RAB to Inflict CBS Chief Moonves on Attendees

May 17, 2012 By

The 2012 RAB Radio Show announced that CBS chief; Les Moonves, will keynote the upcoming event. YAWN.

Will Les say something that’ll help YOU build your Radio business? Most doubt it. Expect just a rah-rah speech to rally the troops and goose broadcast stock valuations.

Will Les share specific details about how CBS will monetize digital? Nah. He’ll just talk in broad, feel good terms. Mr. Moonves will likely drop a few buzzwords : social media, streaming, cross platform….yada yada yada. He’ll also share that Pandora is NOT radio…and satellite radio is crap.

Take a look at this presentation I did for the Radio Advertising Bureau and the NAB, back in 2009.  Ya think much has changed since then?

Radio and Web Revenue, NAB Show 2009

Filed Under: Hyper Revenue Watch, Presentations, TV and Radio Tagged With: , ,

WordPress; Local Newspaper Killer?

May 16, 2012 By


Filed Under: Hyper Revenue Watch

2012 CNPA Press Summit; Profit First Websites

May 15, 2012 By
  • The CNPA; California Newspaper Publishers Association, wrapped up another fine conference. San Jose was the place, right there in Silicon Valley. It was a perfect location due to the influence of digital through-out the 3 day event.

Here’s the presentation deck I used: Run Your Website as a Profit-First Business. Sometimes I call this: Profit-First is Better than Digital-First. There’s alot of new stuff in here, as I always keep updating it.

Some items that I place even more focus on:

  • Newspaper has a special ‘bond’ with local advertisers? NOPE. All that business owners care about…. is sales.
  • Boasting about web revenue growth..using percentages…is total BS.  A financial analyst will laugh you out of the room.
  • Many Publishers are lazy. They still delegate digital revenue to a SALARIED exec. That’s just idiotic.
  • VP’s of Digital hire commission-only, outside consultants to HARD CLOSE local clients. Really dumb.
  • News organizations & groups run by those with little or no digital sales background.
  • Many big name CEO’s, consultants and pundits still hiding financial health of digital efforts.
  • The CMS ( content management system ) is critical part of web sales. If it’s tough & expensive to use, dump it. Use WordPress instead.

Filed Under: Hyper Revenue Watch

Local Online News: Still Up for Grabs

May 11, 2012 By

The online news space is getting crowded. Maybe it’s time to start throwing some elbows?

Digital marketing dollars of most small business, are still up for grabs. When you take these tiny but high volumes of mom & pop budgets, and combine them with the ‘asleep at the wheel’ efforts of traditional media, you can see why Reach Local, Google, Yellow Pages 360 and a slew of indie efforts are doubling down and are going for the kill.

When it comes to big media’s foray into this space, it’s full of well intentioned, but often misguided efforts.

