Pub Talk
By Rob Yoegel
About Rob
Rob Yoegel takes an active role in North American Publishing Company's online efforts including content, sales, marketing, usability, functionality and vendor relations as Vice President, e-Media. Rob works directly with publishers and editors in developing a consistent strategy from print to online.
A former journalist, Rob has been involved in Internet strategies since 1996 serving as an associate editor of Target Marketing magazine, where he regularly contributed articles related to the Internet, including e-commerce, Web site design/development, e-mail, fulfillment, customer service and marketing integration. He also spent one year as publisher of PhillyTech Magazine, a regional technology magazine published by Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. E-mail him at ryoegel@napco.com or call (215) 238-5344.
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The New World Order for Publishers
Enough already!
After you're done reading this, get out of your chair or put down your Blackberry or iPhone, head over to the folks mentioned below and make sure all of this is happening at your company. Consider it part of your economic recovery package.
Advertising salespeople who read about the upswing in display advertising need to stop thinking this is good news for print. What they call "banner advertising" often is referred to as display in order to distinguish it from search or keyword advertising. Also, you can't train a 12-year-old terrier to give you its paw, so don’t expect your best print ad sales reps to transfer their knowledge and skills to the Web.
Every editor at least must know how to optimize the <title> tags of their stories and write good anchor text for their links. Don't give this job to a person on each editorial team who has a Facebook account. While you're at it, tell them to stop fussing about the difference between an emdash and two hyphens. Your readers don't care.
Circulation staffers who work entirely on a printed magazine or BPA Audit need to understand more about safe-sender lists, Google AdWords, landing page optimization and other audience development initiatives. Make sure each employee also learns the names of no less than 10 of your most loyal readers every week.
Publishers who decide to do something online only because they saw their competitor do it need to realize that by then it's too late. While you're at it, tell any publisher who decides to go "all digital" that they might as well quit.
Art directors should know Flash as well as they know Photoshop, and production managers need to learn all the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) specifications for interactive marketing units (IMUs).
Lastly, your e-media guy should post to his blog regularly and make sure as many people at your company read it and take it seriously. At least I hope they do.
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The days are gone when publishers can think of having print and internet sales staffs. To be successful, sales people need to maximize their time, and advertisers need to make the best decisions. Having print and ad reps compete against each other is not in anyone's benefit. Recently a publisher asked me how they can convert their print readers to the internet. THAT'S like teaching a 12-year old terrier to give you his paw! Any good salesperson can sell anything... if they're trained properly... and it's in every company's interest to have trained, efficient sales people.l
"no one under the age of 30 reads anything in print anymore" Sorry but I have a 16 and 14 year old. They both read the newspaper (sports) and magazines (daughter) all the time. I agree with most of your thoughts but print will be around....just in a different roll. Publishers need a good combination because they all support each other.
Hey Mike, thanks for writing. Did I say "no one under 30 reads anything in print anymore?" I'm just as tired of hearing it as you are. My son loves getting his SI in the mail and daughter loves her copy of Pop Star with the posters she puts on her room walls. Now try that with a Kindle! I happily pay the annual subscription fees for these print editions and will for years to come.
Rob, just how did you sneak into my company and observe what's going on (or not)?! Joe: your suggestion no.1 is spot on. If I were offered an office instead of my cubicle in the center of our office I'd have no idea what was going on around me. Oh, and don't let the headphones fool you -- I can hear everything...
LOL, @Anonymous... good stuff. And remind them that you play fantasy football too and know what the Web pages look like!
Some very valid points here; however, many publishers (and readers!) care deeply and sincerely about the difference between an em dash and a hyphen. To say these things don't matter to readers assumes that it's OK to disregard basic grammar and editorial rules.
Thanks for reading and writing, Marianne. I'm guessing you wouldn't lose any subscribers if you switch to "--" instead of an em dash. :-)
First it's emdashes, then it's spelling "staffers" wrong. Next thing you know, you won't care about the quality of your ideas, either.
Max, thanks for writing. "Stafffers" is now fixed. The beauty of a nice CMS and the drawbacks of fat fingers I guess.
Amen brother. Now how do I get my IT department and webmasters to communicate with us so I know what the latest and greatest tools may be? It's like a black hole between new business development and IT/webmasters.
Thanks, Joe. Two suggestions: 1) Get your office as close as possible to your IT/webmasters so you can stay on top of what is going on. 2) You don't need to understand the latest and greatest tools fully, but you should know what they are and then challenge IT/webmasters to help you understand them better. Trust me, you can teach them a thing or two as well.