Archives, Your Web Site’s Future

We live in the here and now. You have heard the old saying, “They can not see the forest through trees.”? The same can be said of business owners designing their Web sites. All too often the focus is on meeting current needs and demands and not on creating a scalable design that can grow with your ever changing demands. To that end, archives must be built around current information that must be placed in an environment where users can find it for years to come.

I am no prophet, but I can tell you that there are many “things” that will come to life over the next year that will affect your Web site. If your fall or springs plans are a redesign of your magazine or business web site make sure that archives are in your plans.

Archives are a constant topic of debate. The reason for this is very simple, people come to the net for three reasons; (1) E-mail, (2) Research and (3) Entertainment. Research is driving force behind the Internet. Enid Burns from the ClickZ Network, reported on Nov 20, 2007 that of the five major or "core" search engines, Google held a substantial lead over its rivals in September 2007, according to comScore research. Of the 9.4 billon searches performed at the five major engines, Google maintained a 57 percent share over competing search engines Yahoo (23.7 percent); Microsoft (10.3 percent); Ask (4.7 percent); and Time Warner including AOL (4.5 percent). An analysis of search activity at the top 50 Internet properties worldwide shows Google's sites lead the pack with 6.6 billion searches, followed by Yahoo (2.4 billion), and Microsoft (999 million). Thus, the ability for your archives to been “scrubbed” by search engines is more powerful then ever before. However, this dos not mean that you can or should blindly place every word of your magazine online.

I would encourage you to think about doing these three things to see significant success from your archives.

1. Get the rights needed to place articles online in perpetuity
2. Give users free access to key word heavy teaser paragraphs.
3. Make search easy to find on your site

The first step in your process toward archive success is getting the rights to place content online from your writers. Hiring a lawyer that specializes in the business of intellectual property law is mission critical. This is an important step that is often overlooked. Here is a paragraph from an online contract that speaks volumes, “Contractor hereby assigns to Company the perpetual, royalty-free right to publish said Content, in whole or in part, in any medium now known or later developed including online archives.” If you do not have language of this nature in your freelance writer contract, you need to call your lawyer. Online archives are your future. Freelances are becoming more reasonable than ever before on this issue. They may want to charge you more up front, but there is a benefit to you in the future. Most freelancers just want to be treated fairly. If a freelance writer is not willing to give you archives rights, you may need to look else where.

Second, find a content management system that will allow you to take the first paragraph of a story and make it readable to the general public free. (Google “content management systems” to find one that will meet your needs.) Then you lock down the remainder of the story behind a free registration system. If the public can read it, then the Googlebot™ can read it. This point alone is a controversial issue, but not if (a) you are a niche content provider or (b) you give the user enough reason to sign up for your site. All too often the sign up process is labor intensive or offers no reason for the user to make that step and give you personal data. This issue also does not apply to those media in the daily news business. There are far too many free no registration offerings to make site sign-up worthwhile on a daily news site. We operate in the niche media space. In this space our content is valuable and worth the price of admission. Especially if the price is just our e-mail and some basic demo information. Once you have a locked system in place you need to place as much of the article online that will meet the user’s research needs. You are not giving away the article because you have two lines of revenue, (1) you have their registration data to sell and use and (2) you can sell ads on the page as well.

Finally, make your search box easy to find on your site. This point alone is paramount to your success. Placing it in the top margin of the page is mission critical. Hiding it in the rail at the bottom is suicide by search. If the user is logged into your site than once they search they see the whole article. If they are not, they get the first paragraph of the story and then are required to sign in for the rest. The first paragraph of the story needs to show enough content that they get a general idea if they have found what they are looking for. Be sure that your editorial staff places a lot of key words in the first paragraph and writes in good old fashioned inverted funnel style and you will be set.

As niche publishers, never forget how valuable your data is online. There is a fine line to walk between free and the registered model we have discussed. I would caution you against a paid model online as it has been my experience that people are not yet willing to pay for the content especially if they subscribe to the magazine. With that said, investing in new technology that opens up the site to subscribers is emerging each day. Already many companies that offer digital solutions that have offerings to meet these needs in a variety of ways. All in all, you need to plan ahead for archives to be an important part of your web site. Never forget that meeting the current needs of your users is important, but using data from today to drive users tomorrow is your future. Get ahead of the archive curve and win in the end. Never forget what I preach over and over, he who owns the data wins.

