Overview:

BlueLena is expanding its Advisory team with the addition of Belinda Lush as Principal Consultant. Lush has worked with publishers in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, including the Daily Mail, Lonely Planet, Fairfax, NZME, and Stuff. She will advise publishers in the US and Asia-Pacific on audience growth and reader revenue, covering acquisition, retention, subscription and membership strategy, pricing, and conversion.

CARY, N.C. – October 12, 2026 – BlueLena today announced that Belinda Lush has joined BlueLena Advisory, its strategy consulting division for independent and nonprofit news organizations, as Principal Consultant. Lush will work with publishers in the United States and Asia-Pacific, including Australia and New Zealand.

Her addition brings senior-level reader revenue and audience growth expertise to an Advisory team that has expanded from fundraising and development to earned revenue and audience acquisition.

“I worked alongside Belinda at LEAP and saw first-hand how she helps publishers grow audiences and revenue,” said Daniel Williams, CEO of BlueLena. “She knows what it takes to make reader revenue part of how a newsroom runs every day. Publishers in the US will benefit greatly from that deep and varied experience, and publishers in Australia, New Zealand and the wider region gain a globally experienced, senior adviser working in their own time zone.”

Reader revenue experience across publishers and markets

Lush has over 25 years of media experience, working with publishers in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Most recently, Lush served as Director of Reader Revenue at Stuff, New Zealand’s largest news publisher, where she doubled revenue annually for three years and launched Neighbourly News, a network of 18 local news sites.

Her previous roles include General Manager Digital Customer at NZME, Commercial Director at Lonely Planet, and Digital CRM Manager at the Daily Mail in the United Kingdom.

This appointment reunites her with Williams. She previously served as Executive Vice President, Solutions & Strategy at LEAP Media Solutions, which he co-founded and led before BlueLena. The company supported US publishers in growing print and digital audiences and revenue.

“Audiences grow, and reader revenue follows when readers believe the journalism is worth paying for and the publisher makes it easy to say yes,” Lush said. “Pricing, the paywall, acquisition and engagement touchpoints all matter, and they work best when a small team can run them week after week. BlueLena has spent six years helping independent publishers build those systems. I’m looking forward to bringing what I have learned at publishers in New Zealand, the UK and around the world to newsrooms on both sides of the Pacific.”

Working with publishers in two regions

Through BlueLena Advisory, Lush will work directly with publishers’ leadership teams on engagements tailored to each organization’s audience, market and resources. Engagements will typically cover:

  • Reader revenue strategy: choosing the right mix of subscription, membership and donation models, and setting targets the market can support.
  • Pricing and packaging: what to charge, and how offers are presented.
  • Acquisition and conversion: improving the path from casual reader to registered reader to paying supporter.
  • Retention: onboarding, engagement, renewals and reducing churn.
  • Team and operating model: the roles, routines and reporting a small team needs to grow reader revenue week to week.

BlueLena Advisory’s strategic consulting and reader revenue services with Belinda Lush are now available to publishers in the United States and Asia-Pacific. To learn more, visit BlueLena.io.

About Belinda Lush

Belinda Lush is a Principal Consultant with BlueLena Advisory and founder of Lush & Co Growth Consultants, advising news publishers on reader revenue strategy. She was previously Director of Reader Revenue at Stuff. Her earlier career includes roles at NZME in New Zealand, the Daily Mail in the United Kingdom, Lonely Planet, and Executive Vice President, Solutions & Strategy at LEAP Media Solutions in the United States. She is based in Auckland, New Zealand.

About BlueLena

BlueLena is the journalism industry’s leading strategy consulting, audience and revenue development solution provider, helping more than 300 independent news organizations across North America build sustainable business models.

Founded in 2020 by publishers, journalists, and media technology professionals, BlueLena combines purpose-built technology with embedded strategic consulting and execution support to help publishers grow audiences, strengthen reader relationships, and diversify revenue through subscriptions, memberships, donations, advertising, sponsorships, and major gifts.

Its integrated platform includes audience engagement tools, CRM and moves management, donor intelligence, marketing automation, and analytics, enabling news organizations of all sizes to operate with the capabilities of a much larger organization while remaining focused on serving their communities.

About BlueLena Advisory

BlueLena Advisory is the strategy consulting division of BlueLena. It provides independent and nonprofit news organizations with senior-level advice and implementation support in audience development, fundraising, membership, major gifts, advertising, sponsorship, events, and corporate partnerships. The practice works with publishers, foundations, associations, and journalism support organizations through tailored engagements, structured programs, and training.