Trade Journals are most relevant the moment they are published, and career-oriented professionals are willing to spend a lot of money to stay current with the most up-to-date industry news. Paper-based copy, while not obsolete, certainly takes a while longer to arrive, and many are impatient for their information fix and want to be ahead of their peers. At the same time, printing costs are high, delivery costs are high, and the environmental impact of printing and delivery is substantial. An online format can speed up information flows, reduce costs, and lessen the environmental footprint of the Trade Journal.

Making the switch is as simple as working with Transparen to create an ecommerce-enabled format for selling the trade journal. Concerns such as copying can be easily overcome with today's encryption, which can be used to give specific rights to readers - such as the right to read the document on their own computer for a limited amount of time, but not to print the document or take a screen shot of it. But most readers are interested in reading the most up-to-date issue, and will be very happy to pay a premium to read it online.

Online journals are increasingly successful - witness the success of the Economist magazine, as well as research-oriented journals.

Certainly advertising sales are important, just as are paid subscriptions. Ad revenues can supplement the subscription revenues, just as they do in the paper format of the trade journal. Other ideas that have worked include:

• Some free content and some paid premium content
• All content for a yearly fee
• A free publication which promotes the real money-producing publication
• Advertisements which provide limited access to otherwise premium content (i.e. Salon.com)

There are lots of ways for Trade Journals to make more money using an online ecommerce system.

For a free online quote, please click here.