The views of Ryan Dohrn are 100% personal in nature and do not represent the views of his employer, any other person, company or entity in any way. Any similarly is coincidental in nature. Please listen to Ryan’s audio version of this blog online at http://www.ryandohrn.com/

2. Ryan R. Dohrn©2007

User Generated Video Has A Place On Magazine Sites, But Where?

Video is king online. There is no denying that copy cat sites ripping off the huge success of Youtube will continue to pop up on the netscape. After-all, imitation is the fondest form of flattery.

There are basically 2 types of video content; UGV and PGV. UGV stands for User Generated Video and PGV stands for Publisher Generated Video. I have seen tremendous growth in video content online, but our company’s growth has been focused on PGV. So, this begs the question, is UGV good for your site? And if it is, where do you put UGV to get the most benefit for your site and not ruin the editorial integrity of your magazine?

My analysis of the UGV situation is based in the theory that not too long ago the average “Joe” did not have access to high quality video cameras and high end editing gear. Now the general public can often shoot and edit with professional results for a fraction of the cost of days gone by. So, developing a system where you encourage UGV to be of very high quality is important. Develop standards for UGV on your site and publish those standards. If users want their videos to be featured on your site, they must comply and in most cases they will. Why? They want their “stuff” on your site. Pick the video and do not just blindly run UGV as marquee content. Truly, this is not the best way to leverage the content for long term growth. To that same end, a legal document that gives you permission and assigns the video rights to you is important as well.

As magazine publishers we are battling to maintain strong editorial integrity while growing our brands online. For this reason, the idea of building special sections of your site for UGV is important and making PGV the focal point of the site is critical. In addition, I encourage publishers to blend UGV with PGV. For example, showcase 3 clips created by your in house team and pick one UGV clip as well. Users come to your magazine site for a reason, you are the leader, you are the source. UGV is often funny, edgy and fast, but the short term traffic results garnered from UGV will not help you build a long term brand online. As magazine publishers you want to be fresh and innovative online. But, you do not want to be a trend or a fad online. This will not help you grow the important cyber/fiber relationship that is critical to your magazine’s success.

UGV holds an important place on all Web sites. User Generated Content is critical to creating that fraternal feel we all want our users to enjoy. But, be careful that you do not get caught up in the USG craze and blindly give away your entire magazine site to the users.

Listen to this blog in audio form online at http://www.ryandohrn.com

Note: The views of Ryan Dohrn are 100% personal in nature and do not represent the views of his employer, any other person, company or entity in any way. Any similarly is coincidental in nature.

Web Stats Can Kill A Sale

Web stats can kill an Internet sale if you do not control the message. One of the biggest problems with the Internet is one of its greatest strengths; statistics. We can give an advertiser numbers down to the smallest degree if they desire. But, is this the best way to secure and keep a long term client?

When teaching sales people I sometimes refer to the legendary book, The Art Of War. To paraphrase and to make appoint I often teach that you do not want to show your enemy your full arsenal up front. It leaves you nothing to pull out to finish the job. The same is true of statistics. Long lists of numbers are meaningless to a person that is searching for a single answer. But, the only way to know what to give the prospect is to ask. He who asks the questions is in control of the sales call. Period. I always begin by asking who the prospect is trying to reach? Then I ask them if they have any recent data to support their thoughts. The reason for this is two fold, (1) I might be able to sell them an online survey and (2) I will only present them stats that meet their given criteria. How many times has a prospect said, “Just send me your media kit.” End of call. I often say back, “I would love too, what do you want me to include in the kit? We customize each media kit to each client. If I know what your goals and budget are, I can send you a much better media kit with a proposal that will not waste your time. We have thousands of pieces of information.” Many sales people overwhelm prospects with data that either (a) the sales person feels is important or (b) makes their job easier. It has been proven time and time again that customized sales proposal and customized media kits win the sale hands down. Using statistics in a meaningful way can help you win the sale.

