How are Yankee and the Old Farmer’s Almanac using digital effectively?
A. We’re having good success selling products and services on our websites. We’ll continue to sell advertising on our sites, but we’re putting more of our focus on generating transactions–selling our own products and also others’. One example: In our region Yankee is the exclusive distributor of ARES, an online travel booking service. We’re partnering with other sites and tourism marketing organizations to generate sales and sharing the commissions. On Almanac.com we are selling our books and calendars. We will start selling other branded merchandise such as hats and aprons shortly. Then we expect to sell unbranded products that relate to subjects of interest to Almanac readers. We’re negotiating with wholesalers now for specialty foods and tools for gardeners. Q. For a title that is focused on one particular region, what do you find to be the most successful forms of audience development? A. Our approach to audience development within the region is fairly typical; finding readers who
