FinePrint - June 2010

In this issue:

You Are All Tenacious Motherf***ers

by Anne Lies

In the MMPA's 2010 Summit editorial wrap-up session for the day, “The Good News Is That There Is Some,” David Carr gave attendees plenty to mull over. He also proved one thing above all else: you can’t beat a good opening line.

“You are the most tenacious motherf***ers in the industry,” he told the appreciative crowd. “You can’t be killed.”

Based on what he is seeing at the New York Times, Carr is convinced that the worst of the perfect storm is over. Ad revenues are stabilizing, and the Times is seeing quarter-over-quarter improvement. Magazine launches are rebounding as well, up significantly over spring of 2009. “You have just survived the worst cyclical, secular recession the magazine industry has been through in modern times,” he said. “But your very existence proves your relevance—you are satisfying a reader and advertiser need.”

Carr also put a different twist on the new industry math. He argued that with fewer publishing employees, each one has more power than ever before. And with the Web, they have a perfect way to exercise that power. While content mills certainly create online clutter with watered-down information, they also have created an opportunity for “brand-name” reporters. He also pointed out that the economic shift has taken down some of the competition. “If you’re still standing, you can do well.”

In the end, Carr stressed that publishers are now in the database management business. “Print endures,” he said, “because it endures. Because of its thingy-ness.” But the online environment is where to grow, and there it is all about getting your readers to give over information about themselves. That includes everything from demographic data to help with measurability, all the way to credit card numbers, to help with, well, cash flow. It’s important to start slow and grow incrementally.

To that end, Carr told the crowd to make friends with technology and new media. He exhorted editors to embrace what the online environment offers, specifically the ability to tailor content and publication schedules to real, actual communities of interest. Web tools allow you to measure and know your audience and scale what is working. New “toys” such as the iPad are breaking whole new ground for presentation, and paving new routes to the consumer. He even warned, “If you’re in the publishing business, and you haven’t spent time with the iPad, you do so at your peril.”

Carr’s big takeaway? Keep moving forward. “Forces that tried to lay you low, but didn’t get you, won’t get you now—as long as you are willing to innovate.”

Jim Tarbox, editor of History Channel Magazine, summed it up another way. “In 35 years in journalism, I’ve been called a mother-effer a few times,” he said. “But this is the first time it’s been a compliment!”

Anne Lies is a freelance writer and editor.

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Heard at the 2010 Summit & Expo

by Lynn Keillor

The MMPA Summit & Expo attracted publishing enthusiasts from students to top-level professionals. Tracks offered focused on the specific areas of circulation, design, editorial and sales – while some participants stuck within their specialty, others moved between tracks depending on their interest.

Jill Anderson, circulation director for Affinity Powersports Media

Jill Anderson attended all of the meetings in the circulation track, and came back to the office with several check-boxes on her to-do list for social media, marketing and promotions.

“As a novice in social media, I went to the Summit hoping to get a better understanding of its different avenues,” Anderson said. She got that from Joe Pulizzi’s session on “Going Social Media Kicking and Screaming.” She said she can see the possibilities for blogs as enhancements.

Aileen Hough and Liz Bredeson, presenters in “50 Ways To Cut Expenses and Increase Revenue in the Audience Development Arena,” promised participants that they’d get at least five new ideas. “I got my five,” Anderson said. The ideas included including non-traditional circulation people – such as a tech-oriented person or a marketing expert – on the circulation team.

Jeremy Weiland, circulation director for Tiger Oak Publications

Two sessions resonated with Jeremy Weiland, and for two different reasons.

He found the Audience Development session, lead by Rebecca Sterner and Hervey Evans, important from an organizational and strategic perspective.

“Anyone involved in the publishing endeavor does best when they have an understanding of the total enterprise. Grappling with how to integrate web and event audiences into our print audiences is not a natural step,” he said. “For example, generating an e-mail campaign to create web traffic is not something most circulators are hard-wired to do, but it’s what is being asked of us.”

He also found value in the social media primer by Joe Pulizzi. “This is just one piece of the total pie. As much as I learned from his presentation about using social networking to create audience, it still has to be reconciled with the demands of overall source mix and the finite resources of any publishing endeavor,” Weiland said. “The two most important things: First was the “how” of creating followers. The second was understanding the requisite resources to be effective.”

