old brainstorm notes - 15/02/2003 - exported file attached
website collaborations
content sharing - articles/news/events/media etc
examples in industry : aap newswire
most media businesses eg tv/radio/press use the content from newswire services such as AAP, Reuters, PR-newswire
these can include different types of media- vision, audio, scripts
media businesses also use their own local, interstate and networked reporters and staff to report on topics according to their preferences and focus
media businesses are mostly networked these days - eg the commercial television/radio stations have one in every state which allows them to act as separate entities to some extent but also use and provide content to/from their fellow networked stations
there are cost benefits to this as well as sharing of resources
if you use the example of the recent content sharing agreement of paytv whereby foxtel is buying all the content (eg US movie studio content known for it's outrageous pricecs amongst others) for it's competitors optus and austar, there are benefits on both sides - more buying power due to greater audience numbers for foxtel so they can negotiate a better price, and less expense for optus and austar because they don't need to negotiate themselves and compete against their local competitors and they get the choice of more & better content choices for their customers
some different methods of sending content to other sites - depending on the source and destination site
automated via RSS/XML feeds
email
sites could download it/copy paste from a source site
database dumps
single point of data entry, even on different sites
one or more sites could setup the data entry point for content eg event listings
promoters could either send their data here or enter it themselves, then it is sent to the other sites in the collective
there could be check boxes for the promoter to choose where they want it sent and text boxes for them to suggest other places
one site could handle event listings, another interviews for distribution- these don't necessarily have to be on the one site, but could be if people are happy with it
advertising sharing
there would be more buying power for the person/s who were buying advertising due to greater audience reach
they would be able to setup deals for cross platform media, eg maillists,magazines, websites, radio, netradio etc
there would have to be some guidelines in place - perhaps following the tv/radio advertising rules (eg u can't show competitors ads back to back on tv/radio - eg ford ad then toyota ad)
each site would specify it's audience size and demographics (without giving away all their secrets of course!)
each site would still be able to arrange their own local/direct advertising if they wish but if they were part of the advertising sharing option they would have to use some from it as well
paid advertising : there would be a number of corporates/related businesses approached - this is the tricky part of course, who to choose? people don't want to be accused of 'selling out' and some people have problems with certain corporates.
most sites tend to be using party promoters banner ads - this is cool, but I think often the parties, especially the smaller ones can't afford advertising
I think if say it started with (choosing a low number here for example) 8 sites in the collective, 24 advertisers came on board - everyone would have to use at least 2-3 of them.
there may be some caveats from the advertisers, but when setting up the deals, it would be better to say there is a pool of sites wanting to show your ads
there should be different categories of ads : paid general, sponsorship, community announcements, local/direct ads up to the discretion of the individual site
promo/publicity sharing
each collaborative site specifies the requirements of it's banner ads or other type of advertising which is freely available for the other sites to access
banner swapping between the sites or link swapping-whatever the individual site's policy is
the sites may choose to only swap with some of the sites in the collaboration, ie you probably wouldn't swap with your competitors unless you were happy doing that
sites involved
a wide range of sites would be approached, some examples include:
arts
music
music community- strong message board focus
magazines
music label
mailing list services
both specialty sites and general interest sites
national and locally focussed sites
visual art sites
general notes
when mentioning sites in the sections here I'm referring to different members of the collective whether they be websites, magazines, street press, zines, radio programs, maillists etc
these ideas are designed to share resources and information and give some of the smaller sites the opportunity to concentrate on the part they do best.
individual sites could use this sharing system in a small or large way - totally up to them, some may choose to have some shared content, others might want content and ads/promos etc
distribution
there are also possibilities for distribution for artists wanting to be featured on a site, new music releases announcements, reviews etc etc
this could tie in with music distributors and people signing up to p&d deals - these are not much use without a bit of publicity to let people know about it, so this could provide a source of revenue for the collective as well - ie people pay a fee to publicise or be featured on the sites without having to approach them all seperately
administration & skills & revenue
a new system could be put in place, with members of the collective administering it, or members of the collective could allocate an area of their existing system to use for the collective
there are already many talented people working on their own sites with excellent and transferable skills - everyone is basically working towards the same goal of spreading the word of what they are passionate about.
some people have sites which create revenue, although I think this would be rare and if they do make money it's probably only enough to cover costs
some people are just doing it for a hobby/gain more skills and others are wanting to prepare their future by setting up something which may be able to support them in the future
the costs would be shared between the collective just as the benefits would be
there are a wide range of skills available to the collective if people were to join up - writers, editors, system admin, web designers, coders, publicists, music artists, advertising sales/buyers, music label people, graphic designers, video editors, visual artists, party promotersas well as general people who are happy to support their friends, biography writers
revenue streams exist in a few places, such as the advertising deals, publicity services, helping people make press kits, artwork etc
even if the revenue streams are not high, they could outweigh some of the expenses (even if only in time) which are involved in the running of a site which could allow individual sites more time to spend on their own fun or revenue making methods (eg, sometimes people have these great ideas but spend most of the time administering a site or replying to emails that they never get to try find banner ad prospects or advertise anywhere else)
of course, not all sites want to make money, but I imagine most would like to at least cover their costs, and perhaps pay contributors or spend any money on further developing their site so one day it might become a more self-sustaining site. and even if people do make some money on their sites, I think there would be only a few if any who were making industry standard wages - most would be working other jobs to pay the bills and doing their sites in any spare time they have. these are the types of sites which could benefit from a sharing system/collective
