On today’s episode, we’ve got Doug Gollan. He’s the founder and editor of privatejetcardcomparisons.com, a consumer buying guide to private aviation services. Doug’s story is a fantastic example of how to monetize media in a niche field. If you’ve ever thought something was too niche, let Doug’s example show that if you can contribute meaningfully and have the right audience, particularly an audience with resources, you can be successful pursuing a niche.
This episode is going to be a little bit different.
Kyle: So Jason, you’re a bit mysterious right? Like what does Jason do in his free time? So you came to me last week and said, you know what, I’m a member of this service. I want to have this guy on our podcast; he runs an interesting business. It’s not the private jet company; it’s the guy who advises private aviation. So I just want to make it clear that we’ve lost 90% of our audience here, but Mr. Private Jet, why don’t you introduce our upcoming guest for today?
Jason: I disagree that we’ve lost our audience here, because this to me is a perfect example of going to the niche of niches and making, what I assume, is a very good living for Doug Gollan. If you’ve ever thought that niche is too small, Doug has pretty much proved everyone wrong. Private aviation. The assumption is that roughly a hundred thousand Americans utilize private aviation. I want to say that’s it, but that’s subjective. Not a big number. The number of people is not high. This did not scare him off. Nothing should ever scare you off on a niche that you can monetize if you feel you have the best information. It doesn’t even have to be the best, I think Doug is the best by the way. If you think you can contribute to a niche, you win. You’ve already won, it’s just a matter now how big you win within that niche. And that is what he is doing in private aviation.
Kyle: In all seriousness, this is a really good interview we recorded with Doug. Really good insight on how to monetize what you think might be a small niche. And then really this world of not just aviation, but marketing to deep-pocketed, whether it’s listeners, readers, viewers, it really hammers home the point we’ve talked about a bunch, which is if you have the right audience, it can be worth a lot. If you have the right audience and that audience is literally worth a lot, it could really be a good media business to be in.
We’ve got Doug Gollan. He’s the founder and editor of privatejetcardcomparisons.com and they are a consumers buying guide to private aviation services. Let’s get right on to our interview with Doug.
● (0:01) Episode introduction with Kyle and Jason.
● (2:38) Doug’s welcome and introduction.
● (3:03) Doug’s background in aviation media, publishing, creating his own publication, Elite Traveler, and then pivoting to privatejetcardcomparisons.com.
● (8:23) Doug discusses the logic of using his background in media to target a niche market and how he built organic traffic with his private aviation content.
● (13:30) A deeper look at Doug’s three revenue streams (subscriptions, ad revenue, selling research) and ideas for growth.
● (16:15) Balancing free vs. paywall content.
● (18:23) The makeup of Doug’s company and his cost-benefit analysis of expanding it.
● (20:05) Talking about Doug’s decision to not use affiliate marketing and working with an ultra-high net worth audience.
● (24:08) An overview on the private aviation industry.
● (30:16) Doug explains selling his company’s research.
● (32:23) A discussion on newsletters and if they’re just a trend or have staying power.
● (35:42) Doug’s explanation of jet tracking and the various related viewpoints.
● (48:03) Where to find Doug online and how to subscribe to his service.
● (50:54) Doug expands on his paid ad revenue stream and advertising his company with Google Ads.
● (53:51) Kyle and Jason debrief their interview with Doug.
Sites Mentioned:
Bob Crandell: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Crandall)
Frank Lorenzo: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lorenzo)
Titan Airways: (https://www.titan-airways.com/)
Elite Traveler: (https://elitetraveler.com/)
Robb Report: (https://robbreport.com/)
Wheels Up: (https://wheelsup.com/)
Net Jets: (https://netjets.com/en-us/)
Doug’s November 2022 Forbes Article: (https://www.forbes.com/sites/douggollan/2022/11/27/private-jet-ceos-navigate-new-challenges-as-demand-stays-strong/?sh=4ee29412a5a0)
All In Podcast: (https://www.allinpodcast.co/)
Monetize Media episode with Alexis Grant: (https://www.monetize.media/episode-8-alexis-grant-they-got-acquired/)
Software and tools mentioned:
Excel
Wordpress
Beehiiv: (https://www.beehiiv.com/)
Substack: (https://substack.com/)
Guest Social Media Links:
Doug Gollan:
Business Website: (https://privatejetcardcomparisons.com/)
Personal Website: (https://douggollan.com/)
Linkedin: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-gollan-ba1181/)
Twitter: (https://twitter.com/douggollan)
YouTube: (https://www.youtube.com/c/DougGollan)
Facebook: (https://www.facebook.com/doug.gollan/)
Instagram: (https://www.instagram.com/private_jet_card_comparisons/?hl=en)
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