“My clients used to have $100 million dollar budgets and I would slice those up, using 60% on TV, 15% in magazines, 7% in newspapers and some on Internet, events, promotions. A year ago, we were working on interaction and cross-platforms, but now I’m seeing a very spastic reaction back to TV, TV, TV.”
– Donny Deutsch, CEO Deutsch Inc speaking at the Audit Bureau of Circulations annual conference in November 2002.
In hopes of serving customers who don’t take the time to visit brick and mortar libraries anymore, the Cleveland library system
(and though it, many libraries throughout Ohio) is launching a new eBook lending program in March. Ohioans will be able to sign
up for a virtual library card and download their choice of about 1,000 titles to their PDAs to view/read during the time the title
is checked out in their name. They won’t be able to print the title out unless the publisher gives permission.
I has a conference call with one of the companies involved in this new ebook-library industry in December because they were
wondering about carrying Sherpa titles in their catalog. The business model was that each library would pay for a copy of one
of our Reports which they could then lend out to 100 patrons, after which time the copy would electronically “wear out” (mimicing a hard copy book) and they’d have to buy another.
I figured the only way this would work for us is if either we were sure the library marketplace were people who would never of
their own accord buy our reports, so we weren’t cannibalizing potential sales. Or if they were people who would buy many
reports thus turning our reports in the Library into more of a promotional vehicle for direct upsales.
For now, I’m not going ahead with it because the potential sales for niche products like ours were not big enough to make it worth
the time spent signing the deal and managing the project. I could do other stuff with that ultra-precious time resource that would
make more ROI for us. It’s worth watching for the future, and for less niche publishers.
Freelance writer Anastasia Ashman wrote in that she and her computer scientist husband just launched Writer’s Desk, an ASP service that other freelancers can use to organize, manage and track their article submissions, contracts, income and rights. I guess if you write a heck of a lot of articles this would be a very useful tool. It’s free for 30 days, and then it’s just $20 per year.
I’ll bet this would be useful for professional copywriters as well.
http://www.writers-desk.com
According to a study out from Ferris Research, spam will cost the US economy “over $10 billion this year” due to lost work hours.
Scott Anderson, President Shadow Marketing, emailed me, “Even if the research is flawed I’m sure some zealous politicians will
find ways to misuse it,” which made me laugh. It’s true though. Spam costs all of us a lot, but the reaction to spam may cost us email publishers and marketers even more. Think about how filters have made life hellish over the past year even for permission- based senders.
At this time last year, I wrote an article in ContentBiz saying 2002 would be the Year of the Filter. I don’t know what 2003 will
be, but I hope it’s not the-year-politicians-drove-permission-email-out-of-business.
http://www.ferris.com
As reported in Media Life Magazine and elsewhere today, Business 2.0’s President Ned Desmond is now also Exec Editor Time Inc.
Interactive where he’ll be in charge of putting content from People Magazine and Entertainment Weekly behind the AOL paid-only wall. AOL hopes this content will encourage non AOL users pay for access even if they rely on another ISP for Internet access. DSL and cable-modem users are specifically targeted.
Which is a great idea, except for the branding. In general people who don’t use AOL are kinda snooty about those who do. To sell content to this I’m-smarter-than-AOL-Net-Dummies demographic, the brand is gonna kill you. If, however, AOL simply hopes to stem current account losses to cheaper or faster ISPs, then this move might help a bit for the time being.
http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news2002/dec02/dec16/1_mon/news1monday.html
The three biggies in performance marketing management (Commission Junction, BeFree and Performics) have joined together to issue a Publisher Code of Conduct. All Web publishers working with any of these companies have 60 days from Dec 10 2002 to comply with the following:
Publisher Code of Conduct
The following actions, practices and conduct, whether active or passive, direct or indirect, are prohibited:
Interference with referrals. No Web publisher (“Publisher”) or software download technology provider (“Technology Provider”) may interfere with or seek to influence improperly the referral of a potential customer or visitor
(“End-User”) to the Web site of an online advertiser (“Advertiser”). No Publisher or Technology Provider will automatically replace or alter any component of a Service provider’s technology that results in a reduction of any compensation earned by another Publisher.
For example, a Publisher or Technology Provider may not use methods or technology to automatically replace a Service Provider’s tracking identifier of another Publisher with its own Service Provider’s tracking identifier or otherwise intercept or redirect an End-User from being referred by another Publisher.
