A Media Operator Has Acquired Toolkits
From time to time we write about ourselves at AMO because we are building a media business that covers the media industry.
Continuing that trend, I’m excited to announce today that A Media Operator has acquired Toolkits, an incredible publication covering the business of content that was founded in 2020 by longtime business journalists and media execs Jack Marshall and Shareen Pathak.
I’d like to explain a little about the deal. First and foremost, let me introduce (or re-introduce) AMO. We are a publication for media professionals and investors committed to building resilient, audience-centric media and events brands. We believe that the future is bright for media brands primarily because people will always need good information, but we are cognizant of the fact that what has worked in the past is not going to work going forward.
We serve our audience in a couple of ways. We are known best for our twice-weekly newsletter, which is published on Tuesdays and Fridays. In this, you will find our original reporting and analysis about the media industry. I started this newsletter five-and-a-half years ago as a place to offer my thoughts on the media industry. I’ve worked in B2B media my whole career, first at ThomasNet (industrial directory), CoinDesk (crypto media) and then running the B2B division at Morning Brew. It’s why I called it A Media Operator; I was and am one myself.
We also host an annual event called the AMO Summit, which brings together 250+ senior executives from media companies big and small. Past speakers include Neil Vogel, CEO of Dotdash Meredith; Allison Murphy, COO of Axios; Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic; Paul Miller, CEO of Questex. Our goal with this event is to dig into the trends and opportunities for media operators and we’re hosting the third annual event later this year.
AMO decided to acquire Toolkits because it’s a well-respected publication with a high-quality audience of senior media professionals. Jack and Shareen’s mission to help publishers build lucrative and sustainable businesses aligns completely with AMO’s, and continuing that work matters greatly to me. We also found there is very little overlap between AMO and Toolkits’ audiences despite our coverage being similar, which presented a unique opportunity to serve a broader audience and to enrich both communities.
Here’s what’s going to happen next:
First, we are going to migrate much of Toolkits’ existing content over to AMO’s website, and the Toolkits website will redirect to AMO’s for the next six months. Those who have migrated content before will know this is a delicate process.
Second, Toolkits readers will decide if they want to receive the AMO newsletter going forward. For the next four weeks, you will receive the AMO newsletter through Mailchimp, Toolkit’s legacy email service provider. If you don’t want to receive it, just hit unsubscribe.
After that, we will migrate the remaining newsletter subscribers over to our core email service provider and you will continue to receive AMO. There is nothing you need to do if you want to continue receiving AMO, and you can of course unsubscribe at any time. My hope is you’ll find that AMO gives you the information you need to make better decisions with your work.
Those who were paid subscribers of Toolkits will receive an email shortly to sign up for AMO Pro for one quarter absolutely free. If you decide to continue receiving AMO Pro after that, you’ll have to add your credit card to upgrade. The choice is yours.
Finally, while Toolkits covers both publisher monetization and brand content, our current focus is on the former because it fits perfectly with our focus at AMO. While I do believe the brand content coverage presents an incredible opportunity for growth, we are still growing as a business and don’t want to risk overextending. We may hire reporters to cover this topic in the future, but we are putting that newsletter on hold for now.
I’m excited for the next step of AMO with the addition of the Toolkits audience. Thank you for reading. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.