  • Philly.com’s CEO; Greg Osberg once told Poynter: “His top focus initially, will be on building audience, especially online. While conceding the point that small growth in unique visitors and other measures may not greatly impact ad sales, I think we can get 100 percent more audience, and that would make a difference.” Whoa, hold on there big fella. Since revenue & profitability is likely the top priority of his bosses, (investment firm of Angelo Gordon & others) we are not in agreement with Osberg’s statement. Instead, we believe Philly.com (and most news sites) have a sales strategy problem, not a traffic and page-view problem. Driving zillions of page views = inventory glut = lower effective cpm. Even MSNBC declared: pageview ‘dead’. Osberg also hinted of  his plan to find local collaborators, especially in the suburbs where editorial coverage has been cut. We think this will be tough in the fiercely independent, Philly blogosphere, where some indie sites are getting bought up. (see next item)
  • A Philly sports blog called 700Level, was acquired by Comcast. Another local sports site called Beer Leaguer was also just snapped up by the cable giant. This should give local, independent site owners a much better sense of the value of their work. If your stuff is good, why give it away for peanuts? If your not sure how to value your site, contact us for assistance. Indie-sites like Philebrity.com, Philly2nite.com and SuburbanOneSports.com are not likely to sell out for the relatively small pay day and employee status that the 700Level & Beer Leaguer jumped on. (we think much too quickly). Kudos to Comcast Sports Net vp; Eric Grilly, for making this smart move, while the 2 sports Radio stations in town 610WIP.com, 975TheFanatic.com, as well as Philly.com, were snoozing.
  • The Washington Post hoped local bloggers would drop everything to work with the legendary site, for what some say, free. Read the laundry list of rules you need to follow, if you want to work with the WashPo.
  • SacPress.com is the self-funded news project that reportedly reaches more Sacramento online readers than the daily Newspaper (Sacbee), by leveraging their Sacramento Local Online Ad Network (SLOAN). The network is now over 40 sites strong, even repping the web inventory of 4 local Radio stations. (stations owned by digitally-challenged, Entercom)
  • Radio & TV taking a shot at hyper-local news. Some broadcasters admit their weakness, raising the white flag, and are outsourcing web strategy to DataSphere. Others do it themselves, and make clumsy mistakes and leave money on the table. But promising Radio efforts like WYDaily.com are a sign of things to come.
  • Sites like TheBatavian, AroundMainline.com and BrigantineNOW.com are gaining traffic and advertiser support. They use the not-so-secret formula of “running their sites like a business”. They spend less time with research and theory, and more time on the streets closing deals, and making sales calls.

Filed Under: Front Page, Hyper Revenue Watch, Hyperlocal Networks Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Moneyball: Fixing Newspaper Web Sales

May 9, 2012 By

Traditional Newspaper management is just like the old guard in Baseball. That’s what you’ll think after watching Moneyball starring Brad Pitt as Oakland A’s general manager; Billy Beane.

Based on a true story, Moneyball shows Beane going up against his old school, know-it-all, front office. He’s tired of being in last place and squeaking by on a shoe string budget. Unable to afford star players, Billy decides to slaughter a few sacred cows and installs experimental yet logical tactics into his game plan.

Today’s Newspaper industry is like that once great, but now struggling baseball team. The key difference? They’re now forced to play on a new, hyper-competitive field called the Internet.

Think about it: the veteran print team is stuck in a rut using the same, tired strategy that served them well for years, but no longer. Today, they get trounced by those with more money & muscle ( think Google, Reach Local, Yellow Pages, independent online publishers , etc.)

Anyone on your news team play the role of Billy Beane? Go find one. Their job: encourage the ditching of tactics, managers, research consultants, conferences and professorial pundits that just don’t help anymore. This person will need entrepreneurial tenacity and a thick skin. Some old school execs will immediately try to torpedo their efforts. This person will be a threat to ‘the way it’s always been done’.

Let’s slaughter a few sacred cows in Newspaper, just like Billy in Moneyball…did with the Oakland A’s.

Areas critical to your Newspaper’s digital success or failure. 

Compensation & Financial Motivation. If you can’t fix this, just turn off your site and retire. While adjustment of compensation is the most direct way to positively affect digital sales, it’s also the most challenging…..especially when surrounded by whiny sales reps and ad managers who threaten mutiny. If you can’t apply this simple & proven principle of comp adjustment to digital, you don’t have a web business… you only have an expensive hobby.

Management Structure. Who’s in charge? If the person managing your digital effort is salaried, you’re either bleeding red ink or you’re hitting a too-low web budget. You’re also leaving a load of cash on the table. Would you ever hire a publisher or ad director and then pay them a nice salary whether they hit their numbers or not? Then why do it with those who control your digital business? Need proof that salaried execs will kill your digital business? AOL Patch, The New York Times, Allbritton’s TBD and Gannett placed salaried, editorial execs in charge of building out the company’s hyper-local business models. To date, these brainiac-led efforts have either been shuttered or still bleed rivers of red ink. Tip: Do the exact opposite of what these egg-heads did. Tip #2: Run digital like a real business, not a hobby.

