Outside magazine once set the gold-standard for long-form journalism about life outdoors. These days, it sits at the centre of a media ecosystem designed to inspire and guide people from the first tentative steps of their journeys outdoors to celebrating their active-lifestyle achievements.
This week on The Publisher Podcast, I spoke with Heather Dietrick, Chief Media Officer at Outside Media Inc. When I said I knew Outside – an almost 50-year old magazine brand started by Rolling Stones’ Jan Wenner, from my J-school studies back in the 90s – she quickly explained: “It’s no longer just a magazine – we have evolved into a fully integrated outdoor ecosystem with a single mission: to get people outside.”
That ‘ecosystem’ includes 15 media brands in the outdoor world – from backcountry travel to mountain biking – plus a host of tracking, fitness and mapping apps, real-world events, travel services and a film and TV channel. In total, the business runs 25 brands across outdoor sports and healthy living.
Dietrick said: “We really think about us being the first stop where we are sparking inspiration and also providing the tools and services to help people get outside, have a great time outside, and then come back to us for more.”
She draws a comparison with the New York Times’ strategy to deliver more than news. Where the NYT has developed a range of lifestyle products to run parallel to its news coverage, Outside has invested in apps that support its core content categories of outdoor lifestyle, healthy living and active sports.
Dietrick thinks Outside’s model diverges from what the NYT has done in the deep connection between its content and its apps. “As the New York Times has pushed into games like Wordle, that connection starts to pull apart,” she said. “It’s still a very powerful business model… all of those metrics that we care about in engagement, conversion go up and to the right. That is true for us, but the utility and the content are highly related.”
From interest to activation
Outside’s whole offer rests on a customer journey designed to move people from general interest to active participation. However, Dietrick said there can be several routes between inspirational content and an app subscription.
She explained: “You might come into the content to learn about a new activity, you might watch someone else’s story of their incredible ski line or their trail run, but that content doesn’t just push you right into that utility to get activated.”
In contrast to a pure app-conversion strategy, the publisher offers a content-only digital subscription that provides online access to 10 publications for $60 a year. “We tell people where to go, we give them training plans, we give them nutrition advice, gear is a super important part of that. All of those combined help you get ready to then step into that next step in your journey.”
Dietrick describes the next step as planning and that’s where Outside Inc’s next subscription tier comes in. For $90 a year, subscribers get access to all the content, including a quarterly print edition of Outside magazine, but also several mapping apps.
Noting the different points on the customer journey, she said: “If you are not yet that advanced into our ecosystem, you could subscribe to just our content bundle. Or if you’re quite advanced in an activity and want to engage with our mapping apps, you can subscribe at that level.”
Community content
From inspiration to preparation, planning to activation, Outside Inc supports its users with content designed to spark ideas and support training, and the utilities that help them achieve their goals. After that, the final phase in the customer journey kicks in: celebration.
“That’s the end of that loop for us,” said Dietrick, “but it’s really important. We have a really big platform and a big audience to speak to. It is even more powerful when we can force multiply ourselves with our audience.”
Subscribers can view and share content through their apps and the site’s content feed and Dietrick described the content shared by users as part of the ‘inspiration loop’, with users motivated by seeing friends and family sharing successes and tips on how they have met their goals.
She said specialisms within the community are important. “Each has their own identity for the user, and we lean into them, and we go deep in the vertical,” she said. However, she also sees real value for the audience in thinking of themselves as part of the broader Outside network.
“It’s very likely that if you are into one outdoor activity, you’re probably into another, or you’re at least curious about another,” she explained. “You might be a double black-diamond skier, but you’re just mountain-bike curious, or you do it at a simpler level. We try in each of those categories to have something for everyone, wherever they are in that journey.”
Beyond inspirational content or training plans, Dietrick said travel has become increasingly important. “We really think about how we offer not just advice on where to go, but the actual ability to curate an itinerary and book it on site. A lot [of people], especially new entrants, aren’t thinking about their personal best record, they’re thinking about where they can explore, where there is a new adventure.”
Revenue mix
Outside’s mix of content and utility is paying dividends. According to a February 2026 Adweek article, the platform was profitable in 2025 on revenue of $125 million, a 23% year-on-year increase.
About 40% of that total is advertising, compared with 70% when Outside Inc. first began acquiring media brands. Dietrick said advertising is still important and growing, noting a shift away from endemic advertising – brands closely related to outdoor pursuits – and non-endemic – general consumer brands that want to reach audiences interested in outdoor pursuits.
However, recurring revenue – consumer subscriptions to content and apps, affiliate ecommerce, event services software and travel – accounts for 60% of Outside’s turnover. Looking at the growing importance of consumer cash in Outside’s revenue mix, Dietrick said that while advertising revenue is extremely important, it lacks the one-to-one relationship that a consumer focus brings.
“You’re in more control of that relationship than any other revenue stream,” she said. “Really thinking about consumer revenue opportunities has been a really important focus, so that we’re not subject to the whims of the ad market and to the growth of the big platforms – Meta, Amazon and Google.”
Dietrick was also optimistic that there is a growing audience for good, well-produced content.
“The form factor might change. The delivery mechanism has certainly changed the revenue model,” she said. “I still believe in the power of that deeply reported piece, a beautifully worded 10,000 word piece, and that’s still reflected in some of the work we do.
“But we also recognise that we have to meet the audience where they are, when they are, which means all sorts of other form factors in the mix.”
Listen to the whole episode above, or search ‘The Publisher Podcast’ on your podcast app of choice.