So, you have won the sale. Good job. Watch out, here come the performance stats from your online ad delivery system. Oh my, more stats. What do you do with all the client stats? The blind answer is forward them to the client. To use another military term, SHOCK AND AWE them into submission. Overwhelm them with data and maybe they will say, “Oh my, this must be working if I am getting back this much data!” You could not be more wrong! I have been selling the Internet since 1996 and I have not ever found one instance where that was the case. I encourage sales people to not send out the full stats report. Now, many agencies will require that, but we all know that agencies are much smarter than the rest of us, so give them what they want. (wink) Instead, I encourage sales people to read and digest the stats. Then, prepare a short, brief custom report for your client. You need to explain the data to the client. If the data is bad you might have a lot of explaining to do. Never assume that even the most astute client will understand the reports that are kicked out by your online ad delivery system. In addition, watch the reports for poor performance. I often encourage a client to run multiple campaigns so that we can gauge which one is working best. Pull down the bad performers.

So, it’s time to renew, use those same stats to renew the sale. You know have POP, Proof of Performance. There is nothing sweeter than being able to prove your right. Ask my wife. Kidding.

Detailed performance statistics are one thing that print media can not offer. If you want to focus on one big difference between print and Web, that is it in a nut shell. But, if you are not careful, statistics can kill a sale in many ways. Never forget, Statistics are only as good as their accuracy and their interpretation. Be proactive so your sale does not get lost in translation.

Read more and listen to this blog in audio format online at http://www.ryandohrn.com/

The views of Ryan Dohrn are 100% personal in nature and do not represent the views of his employer, any other person, company or entity in any way. Any similarly is coincidental in nature.

Steve Jobs to lower pricing on all Apple products?

I am a big fan of iTunes and the iPod. We use Itunes as an additional way to distribute two of our TV shows to the masses. I am listening to my Ipod at 36,000 feet as I write this blog on my PC enroute to the Fly Fishing Retail Show in Denver where I will present our new AmericanAngler.com and FlyTyer.com filled with rich video edited on Final Cut on a Mac.

Over my career I have used both Apple and PC. My first computer was a Commodore Vic 20, but my first computer beyond games was an Apple IIe. To say I grew up on Apple is an understatement. I, unlike so may others, am thrilled that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has discounted the price of the iPhone. I wonder if this may lead to a more competitive pricing environment for other Apple products? The massive backlash by Apple loyalists to Steve’s recent decision is perplexing at best. It is sort of like the masses that were surprised when the iPhone had initial system and set-up issues. You Apple junkies want all of us to embrace your passions, yet you become distraught when we mention the price point of Mac use at a corporate level. Your commercials laugh at Vista, which my be truer than false, yet each year another OS for Mac comes out and my “Mac folks” line up at my door with their hand out for more cash. When I ask why I hear, “My God boss, the new version of Blah blah only runs on OS Blah, Blah.” So, now your leader, discounts the iPone and he is slapped, chastised and if you could, set in the public square and humiliated as the town loon?

I applaud Jobs for a job well done. At some point you have to realize that the sticker shock of Apple products is making it harder and harder to push through capital expenditure requests for their great products. This is not about little Suzy in her suburban bedroom where her parents dropped three grand on her Mac. As business people we have to fight every budget season to even keep Macs on our budget. Why, because they are so unreal in their pricing.

Steve, Mr. Jobs, take your great products to the next level. Do not be afraid by the stock market reaction to your decision. Do not falter in your ideals that the greatest customer is the one that will not only by your products, but the one that can afford them too.

The views of Ryan Dohrn are 100% personal in nature and do not represent the views of his employer, any other person, company or entity in any way. Any similarly is coincidental in nature.

Google and Amazon, will their e-books impact magazines?

Does the debut of the Kindle by Amazon.com mean digital magazines are one step closer to your bathroom? Will Google’s attempt at e-books mean that book and magazine printers will go bust?

The famous “3B test” is often called the litmus for whether digital magazines will succeed in the marketplace; bathroom, bus, beach. Will readers change their habits and carry their digital reader into the bathroom? Can the digital reader be seen in the sun on the beach? Is there enough wireless connectivity to read it on the bus? The answer to these questions is becoming much less a mystery every day.

The New York Times reports that Amazon in October will launch the Kindle, an e-book reader. The Kindle will run $400 to $500 and will connect wirelessly to an Amazon e-book store. The biggest flaw I find in this reader is its dependence on a proprietary software format rather than using a more widely accepted format like Adobe’s PDF. The New York Times further reports, “People familiar with the Kindle also have a few complaints. The device has a Web browser, but using it is a poor experience, because the Kindle’s screen, also from E Ink, does not display animation or color.”