Inventory Management. Publishers, editors and ad directors vigorously defend the value of their content and readership in print. They smartly price the ad inventory adjacent to the editorial. But we’re floored how often they let Google Ad Sense, Centro and other 3rd party rep firms dictate CPM’s for prime positions on their sites. This over reliance on ad networks & deadly CPM selling contributes to the worse crime of all: web managers boasting of an online ‘sell out’. Duh. Would you ever tell an advertiser that you’re sold out in tomorrow’s Newspaper? Being ‘sold out’ online exposes a serious lack of inventory yield management, poor understanding of supply & demand pricing, and the painful in-ability to quickly create programs that help a client spend money with you.

Market Intelligence. If your staff is blind to what local business wants to do online, you’re in for a rude awakening. Instead of just picking up checks and taking orders, sales reps must be vigilant with collecting client ‘intel’. They must keep up with the ever changing need of the advertiser…especially now, as many are moving their marketing dollars to online.

Some media companies blindly follow the advice of market research firms. They invest in studies about local Internet expenditures. Does this expensive market data provide a road map to digital success? If it did, wouldn’t the industry be better off today?

Local media execs also seem to perpetually debate digital innovations in both journalism and sales. Much of this happens during conference panel sessions and keynotes. We have some advice for these folks: stop debating and start selling stuff your local business community wants to buy.

Fact: Your sales force with those direct relationships with local business should be your #1 source of market research. Reps should always be doing CNA’s (client needs analysis) to uncover clues to help point your Newspaper web sales model in the right direction. If anybody should have high levels of market intelligence and know the spending habits of local business, it should be your local feet on the street….NOT an expensive research or consulting firm. Duh.

Digital Business Model Evaluation.  Ask these questions to help evaluate the revenue potential of your newspaper website and other digital efforts:  Take test #1  

Filed Under: Front Page, Hyper Revenue Watch, Popular Posts Tagged With: , , , ,

Steve Jobs Speech to Change Your Life

May 9, 2012 By

Steve Jobs did the commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005. Some say it’s a 14 minute talk that could change a life.

Hate your job?  Confused about the future? Take your health & family for granted? Need a career change?

Listen to these 3 simple stories…..

Filed Under: Hyper Revenue Watch

WordPress Goddess in Suburbs, Beats Philly.com

May 8, 2012 By
Mainline Today Around Mainline Sarah Lockard

Beat by Sarah & WordPress

How awesome and how embarrassing. It was a spectacular kick-off to Main Line Restaurant Week in suburban Philadelphia.

The region’s biggest movers, shakers and top socialites celebrated in high style recently. Free food & drink flowed throughout the event.

Indeed, it was awesome for AroundMainLine.com CEO & Digital Goddess; Sarah Lockard, who puts on this incredible event each year.

It was embarrassing for the legacy newspapers and magazines in town. In days gone by…. the glossy Mainline Today magazine, along with The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philly.com, would have OWNED this type of event. Today, these old school, media companies are busy downsizing and scrambling to stay afloat.

Once again, BIG MEDIA got beat….and beat bad….by little ole’ Sarah and her WordPress website. While the legacy media execs were protecting the past, Miss Lockard and AroundMainline.com…. focused on bringing local business and consumers together….using the Inter-webs.

Watch this video to see all the fun.

Filed Under: Hyper Revenue Watch

Randy Michaels Goes after Philly Radio & Newspaper

May 7, 2012 By

Can ex-Tribune Newspaper chief; Randy Michaels, make an impact in Philly? His Merlin Media just launched WWIQ Radio, better known as IQ 106.9 fm. Talk is the format. CBS Radio in Philadelphia will likely feel the brunt of this effort at their Talk Radio 1210 am.

