There are six steps to fully leverage partner distribution through the Higher Education library channel. These principles and recommendations apply to assessing and participating in other channels such as the consumer channel, the corporate library channel, or the public library channel as well.
Part 1: Assess your catalog – published and forthcoming – to identify degrees of opportunity
Maximizing the revenue return from your paid content, or usage of your open content in licensed distribution channels, begins with a deep understanding of your complete catalog’s historical performance and the potential of future publishing output. Let’s look at the critical steps necessary to assess your catalog’s potential in licensing.
Part 2: Establish a Complete Picture of All Available Channel Partners
If you are a publisher of valuable content with the goal of increasing revenue and usage, you have to be willing to experiment and measure and adjust. If you reject a channel opportunity based solely on a belief it will disproportionately disrupt current revenues without having tested this premise, you have given up on the opportunity too quickly.
Part 3: Understand all Available Business Models Represented by Channel Partners
The Higher Education library distribution channel offers various packaging and pricing access models to consider and select as you deploy your catalog in licensing. You can license all or part of your catalog into a mix of these business models and with a mix of the channel partners you have already identified. Here’s an overview of the models and opportunity.
Part 4: Determine If You Can Demand an Exclusive with a Distribution Partner
I’d like to offer a counterpoint to the tactics I have presented in the first three parts. Exclusives are rare opportunities and frequently not in the best interest of the publisher. However, here are the three “must haves” for a publisher to be in a position to seek an exclusive and the mistakes to avoid that could dilute the potential of an exclusive.
Part 5: Timing of Content Release, Access Model Selection and Partner Selection
Now that you have analyzed and segmented your content catalogue, evaluated all potential distribution partners and their many business models, and considered if an exclusive distribution deal – you are now ready to develop and implement a specific, intentional and measurable channel distribution strategy.
Part 6: Build a Template to Track and Measure Performance Across Partners and Business Models
The final step in a complete licensing strategy is to create a visual model for tracking and evaluating its performance. Here are the key elements of a tracking template, a sample template for you to adapt and modify to fit your needs, and considerations around implementation and measurement.
If you want to work together on your new product development strategy, contact me directly.
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