RJI News Collaboratory

Dorian Benkoil
  • Male
  • Columbia, MO
  • United States
Share 

Dorian Benkoil's Friends

Dorian Benkoil's Groups

 

Dorian Benkoil's Page

Latest Activity

Polly Kreisman and Dorian Benkoil are now friends
August 27
I would further this advice. Consider not only the costs of developing the new technology, but the costs of promoting and managing the resulting web property. Too many web development clients budget only for the development of their site. Underesti…
July 30
Dorian Benkoil added 2 blog posts
July 30
Dorian: Let me weigh in with a few opinions on this general topic. I've borrowed your headings: * E-commerce. What products might you sell? Logo hats, mugs, pens, etc. In general these items fall in the category of specialty advertising items. I…
July 28
Dorian Benkoil added 2 blog posts
July 24
Wow, GP. Great Stuff! Thanks for spelling it out so clearly. I'm impressed by your mixed revenue model, where you've gotten some pre-revenue (cash before delivery of service) by selling the yearly memberships, and the added benefit of forum posting…
July 24
I see I failed to point out that I don't think I've had a sales person go through the phone book making pitches. I will relate a sale that came in today, because it is typical. I got a call from a roofing company that had looked up their name on go…
July 22
I'm sorry ... I missed your reply (silly software ;) ) To answer your questions. The site is http://www.paulding.com The initial effort was largely from the readership. We initially had an ad sales person (part time) that had been out selling bann…
July 22
Dorian Benkoil added a blog post
An essay in the Columbia Journalism Review by David Simon is getting a lot of discussion for suggesting that The Washington Post and The New York Times should both, on Sept. 1, start charging for their news product online and no longer allow access…
July 21
Dorian Benkoil added a blog post
We’re continuing to flesh out our wiki bullet point list to help you assess whether your venture is a business and what revenues you might hope to achieve. Listings -- classified and the like -- are one very good way that news companies online have…
July 17
Dorian Benkoil added a blog post
There’s useful information on making a news site into a business from elsewhere on the Collaboratory outside the Business Assessment Group. Here are some of the gems: Barbara Iverson provides the link to a “manifesto on how news orgs can get re-eng…
July 13
Jennifer, Have you gotten any further along in this process? What've you discovered?
July 13
What platform are you going to switch to, from Wordpress?
July 13
Dorian Benkoil added a blog post
This time, in further fleshing out our list of bullet points (which are on the wiki here) we’re going to look at ad inventory, how to sell it and price it. The bullet points we’re expounding on are: Based on your predicted traffic, how many ad spo…
July 10
Dorian Benkoil added 2 blog posts
July 2
@GP Hughes. Oh, another question for you as well: How, in very specific terms, did you go after those advertisers and get 30-50 of them to sign up? 50 advertisers at $50 each is $2,500, so it's hard to see how that would support an ad sales person.…
July 2

Comment Wall (2 comments)

You need to be a member of RJI News Collaboratory to add comments!

Join this Ning Network

At 7:47pm on June 16, 2009, David Shapinsky said…
sure.
At 7:25am on June 12, 2009, Jody said…
sure. back online next week after vaca!

Profile Information

What kind of org do you work for?
educational institution
What do you do?
educator
I think we should use the RJI Collaboratory incubator to develop:
Business assessment tools for local Web news sites

Dorian Benkoil's Blog

Dorian Benkoil

Beware the Hidden Expenses of Revenue Production

This week, we’re writing about expenses -- making sure not to neglect them, how to figure out what they are, and so on. One kind of expense that is easy to neglect is the hidden cost that can come with something that looks like it has a tremendous revenue producing upside, such as the implementation of a new system or technology. It’s easy to look, for example, at all the revenues a new ad serving technol… Continue

Posted on July 30, 2009 at 1:03pm — 1 Comment

Dorian Benkoil

Don’t Forget Expenses

In my consulting practice, I’ve seen that smaller companies, especially ones in the startup phase, can have a tendency to neglect the expense side of the financial equation. I don’t know why -- maybe it’s psychologically more fun to think about money in than money out -- but I do know that it’s like paying attention to the water pouring into a tub while ignoring the rate at which it’s draining. That’s dangerous, if you’re trying to run a busi… Continue

Posted on July 30, 2009 at 12:30pm —

Dorian Benkoil

Very Specific Numbers on One Local Site from GP Hughes

Collaboratory member GP Hughes, commenting on one of my posts, gave some really great, specific information about how he's sold shares of his ad space at low rates, and managed to support his operation. Also, how he goes about selling, and how he's not found a salesperson that is worth what they demand in money. Lots of great, specific, info, relevant t… Continue

Posted on July 24, 2009 at 2:00pm —

Dorian Benkoil

Direct Sales are a Whole ‘Nother Type of Money

Here are more details on our bullet points to help you predict whether your media business can be viable. We’ve thoroughly explored advContinue

Posted on July 24, 2009 at 1:00pm — 1 Comment

Dorian Benkoil

Behind the Pay Wall?

An essay in the Columbia Journalism Review by David Simon is generating a lot ofContinue

Posted on July 21, 2009 at 9:30am —

 
 

#RJI Twitter Stream

Photos



www.flickr.com
rjicollab's items Go to rjicollab's photostream

 

© 2009   Created by RJI Collaboratory on Ning.   Create a Ning Network!

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Privacy  |  Terms of Service