Direct relationships are more valuable than reach certainly resonates with the patterns I’m seeing. My last post for 2025 on my strategic comms Substack ‘White Wiki’ concludes the same, informed by similar experiences.
Keep up the great work on Substack. Have enjoyed all your articles so far.
The 80-20 model from Black Buisness Magazine is probably the most underrated insight here. Traditional publishers keep trying to optimize the old playbook when someone already built a working alternative. Getting 80% from strategic partnerships instead of chasing ads fundamentally flips the incentive structure. I've seen this dynamic play out on smaller scale with B2B pubs where the partnership revenue ends up beign way stickier than programmatic. The tricky bit though is that this only works if the publication's audience actully aligns with what a major partner needs longterm. Still, feels like more should be experimenting with this.
Direct relationships are more valuable than reach certainly resonates with the patterns I’m seeing. My last post for 2025 on my strategic comms Substack ‘White Wiki’ concludes the same, informed by similar experiences.
Keep up the great work on Substack. Have enjoyed all your articles so far.
The 80-20 model from Black Buisness Magazine is probably the most underrated insight here. Traditional publishers keep trying to optimize the old playbook when someone already built a working alternative. Getting 80% from strategic partnerships instead of chasing ads fundamentally flips the incentive structure. I've seen this dynamic play out on smaller scale with B2B pubs where the partnership revenue ends up beign way stickier than programmatic. The tricky bit though is that this only works if the publication's audience actully aligns with what a major partner needs longterm. Still, feels like more should be experimenting with this.
It’s a good reminder of why owning your email list matters more than ever.