Post on 18-Oct-2021
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Covering positive news and
innovation happening now + the
radical transformation coming next
Eric Berlin | eric@forwerdmedia.com | 626.372.0778
MISSION STATEMENT
Next Form is a media company focused on
good news and societal transformation in the
wake of the coronavirus pandemic:
• Science, tech, healthcare innovation
• Remote work success stories
• Adapting in communicating, entertaining
ourselves
• How humans touch everything, interact is
radically changing
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The IDEA
started here
- Tweet from Josh Brown (1.1M followers)
3
Next Form evolved from CONVERSATIONS
• Tech reporter Christopher Mims (Wall Street Journal) is very
supportive of Next Form, sees need for "solutions journalism"
• Paul Olund, digital publishing expert (LA Times, USA Today,
Bing) pushed idea of radical transformation: coronavirus is
changing every touchpoint humans have
• Paul Orlando (USC accelerator director) helped shape strategy
and joined Next Form as an advisor
4
Next Form evolved fromOBSERVING
Many are addicted
to bad news, losing
sleep, feeling exhausted,
getting depressed.
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Next Form
evolved
from DATA
News consumption is way, way up (NYT)
• +47% minutes per day
• +57% overall visits
• Y/Y audience growth: USA Today +30%, Hearst
Magazine sites +33%
• 57.5% increase in new U.S. news subscriptions
versus average
• Vox podcast downloads +50% versus average
6
Next Form ”BEATS"• Tech & Innovation
• Science & Healthcare
• Entertainment & Living
• Work & Collaboration
• Human Interaction &
Transformation
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What we COVER
• Success stories about companies working remotely
• Improvements in test kits,
tracing methodologies, healthcare treatments
• How we adapt to living in quarantine, protecting
ourselves, communicating, seeking entertainment
• How we approach the post-quarantine world: back
outside, back together, back to work
• Radical societal and environmental change: corona
virus impacts every interaction point that involves
humans from now on
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Where we PRODUCE Next Form• WEB
• Longform original reporting, interviews
• Shorter, punchy pieces
• Newsletter acquisition, cross-promo
• NEWSLETTERS
• Scales to multiple beats, audience segments
• PODCASTS & VIDEO
• Distribution on web, YouTube, podcast
platforms, social web
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The Team• Founder / publisher / operations
• Managing editor with deep journalism background
• 12+ freelance contributors
• Podcast / video producer
• UX / technology consultant
• Marketing / growth consultant
The Advisors• Paul Orlando – Director, accelerator at
University of Southern California
• Amy Denton – Certified Registered
Nurse Anesthetist, Harborview Hospital, Seattle
How we PRODUCE Next Form10
WHY ME?
Writer, entrepreneur,
product person.
Background in startups,
media companies,
digital publishing.
Helped run startup
Blogcritics: managed
editorial team & writing
community of 2,000+
bloggers, product, biz
dev. Acquired by
Technorati.
Product, content,
community roles at Los
Angeles Times/Tribune
Publishing, Getty
Images, Internet
Brands, REI , automotive
media startup High
Gear Media.
Published TV
news/reviews site Alert
Me TV, recruited and
managed 50+
contributors.
Currently, publish The
Berlin Files, weekly
newsletter of 3-4k
words, covers media,
tech, pop culture,
politics.
I care deeply
about improving the
world through tech,
community, common
ideals. I 'm passionate
about spotlighting how
the world is changing
for the better.
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Launching
Next Form
• Web – nextform.news runs on SubStack, ideal platform for
newsletters, subscriptions monetization
• Newsletters – The Berlin Files (1.5 years old) becomes Next
Form's flagship newsletter
• Podcasts & Video – includes Radical Next Formation
podcast, In the House (shifts in work, play, interaction)
• Operations – distributed team WFH until quarantine lifts
• Recruit – quality content contributors highest priority
• PR – leverage media relationships to get word out
• Marketing – actively post to social, build presence
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How will people FIND Next Form?
• Social media – find people where they are: Twitter,
LinkedIn, FB, Insta, Reddit, TikTok, Snap
• PR / earned media – drives awareness, high quality links
• SEO – unique content niche helps grow organic traffic
• SEM / paid social – invest in growing audience
• Google News – direct traffic, supports SEO
• Blogs / web magazines – news, politics, culture, tech pubs
will cover Next Form
• Word of mouth – lens on positive news, radical
transformation drives offline conversations
• Podcasts – will be made available on iOS, Google Play,
Spotify, Stitcher, etc.
• Video – YouTube, other video destinations drive brand
awareness, direct visits, revenue
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Making MONEY
• Subscriptions – high quality content across web,
newsletters (with zero click bait) will drive engagement and
paid subscription growth
• Sponsorships – brands will associate with Next Form's
positive, independent coverage and connect with a smart,
upscale audience
• Donations – people support mission-driven news orgs that
resonate with their values
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How BIG can this get?
• The Ringer acquired by Spotify for "between $400 million and $500 million" (TechCrunch)
• Gimlet Media acquired by Spotify "for more than $200 million" (Recode)
• How to Fly for Free "makes more than $320,000 per month" (gaps)
• U.S. digital subscriptions growth is skyrocketing, up 63% W/W as of March 24th, 2020 (Digiday)
• Even publications dropping their paywall for coronavirus coverage seeing massive subscriber
growth. Ex: The Atlantic, Bloomberg (Digiday)
In short: BIG.
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