Will Merlin figure out how to use the Internet? Will digital and online be a profitable part of the operation? Probably not. At their New York Radio stations, they still use a lame CMS platform & online strategy from Emmis Interactive. Geez. So 1999.

Miss the report I did about Radio, Sales, and Online News?. <<<<Click to watch.

After the morning show, the lineup will include Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity.

IQ106.9 will add Rush Limbaugh when his contract expires with CBS Philly- Radio 1210am.  Former KYW-TV anchor Larry Mendte will be a part of the station in morning drive.

Mendte sees Philadelphia Radio and Newspaper as “old and stale”. We agree. Watch Larry’s YouTube video below.  ( we like pic of his lovely wife; Dawn Stensland in background )

 

Filed Under: Hyper Revenue Watch

Midwest Free Newspapers Conference

April 30, 2012 By

Filed Under: Hyper Revenue Watch

California Press Summit in San Jose

April 29, 2012 By
john paton digital first media cnpa

John Paton of Digital First Media

The 2012 CNPA Press Summit gets underway this Thursday, May 3 in San Jose at the DoubleTree Hilton.

California newspapers executives will gather for 3 days of discussion and networking, all focused on keeping newspaper….a critical part of the community.

For over 120 year, the California Newspaper Publishers Association has protected the mutual interests of the state’s newspapers, from the smallest weekly to the largest metropolitan daily.

Featured speakers include Digital First Media’s John Paton.

Mel Taylor from Mel Taylor Media will directly follow Mr. Paton’s lunch session, with a highly anticipated presentation on digital revenue and online profitability. Expect Mel Taylor to pull no punches as he did at America East in Hershey and INMA in Las Vegas recently. “The newspaper industry can no longer rely on old school managers and non-sales oriented CEO’s to lead the digital charge ‘ says Taylor.

For registration and more details, click California Newspaper Publishers Association.

Filed Under: Hyper Revenue Watch

FOX-TV Stations & Newspapers Losing Web Revenue?

April 25, 2012 By

Is your local website a total mess? Are you proud of your revenue gains? Does the person in charge of your Newspaper, TV or Radio site know about navigation, layout or design? These questions will freak out the old school managers inside of your news organization. But the answers will be a real opener for you.

As a media sales rep, digitally dumb bosses drove me batty. Since they got paid based on traditional sales, top management typically looks the other way when it comes to proper execution of online business models. Too many VP’s of Digital ( salaried ) made decisions that were not very smart. This had a direct affect on my income. Over time, I started to see a pattern. There were obvious issues that were killing our Internet based sales. Here’s just one of them:

Clunky CMS; Content Management Systems. Site layout, functionality and maintenance are  usually handled by an overworked, advertisement-hating webmaster. Not only do webmasters see ads as clutter, but they’re under constant pressure by salaried newsroom execs to squeeze even more crap onto the page.

Recently, the FOX local stations group decided to stop the bleeding with their money-losing TV sites. They’re dumping their own CMS, and will outsource to a 3rd party vendor: WorldNow. Ugh. We think it’s NEVER a good idea to outsource a key growth asset to a technology vendor. Read about the Fox TV Stations moving to WorldNow.

FOX should have considered: 

BELOW: 2 ‘digital audit’ videos.

  1. A Lancaster newspaper group
  2. Some TV & Radio station sites, including FOX-TV

Are you guilty of any these issues?

 

Filed Under: Hyper Revenue Watch

Your Banner Ads Suck. Really.

April 23, 2012 By

Nothing kills Internet revenue…. like crappy banner design. You work so hard explaining the benefits of advertising on your local news-site. Then you blow it. You either have an overworked print designer create the banner, or you outsource the design work to someone who has no idea what the client wants. The result: your client looks like hell. Then they cancel.

Who should take primary responsibility for making clients look great online?

