Effective digital media strategy means building a multi-platform Mequoda Media Pyramid
BLR.com is a Mequoda “best practice” multi-platform content publisher, and its creator, Bob Brady, has been setting a standard for excellence and innovation since before we coined the term “Mequoda.”
What are the characteristics of an effective, profitable, Mequoda System Website? There are four elements of primary importance.
First, a Mequoda System Publisher is content-driven.
Content-driven means you are an online periodic publisher who has committed to publishing news and information on a regular frequency to build reader trust and brand authority.
Second, a Mequoda System Publisher is Google-friendly.
Google-friendly refers to search engine optimization, or the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to your website by making it easier for search engines to find and index the site for the appropriate keywords. SEO involves selecting targeted keyword phrases related to the website editorial content, and making certain that the site ranks high in the results returned from a Google search of those keyword phrases.
I used to think that being Google-friendly was the most important characteristic of a Mequoda System, but I’ve come to realize that there is a least one very successful B2B Mequoda System Publisher whose highest priority is not about being found by Google.
Cindy Carter’s FDANews.com is not particularly Google-friendly, and doesn’t need to be, because she doesn’t rely on website traffic to build and maintain her email marketing programs.
Being Google-friendly is of utmost importance to most online publishers and marketers, but not all. That’s because Google is often the largest source of inbound traffic for a Mequoda System Website.
For Mequoda Daily, 58 percent of our website traffic comes to the site organically from the search engines, and 80 percent of that traffic is driven by Google. That means almost half (46 percent) of all arrivals at Mequoda Daily are owing to Google.
Our site converts six percent of arrivals into email subscribers, so we regard Google as a very powerful engine that is responsible for as many as 400 new subscribers each month.
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Third, a Mequoda System Publisher is email-centric.
Email-centric means you publish at least one free email newsletter to build and maintain customer relationships. Also, that your website uses conversion architecture that facilitates converting casual visitors into regular email subscribers.
Building your email subscriber list is a priority. Obtaining permission to communicate with subscribers on a regular basis is of utmost importance.
Fourth, a Mequoda System Publisher is multiplatform.
Multi-platform means your media pyramid has at least three levels including at least one premium level, i.e., at least one premium (usually paid) product.
The average multi-platform Mequoda System Media Pyramid has seven levels — two that are free (periodical website and email newsletter), and five that require registration and in many instances, require payment.
The five levels include online stores to sell one-shots, digital events and live events, plus levels that are companions to non-website subscription products, and membership products and their websites.
Of all the best practices we’ve discovered, the defining characteristics of a Mequoda System that supersede all other best practices is a multi-platform media pyramid.
Heard at the Mequoda Summit: “Tell me about your Media Pyramid.”
When you meet the rock stars of Mequoda System Publishing & Marketing at the October 7-9, 2009 Mequoda Summit Boston, ask them about their Media Pyramids.
What does a best practice Mequoda System Pyramid look like?
Bob Brady is one of the craftiest Mequoda System Publishers I know, with more than 30 years of experience. He launched the first Business & Legal Reports (BLR) print product back in 1977.
Today, BLR markets more than 500 products. Many are subscription publications that are updated daily, monthly, quarterly, or annually.
Information is provided via a variety of media in order to meet the needs of a diverse customer base, including live events, digital events, membership websites, loose-leaf services, CD-ROMs, DVDs, newsletters, and booklets.
I know of no B2B publisher that exemplifies the seven-levels of a successful Mequoda System better than BLR.com. BLR generates 99 percent of its revenue selling premium information products, as do 80 percent of all “rock star” Mequoda System Publishers.
Here is a generic breakdown of the seven levels of a Mequoda System Pyramid levels with specific examples drawn from Bob Brady’s BLR Mequoda System Pyramid, top to bottom:
7. Live Events: Seminars, conferences & summits.
Example: National Employment Law Update
6. Memberships: Associations, clubs, libraries, directories, forums, classifieds, hosted software applications & databases.
Example: HR.BLR.com in Your State
5. Subscriptions: Newspapers, magazines, newsletters & loose-leafs.
Example: Compensation & Benefits Newsletter
4. Virtual Events: Audio conferences, online seminars, webinars & webcasts.
Example: Virtual Boot Camps
3. One Shots: Online store with books, reports, seminars, training, & software.
Example: 10-Minute HR Trainer
2. Free Email Newsletters: High-frequency, single-story or multiple-story summary.
Example: HR Daily Advisor
1. Free Periodical Websites: Content-driven, Google-friendly & email-centric.
Example: HR Daily Advisor
At the Mequoda Summit, we’ll present 16 case studies on B2B and B2C publishing companies — large and small — that have built profitable media pyramids.
Come to the Mequoda Summit, October 7-9 in Boston, prepared to talk one-on-one about your media pyramid with some of the most savvy online publishers in the industry.
Sign up today and reserve your seat to get a chance to mingle with and learn from Bob Brady (BLR.com) and David Pyle (Knitting Daily and Beading Daily). Bob is a leading B2B media pyramid expert. David has built three exemplary B2C media pyramids.
Got it! Tnakhs a lot again for helping me out!