Abbey Fitzgerald, graphic designer for ABDO Publishing

Learning new forms of media also applies to design staff, which was what Learning new forms of media also applies to design staff, which was what Abbey Fitzgerald wanted to gain from the creative sessions. She was particularly interested in learning about iPad applications and how to take things digital.

Her employer is in the process of converting books to digital formats, and she found talks on turning static design into dynamic presentation with movement.

Morgan Mercer, journalism student, University of Minnesota

Morgan Mercer was one of the participants with a “STUDENT” ribbon on her nametag. Her summer magazine internship had recently fallen through, and Mercer had her hustle on, trying to find a Plan B. She came armed with business cards and clips, and made a point to work the room.

While much of the social media and web focus was a repeat of what she’s learning in school, she enjoyed the Summit overall. “I enjoyed the effort the MMPA went to in finding higher-profile speakers,” she said.

She didn’t walk away with an internship, but said it was a good start to making contacts and building a network.

“It would have been great if there had been a better way to track down the people I wanted to talk to,” she said. “I literally had to stalk a woman I thought worked at Minneapolis-Saint Paul Mag to try and find an opportunity to talk to her!”

Craig Gustafson, freelance writer and editor

Craig Gustafson is a newcomer to the freelance world and was at the Summit for education, networking and, ultimately, employment opportunities. “It’s an opportunity to get away from the grind and gather information on what’s going on in the publishing world,” he said.

After sitting in on two editorial sessions on websites by Aileen Gallagher, he said he’d learned new strategies for integrating web and print content. “For the things I already knew, it gives me confidence that I’m going in the right direction,” he said. “It also gives me the confidence to go up to the next level.”

Terry O’Neill, editor of Powder and Bulk Engineering, CSC Publishing

When Joe Pulizzi’s book, Get Content, Get Customers was announced as a door prize, Terry O’Neill said, “I want that!”

Lucky for her, the emcee called her name.

“I really wanted to learn how to implement social media to increase our readership,” she said. Her co-workers can count on a meeting to talk about what O’Neill learned. She hopes to initiate some online integration between the publisher’s six magazines.

“I’m re-motivated to do more reading and experimenting,” she said.

Lynn Keillor is a freelance editor and writer.

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Social Media: A Different Kind of Expensive

by Tricia Cornell

Joe Pulizzi is sick of hearing people refer to social media as a “free” way to market content and build audiences. Sure, there’s no sign-up fee for Facebook or Twitter, but Pulizzi, founder of Junta42.com and co-author of the book Get Content, Get Customers, wants you to know this about social media: It’s not free and it’s not easy.

Social media, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube videos, and an ever-growing number of other options, can be a powerful tool that publishers can use to attract and retain more readers, subscribers, and followers. But, Pulizzi says, “Most people don’t have a strategy or even know why they need to be there.”

Pulizzi shared his “Five steps to building a social media model that rocks” with an audience of about 30 circulation managers, publishers, editors, and salespeople at the MMPA Summit on May 20. He included some tips that contradict a lot of old-school media thinking: Link to your competitors’ content as well as your own, offer a peek behind the curtain as you create content, and get those pesky, ankle-biting bloggers on board.

“Most publishers view those bloggers as competition,” he said. “I’m pleading with you: Work with them.”

He warned that even something as fast-paced and of-the-moment as social media won’t show results overnight. “It will take some time,” he said. “You won’t see anything happen in a month. But in six months, seven months…”

Happily, he pointed out that one key to a successful social media strategy is something we in the magazine industry have been doing right for a long time: consistent, valuable content, whether it’s in your print publication, your Twitter feed or your contributions to LinkedIn Answers.

“It’s hard work, but it’s totally worth it,” Pulizzi said. “The great thing is, you already have a brand.”

To view Joe Pulizzi's handout for the session and more resources from this year's Summit, visit the new MMPA website.

Tricia Cornell is the Editor of Minnesota Parent and Minnesota Good Age.

