Earlier this year at Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, there was a panel discussion that sounded pretty interesting. “The media is dead. Long live the media” was going to have some of the major people behind the outdoor media world discussing the changes going on behind the scenes in the industry. Intrigued, I decided to show up and see what was going on. Overall, it was a pretty good discussion that got me thinking about the industry in general and where we’re all going. If you want to watch the panel, Wicked Outdoorsy has posted it online here. At Summer Market earlier this month, there was another panel (online here) covering much the same. Being somewhat involved in the industry, I thought I’d share a few of my thoughts on the issue.
The one thing that stuck with me after these panel discussions is that there are a lot of parallels between the magazine industry now and the .com era from 1998/99 to the bust in 2001. Back then I was an intern in an IT department at a software company. There was a lot of hype, a lot of talk about ‘paradigm shifts’, and a complete uncertainty of where we were headed. This now seems to be repeating itself in the publishing industry. What makes me laugh is that the lingo now is almost exactly what I heard 10 years ago. There’s also a gigantic land rush for market share without a concrete plan to make money. Fortunately, it’s not quite as bad as the last time around (people are actually trying to make money this time), but it’s pretty similar.
This all stems from the fact that print media is on its way to being a historical fact, rather than a daily involvement in peoples lives. Magazines are shutting down left and right, newspapers are finding ad rates dropping through the floor as distribution dwindles. For years the industry has relied on a two prong approach to revenue. They would charge subscribers a fee to receive their product and then they would charge advertisers a much higher fee to advertise to their subscribers. From newspaper people I’ve heard from, the subscription fees pretty much only covered distribution of the paper, and the advertising paid for everything else. According to some sources, subscription fees accounted for as little as 3% of the income for a newspaper. I haven’t been able to track down similar stats for magazines, but I can’t imagine it was much different on that side of the industry.
Now that people are moving away from print and on to the web, distribution costs have shrunk so dramatically that it’s almost to the point of being free. This means that people also don’t want to pay for what they might have paid for in the past. If you no longer have to pay for that Heidelberg press, why should I pay for your product online? Famously, News Corp doesn’t believe this and has instituted pay walls on many of their sites. How’s that working out? From the articles out there, not well.
So where does this leave us? It was always about the advertising. While advertising has always paid for the industry, the problem now is that competition is up significantly, and ad rates are a lot lower on the web than they were in print. The publishing industry as a whole has to find a way to get ad rates up, most likely by delivering a very targeted demographic to advertisers. That is at least some good news for the outdoor publishing industry. The outdoor industry is about as targeted as you can get and includes quite a few people with lots of disposable income (also how Arc’Teryx can sell $600 jackets regularly).
However, what I haven’t heard from either of these panels or anywhere else really is a full understanding of what blogs mean to the industry. Most of the larger media outlets seem to dismiss blogs entirely as not being real competition and thus not worth their effort. However, there’s a much bigger problem the giants of the industry need to consider. Small blogs push ad rates down simply because the same people that read Backpacker or Outdoor also read blogs. The targeted demographic that the big names in the industry cater to, also reads blogs. Blogs also have much lower profit expectations than any of the big magazines. We’re not supporting a staff of writers, photographers, editors, IT people, secretaries, facilities management, etc, etc. Our costs are significantly lower than that of Backpacker. Of course, since the big names may have 20 authors writing articles, they can cover a lot more than a place like Daily Hiker. However, there are a lot more blogs out there than there are Backpacker magazines.
When it comes down to it, the same type of people that read Backpacker or Outside online are going to read a few outdoor blogs. With ad rates being much cheaper on a blog than at a magazine’s web site, how is a magazine going to compete with a blog?
In response, some of the bigger names in the industry are releasing iPhone or Android apps and are also starting to release some much higher quality content. This is what I think the outdoor media has understood a lot better than the rest of the media in general. People want high quality content online that’s much more than just text. Both of the panel discussions have had the big names in the industry repeat over and over again that it’s all about the content. People want high quality content and if they don’t get it, they’ll go somewhere else.
Thus, the gauntlet has been thrown down for outdoor blogs in general. Instead of the major outdoor media figuring out how to compete with us, we need to figure out how to compete with them. While blogs like Daily Hiker don’t have nearly the resources to produce and update a high quality iPhone or Android app, blogs have simply dropped the ball on the content side. With the price of digital SLRs that take HD movies coming down significantly, there’s really no excuse for poor quality photos or videos anymore. While I know we at Daily Hiker have some room to improve in more than one aspect, I simply will not compromise on the quality of the photography.
