Waterfront Media Aggregates Self-Help Category For Marketers
As the publisher for the online presence of the South Beach Diet, the Zone Diet and the expectant parent What to Expect among others, Waterfront Media helps self-help experts and their publishers publish their content online and aggregates self-help content for advertisers interested in reaching self-help seekers, a $10 billion market according to Marketdata Enterprises. While some doubt the whole notion of self-help, for marketers and and publishers in this space, Waterfront Media has created a self-help marketplace that appears to make it a whole lot easier for marketer and publisher to connect with the self-help seeker.
Waterfront launched in early 2003 and has 700,000 subscribers to its various sites along with site management/distribution deals with publishers Rodale, Harper Collins, Meredith and Hyperion among others. Waterfront Media's revenue model is shifting from 25/75 ad/paid subscription to 50/50 ad/paid subscription and advertisers from P&G, Kraft, Diet Coke and Equal have jumped on board.
Comments
Having followed Waterfront Media since it's inception,I have been curious about if for several reasons.
The business models certainly helps the publisher, WM and the author - yet is a relatively similar business model to emulate.
Instead of partnering with WM, why didn't the publishers create their own web sites for these best-sellers in the self-help genre.
Further, why not also offer a member-centered, content-rich, mix of cross-promotions among the authors' sites?
Or, as a published author, I wonder why the authors (or their astute agents) seeign the fast growth of WM, put something I nthe author's contract with the publisher that the author will create her/his own membership-based site (either with a Web firm as partner or contract with a firm to crteate & maintain it) and have the author in charge of attracting and keep members nad perpetuating book sales - and reaping more of the profits for such work?
Self-help authors, more than those in other genres, by temperament and talent are probably most inclined to value such an approach. Perhaps a Web desing firm might take the iniative and approach some best-selling authors (in business as well as self-help) about such an offer.
After all, it can create recurring revenue for both partners.
Perhaps after writing SmartPartnering I just have mutually-beneficial partnerships on the top of my mind.