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Ad Sales: Top 10 Takeaways

by Kevin Dunn

Our advertising sales world is now more akin to an advertising universe; one that‘s replete with print and digital options, delivering a wonderful hybrid of the two media and offering a veritable gaggle of cross-channel opportunities for the always well-informed and infinitely entrepreneurial account executive.

This brave new world of hybrid media sales strategies was deftly presented during the 2010 Summit advertising sessions by sales consultant Daniel Ambrose. Dan gave his audience six-plus hours and 148 slides of terrific advice applications and thought leadership for sales teams. Yes, it was a lot to take away. Here are just a few of my favorite tenets that Dan presented, by category:

Fundamentals

  1. This is an opportunity to extend and enhance your core business – not a threat. Sell digital-based advertising with, rather than in place of, or against print. It’s a package. It’s about adding dollars to the sale.
  2. Be fluent with all aspects of digital sales – you are the expert and as such you need to understand the terminology, the product, and the method in order to offer solid solutions to your clients.
  3. Remember the purchase funnel – your most active customer, and the one of most value to advertisers – is going to utilize both print and online during their purchasing journey. The hybrid media approach will consistently deliver more influence, more touch points for the advertiser as the consumer completes the purchasing process. The product is introduced by the magazine in the funnel, delivers interest in the funnel, and online (including social media) reinforces the decision and drives the purchase.
  4. Your advertising inventory is valuable, because it is on a branded site with an affinity audience. They identify positively with your brand and visit because they want or need to – its informative and a trusted source. That should translate to higher CPM’s for you.
  5. If you’ve read this far, you believe with all of your heart that you don’t give away your inventory as added value. No; never.

Getting Beyond the Banner

Now that you’re selling and packaging (viva hybrid!) leader boards, rectangles, buttons, skyscrapers, and hey – perhaps even video – with your print program, don’t forget:

  1. E-newsletters are a must and should become a full-fledged program within your hybrid media enterprise. Pricing can be higher because of the opt-in “exclusivity” and engagement of the audience. But… don’t burn that audience by selling, renting, or over-marketing to your high-value subscriber by dinging them way beyond what they opted-in for.
  2. Consider webinars for client lead generation and new revenue opportunities for your profit center through sponsorships.
  3. Consider white paper and case study downloads for client lead generation and as an add-on to a larger hybrid sell.
  4. Consider digitizing your magazine to extend your reach, especially if you have an international audience. This will be another talking point in the print sales process – the advertiser will benefit from the added audience and the intrinsic ability to click through to their website from their ad and also offer other selling opportunities within the digital magazine

Was there more during those six hours? Lot’s more. Not-even-scratching-the-surface more. So we’ll end with a few of Dan’s key tips for hybrid sales success:

  • Prepare to sell your digital products on every sales call.
  • Use an integrated package to get appointments – especially at higher decision making levels.
  • Have a grounded hypothesis for every customer about how you can help them sell more products or services through an integrated advertising program.
  • Always leave screenshots of your site, e-newsletters and other digital products behind.

And happy hybrid selling!

To view Daniel Ambrose's handout for the session and more resources from this year's Summit, visit the new MMPA website.

Kevin Dunn is the Director of Digital Operations for MSP Communications.

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From Circulation to Audience Development: More Than a Digital Transformation

by Kathryn Knudson

This session examined how traditional circulation departments are transitioning to audience development. Rebecca Sterner and Hervey Evans began by discussing the difference between circulation and audience development (e.g. renewals and requalifications vs. increasing customer value). They offered both the reasoning why circulation people are well positioned for audience development, as well as why audience development can be a particular challenge for those in circulation (including that it’s harder to prove cause and effect in the web environment).

Evans and Sterner listed an extensive number of tools utilized in audience development, including:

  • Search engine marketing (SEM)
  • Search engine optimization (SEO)
  • Mobile apps
  • Social media
  • Emails (both acquisitioned and transactional)
  • Digital editions
  • iPad & digital readers
  • Links and ads on sites
  • Videos

The presentation detailed the “how, why, and when” to use the array of tools and offered a “toolbox” of resources to help circulation professionals with the transition, including “The CMO’s Guide to the Social Landscape.” And, as there is a significant amount of learning ahead, the session addressed expectations, workload balance, and the way in which departments will need to change staffing and budget allocation.