While this may not apply to every single blog in the world, it certainly applies to outdoor blogs. The outdoors is an inherently visual experience that has to be told with high quality photos and video. Many of the outdoor blogs I see out there use mostly stock or poor quality photos for gear reviews. The pictures on other types of posts are just as poor. It may be a pain at times, but we need to improve the multimedia experience for readers in general. If I can carry an SLR up Mt. Rainier, anyone can take a decent camera out with them hiking.
If we expect to be taken seriously, we must improve. Blogs may have the upper hand when it comes to the web for the moment, but that’s not going to be for that much longer. It’s pretty clear that the major names in the outdoor industry are making it their mission to be the best on the web. They have quite a few more resources than blogs in general, but we are much more nimble. While I don’t see myself doing big pieces on mountaineering in Peru like the big names can (unless I decide to take a vacation and write an article about it), we can compete much better on a local level.
We are far more nimble when it comes to content about local hikes or outdoor news. If we want to do a piece on climbing Glacier Peak, we don’t have to get approval from an editor and the budget for a flight out. I can hop in the car with a bunch of gear and a camera and off I go. To some extent the big names are trying to counter this by crowd sourcing hike reviews, but that just means we need to be better than what someone will write in a paragraph on Backpacker’s web site.
Additionally, outdoor blogs have to be more than gear review sites. While there is something to be said for the value of an independent gear review by someone that doesn’t get ad money from the company like a Backpacker or Outside may, there is a limit to the usefulness of the review. If we expect to remain relevant, we have to do more than simply review new gear. We have to cover news stories about what’s important in the outdoor world. We have to include interesting outdoor stories. We must create new, original content. Daily Hiker certainly isn’t perfect in this regard, but we’re trying. That’s a lot more than I can say for some of the other blogs out there.
So I guess what I’m saying is that we have to try harder. Day jobs and life may get in the way, but if we expect our blogs to actually serve a purpose in the world, we need to devote the time and effort it takes to make them what they should be. If we don’t, the magazines are going to catch up and beat us at our own game.
Branden, this is a very interesting subject. I’ve been writing the Northern California Hiking Trails blog for two years. It has not been a major focus of my time, but I’ve still built some good traffic numbers and have boosted sales of my two hiking guidebooks.
I think outdoors blogs will do best when they focus on a specific niche. For me it’s hiking in northern California, along with other subjects that impact hiking. Unless you have a decent plan to really bring in traffic, and I mean hundred thousand page views a month or more, I think you’ll have difficulty making a living from an outdoors blog, although there may be a some exceptions.
Just followed you on Twitter and retweeted about this post.
Thanks for the follow. I just followed you back.
I wouldn’t say that it’s about making a living from blogging, but more about having a voice in the industry as a whole. As it is, I don’t really try to monetize Daily Hiker. As long as it pays for itself, I’m happy. It’s a way to force myself to get outside and be involved in an industry that I truly care about.
However, unless more bloggers actually put effort into what they do, blogs as a whole are going to become fairly irrelevant as magazines change their formulas to appeal to an online market. As free online content gets better from the magazines, blogs have to increase the quality too.
The talks at OR got me thinking about where outdoor media is really going in general and I’ve been pondering the subject for the last 6 months or so. More than anything, this is a call for myself to do better. That said, I think a lot of my fellow bloggers should take a look at their own content and see what they can improve too.
Mostly I’ve been really disappointed with the quality of the photography at quite a few other sites. It’s really not that hard to use a couple flashes and some photo umbrellas for decent product shots at least. While I’m certainly guilty of using stock product photos on occasion, I try to take my own photos for the majority of what we do. Video is probably the next frontier for web content. So, that’ll probably be coming pretty soon.
Branden, I definitely understand what you’re saying. I think it will be the rare lone blogger that can put up enough high-quality content, including photos, to really compete with the big media, especially in terms of page views and overall impact.
Blogging takes perseverance, a willingness to learn, and settling into a niche that has a significant number of potential followers. I’m in the process of consolidating three of my nonhiking blogs into one, in large part from what I’ve learned since I launched them in March, and also to make the best use of my time.
That’s just it, with the price of an SLR camera getting cheaper and cheaper these days, it’s a lot easier for a lone blogger to put up some pretty high quality pictures. Even product photography can be done with a point and shoot and $200-300 worth of lighting equipment. Sure, you can use $20k in Profoto gear, but the output isn’t going to be significantly better than a couple flashes and some umbrellas.
On quantity, individual bloggers can’t compete with the magazines, but we certainly can with quality. The outdoor scenes that magazines photograph are the same ones that we can photograph. It just takes some effort on our part to put up something decent. Sure, it’s not going to be a 4 page spread about Tanzania, but it doesn’t have to be. Many people live within driving distance to a National Park or National Forest, and there’s more than enough content in those to supply outdoor bloggers with material for posts.
