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Welcome to The Niche Fix. Each week, we will share insights from experts and professionals in the niche publishing industry. Have questions or thoughts about the industry? Reply to this email, and let’s chat!

But first…

The Nichee Awards are back and submissions are officially open.

This is your chance to put a spotlight on the work pushing niche media forward. The Nichee Awards celebrate standout achievements across publishing, sales, editorial leadership, and audience growth, honoring the people and teams shaping where the industry is headed.

From Publisher of the Year to Sales, Editorial, Marketing, and Audience Development leadership, the awards recognize excellence at every level of a media business.

Finalists will be notified and invited to join us in Orlando for the live awards ceremony at the 2026 Niche Media Conference, where winners will be revealed on stage.

Ryan Dohrn’s Sales Corner: Cutting Through the Clutter

In a world overloaded with emails, notifications, and distractions, sales coach Ryan Dohrn believes cutting through the clutter comes down to three fundamentals: be relevant, be brief, and be consistent.

First, relevance matters more than ever. Generic outreach no longer works because everyone is sending it. Dohrn often talks about “stranger danger,” the idea that people are naturally wired to ignore messages from those they do not recognize. One of the fastest ways to overcome this is by warming up prospects before ever sending an email. Liking and commenting on posts on LinkedIn or other social platforms helps create familiarity. When someone sees a name repeatedly engaging with their content, future emails feel less like cold outreach and more like a continuation of a conversation.

Second, brevity is critical. Many salespeople believe they only get one chance to make a first impression, but in reality it often takes six to eight attempts to get a response. Short messages are easier to absorb and more likely to be read. Dohrn recommends his “rule of three and three”: three words in the subject line and no more than three sentences in the email body. Brief, relevant messages move prospects forward faster than long explanations.

Third, consistency separates professionals from amateurs. Many salespeople try hard for a few days or weeks and then give up. Consistent outreach every few business days, with fresh relevance and concise messaging, keeps momentum going without becoming annoying.

According to Dohrn, relevant, brief, and consistent communication beats “spray and pray” sales every time. Professionals practice, follow a strategy, and refine their approach. That is how salespeople get further, faster, in a noisy world.

Now, let’s talk YouTube…

Should Niche Media Companies Actually Have a YouTube Strategy?

By Zach O’Brien

At some point, every niche publisher asks the same question while staring at their analytics dashboard: “Do we need to be on YouTube… like, for real?”

Not “we uploaded three videos in 2019 and abandoned the channel.” An actual strategy. A real commitment. A thumbnail font decision.

The answer, annoyingly, is: it depends.

But let’s break down when a YouTube strategy makes sense, when it absolutely does not, and why some niche media companies are quietly printing money with it.

The Case For YouTube

1. Monetization beyond banners
YouTube offers two revenue streams most publishers can’t ignore: platform ads and direct ad sales. Channels with scale can monetize through YouTube’s ad program while also selling host-read or integrated sponsorships. This is exactly what AIN Media Group has done. With more than 200,000 subscribers, AIN runs ads baked directly into its video content while also earning revenue from YouTube itself. That’s diversification done right.

2. Thought leadership at scale
YouTube is still the best platform for long-form authority. If your brand relies on expertise, interviews, analysis, or insider access, video adds a layer of credibility that text alone cannot. People trust faces. They trust voices. They trust someone who looks comfortable on camera explaining complex things.

3. Platform diversification insurance
Algorithms change. Traffic disappears. Social platforms panic and pivot. YouTube, for all its flaws, remains one of the most stable distribution platforms on the internet. Evergreen videos can drive views and revenue years after they’re published, something most social posts cannot do.

The Case Against YouTube

1. Production time is real
YouTube is not “hit record and go viral.” It is planning, lighting, audio, editing, thumbnails, titles, descriptions, and consistency. If your team is already stretched thin publishing daily or weekly content, YouTube can quickly become a half-finished side project that drains energy.

2. Production costs add up
Even lean setups require gear, software, storage, and time. Hiring editors or producers pushes costs higher. This is why YouTube is often a poor fit for small, hyper-local media companies. If your coverage area is a single city or town, the return rarely justifies the effort.

Who YouTube Works Best For

YouTube tends to work when a media company checks at least one of these boxes:

• A national or regional audience, not just local

• A strong personality or host-driven brand

• Existing podcast content that can be repurposed

• Evergreen topics like business, aviation, travel, outdoors, or education

Which brings us to podcasts.

Podcasts + YouTube = A Cheat Code

If you already run a podcast, you are halfway there. Recording video versions of podcast episodes creates instant long-form YouTube content. Even better, those episodes can be sliced into clips and Shorts.

Omaha Magazine is a great example. The brand posts full-length horizontal podcast episodes on YouTube alongside vertical Shorts that highlight key moments. Same conversation. Multiple formats. More reach.

That’s the play.

Learning from the Pros

At the upcoming Niche Media Conference, creators Cole Crews and Emily Crews from The Adventure Crews will break down exactly how they built a YouTube-first business. Not theoretically. Practically. With real numbers and real lessons.

The Bottom Line

YouTube is not mandatory for every niche media company. But for brands with scale, authority, or existing audio/video content, it can become a powerful revenue and growth engine.

The real question is not “Should we be on YouTube?” It’s “Do we have a reason to win there?”

If the answer is yes, the upside is hard to ignore.

This issue of the Niche Fix is brought to you by EZsolutions

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