Custom e-publishing: 10 questions; few publishers have successfully transformed this new media into solid revenue streams

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Jan, 1998 by Jennifer Sucov

In some instances, however, the nature of custom publishing precludes an online relationship. Many corporations outsource their magazine publishing because they don't have the internal resources to produce a high-quality print product. But online resources are becoming standard at large corporations. It's not a given that a corporation that outsources its print publishing would do the same with online projects.

NYT Custom Publishing is a good example of this paradox. The group publishes Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Magazine, but when the hotel chain decided to create a corporate Web site, Susan Helstab, vice president, corporate communications at Four Seasons Regent Hotels and Resorts, didn't look to the NYT group. "The magazine is a hotel-room amenity," she says. "The Web site is another communications vehicle with different content."

Will online offerings pull in more print business?

Road King, published by Hammock Publishing, serves the trucking industry and competes against titles such as Truckers News, Overdrive and Owner Operator Magazine. Since developing a Web site, Hammock says doors have opened at previously uninterested print advertisers: "The Road King site has given us a competitive advantage over other magazines in that category. It woke up potential advertisers."

While Hammock's intention was not necessarily to reinforce the print product, it's a benefit he welcomes."We didn't think, 'Gee, this is going to help us sell ads.' But it certainly has," he says.

What is the initial investment required?

This is the second question every publisher asks, after "Do I have to know HTML?" Unfortunately, there is no easy answer.

Hammock points out that because many custom-publishing clients are Fortune 500 companies, they may already have the infrastructure to support a Web site, which means "you don't have to worry about" investing heavily in hardware. If your clients are not Internet-ready, outsourcing to an Internet provider that will serve as your site's host and offer support services can ease equipment and staffing costs.

CCP's Caldwell, who has already allotted $50,000 of his company's 1996 budget for Web-related research, estimates that his total investment in Web publishing will eventually hit $500,000. "It's not a matter of being worth it, or not," he says. "We can't afford to ignore it."

What kind of technical know-how does my staff need?

The answer is "not a lot." Most publishers rely on their staff for online editorial, marketing and ad sales, but, as suggested above, outsource much of the design and technical aspects of Web-site creation and management. Hammock Publishing employs 15 full-time staffers, plus free lancers and ad sales reps. Hachette Filipacchi New Media has 12 full-time staffers, plus freelancers. NYT Custom Publishing has marketing, editorial and advertising sales staff available in-house from the Information Services Group, but most of the design and technical duties are outsourced.

Many compare the online revolution to the desktop publishing revolution. According to Hammock, easy-to-use Web design software like PageMill and SiteMill from Adobe Systems and FrontPage from Microsoft are shifting the focus away from technology and toward content and design. These programs "will do the same thing QuarkXPress did for desktop publishing," he predicts. "The need for technology staffing will decrease. The tools will be in the hands of artists, not computer operators."