Keynote Speaker at Niche Digital Conference

OK, so I’m technically doing a “mini-keynote” to help kick off the Niche Digital Conference this Fall in Chicago, but it’s still a keynote! I’m thrilled to be working once again with the Niche Media team. If you’ve never been to a Niche Media event, I highly recommend them. Excellent, practical content, good people, and an entrepreneurial environment for niche consumer, business-to-business and regional media companies.

This is the 2nd annual Niche Digital Conference and is entirely focused on building out digital revenue streams. The most surprising statistic I’ve heard is that at last year’s event, only 20% of the niche publishers who attended were generating any digital revenues, but that it’s doubled this year. I’m sure the continued rise of social media, online video and mobile will continue to drive a lot of companies to attend the event and there will be plenty of sessions on these topics.

For me personally, I plan to focus on which online media strategies will drive the most revenue — both for media companies who primarily sell advertising and for those who primarily sell content. Here’s the description of my keynote from the Niche Digital Conference brochure:

Are you putting the cart before the horse in crafting your digital strategy, diving headlong into expensive online endeavors that don’t make sense for your business? If so, have no fear! Eric Shanfelt is here to help you answer one simple question: “Why the heck are you going online?” What do your readers want? What do your advertisers want? How does your magazine’s brand translate online? How do your traditional media fit in your online mix? Before any strategies, before any tactics, you have to figure out WHY! Eric will provide a simple framework to help you think about your digital business and make strategic decisions that will bring in the money.

I’ll also be presenting a session on B2B adverting sales talking about various types of revenue streams, sales approaches, pricing, and how to shoot yourself in the foot without even knowing it.

For more information about the Niche Digital Conference, check out www.NicheDigitalConference.com. It’s in Chicago, September 20-21. Hope to see you there!