The Media Landscape is changing. Are you prepared?

The decline of traditional print publishing and the rise of the web - so widely predicted in the late 90s - is finally upon us. And no matter how big - or how small - your publishing company is, you can no longer afford to ignore it.

Rupert Murdoch is reportedly investing $2bn in snapping up web-based media. Newpapers across the world are declaring huge dips in advertising revenue. Classified advertising is moving increasingly online. There is now absolutely now doubt about it: The decline of traditional print publishing and the rise of the web - so widely predicted in the late 90s - is finally upon us. And now matter how big - or how small - your publishing company is, you can no longer afford to ignore it.

Most publishers agree that they can no longer live in denial and that the future of print publishing is bleak at best. But for those that are prepared to adapt and change tack, huge opportunities exist to expand into this brave new world of online media.

For the publisher of existing brands and titles, huge opportunities exist if you can move quickly and capitalise on your existing awareness and audiences. The Internet may be a threat if you fail to move with the times, but the chance to expand and grow rapidly - without massive investment - far outweighs that threat.

While traditional print advertising is declining relatively slowly (on average 5-6 %), online and digital revenues in the UK alone jumped a massive 66% to almost £1.4 bn according to the Internet Advertising Bureau. That's closing in fast on the UK Newspaper advertising figure of £1.9 bn and is already bigger than radio and outdoor advertising.

There are other advantages in adopting an internet strategy. Not only can you gain a much wider reach and a rapid growth of "readership" for minimal outlay (no increase in print bills or distribution costs!), you also benefit from an expansion of revenue opportunities. Advertisers, for example, are always open to innovation and new ideas - suddenly, you are in a position to offer more creative packages other than just advertising space and special promotions. With a web site complementing your print offerings, you can offer additional digital promotional products such as email marketing or newsletter sponsorships, alerts, direct purchasing and e-commerce, automated syndication and distribution, downloads and much more! All at a fraction of the cost of traditional promotions where you would once have had to add pagination or increased print runs.

David Campbell, Managing Director of Weborama says: "The key here is to see the Internet as a massive opportunity to expand rapidly, rather than treat it as a threat. You have a brand and content and an audience who now respond better to digital delivery, and an ad market keen to exploit the internet commercially. The costs of delivery are much lower once you've made the initial commitment, and you automatically protect yourself against competitive threats."