Ads is basically the way to go for now.
Viewing Techcabal in isolation will not do justice to this question because Techcabal, radar, zikoko etc are basically fronts or more like strategic assets that all serve a bigger purpose for BigCabal.
These assets are not the whole equation but part of an equation.
The real money spinner is BigCabal. One has to understand BigCabal to make sense of everything.
Below is BigCabalâs value proposition
We reach DISCRET AUDIENCES with compelling content, CREATING UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES for BRANDS TO ENGAGE THEM effectively and profitably
This value proposition basically sums up her business model.
BigCabal builds and grow niche audiences online (radar, TC, zikoko), that brands would pay to have access to.
What a very simple and clear value proposition, but unfortunately under this clarity lies a sea of complexity.
As opposed to what many may think, building the niche audience is the easy part.
The difficult part is getting the brands on board to pay for this audience. And thatâs where the business model becomes fuzzy and begins to fall apart.
Do we focus on an ads strategy, or an events strategy, Or do we combine both.
What exactly do we do to make brands pay for our audience an audience they already have access to via other platforms.
That my friend is something Techcabal is still hacking, refining, testing an tweaking. Even big brands like Techcrunch, pando daily etc do so till this day.
Moreover till they hack this BigCabal survives and feed fat off the strength of the techcabal brand they have built and the influence the founders have amassed, by engaging in PR, Digital strategy, consulting, research and Digital Marketing for brands, companies and the government just like every other digital marketing agency.
From every indices on the ground they are doing a good job in this direction.
In my opinion this is the real money spinner. This my friend is the functional business model that powers BigCabal at the moment.
Not the ads or the events. Just the side gigs.
Doesnât have to be a digital alarm clock.
You canât trick me, Seyi Taylor. I know this is you.
Haha. @CenturyFavour Is flesh and blood though. Google him.
I still want the job for Big Cabalâs Resident Pot Head.
Cheers
SAâs Burn Media group turned a similar strategy into a nice exit - although they had an advertising agency component as well. http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=148141&utm_content=buffer2b875&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer IMHO, TechCabal is doing some of the best tech journalism coverage of the African continent. Reminds me of http://skift.com/ - which is developing a strong brand in travel industry news and data.