It used to be that launching a new magazine required huge amounts of startup capital. All the normal expenses of any new business with one daunting addition, a printed invoice. After that, you’d need even more cash for list acquisition, shipping, and other huge expenses to get these shiny new magazines to the newsstand. Still, in the end, most of those copies you spent so much capital and effort on end up in the shredder.

The term that comes to mind is “bleeder.” In the days of print publishing, this was the term used to describe the unfortunate circumstance that revenue from publications (ads/subscriptions/newsstand) fell well below production costs. Basically, you were marked with an inevitable fate. Amazing how many tried and tested to the bitter end, only to find that what they knew in the first three months was actually correct. Publishers today can bypass that expensive “doomed-fail” model of the past and go directly to the consumer via the Internet. Smartphones, tablets, and readers have now become the preferred method of distribution. The best part, no paper and no ink.

Even better, when you put your content online, you immediately access data, through your analysis, of behavior patterns within that content. In short, you are conducting a de facto perception study. Eureka! Now you know what content in your collection and publication is most attractive to your reader. This is very valuable to your advertisers and allows you to better position messages in banner ads on your behalf.

It’s even possible to take the top ten percent (10%) of your content and overlay it all into an annual print copy that’s sure to have a lot of market interest. How many magazines can launch their first print issue knowing that each story/edi/photo will be popular? Covers, contests, and promotions can also benefit from insights gained through hindsight. For example, you will know exactly which image was viewed the most online. Maybe that’s your cover photo? Choosing the right cover photo can take a lot of time and effort due to the subjective opinions of a small group. With a large data sample from your online edit, you know almost exactly what that perfect shot will look like.

In short, the advent of digital publishing has removed major financial barriers in the publishing space while helping publishers better understand their audience’s interests and spending patterns for the best benefit of their advertisers.