Alex Skatell jumped into the incredible competitive online media space and founded the Independent Journal Review. Today it’s one of the top 50 websites in the country, with over 20 million unique views a day. Listen in to hear Alex and Nathan break down the future of online publishing, making money through news, and why you shouldn’t be afraid to go up against giants.
Famous Five:
Favorite Book? – David and Goliath
What CEO do you follow? — Fred Smith
Favourite online tool? — Asana
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?—Go with your gut
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:32 – Nathan’s introduction
02:11 – Welcoming Alex to the show
02:25 – Why go into online publishing?
02:50 – Alex wanted to create a platform for self-published news in college
03:30 – “People aren’t looking at the front page of the paper to find what’s news”
03:50 – News is becoming more feed-driven: Alex’s company puts out content every 4 minutes
04:20 – 700k people on the email list
05:10 – “How can you reach people online, on your own terms?”
05:35 – Independent Journal Review was launched in 2012
06:08 – The company was initially bootstrapped, and has since raised around $2.5 million from friends and family
06:31 – 20-25 million unique views per day
07:20 – Around 50 people working in the newsroom
08:00 – There’s a technology company and a news company under Alex’s Media Group of America brand
09:00 – Alex believes in publically available tools like Wordpress and Google Analytics
10:00 – Total expenses each month are around six figures
10:30 – Largely makes money through advertising
14:00 – Nathan: Would you scale your technology into a SaaS platform?
14:30 – Alex: No, that’s not our focus
14:18 – Connect with Alex on Twitter and via email
17:30 – The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Don’t be afraid to go up against the big guys. Start-ups can be flexible and take risks, even in spaces full of giants.
Go with your gut. Listen to your instincts.
The way that people consume and publish news is fundamentally changing - it’s becoming more personalised, more immediate, and more feed-driven.
Resources Mentioned:
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