Branden, I just recently discovered Daily Hiker and I am impressed with your approach to blogging. You have accomplished many of the things I hope to accomplish with my own blog. My goal is to provide a place where outdoor enthusiasts can gain information and insight as well as dream (with me) of their next big adventure. I struggle from time to time in finding the next piece that will draw readers in and give them the information they are looking for. Sometimes I think I have found the perfect topic…and no one seems to notice…other times I think…”at least I’m publishing something” and it is a huge hit. Reading your audience…and finding your niche (as John talks about) seems to be a difficult process.
But with all that said…I think the best way outdoor blogs can compete against big outdoor media is through networking. As you said…we may not have the big staff…but there certainly are a lot more of us. I think the more we unite the stronger we become. By building networks between bloggers, linking to each others content, and generally helping each other out…we can out produce even the biggest media.
Networking is the one thing big media will never be able to do as well. A big magazine like Backpacker just seems too…well big…to ever seem like someone you can befriend. Most of us regard big media with a kind of celebrity status, and lets face it….we never see ourselves as being friends with celebrities. On the other hand, I have come to view some of my fellow bloggers as some very close friends. I link to their stuff…they do the same for me. In the end…we both benefit.
One networking site I have been impressed with is the Outdoor Blogger Network. My only disappointment is that they cater to mostly fishermen. I wish there was a similar networking site out there specifically for the hikers, backpackers, paddler types like you and I. I have thought of creating it myself…but barely have the time to keep the content fresh on my own site…much less manage a network of several other sites.
Of course even with networking we still have to produce good quality. If we can do both…well….what can stop us?
P.S. I have followed you on Twitter, and added Daily Hiker to my blogroll.
Hi Steven,
Thanks for the follow. We followed you back on twitter.
The big media sites out there do a lot of things well. They have access to a lot of freelance writers that can write an incredibly interesting story. They can also pay for some of the best photography available.
They can’t however provide a compelling voice through their magazines. There are far to many people involved for the final product to have a single vision.
Perhaps that’s where we can win. While we don’t have the same resources available, we can write articles with our own voice behind them. This comes across pretty clearly in the final product and I think that long term it’s a lot more interesting than a magazine full of random articles.
In any case, a lot has changed in the year since I wrote this article. There are at least 2 groups of outdoor bloggers that I know of that network between each other. A lot of the bloggers are getting quite a bit more connected than they ever have been in the past.
Of course, the magazines are also catching on and they’re even starting to involve bloggers in the conversation. It has been a pretty wild ride so far, and who knows where it will end up. Either way, it has been fun.
“They can’t however provide a compelling voice through their magazines. There are far to many people involved for the final product to have a single vision.
Perhaps that’s where we can win. While we don’t have the same resources available, we can write articles with our own voice behind them. This comes across pretty clearly in the final product and I think that long term it’s a lot more interesting than a magazine full of random articles.”
Wonderful essay. The above is the one thing I thought missing from the original, and you say it very well here.
I think of it in terms of credibility. Too much of the content of Outside, Backpacker, etc (gear and otherwise) is so obviously driven by the need to appeal to the lowest common denominator as to be useless to many. Blog content is at it’s best produced by folks out on the cutting edge, and as you mentioned earlier, the accessibility of digital media means that almost anyone can tell a high quality story.
It’s a good time to be apart of.
Branden,
I think Steven is on to something as far as the networking thing goes and I echo his sentiment about the Outdoor Blogger Network. They do indeed cater more to fisherman than the rest of the outdoor industry and it’s mainly because the two who run it are fishermen/women.
Steven there is a good network resource that has started and is building for our types. Have you checked out Trail Sherpa yet? There are some pretty big things coming up in the near future with it that Tim has up his sleeves. If you haven’t signed up yet, you should. I throw Tim a line about you, he might want to talk to you as well.
Thanks Tim. Great piece Branden, seems we’ve been pondering the same topic for quite some time.
I come from a social networking background having launched my first network just a month after MySpace launched. My thoughts have been directed more at creating the same content mechanism powered by multiple authors that has long benefited the magazines but driven by the nimble nature you referred to earlier that defines the start-up mentality. I was in Silicon Valley 1999-2001 and see the similarities that you do. It’s entertaining really.
We are introducing Team Trail Sherpa, a multi-contributor team, in the next few days. The design is to offer the content that many hikers want like trail reports, gear reviews, and recipes, but also counter balancing that with the sort of thought leadership that you and everyone else in the comments have already identified as lacking in the big media product. I don’t think our approach is perfect but I think it’s best that we get it started and as a group refine the approach as we learn.
I’d love to chat with you offline if you have a little time. I follow you on Twitter, subscribed to your feed, and will send you a DM following this post.
Thanks again for starting this discussion.