Ultimately, Sterner and Evans emphasized that circulation professionals know how to manage audience and are expertly poised to manage and deliver audience across the different forms of content, as the publishing environment evolves.

Kathryn Knudson is a Consumer Marketing Manager at Affinity Media.

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More Real Life Tips and Tricks for Working on the Web

by Lynn Keillor

Instead of starting the second half of her two-part session by launching into real-life tips, Aileen Gallagher, senior editor at New York Media, opened up with a history lesson.

Starting with the re-launch of NYMag.com in 2006, the website has undergone no fewer than eight major changes or additions, which showed that one possible key to success is maintaining a dynamic presence.

She gave some insights to their successes along the way — and some things that didn’t work.

  • “Have as many entry points to your site from the home page as possible,” she said. With the website’s Vulture page as an example, she said: “This one page has about 40 entry points.”
  • Keep readers in the site with clear labeling of content.
  • Use content monitors to track people on the site, such as Omniture SiteCatalyst or Google Analytics. She said that a recently posted video of Betty White got a decent number of hits, but that people who watched it didn’t go anywhere else on the site. “It was a real missed opportunity for us,” she said.
  • Make clear headlines for the web. “In a magazine, headlines can be contextual,” she said. “But you don’t know how people are coming to the web site. It could be a Google search or another website. Could be a text-only site. So headlines should be clear and able to stand alone.” Keep in mind that headlines are searched and are providing search terms. Think about how readers will search for the story. A headline may include “Eyjafjallajökull” but in reality, readers will search for “volcano in Iceland.”
  • “Building a robust web business takes a commitment and investment in staff.” New York Magazine had 20 people dedicated to web in 2006; it now has 63.
  • Know that a shift to web will need a psychological change in the editorial offices. “You can no longer afford to separate print and online,” she said. “Make it an obligation for all to contribute to the website – not an either/or; it’s a both. The idea of Internet as “less than” is going away. People are thinking of them as equal.”
  • “It’s useless to have a website where people only go to re-subscribe. That means they’re going there just once a year.”
  • Advertising from NYMag.com made up 30 percent of overall advertising revenue for 2009. It was 5 percent in 2004.

Lynn Keillor is a freelance editor and writer.

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50 Ways to Cut Expenses And Increase Revenue in the Audience Development Arena

by Jack Schabel
 

If only one tip can make the entire Summit and Expo worthwhile, what are 50 tips worth?

The Audience Development Panel Discussion, lead by Aileen Hough of CSC Publishing and Liz Bredeson of Meredith Corporation was an information-packed session full of tips and techniques for all circulators. Those attending the session got ideas that both B2B and consumer publications can use with minimal effort as they try do more with less while still producing high-quality promotions with maximum profit – at the best possible price.

Some examples:

Promotions

Test price increases for conversions and renewals; test additional charges for postage and handling; make the offer emphasis on value, not price; partner internally with other departments to help defray costs.

Vendor Relationships

Meet with your vendors to review all processes; examine inventory storage; ask for recommendations on trim sizes, paper stock, scheduling.

Recycling, Reusing, Reducing

Closely manage your office copy print order; reuse printer paper for internal use; test list append services so you can email to more, cutting down on mailed pieces; ask vendors and partners about recycling programs they have.

Time Management

Start meetings on time and only hold meetings you need to have; even a 15-minute meeting can be productive with proper goals; consider having a quick face-to-face meeting after 2 or 3 emails; use free tools through Google or Microsoft to save time and money.

Other Ideas

Use technology to improve productivity – Wikis, IM instead of email, webinars vs. travel, conference calls; continued education of staff can save time and money and make associations that can be productive in the future. The full presentation is available on the newly redesigned MMPA website – check it out as well as the many other features designed to help all publishing professionals.

Jack Schabel is a Consumer Marketing Manager at Affinity Media.

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MMPA: Moving Forward, Looking Back

by Holly Dolezalek
 

For 15 years, MMPA has been the membership organization for the publishing industry in Minnesota. In some ways, it is today what it was when it first began: a group of gung-ho leaders who were willing to learn from one another and volunteer their time to support the industry they were all a part of.

