A Wish List for NYT's About.com

February 22, 2005

0 views

A Wish List for NYTs Aboutcom

In the wake of the Times acquiring About.com, I thought it might be nice to imagine a reinvented About.com under new management. Let's face it: NEW YORK TIMES FROM:

Reduce clutter. Too many ads and ads of the wrong type. Less is more.

Redesign page templates to be cleaner and to convey reputability.

Quality control. Fire poor quality Guides. Implement an editorial oversight board with an ongoing mandate to nurture good Guides and to insist that quality does not slip. Have consistent policies on self-promotion.

Overhaul publishing platform, provide more support for Guides. Quality writers/guides need a modern, easy-to-use publishing platform.

Raise perception of quality another notch by introducing NYT columnists to the opportunity to run their own Guide Sites for additional compensation + bonus... or just the opportunity for further notoriety.

Enlist B-list celebs or their lackeys to run Guide Sites. Eg. have interns from the Jon Stewart show run one.

Postmodern self-referential Guide Sites with cooperation of producers of culture. Example: Insider's Guide to The Simpsons.

Allow "lite guide" sites to be more like blogs to reduce the burden on Guides and to encourage the participation of quality writers (eg. Times columnists) who would rather be producing content than jumping through hoops.

Encourage RSS subscriptions. Study how Guides can maintain steady contact with readers but not through email.

Satellite radio channel. Put 50 Guides in their own time slots and produce actual radio for profit.

Partner with educators; produce child-friendly guide sites.

While building up quality, operate at break-even or a slight loss for three years, to build the brand equity of NYT & About.com.

To reduce fiscal risk, score banner ad deals with pricey advertisers who currently advertise in the newspaper. Leverage existing sales relationships.

Longer term, build online classifieds for each Guide site (in-house listings, not just farming out monetization to Google). Some readers will actually seek commercial listings, so while limiting clutter, increase focus on targeted listings that people may actually seek.

Consider integrating some Guide sites with Google Answers.

Page Zero Media

Suggest a Correction

Found an error or have a suggestion? Let us know and we'll review it.

Comments (0)

Please sign in to leave a comment.

No comments yet. Be the first to comment!