Monkey Mag UK, Insulting and Innovative!

         I checked out this UK based website of an online magazine called Monkey Mag UK.  I though it to be very interesting. Forgetting the content, which is mostly comprised of T and A (T*ts and A**), the concept of the online magaizne is actually intriguing.
           It is a virtual magazine, where you can click to turn the pages and all the content on the page is interactive. This means if an article is discussing some sort of celebrity gossip, you are able to click on the celebrity’s name to find out more information.
           I think this is a very fun and interactive way for consumers to read magazines online. I do hope I will see this type of layout on more websites.

The International Paradox

            I recently read a very interesting article in the New York Times that truly showed to me the flaws of the current business model. It also reflected the cold, business side of the internet, the side only concerned with profits. And not the social, philanthropic side of the internet, the side whose goal is to connect people and communties around the world.
                The article is entitled In Developing Countries, Web Grows Without Profit by Brad Stone and Miguel Helft. The article discusses that very popular social web sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Myspace, although their popularity is skyrocketing in developing countries, they are struggling to earn a profit.
                As these major web companies global audiences expand, their profits are dwindling because based on the current business model, they primarliy rely on advertising to produce their profits.
                 These web companies are growing in popularity exponentially in areas such as Asia and the Middle East but it is also more expensive to operate in these areas due to their limited bandwidth. These Web Companies need more servers in order to make the content available to places with the limited bandwidth. In addiditon to these countries being moore expensive to operate in, online advertisments to these countries are least likely to translate into results because the people more than likely cannot afford the products.
                      This creates an obvious dilemma. Although poplularity is booming in global audiences, they are eating up the bandwidth and its very difficult to derive revenue from it. Also, even though there are millions of people in the world wtih internet access, fewer than half of them have incomes high enough to interest major advertisers and they are not translating the advertisemnts into profits or results.
So what are these Web companies to do?
                 Well, in the article it discussed that the next step would be to limit or even stop their services to these parts of the countries. For instance, the article siad that last year, Veoh, a video-sharing site operated from San Diego, decided to block its services from users in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, citing the dim prospects of making money and the high cost of delivering video there.
                          Michealangelo Volpi, chief executive of Joost, a video site with half its audience outside the United States said that if Web companies really want to make money, they would shut off services to all those countries.
               I personally dont think this is fair. The purpose of a socail netowrk is to connect people from around the world. Web companies are forgetting their original purpose.
                 YouTube, which is getting hit the hardest, with an estimated loss of $470 million in 2009, still tries to uphold thier standards and original purpose. Tom Pickett, the director of online sales and operations at YouTube said the company still hews to its vision of bringing online video to the entire globe.
                    However, Mr. Pickett did say that YouTube has made their services slower and a more lower-quality viewing experience in the developing countries in an attempt to lower costs.
                      This shows to me that their definatley is a need for a better business model, not just in the news industry but in the media world as well. Developing countries will have the misfortune of not being able to access these popular sites and I think that will be a set back for the Internet, because connecting global audiences is one of the founding principles the internet has been built upon.

FETNews.com; The New Face of News

                   We are living in an age of immediacy and convenience. The average consumer now would probably like to text on their phone, drink their latte and listen to the weather as they are getting dressed in the morning. It seems less and less consumers actively sought out their news, but would rather passively absorb their news as they are busily living life.  So what does this new age news consumer need? An easy way to receive the information they want as fast as they need it. This is only feasible through one source; The Internet. That is why I am proposing to have an online newspaper site be the primary source of information.

            Currently, most news organizations, such as the New York Times, have a print newspaper that is supplemented by an online paper. I believe the online paper will be the primary source for news and the print paper will soon disappear. We have to be one step ahead, if money is to be made. Fact is, the younger generation is highly internet savvy and primarily use the internet for everything. Whether it is for news, music or the weather, the internet is the “go-to” source for the younger generation. Therefore, if news outlets want to survive and be successful, they will have to adapt to changing times and follow suit.