Rebecca Sterner was instrumental in getting the whole thing off the ground. Sterner, a magazine consultant, had many clients in the area, and one of them was Craig Neal, then the publisher of Utne Reader. Neal told Sterner that he was interested in getting together informally with other publishers so that they could talk about their common problems, network, and benefit from each others' experiences and knowledge. Carol Lang, Burt Cohen, Gary Johnson, and other publishing luminaries participated, and between 1993 and 1994, it remained a simple get-together as participants had time and inclination.

"A lot of people in my circle were involved, but I wasn't really involved at the beginning, except as the yenta," Sterner says.

In 1994, Martha ten Sythoff was an economic development specialist at the Minnesota Department of Trade and Economic Development. Ten Sythoff, who had been involved from the beginning, wanted to support this fledgling group, because she knew that publishing was an important industry in the state of Minnesota. With help from ten Sythoff and David Ewald of Ewald Consulting, who was another founding member, MMPA started getting more formal.

"They held sessions on circulation and tried out all sorts of things, like early versions of the roundtables they have today," Sterner says. "They also tried more formal events with speakers. They weren't regular events, but as volunteers suggested them, they happened."

Sterner eventually joined the MMPA board, and spent 12 years (two terms) there.

Another longtime board member, Judy Rudrud, joined at about the same time at the request of Steve Hedlund, another founding member. He contacted her after she volunteered to speak at an MMPA seminar about financial management. Rudrud, who is now the vice president of sales and marketing for Bolger Vision Beyond Print, helped to get the organization on a more secure financial footing. "We dug into the financials and decided that we had to figure out a way to have a positive bottom line more consistently," says Rudrud. "To their credit, Ewald really helped with cash flow issues by waiting to be paid for their services until MMPA's programs came in, because at that time MMPA was taking on money at different times than it was spending it. We saw it as critical to make sure the organization was on a good footing financially."

Another big supporter of the organization was Affinity, at the time known as Ehlert Publishing Group. "They were very involved in pushing the organization forward," Rudrud says. "Like any professional organization, people sometimes don't see the value of talking to their peers and competition, and you have to get past that and prove its value. [Affinity] did that, and as they stood up and got their people involved, other companies did too."

Rudrud worked with Mary Hennessy, vice president of communications for Industrial Fabrics Association International. After Rudrud left the board, Hennessy continued to work on creating a financial reserve for MMPA and adding to it when possible. "We started the organization's sustainability in motion, but Mary took it to a new level after I left," Rudrud says.

The Excellence Awards, now in its 14th year, began in 1996, and it was the first large-scale program the organization attempted. "It quickly became pretty popular and pretty successful," says Mary Hennessy, who was a regular member, vice chair, and then chair of the MMPA board over a period of eight years. "It was a lot of revenue for the organization, and the competition was good for the industry."

Today, MMPA has year-round events, a steady cash flow, and a foundation for the future. It also has the support of an industry that has taken its lumps—but isn't going anywhere.

Holly Dolezalek is a freelance writer and editor.

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Join LinkedIn and the "Friends of the MMPA" Today!

The companion group for the MMPA, "Friends of the MMPA" has nearly 300 members today with more joining all the time! We are using LinkedIn, the premier networking website for business purposes, to provide the discussion hosting and group communication for the MMPA.

Within the main group, there are also subgroups for each of the special communities of interest that have historically been the focus of our roundtables: Audience Development and Circulation; Editorial; Art, Design, and Production; Advertising Sales; Publication Management; Digital and Web Publishing; Marketing Support and Events; Young Professionals, Freelance; and Publishing Vendors. You may join as many subgroup communities as you like.

In addition, there are a couple of "specialty" subgroups of the Friends of the MMPA: Looking for an Internship and Looking for Work. These are work checking out if you are looking for interns or new employees.

Please join the subgroups that make the most sense for your interest. That way, we can, in turn, communicate with you more directly and address issues that are of specific concern to you.

We are delighted with the reception we have received to the new MMPA website. The linkedIn group and subgroups go hand-in-hand with the website to provide you with the community connections and support you have requested.

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