We’ve compiled a few ideas of ‘news products’ that you might be able to use to bring in additional income.
As always, being transparent with your audience by flagging sponsored or paid content is very important to maintaining trust. To maintain professional journalistic editorial standards news publications need to be clear about what content is independent, public interest journalism, and what content has been supported by another business or organisation.
Need more tips and ideas for news content? Check out LINA’s story leads page
Story ideas for the month or year ahead, key news industry events for your calendar, a little prompt on revenue streams you might want to think about this month, helpful mailing lists to subscribe to, and a list of useful spokespeople, government and helpline references to refer your readers to, or to draw upon yourself.
| News product | Monetisation | Tips and ideas |
| Awareness day/observances features | Advertising and sponsorship | Approach an organisation to sponsor a feature article/news content on an upcoming awareness day or observance e.g. A cancer research organisation. For an extensive list of ideas, see LINA’s story leads page. |
| Exclusive subscriber content | Subscription | Offer donors or subscribers exclusive access to content e.g. behind the scenes look at how you produce the news, paywalled articles, podcast content etc. |
| Newsletters | Subscription, Advertising, sponsorship | Find a sponsor to feature in or curate a section of your newsletter, for example the ‘Good news of the week’ section could be sponsored by a local business. Use newsletters as an optional paid extra for subscribers or donors to your news organisation. See more tips on how to start a newsletter and how to build your subscribers. |
| Obituaries and death notices | Advertising and sponsorship | Sponsorship from florists, funeral homes, tissue companies etc. Private advertising from individuals to publish obituaries |
| Public holiday guides | Advertising | Create a guide on the businesses that will be opening on an upcoming public holiday, e.g. cafes, pools, pubs, restaurants, grocery stores, gyms. |
| Real estate listings | Advertising | Private advertisers or local real estate agents. Keep an eye out for some big news coming from LINA about tech for property advertisements… |
| School holiday guides | Advertising and sponsorship | Partner with a local council to promote community building activities in the area. Partner with a local library to promote school holiday programs/activities. Advertising from local businesses e.g. museums, icecream shops, waterparks, toy shops etc. |
| Sports ‘star’ features | Sponsorship | Find a local sporting related business (e.g. a gym, sport club, shoe store etc.) to sponsor a regular feature of an up-and-coming athlete in your area. |
