I’d like you to think about the media industry for a bit, not so much from the point of view of news, but rather from the point of view of that media you consume for entertainment – infotainment. Why do you keep buying the glossy magazines you buy? Why do you keep coming back to blogs such as this one? Why do you look forward to certain television shows and inserts which speak about topics such as fashion and lifestyle?

It’s all about perceived value, which perhaps sounds a bit sneaky in that it might suggest that there is no real value, but that’s what perception is – something viewed in a certain light and by mere virtue of that it has some sort of value associated with it.

Now, I’m discussing this from an insider’s point of view, addressing what are effectively ‘consumers,’ with the view of perhaps giving you a leg up into the publishing industry should you have such ambitions. This is applicable to you whether your entry into the publishing industry will have you running your own blog perhaps, running a YouTube channel maybe, or perhaps even if you might want to get into photography. It really doesn’t matter – if it has anything to do with presentation then you can learn a very powerful lesson about how to increase the perceived value.

It all begins with trends

What makes the news? Newsworthy topics discussed and presented usually offer some kind of perspective on some events that take place, whether those events happen spontaneously or naturally, or indeed if those events are staged or organised. There could be some news forming around the hitting of a mega storm in the same way that there could be some news forming around an organised sporting event like the FIFA World Cup – the point is there has to be something to report on.

It’s all about jumping on trends and the value you’re transferring is exactly that – the transfer of notable information people want, for whatever reason.

Associating trends with your targeted audiences

This is where the perceived value comes into effect. People will read about or consume media which is related to events that have some kind of effect on their lives, whether directly or just from the point of view of personal interest.

The perceived value then comes into effect through the manner in which the “news” is delivered so it’s all about the presentation.

Get your presentation right and it’ll be easy to generate an income through what is basically just getting information about certain events somewhere, repackaging it in somewhat of a unique manner and then presenting it to an audience that is willing to pay for that perceived value in some or other way. It’s a skill that you perhaps learn by doing though, but sometimes it can be as simple as perhaps decorating the environment in which a cooking show takes place for example, with some unique gift baskets that in actual fact have nothing to do with the recipe to be presented on the show that day.

It’s about more than the main subject of focus, with some perceived value to be increased via the addition of other items of value surrounding the main focus.