The Amazon Kindle is the Great White Hope for Monetizing Print Media

Dear media companies,

Thank you for making so much content available for free online for 15 years. I am sure you're eager to monetize it all beyond ads. 

The good news is your great white hope has arrived. It's the Amazon Kindle. My unsolicited advice is to jump in now. This could be your last chance to monetize content. Please do so now before tangible media evaporates.

Let me share with you one media junkie's experience - mine.

As a huge fan of books, magazines and newspapers, I was enthralled when Amazon launched the Kindle digital reader in late 2007. However, unlike other occasions, I did not jump in as an early adopter. I was put off by the many negative reviews and I did not want another device to carry. When the Kindle 2.0 debuted last month, however, I decided it was time to get one. Even then I was skeptical it would stick with me.

Now that I have been a Kindle owner two weeks, I am sold. I believe the device and seamless user experience is a winner - particularly as it synchronizes across phones. However, more importantly, the Kindle 2.0's debut is a watershed moment for print media. You have one last solid shot to monetize your digital content - if you move quickly. 

The iPod was the last digital great white hope. And thankfully, the music and movie companies (reluctantly) jumped on board. 

The Kindle, like the iPod, is an emerging critical mass device that actually encourages people to pay for content rather than get it for free. When Apple launched the iTunes Music Store, people were skeptical that people would shell out cash for music they could snag for free from file sharing networks. They did. The same was true when Apple, and later others, rolled out movies. However, today millions rent or buy movies online.

The Kindle offers a similar experience in a much larger market - text. This one is tougher to monetize. In the digital age books have managed to remain premium content. However, beyond books, magazine and newspaper content is available in abundance online for free. Yet, I still believe that people will pay to receive some of their favorites on their Kindles or their Kindle-enabled phones. Meet them there now while you can.

Consider this piece in the Statesboro Business Magazine by a 43-year-old individual who bought his first newspaper subscription in 43 years. Or the fact that now Instapaper is available in a handy offline version for the Kindle. Both remind me of the early days of the iPod when it was still geeky, yet a game changer.

My advice to you is to offset part of the cost of the Kindle and get them into the hands of your loyal readers with your content pre-loaded. Imagine, TIme Warner, if you gave readers $100 off a Kindle that came with a year of digital subscriptions to Time, Sports Illustrated and Fortune. I bet a lot of people would jump in and stay with you for years.

The Kindle, like the iPod, overcomes the hurdle required to get people to pay for content. The secret sauce is easy and instantaneous delivery of content as soon as it ships. This need not be limited to daily, weekly or monthly publication schedule but also for breaking news.

A little over a year ago, I converted all my media to bits. However, it's work. Even with RSS, I still have to go out and get the content I care about. Now with my Kindle, the media comes to me and it's available offline. I love that Fortune magazine shows up on my device whenever a new issue is published. The same is true for the New York Times. Eventually, Amazon will extend publications to the iPhone and other devices.

So, media companies, please jump in now. Embrace the Kindle. Subsidize it. Create value-added content for it, such as e-books. Or even partner with advertisers to offer advertorials. This could be your last shot at getting people to pay for your content. Don't miss the next iPod.

Sincerely,

Steve (a media junkie)