  • Client? Nope. They have little or no idea about design, copy-writing, or what a ‘call to action’ is. They need help.
  • Graphic Designer? Nope. They just want want to quickly crank out the banner, and move onto the next one. They might just squeeze then entire print ad into the banner….and that’s cause for dismissal in my book.
  • Web Master? Nope. They’re busy with catering to the newsroom editor’s whims.
  • Editor? Nope. They hate advertising. They would prefer to just focus on pay-walls.
  • Sales Rep?  Bingo. They should know everything about the client’s need. Does client want branding, message awareness or direct response? What image to use? What copy points would work best? What should the ‘call to action’ be?

Watch video below.  Are you guilty of these sins? Thanks to The Press of Atlantic City for playing along….

 

 

 

Filed Under: Hyper Revenue Watch

Can Local Media Attract Small Business?

April 19, 2012 By

It’s a fact. Local advertisers are moving more of their marketing dollars….to online. Understandably, sales reps for newspapers, radio and the Yellow Pages are not amused. While revenues are dropping at traditional media properties, they’re actually growing at digital-first companies that focus on helping the local advertiser.

Have ya noticed? Pink slips and lay-offs happen so much, it no longer makes big headlines. Example: Brian Farnham; editorial chief at Patch, is on his way out. Was it because he was a poor journalist? No. It was because Patch never had a realistic, local revenue plan. Lot’s of smart people there for sure….but NO ONE had any idea on how to sell stuff to local business. Brian was screwed due to mis-management in the AOL sales & revenue department.

While Google & Reach Local ramp up their local efforts….the newspaper industry is busy erecting paywalls and scaring off local advertisers with their lack of digital savvy…. and polarizing, political spin.

The video below highlights how a newspaper or other local media organization, can grow new business. Nothing is bette than the effective use of client educational workshops. Here’s a clip where I teach The Press of Atlantic City, on how to put on ‘Web 101 Workshops for Small Business’

Filed Under: Hyper Revenue Watch

Digital Insanity; Newspaper’s Long Decline

April 17, 2012 By

Newspaper websites continue their long, slow decline into obscurity. Sure, some will remain strong. But far too many are making critical mistakes at the absolute wrong time. While publishers spend money on useless research and conferences, independent blogs and online specialty sites continue to eat away at their local advertising share.

Google is on the local move with their Get Online initiative. Google’s plan is to teach small business about digital marketing, and set up a free site for them. This allows the search giant to build relationships with local business operators. Think many Newspaper leaders are paying attention? Nope. They’re too busy listening to Bob Garfield pontificate. Is Bob going to help you drive digital revenue? Then why pay to listen to pundits like him?

Around Mainline Sarah Lockard

Sarah Lockard

Independent operators like BrigantineNOW.com (my client) & AroundMainline.com are growing revenues by focusing on local advertisers. This is in direct contrast to what many big newspapers focus on…..politically motivated agendas directed by beaten down newsroom personnel.

‘AroundMainline’ is run by a young lady by the name of Sarah Lockard. She’s the dominant, online player in the high-income suburb of Philadelphia known as the ‘Mainline’. Using a smart combination of WordPress & Facebook to drive foot traffic to her clients, Sarah kicks the ass of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly.com, Mainline Today, and the local Journal Register properties.

How does Sarah win? By helping the local advertiser succeed. Take a look at the MainLine Restaurant Week event that she produces. This is the kind of stuff the Philadelphia Inquirer should be doing. Unfortunately, the brilliant minds at Philadelphia Media Network are too busy with crappy tablet ideas….and looking for new owners every few years.

Our favorite, totally insane mistakes made by Newspapers:

  1. Paywalls & Newsroom driven, sales models
  2. CPM selling & un-motivated sales reps
  3. Horrific online AD management
  4. Digitally clueless Publishers
  5. Salaried VP’s of Digital
Take a look at this recent DIGITAL AUDIT of the Press of Atlantic City. Watch Video Below.

Filed Under: Hyper Revenue Watch, Popular Posts
« Older Posts