Doug HarbrechtNew Media Editorial DirectorKiplinger.com
Doug Harbrecht joined Kiplinger.com as New Media Editorial Director in March 2006, after a long association with BusinessWeek Online, where he became Executive Editor in 2003 and earlier was Senior News Editor. In 1998, while at BusinessWeek, he served as President of the National Press Club in Washington. Among the properties published or produced by Kiplinger's Washington Editors Inc. are: Kiplinger's Personal Finance and its companion website http://www.kiplinger.com/ and "The Kiplinger Letter" and its website KiplingerForecasts.com.
Q. What are the most heavily trafficked areas of Kiplinger.com? And what are the two most popular stories presently on your site? A. Our most popular area is the one on "Investing." We're one of the top five business sites among households in the $150,000-plus income and among those with $200,000-plus investment portfolios. We're also having great success with the "Starting Out" channel for young adults in their 20s and 30s, and "Th 40+Life" aimed at baby boomers. Right now, the two most popular stories are "Five Millionaires Tell How They Did It," which is aspirational journalism at its best, and Editor Knight Kiplinger's advice ("Eight Keys to Financial Security") that first ran in the 50th anniversary of Kiplinger's Personal Finance 10 years ago and has now been repurposed for our 60th.
Q. Recent published reports have indicated that advertisers are eager to buy into websites and other new media platforms for TV and cable networks. Are advertisers placing similar emphasis on new media when it comes to the magazine realm?A. Oh, for sure. Our ad revenue for 2006 versus 2005 has doubled, tracking our audience—or page views—which has more than doubled.
Q. How important is video to your plans? Do you have any video advertisers?A. A full-time video person will be joining us later this month to increase our video presence. "Kips Tips," short personal finance advice, has generated a lot of hits for us. We've tried a bit of video advertising before, but as of March-April I fully expect video commercials to run before our video segments.
Q. How about audio? How prominent is that now and in the near future?A. We'd like to launch more posdcasts, for example, featuring our senior editors and writers discussing how they put together cover stories for our Personal Finance.
Q. Did you design your website based on traffic or focus group input?A. A little bit of focus group input, but mostly we watch traffic patterns. And I learned a lot about presentation of content at BusinessWeek Online. We've made our site crisper, easier to navigate, and using more rich media.
Q. For the web, did you hire many people from outside the print magazine industry? Or did your existing print people have to learn a new skill set?A. We're pursuing a strategy of integration. We're relying on our magazine and forecast newsletter staff. Our online staff is small—15 people, up from eight when I first joined. We have excellent talent in the building.
Q. You also publish a digital edition of Personal Finance in the Zinio Systems format. How is that doing?A. It's doing OK, but the audience is not growing as quickly as online. There will always be a place for the Zinio format, but the growth won't be as dramatic.
Q. How is the mobile marketplace shaping up for Kiplinger?A. We're just getting into mobile. But we're very heavy on analysis and interpretation, so we have richer, longer content [than mobile can use]. We're looking into it. We're talking to one company now and we'll talk to others as well.
Q. Are there features unique to your website?A. Our "Tools & Calculators" area is one that's very popular. In fact, other business sites want to license them.
Q. What do you see as your next big digital application? A. In February-March, we'll launch Kiplinger's Business Resource Center for forecasting and analysis. And we'll produce the Kiplinger forecast newsletter in digital format. We'll also be spotlighting outside experts in the field to offer their insights on such topics as containing healthcare costs.
Q. Are there things you'd like to be doing at Kiplinger that you're not already doing?A. Mmm. Good question. We'll be putting Kiplinger's wisdom in new formats with more storytelling in video and audio forms. And we'll be engaging our audience more as a community. With our new Business Resource Center, for instance, our readers will post their own comments.
