About Specialized-Information Publishing
What is specialized-information publishing? The word "specialized" applies to both ends of the equation: the information being published and the audience for which it is being published for. The business model of the specialized-information publisher is to find a special niche of people who, for whatever reason, have an intense interest in a certain narrow field of information. Sometimes this niche is a group of consumers who have a particular hobby on interest in their personal lives - knitting, for instance. In such cases, this specialty market may be willing to pay (but not much) for highly specialized information about knitting. But most members of SIPA publish content for a different kind of niche - those in what is known as the "business-to-business" market. This market consists of companies or individuals within companies who need specialized information about their industries that may not be available or is extremely difficult to find without the efforts of a specialized-information publisher and are willing to pay high prices for that information.
How is the information conveyed? SIPA started as an association of newsletter publishers and newsletters and other paid-subscription based products (either in paper form or online) are the mainstays of most members' operations. But, especially with the advent of the Internet, members find themselves offering their content in a much wider range of products - from books to audio conferences and webinars to subscription Websites and online databases. The recent advent of Web 2.0 and online social media has given specialized-information publishers yet another channel for providing and, in some cases, supervising content through such outlets as blogging, Twitter and others. SIPA members have traditionally relied on the sale of their content (i.e.: paid subscriptions) as their revenue model, eschewing the advertising-supported publishing model. However, again influenced by the Internet, advertising-supported content has become much more prevalent among specialized-information publishing companies in recent years.
There are two types of information markets. The first is the consumer market. A consumer newsletter is usually priced less than $100 - more often in the $25-$45 range. The subject of a consumer information product is more general in nature, such as investments, health and travel, or is aimed at a consumer special-interest group (as in the knitting example above) and is paid for by an individual. An example of a consumer newsletter that you might recognize is The Kiplinger Washington Letter, which was first published in 1923, and is thought to be the longest continually running newsletter. The second market is the business-to-business market. Products in this market generally contain very specific, niche information for a small audience, and are usually paid for by a business. Examples of business-to-business subject matter would be telecommunications, business management, energy, defense and healthcare, to name a few.
As was mentioned in the last paragraph, the Kiplinger Organization began publishing in 1923, and was one of the first organizations, if not the first, to publish a newsletter. The industry has been dominated by small entrepreneurs, but over the years some of those small companies have become large companies and other large companies have entered the business by purchasing existing publishing companies.
Who gets into the specialized-information publishing business? There are typically two types of individuals that decide to start a specialized-information product. The first is an expert in a particular field, such as a doctor or lawyer. They already have the subject knowledge, they just need to learn how to write and market specialized content, or find someone else who can do that for them. The second is a journalist. Journalists believe they know how to gather and write information and therefore can write about any subject; they find the subject and are in business. To a lesser degree, there is a third type of individual in the business nowadays - the venture capitalist or the business person who sees the profit possibilities of the specialized-information publishing business and buys a specialized-information publishing company.
Who's who in the specialized-information publishing business? During his life, the late Howard Penn Hudson, founder of the Newsletter Clearinghouse, publisher of The Newsletter on Newsletters from 1968 until 2005, wrote about the developments in the industry. He was the publisher of Publishing Newsletters. Howard was instrumental in the establishment of SIPA, and, in honor of his contributions, received the one-time only distinguished service award in 1977.
Bruce Levenson and EdPeskowitz founded United Communications Group in the mid-1970s in a small office atop a liquor store. Through inventive launches from within and smart acquisitions of outside firms, the company has grown to be one of the largest specialized-information publishers in the U.S. The UCG of today is a perfect example of how the niche nature of specialized-information publishing can be successful over a number of niches as the company has publications in a wide variety of industries, including health care, telecommunications, financial services, oil and energy and more.
In 1993, when the Internet was just on the cusp of being one of the most, if not the most, dramatic media development of the 20th Century, brothers David and Tom Gardner were smart enough to recognize the potential in the new medium. They launched The Motley Fool as an online-only investment information service. In the ensuing years it has grown to be multimedia financial-services company dedicated to building what the founders expect to be the world's greatest investment community. The Motley Fool now attracts about 4.5 million unique visitors each month to its Websites and produces 11 subscription-based services.
There are good career opportunities in the specialized-information publishing field. A publisher can publish one or two newsletters and make a very comfortable living. As their companies grow, they hire editors, writers, accountants, marketing experts and customer service and fulfillment folks. And, as the company gets to the next level, those editors become managing editors, marketers become marketing managers, etc. As a publishing company grows even larger, the marketing and editorial directors may become group publishers. As the industry grows, so do the job opportunities. A recent development in the industry is a move to using direct sales as an adjunct to, or in some cases, in place of direct marketing. This is especially true with the growth of high-priced site licenses and electronic products that require a more individual sales effort than single newsletter subscriptions in the hundreds of dollars.
While most SIPA members started their businesses as subscription-newsletter publishers, today they have become experts in their fields. They now produce specialized-information products, including newsletters, conferences, audio conferences, books, reports, directories, looseleafs, research, consulting and more.