            My news website will be called FETnews.com. FET is an acronym for Facts, Explanation and Truth. It will be a form of a news aggregation site. But, what the consumer will be able to do is customize the site, so they can receive news and blogs about what interests them. For instance, a consumer would have to sign up and fill out a questionnaire about their demographics and interests. They will also be asked what topics or beats they would like to have on their site and those beats will be featured on their page.  This means if a consumer is into fashion, they would get blogs and news articles about fashion from various different news outlets and it will appear on their page. It will be very similar to a news aggregation site, but there are three primary differences. One will be that a consumer will be able to interact with others via the website. Secondly, the content of my site is guaranteed for excellence and third, the business model will be different from most news aggregation sites.

             FETNews.com will be an international website. Because of customization, consumers are able to find what interests them therefore this site will be able to be utilized by millions world wide. The problem that arises from this method is bandwidth and affordability. But because we do not have to incur the costs associated with a print newspaper, this plan may be plausible.

                 The business model for my online paper will be based primarily on subscription. Consumers will pay a small fee of $19.99 a year to be apart of this exclusive and trust worthy news site. Consumers will be willing to pay to join this site, because my site offers guaranteed excellence. My site filters the information the consumer is receiving so the consumer is guaranteed credible and valuable news sources. This guarantee of excellence is not something most aggregation sites can offer. Sometimes it is a gamble, whether the information you receive from a sites like GOOGLE or YAHOO is reliable. My site can guarantee excellence because although it is a news aggregation site, my employees preselect hundreds of news sources that pass our “credible” test., that are then featured and available as sources of information to our consumers on our website. This way, although hundreds of different articles may appear from various different sources, my consumers are assured all the new sites are fair, knowledgeable, reliable and credible.

                 Being that FETNews is exclusive, I am predicting online news sites will be willing to pay in order to be selected as an available source on my site, which will be another source of income. I know one must be thinking, how does a consumer know the sites available are reliable and it’s not just based on who paid the most? Well, as I mentioned before, all the websites will have to pass a credibility test. So regardless or not, if the website does not pass the standards and criteria we have laid out, they will not be featured on FETNews.com.

            Another source of income would be through advertisements. Because all my consumers had to fill out a demographic report and their individual news site is customized to fit them, advertisers can be very unique and direct in their advertisements to the consumer. Plus, because my site is subscription base that is a guaranteed audience advertisers can market to.

               The reason I did not make advertisements my primary source of income is because I envision my business being a global company and it will be difficult to support advertisements in countries such as Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. In an article I read recently in the New York Times, written by Brad Stone and Miguel Helft, because of their limited bandwidth capacity it is extremely expensive for web companies to operate in those areas. On top of that in most of these developing countries the consumers have very low incomes that would not be able to support major advertisers. This means most of the online advertisements are not going to translate into results.

            This site as I mentioned before will be interactive. Meaning consumers will be able to make profiles and interact with each other. They will also be capable of blogging and commenting on each others pages and their sites as well. FETNews.com will also be able available on PDA and smart phones, which will encourage the younger generation even more to utilize it.

            Also, because FETNews.com is solely online, this will encourage the Going Green efforts that are largely becoming popular. This can only help to motivate users to sign up and take advantage of “no paper” news.

            Although this site will be primarily a news aggregation site I do believe it is imperative to include some stories that are original and of the websites own. That is why for consumers solely in the Long Island area, along with the news article and blogs from other news sources they will get articles from the site itself. My field staff, which will be composed of 5 reporters on every beat, will cover the news in the metropolitan area. These reporters must be advanced in using the internet, video, graphics and photography. Also there will be a blog for each beat and the reporter must update it daily, making sure to respond to readers within two days. My online staff will be composed of 50 employees whose responsibilities include filtering the news sites, maintenance of the website and its content and commenting and providing explanations and further analysis on “hot topics” that are current in the news.

            My target audience will be the younger generation, age 19-35. I believe the news aggregation type of site will work best for my younger consumers. People rarely visit only one site to access or learn about news. A smart news consumer reads articles from several different sources of information. Therefore, my consumers will be sure to get a broad range of sources they can trust.

            My website will revolutionize the news industry similar to “60 minutes” in the late 1960’s.  People will see that online news sites can be a source of revenue for the news industry. My site will be a place where consumers can get the facts, the explanations and the truth. Consumers will be willing to pay for the services because they are assured that the content of my site is reliable and trustworthy, which is the key to success for any news outlet.

I know however, it will be difficult to initially get started. But through grants, loans, blood and sweat, I believe my dream of having a reliable online news site that can produce profits is more than probable but will be seen in the near future.