Newspaper Dips / Online Print Rises - $$$ STILL BIG!

Here are some snapshots from an article written by a great friend of mine, Marsha Friedman.  It talks about the status of print and online print and its ability to generate good results in this tight economy.  I found her article RIGHT ON!  I've extracted a few sections that I think you'll find as interesting.




The Value of Web-Based Press Shines As Newspaper Readership Declines   by Marsha Friedman
If you’re an old newspaper hound, it’s not a pretty sight.
The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), the standard-bearer of newspaper and print publication circulation reporting, just reported a couple of weeks ago that newspaper circulation for the six months ending Sept. 30 dropped 10.6 percent from the same period in 2008, with a 7.5 percent dip on Sundays.

SNAPSHOTS:
Oct. 1, 2008-Mar. 31, 2009: down 7.1 percent on weekdays, down 5.3 percent on Sundays.
Apr. 1, 2008-Sept. 30, 2008: down 4.6 percent on weekdays, down 4.9 percent on Sunday.
Oct. 1, 2007-Mar. 31, 2008: down 3.5 percent on weekdays, down 4.5 percent on Sundays.


Conversely, as newspaper circulations take a nose dive, online readership of newspaper Web sites is on the rise. Newspaper Web sites attracted more than 74 million monthly unique visitors on average in the third quarter of 2009, more than one-third (38 percent) of all Internet users, according to a custom analysis provided by Nielsen Online for the Newspaper Association of America. The sites collectively tallied more than 3.5 billion page views during the quarter, with users spending 2.7 billion minutes browsing the sites over more than 596 million total sessions.  This is a 17 percent increase over the 62 million unique visitors the same sites drew in 2007. In fact, for the first time in history, the stats now show that more people are getting their daily news online, and not from their daily printed newspaper.

While 74 million is a good number of unique visitors, the news-based Web sites are growing in influence and prestige, as well. At the end of the day, print and Web combined means more eyeballs for your story.


Charlie Says: The irony is more people overall are consuming the news than ever before.

Charlie Says: Your product should be in print/online - especially during these tough economic times.  TV/Radio can be accidental.  Print/Online is purposeful!  People buy on purpose! 

Charlie Says: At Synergixx our print budgets have only gone UP this year - even with the newspaper decline- because those that look for news are very qualified buyers!

Who is integrating your traditional print ads with online print ads?  At Synergixx we do it daily... ask us how!

What's In An Offer? Besides My Free Bonus?

It's 4th quarter again!  And this means everyone is rushing to test new shows for 1st quarter!  Hurry.  Hurry.  Test. Test.  But have we considered if we have anything to really OFFER?

We all know what's up with our economy, the world, the war, politics, real estate, stock prices, gas, prices, internet fraud and diet failures... same stuff as always just more compacted and in our face this year.  And what we also know is that selling products is becoming more difficult because our audience is more savvy and less tolerant than ever before in history.  In the last two weeks I have reviewed over 13 different commercials trying to make the 4th quarter test cycle and while most of the products are really GREAT - I'm not sure why I should CALL NOW - aside from collecting some free gifts.  9 of the OFFERS were Just Pay Shipping + 2 Free Gifts.  This is not good as it is a form of "training our consumer to tune out".

What's in an OFFER?  (ALOT)

While reading the 25 OFFERS below, think about any OFFERS you have out in the world.  These can be product offers, service offer, branding offers, lead generation offers, TV/Radio offers, web offers, and so on.  

• Can any of them be tweaked, twisted, altered, trashed, revamped, super-loaded or "pimped out"?  
• Can you identify the OFFERS below that are working and that are flat-lining?
• Can you figure out which OFFERS are being used in TV, Radio, Print, and Online?
  

 Here we go:

1. Call us today for a free report on debt management.
2. To get started log on and type keyword: No Tummy.
3. Learn how this amazing program can save you time and money.
4. Save an animal's life for less than the cost of a cup of coffee.
5. Get a free consultation on the e-diet that's right for you.
6. Enroll in our online classes and increase your earning potential.
7. Call us today at 888-8888 and ask for our Web discount.
8. Subscribe now for free tips for doing your own taxes.
9. Log on and read how to drop a full dress size by Thanksgiving.
10. Hurry Up. Reserving your free laptop is just a click away.
11. Watch this video on how you can stop smoking within 4 hours- and forever!
12. Does your child suffer from ADD? Take this simple test.
13. Buy this product today and start losing weight tomorrow. (Or in 7 - 10 days with the super saver delivery.)
14. Get an excerpt of this self-hypnosis audio CD emailed to you in the next 5 minutes.
15. Call now for a free 30-minute consultation.
16. Take our Identity Theft Security quiz.
17. Learn how you can afford a bigger home than you thought!
18. What factors should I consider before starting my own business?  We'll tell you for free!
    
19. Call today and find out what the I.R.S. doesn't want you to know.
20. What are the telltale signs of anxiety for children and teenagers- it's all in this free online report?
21. Buy a Discount Pass and never pay full price again!
22. How can a new air purifier pay for itself in six months?
23. Use our online calculator and see how much you can save using our system.
24. Add to cart.
25. Buy now! 

You'll notice that none of these offers mentioned price, extra free gifts or trial offers. They may be a part of the OFFER but the point is that your OFFER MUST BE MORE that just free trials and bonus gifts. What are you promising the consumer? How are you affecting their life NOW? Why is your product and your free gifts any more trust worthy or relevant than the one the consumer saw five minutes ago? There is a safety net in testing products with tried-and-true OFFERS but in a year when 1 in 30 new product launches are actually making it into roll-out we must stop being safe and go back to being innovative.

Check out websites I think have it going on - and OFFERS to match!

https://carexpresstrial.com/ (OFFER: Save 50% on Health Care)
http://www.smartcruiser.com/ (OFFER: Stop Surfing. Start Cruising!)
http://winit.womansworldmag.com/ww/ (OFFER: Enter to Win!)
http://www.moneyfromhome.com/ (OFFER: Get PAID by check, direct deposit or PayPal- Scam Free!)

DO I endorse the websites?  No.  Are they doing something right in the marketing world?  Yes.

Don't get me wrong... tradition is tradition and we should hold on to our Trial Offers, Soft Offers, and Hard Offers.  Make these traditional offers part of an A/B test.  But let's get a little "unsafe" with our offers and see if we can reinvigorate our consumer's response rate.  Remember, 40-60% of your respondents go online BEFORE they call you... here is a hint:  your OFFER should trap and entice them both Online and Offline- even entangle them in between the two.

 Look for my next post on BACK-END OFFERS GONE AWRY!

Take Time To Shop! A New Online Store I Simply Love!

 KNOCK KNOCK 

Putting the Fun in Functional

http://www.knockknock.biz/office-stuff/


One of the best ways I find to stay creative at work and not loose my edge is to surround myself with meaningless crap that puts it all in perspective.  Enjoy!