic treasures, sourced from all corners of the world, are printed on high-quality paper. The ‘Géographie nostalgique’ maps are presented in an elegant sleeve.” Excerpt from the Reliefs website.

Propose a service offering

Some media outlets choose to offer service packages to their audiences and prospects in order to find alternative revenue streams beyond the sale of their flagship product. This represents an original new offering that leverages and highlights the media's expertise.

Case Study: The New York Times As of late 2021, The New York Times had 8.8 million subscribers. Of those, 2.1 million subscribe exclusively to its online services. The NYT had notably diversified its brand by launching a cooking-focused service in 2014. The American daily offers a paid subscription for $5 per month, centered primarily on recipes: Cooking. In the third quarter of 2020, Cooking had nearly 600,000 paying subscribers. Cooking offers growth potential for the newspaper—it targets audiences living in rural areas, whereas the New York Times’ digital subscribers come primarily from major metropolitan areas. The NYT has also created a dedicated free newsletter, which has become the NYT’s second newsletter. Other offerings include the online shopping service Wirecutter and games such as Wordle and The Athletic.

Build an agency model

Some media companies choose to establish an agency alongside their media operations in order to benefit from an alternative source of revenue derived from providing services to third parties (brands, institutions, etc.). In this way, they become producers of content (promotional, advertising, and informational) for third parties (notably sponsors, advertisers, and institutions) within a B2B model focused on selling services. Keep in mind: the potential overlap between the two structures. If you’re considering developing a hybrid media-and-agency model, be sure to clearly define the difference between the two. This is essential, both to ensure transparency with your audiences (readers or listeners on the one hand, and clients on the other), so they understand the project as a whole, and also to safeguard the independence of each structure.

Case Study: Louie Media The podcast studio Louie Media has launched an agency division, Louie Creative. The idea? To produce podcasts for brands (brand content), media outlets, and institutions, or to enable them to tap into Louie Media’s targeted audience through sponsorship. In practice, sponsored content takes the form of pre-roll, mid-roll, or post-roll ad inserts within podcasts. In this way, Louie Media offers a service-based business that allows it to monetize its expertise (particularly in audio). This business operates alongside its journalistic activities.

3. Our Educational Resource

The Médianes team has prepared a handy document to help you apply the lessons from this fact sheet to your own project.

USING THE RESOURCE

4. Further Reading

• Practical cases, advice… everything you need to know about designing and selling branded products.
• Don't Rely on Platforms: The Importance of Adding Value to Your Content to Monetize Your Audience: Read it on Medium.
• Books, games, T-shirts, scarves… Just a few examples of products marketed by the media that you can buy for yourself or as gifts without restraint.
• Diversification to Help Fund a Flagship Publishing Product? Insights from Léry Jicquel, founder of Concentré Vélo.

✉️ Have you read and used this guide? We'd love to hear your feedback! Do you have a question or comment? Email us at [email protected]. Thank you for your help, the team at Médianes.