Saturday 11th July: My Media Roundup by Carolyn Morgan, Consultant and Non-Exec Director

Every Saturday morning, we invite a publishing pro to put together their top media links. This week's guest editor is Carolyn Morgan.

Carolyn is a Consultant at Speciall Media and a Non Exec Director, advising specialist media businesses on digital strategy.

You can find Carolyn on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Carolyn says:

"Are we nearly there yet?

It feels like a long haul through the Covid crisis. The early days of making tough decisions on print magazines and in person events now seem like ancient history. And media business owners I speak to are now familiar with digital subscriptions, remote working, furlough terms and virtual event platforms.

But emerging from lockdown is not easy. Publications may not reappear in their previous form. Events may become hybrid, with small in person groups plus live streaming. And teams may be nervous of a return to empty offices. We need to learn from the crisis, adapt, and set off in a slightly different direction.

Below are some links that might help you navigate a path through a decidedly murky media landscape."

Digital subscriptions have been a lifeline for specialist publishers in the last few months, providing steady income even as ad revenues evaporated and events closed their doors. I wrote this article early in the lockdown but the tips are still relevant. And the featured image, of the 1854 Access Covid offer at £1, has proved a smart move – they recruited thousands of new members, and so far conversion to full rate is running at 80%

Whether we are selling marketing solutions to our advertising clients or enterprise level subscriptions to corporates, we need to be able to get in the buyers’ shoes. This is a really intelligent article about the elements of b2b value. Worth a read (you can get two articles free on HBR) to get ideas on how to evolve your value proposition.

Looking for ideas and inspiration? Then have a browse through this list of 20 interesting media start-ups, compiled by Vida Media.

The economic impact of the world’s response to the deadly novel coronavirus may be even more devastating than the public health impact. With the majority of Western economies in lockdown with an uncertain end date, consumer spending and business activity is in freefall.

Conferences have made a relatively easy switch to virtual, but I always thought that black tie awards nights would be particularly hard to replace. But then last month I created and delivered an online course about running virtual awards, and discovered it is possible. This is a great “behind the scenes” article by Hannah Bray on how they put together their very slick virtual awards.

If you would like to guest edit a future edition of My Media Roundup, simply reply to this email.