You don’t need a website, you need a web strategy.
The title sounds like a great API course or a presentation by NAA but it’s simply reality.
I have to give thanks to Greg Swanson from ItzPublishing for the title which came up in a strategic session about our new Marketplace sales strategy.
This is the statement we should use in every single sales call when discussing the web and especially the opportunities our great audience can provide.
How many times have you walked into a potential clients office and have them tell you ” I already have a website.” In a lot of these cases their cousin or uncle built the site for them and left them with the impression that they were now ‘Web Ready’, when in all actuality nothing changed from before they built the site. In Des Moines, when we were launching Cars.com, we called that frame of thinking- “Buying a billboard on a hard to find dirt road or a corn field.” Just a note- We did have a really popular feature back in 2000 where we allowed the public to watch corn grow from a web cam.
In a recent post on Screenwerk it was mentioned that the DYIers ( Do it Yourself) are prime targets for SEO and SEM sales teams because they can help take them from a website owner to a plan to grow business. If newspapers aren’t working with a firm like OrangeSoda, WebVisible, Metrix4Media or ReachLocal they need to start. These companies can provide insight on SEO that you don’t currently have and will provide a simple resource to take the small advertiser into the big world of search.
If we train our sales reps to develop sound web strategies for their clients the local newspaper can quickly become the local advertising agency, offering a 1-stop shop for all local advertising needs. The website is simply car to drive you down the information super highway. Our reps should be able to look at Google search results and discuss the need for SEO. They should be able to discuss the needs of the local plumber and create a package that delivers leads and provides brand awareness. They should also have enough knowledge and understanding to recommend competitors when our products don’t or can’t deliver the necessary results.
On the other hand, the small to mid-size business owner needs to educate themselves enough to have this strategic conversation. Even in 2008, a high percentage of small businesses don’t know where their business is coming from or have a plan to go after new consumers. We can step into that void and provide simple and on-going training for these businesses.
It doesn’t have to be fancy. It can be as simple as reviewing monthly reports with them, showing them emerging technologies, critiquing their website and giving tips to make it better.
Tell your sales team to tell advertisers to forget about building their website for now and focus on how they are going to build traffic and what they want a website to do. The web strategy may lead to a custom developed website but I really doubt it. With all the tools available through IYP and newspaper Marketplace sites today, 9 out of 10 small businesses can invest their website building money into targeting new consumers.
All I’m saying is that with so much opportunity at our fingertips we should be developing a plan to capture the ‘longtail’. That plan has to start with connecting the business community to potential consumers coming from every direction, grouping the consumers and businesses into Facebook like communities and promoting your website as the destination for consumers trying to make a decision.
This post was a general introduction to a very important topic. I will continue to touch on the specifics of this area and the Market Leader Strategy over the next few months.
Add comment August 7, 2008
DPC Update: WisconsinNative.com Launches Portal
WisconsinNative.com joins the DPC to launch it’s new Wisconsin portal using 6-Degrees. Award-winning Wisconsin writer Susan Lampert Smith and others will chronicle life in America’s Dairyland on the new site.
For authentic Badger State flavor, you can’t get more Wisconsin than Susan Lampert Smith. In kindergarten, she made the newspaper for the first time, in a picture from the St. Joseph Church Friday Night Fish Fry, in which she appears to be stabbing Father Zander with a piece of perch. You can’t get more Wisconsin than that. In college at Wisconsin, she met her future husband while grilling brats at the post-football game Badger Bash at Union South. You can’t get more Wisconsin than that.
Find out more information at www.digitalpressconsortium.com/news
Add comment July 26, 2008
What do you offer the local plumber?
A simple question for my newspaper readers……..
If a plumber walked into your office right now, what advertising package would you offer him to reach the most potential consumers and drive leads?
Do you feel confident that your sales team understands what the plumber needs to succeed? If so, are you as confident in your ability to deliver leads and/ or brand awareness?
Add comment July 19, 2008
State of the Union: MediaNews Group
I saw this memo today on Editor and Publisher. The memo was from William Dean Singleton, CEO of MediaNews Group. The goal of the memo was to provide clarity on their finances and give some insight on their future plans.
One comment stuck out to me….
Unfortunately, gone are the days where we can operate as a collection of standalone newspapers. We must leverage our collective resources and position ourselves to reinvest in our business going forward in order to provide the tools and resources to ensure success in the future. And, we are starting to do just that, with significant investments in the sales, marketing and research arenas.
It sticks out to me because not only is it important that each newspaper group works better together to take on future challenges but it is equally important that we do the same as an industry.
The Yahoo Consortium is doing it. The NAA is doing a great job sharing. I’m just wondering if we can do more?
If you are a vendor dealing with newspapers and your plan doesn’t include ways for newspapers to leverage technology to reduce expense, develop a new audience and most importantly develop incremental revenue, you may be barking up the tree for the next few years. If your product isn’t priced based on the revenue potential it provides and you can’t point at examples, you may need to look deeply at your business plan.
I was recently in a meeting with an executive who said ” I just reduced my staff by 11%, said good-bye to a colleague that helped put us on the map and retired an editor with a lot of life left in his career” He then told me he received an estimate for an online advertising product that would cost him more than the colleague and editor combined without any proof on the return.
He is a friend and he closed the conversation with “How do I explain that?”
He was impressed with the tools but didn’t have a clear thought on how they fit into his current plans and the vendor didn’t provide anything to help.
Add comment July 8, 2008
New Project: RATEDkidfun™
Visibility Consulting Group is currently working on a project that will provide a very rich database of content for consumers and advertisers. We are calling the project RATEDkidfun™.
The concept behind the project is very simple- Kids from 9-15 review products, events, games, toys, food, etc. We will manage this data, product related blogs and social networking on our site and provide the content to key partners.
I believe strongly that this product will stand alone but will also help revive the dying NIE programs (Newspapers in Education) at the newspaper and provide more relevant search results for users research products and venues for their kids and for kids doing their own research.
- Do the voices of kids really count?
- If you or your child knew that the toy, game, or movie he wants to see was reviewed poorly by kids with similar interests, would it help them make a more informed decision?
- Do manufacturers care what the end user thinks of their product?
I believe the answer to all 3 questions is Yes!
Anyone interested in finding out more details about the plan please send me an email or simply reply to the post.
Add comment July 7, 2008
