I’m sure Iain Hepburn, Stewart Kirkpatrick and Ewan Spence may have differing opinions on this and we’ll discuss it at tonight’s Scottish Social Media Dinner, but here’s what I would be looking to do to get onto the iPad (with a budget – perhaps not a big one, but a budget) with the bonus being that anything iPad-appified can also be used on the normal website.

• Sort out a monetisation strategy. It’s not a paywall, but it needs to pay. Either as a huge one-off up front fee or some form of micro-transaction. Some will give away their iPad apps for free and that will be the idiotic move.
• Work out where video works. Restaurant reviews, cooking advice, (if copyright allows) football and other sports (even down to the junior and amateur level) – get it in, start doing it now or convincing staff of the benefit.
• Get a plugin for whatever system the paper uses, allowing for quick and easy conversion of files.
• Could it be worth looking at buying a bundle of these things and tying readers into it. Get readers to pay over 12 months? Include the fee of the paper in the charge?

It’s quite possible that the first Scottish paper to get on there might just clear up as old brand loyalties are going out the window, but a paper offering proper news, sport and information from Scotland might not only get picked up by the natives but also the expats.