Publisher may notify an End-User once that End-User has arrived at the Advertiser’s Web site of an opportunity to utilize technology employed by that Publisher and obtain the End-User’s consent via affirmative action upon each occurrence to proceed with the operation of such technology. Implementation of software application functionality requires that the notification be easily understood by the average End-User, that it occurs on each instance that the functionality is to be activated, and that it is not objectionable to the Advertiser.
Altering another Publisher’s site. Publishers may not alter, change, substitute or modify the content of or appearance to an End-User of another Publisher’s Web pages, use that Publisher’s content to obtain an End-User referral, or obstruct access to another Publisher’s Web pages (regardless of receiving permission from the End-User).
Software installation and de-installation. Publishers may not bundle downloadable shopping software applications with other applications, whereby the installation and de-installation is not obvious, easy or complete. Licensing and terms of all software downloads and applications of any type must be clearly presented to and accepted by the End-User, and de-installation must be obvious, easy and complete.
BusinessWire just released their 2003 rates chart, which reminded me to share my favorite PR savings tip with you:
BizWire price distribution by the city or region you are sending your release to. For example, New York State is $225 and US National is $595. But you probably don’t need to pay that much.
Why? Because no matter where you pick, even the cheapest city for $120, you get Internet distribution tossed in without any extra cost. Most reporters, investors and other newswatchers rely on the Internet-side of BusinessWire to see your release.
When you send a release just to Miami, it also shows up on AOL, Yahoo, FT.com, CBSMarketWatch, Hoovers, Lycos and NewsAlert immediately. Plus it is into a feed that goes to many of the Global 2000 via Factiva’s information service.
Oh yeah, local TV, radio and newspaper reporters in Miami get an alert.
Instead of automatically paying $595 for national distribution next time you have a release, try picking a $120 city instead.
BTW: Yes, PR Newswire has a similar deal; you get Net distribution tossed in as part of your regional distribution purchase.
BusinessWire just released their 2003 rates chart, which reminded
me to share my favorite PR savings tip with you:
BizWire price distribution by the city or region you’re sending
your release to. For example, New York State is $225 and US
National is $595. But you probably don’t need to pay that much.
Why? Because no matter where you pick, even the cheapest city for
$120, you get Internet distribution tossed in without any extra
cost. And, most reporters, investors and other newswatchers rely
on the Internet-side of BusinessWire to see your release.
When you send a release just to Miami, it also shows up on AOL,
Yahoo, FT.com, CBSMarketWatch, Hoovers, Lycos and NewsAlert
immediately. Plus it’s into a feed that goes to many of the Global
2000 via Factiva’s information service.
Oh yeah, local TV, radio and newspaper reporters in Miami get
an alert.
Instead of automatically paying $595 for national distribution
next time you have a release, try picking a $120 city instead.
BTW: Yes, PR Newswire has a similar deal; you get Net distribution
tossed in as part of your regional distribution purchase.
Rob Stuart, VP Marketing over at HCPro, just wrote in, “Another filter story for you. A customer’s e-mail system blocked our e-zine, to which an employee was a subscriber, because we quoted a guy from a company named Gage-Babc*o*c*k*” These days I work hard to find alternate words to stuff that’s filtered a lot, such as replacing “f^ree” with “no cost,” but how the heck do you replace a source’s name?”
Last night I heard from a (reliable) source who asked not to be revealed just yet that the USPS is about to help stop the whole filtering problem at the ISP level by allowing mailers to buy digitial safe conduct stamps. Which sounds great except for two things: The word “buy.” Many mailers I know operate on a very thin edge of profitability these days and I suspect USPS’s pricing won’t work for them. Improved deliverability would have to be really huge to make it worth the investment.
Plus, much of the filtering goes on at the client-side level as the HCPro example above shows. No USPS safe conduct is going to stop fed up consumers and IT directors from using their own filters and stopping mail.
I hope I’m being overly cynical here and there really is a solution. 🙂
Thanks to Peter Hobday who told me about a new article from the UK’s Independent newspaper, “Why does everyone think good writing is so easy?” which although it refers mainly to writing operatic lyrics, applies enough to writing online content that it will make you smile and nod in agreement.
http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=360178
