Beware the Social Media Kool-Aid
“Be a little cautious of the social media kool-aid… It does work slowly over time, but if you need to get attention now, you still need to use traditional methods, too. Social media is not a replacement for anything; it’s an add-on, it’s another way of communicating. But don’t leave the other stuff behind, especially
In a time of crisitunity, you gotta have soul!
“Ad networks have scale and data, but they lack soul. Customers don’t join ad networks.” —John Battelle, Founder & CEO, Federated Media Federated Media’s Conversational Marketing Summit earlier this week was an unconditional success by any measure, particularly with regards to acheiving their goal of presenting insightful and instructive case studies of conversational marketing programs
Publishers should be idea advocates
I attended my second BookExpo America last Friday — walking the main floor, talking to several exhibitors and attendees, checking out a couple of panels, hanging out at the #beattweetup later that night — and came away with an odd sense of deja vu. It reminded me a bit of the last National Poetry Slam I attended as more
Conversational Marketing Summit: NY 2009
I’ll be attending Federated Media’s Conversational Marketing Summit the next two days — “an exclusive two-day event that brings together executives in social media and conversational marketing for a frank, real-world discussion around pressing issues, beckoning opportunities, and lessons learned.” While I hate the term “social media“, I like FM’s “Conversational Marketing” approach and think
How Much is a Magazine’s Content Worth? Part II
With advertising revenue less reliable than ever—overall ad spending declined another 15.1 percent in Q1 2009 (Bernstein’s Research)—this prolonged and brutal economic downturn will claim even more magazines before the year is over, requiring the rapid development of alternative revenue streams and pitting those still standing in an intriguing, high-stakes game of “Outwit, Outplay, Outlast”. One of the seemingly obvious steps to take would be to raise the deeply discounted subscription rates that were formerly subsidized by advertising, sending a clear message to readers (and advertisers) about the true value of the content being published. While most magazines would undoubtedly lose subscribers, the ones they retained would be more profitable, more engaged, and more responsive to relevant advertising and direct-to-consumer offerings.
How Much is a Magazine’s Content Worth? Part I
I’m no fetishist or luddite, though, and while I tend to favor print, my definition of a magazine is platform neutral. I’ve worked in magazine publishing for over 15 years now—from audience development to advertising sales, freelance editorial to events planning, corporate to DIY—and stand firmly with the digital generation that’s purportedly out mugging elderly newspapers in broad daylight, and striking fear in the hearts of cowardly and superstitious magazines in the middle of the night. Seeing subscription offers like the one above for Fast Company and Inc.—two solid print magazines devaluing their editorial content at only $.75/issue while simultaneously making it all available for free online—I think that the death of the current ad-supported model is inevitable and, arguably, a good thing.
Marketing Should be Fun(damental)
Marketers have spammed, lied, deceived, cluttered and ripped us off for so long, we’re sick of it. –Seth Godin I love coaching Little League baseball. This is my son’s third year playing and I’ve been fortunate enough to coach his team each year, experiencing first-hand the beauty of playing baseball for no other reason than
6Qs: Maria Schneider, Editor Unleashed
“I don’t know if there’s any light at the end of the tunnel for publishers, but I think the future for writers is bright.” –Maria Schneider, Editor Unleashed I had the pleasure of working with the Editor Unleashed herself, Maria Schneider, for about 18 months, back when we were both with Writer’s Digest — as Editor
Stop Interrupting; Listen, Engage, Earn Attention
You know the stereotype of the guy on the first date who can’t stop talking about himself, only to wonder why he doesn’t get a kiss at the end of the night, never mind a second date? That guy is like advertising. In the latest flare-up of the “print is dead” debate, Michael Josefowicz’ provocative
Tone Deaf Publishers Need Savvy Writers
In response to a question about lessons they’d learned from the failure of a book to sell as well as expected — something that was acknowledged several times as being the norm not the exception — one offered an example of an unnamed book that the stars had seemingly all aligned for: it was a great book the editor loved, that their publisher believed was going to be a hit, that got great reviews from all of the major mainstream outlets… and it flopped. In the final bit of unacknowledged irony, one of them briefly noted that examples of successful self-publishing were rare and magical.