@Joanna My paper has taken a similar somewhat step in print by producing more stand-alone magazines. Not our core mission, no, but as far as I know they’ve been profitable. So you’re right that trying to cling to revenue from department stores and classifieds probably isn’t the best idea. If shifting staff resources away from selling print ads and toward putting on baby beauty competitions is going to pay the bills, I’m all for it.

@Josh I very much agree. But can it be monetized to the point where we partially make up for the reduced costs of printing the paper product, to the extent that we can maintain an adequate reporting staff that the community needs? Maybe, but that’s not a given.

Of course, that’s taking the assumption that the professional news organization needs to be saved, which I recognize not everyone assumes. I personally believe that, but wouldn’t be at all surprised if someday the “business model” for journalism doesn’t include professional organizations.

I worry about this more than I worry about anything else concerning the industry and have considered studying business studies and economics in my spare time just because I am so obsessed with finding a way to fund good journalism.

Not that I think I’ll be able to come up with anything on my own, mind you. I think future revenue for online journalism will be distributed and it will be a collective effort to learn what works and what doesn’t.

But I am staying optimistic that there is a way to make good money online.

A few months ago I walked past an advertisement for a local newspaper’s baby beauty competition. Competitions like this are run by newspapers all over the UK because they are popular and profitable. But, at some point, someone had to link the publication of cute baby pictures with the delivery of local news.

Whilst it seems normal for that connection to be made now, I imagine it took a creative mind to see the opportunity in the first place.

What is in our favour is that journalists are supposed to be good at making connections that may not seem so obvious to other people.

I know traditionally journalists have been kept away from the process of making money, but I think the market have changed so dramatically that this practice can’t go on.

I think we could all do with better understanding our market and learning how to appeal to it. That doesn’t mean we have to kowtow to our biggest sponsors in the face of a negative story, it just means having a good idea of who we’re writing for and what they might actually want to read/participate in.

To be honest – I’m not a business guy either. Part of what motivated me to switch gears into spot.us was because I couldn’t, in good conscious, continue to spend all my time thinking about content – if we don’t have a way to make sure that content creates money.

Is Spot.Us THE answer. Probably not. I don’t think there is such a thing as a silver bullet – but I do believe in the law of numbers. If enough people tackle this problem – we will figure something out.