Successful subscription publications usually have a life cycle that resembles a flattened out bell curve. They start off growing, reach a comfortable plateau, then decline — mostly because markets and interests change. The decline can be postponed by frequent re-imagination and re-targeting. But without new titles, or revised old titles, the trajectory is pretty straight …
Continue reading ‘“Grow or fall behind” says Hearst’s David Carey’ »
In the on-going arguments about print and digital and the future of publishing, I see a growing disconnect between what readers want and what advertisers wants. According to lots of research, readers still like print. Even young people. (See links below.) But advertisers are no longer enamored of print advertising and they keep trying to …
Continue reading ‘Print isn’t dying. Print advertising is dying.’ »
My friend Ronn Levine with SIPA sent along this very interesting article. The tech/editorial culture clash It’s a good article about the conflict between social media and news organizations, and it’s worth your time to read. But be careful about drawing the wrong conclusions. What I’ve seen time and again with this sort of article …
At the recent BIMS conference in Ft. Lauderdale I got a chance to catch up briefly with Lev Kaye, the Founder and CEO of Credspark. We expressed our mutual disdain for the latest silly craze that publishers are falling for — viz., putting their content on Facebook. Lev sent me this very interesting video on …
Continue reading ‘Facebook is not the place for serious news’ »
The Pareto Principle is the idea that small causes often make outsized effects. It’s sometimes called the 80-20 rule, because the numbers often (but not always) work out that way. For example, 80 percent of the traffic is on 20 percent of the roads, or 80 percent of a company’s revenues come from 20 percent …
Continue reading ‘Some thoughts on the 80-20 rule, aka the Pareto Principle’ »
[These are speaking notes from a SIPA conference in San Francisco. They’re a little cryptic. I’ve tried to expand a little for context, etc., but if you need clarification on something, please ask.] When you talk about creative people and technical people, it’s not just marketing and IT, but fulfillment, accounting, business development, sales, production …
Continue reading ‘Tech and Creative People Working Together?’ »
I was on vacation last week down at the beach. While I was watching the sun rise over the Atlantic, putting the same bait on the same hook, casting it into the same ocean in roughly the same place, I thought about that saying you hear from time to time that the definition of insanity …
Continue reading ‘Publishing lessons from fishing on the beach’ »
Congratulations, publishers. We’ve trained the unwashed masses on the Internet quite well. They are convinced that it’s their God-given, constitutional right to get free access to all the analysis and reporting we produce at great expense. A growing number of people are offended at the idea that publishers should be compensated for their work. Sensible …
Continue reading ‘Ad blocker rage is the chickens coming home to roost’ »
I’ve been investigating electronic paper recently. It looks like a very interesting technology that will have lots of helpful applications. Imagine, for example, a piece of fabric sewn into the bag you carry to work every day with a constantly updated train schedule. I was hoping it would be a good option for Kiplinger Letter …
Whenever a new technology or tech-related service comes out, you can hold your breath for the amount of time before you see an article explaining how marketers should use it, or how this is a great new opportunity for your business. Usually such articles are rather silly. Fortunately, sometimes there are also some sensible articles. …