In kind, Google will start charging users for access to digital copies of many of the online books that have, in the past, been free to view. It would seem that any time Google gets involved in any equation there is a winning touchdown very near. In most cases even the appearance of a thrown together beta test from Google has been well thought out and tested. For its part, Google has no plans to launch an eReader.

This conversation can not go much further without bringing up the Sony reader that has yet to make a huge splash in the main stream. However, because Sony has not released user numbers, one might speculate that their most recent promotion in some major cities leads to a quiet revolution of sorts for the product.

Peter Kafka, from the Silicon Alley Insider blogs, "There's no price advantage for consumers, either: Even though e-book titles cost much less than physical books to produce and distribute, Kindle -- terrible name! -- buyers will be asked to spend roughly the same amount on e-books as they do for traditional books. Otherwise publishers and authors won't sign off on the venture."

I will bet you a vanilla bean frappuccino that an enhanced magazine reader will be the next add on for the iPhone or the iTouch. Why? Apple is known for actually delivering what people want or what they never knew that they wanted until they held it in their hand. In addition, Apple displays color PDF's with clickable fields on almost all their devices.

The good news is this, those of us in the magazine business are safe. Designers, editors and publishers all have a job in the new world order. eReaders require great content, great design and well thought out editorial plans. There are some things a robot can not do well or at all.

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/06/technology/06amazon.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1189170428-BHQZUnAHzimcbQSK5SFj7Q&oref=slogin

http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/09/e-books-yet-aga.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frappuccino

Brevity, the spice of life?

Ever said to your self, I sure wish I could get an extra hour in my day. I could get so much more done. We’ll my friends the answer is just a few short words away. I will try and be brief.

I was recently on a business trip to Anchorage, Alaska. ( More online at http://www.chatalaska.com/ ) My biological clock got messed up after just 72 hours in the “last frontier”. Great place to visit by the way. So, the last week I have been suffering from a small fit of insomnia. Now, before you true sufferers of this horrific disorder blow up my e-mail box, let me say that after just a few nights of “suffering” I feel your pain, in a mild way. Sort of like a gnat. Gnats are just annoying enough to bother you, but not bad enough to waste much time killing the nagging insect. Oh great, now all you gnat lovers out there will blow up my e-mail box. Lol. To my point, I have recently spent many late night hours watching cable television. I have come to a realization of what is missing in today’s society…. Brevity! What would be so wrong with an intelligent individual assembling a simple, concise comment about a particular topic? Meetings without chairs is a great start, but that only works if the guy talking is willing to stop when his legs go numb. Brevity does not even appear in Wikipedia as a word to be defined rather as a definition of a comic strip. What? Something missing from Wikipedia? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brevity )

From http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/brevity
brev·i·ty Pronunciation: 'bre-v&-tEFunction: nounInflected Form(s): plural -tiesEtymology: Latin brevitas, from brevis: shortness of duration; especially : shortness or conciseness of expression

Do you recall in that recent political debate where one of the candidates answer to a complex question was just, “No.”? That got a lot of press. Why? Because it is so rare to hear someone exercise brevity. The new web site http://www.Twitter.com is all about communicating in short text from wherever you are. I think the point of Twitter.com is just my point. Please cut down the bush, we are all tired of you beating it. Just cut it down.

Now that this post is getting over 1,000 words to my exact point. I am going to be more brief. I would encourage you to be more brief. I think we all need to learn how brevity could make our daily lives better. Here is an oath you may wish to pass around, “I _______ promise to be more concise, more deliberate and more brief in all I do. I promise not to provoke others to long winded answers. I promise to share my passion for brevity with others I meet in life and my career. I further promise to spend the time I gain from being brief with my kids, my spouse and my God.” (Insert, dog, cat or hobby if you are single or do not believe in a higher power.)

As a matter of proving a point I am not even going to finish this blog pos………..

ttfn

Can we learn something from Anna Nicole Smith?

As a manager I am never surprised by the things that draw my team's attention. Most recently, the death of Anna Nicole Smith.

It seems odd to me that so many people are surprised over the media attention surrounding the death of Anna Nicole Smith. On NBC Nightly News, Brian Williams said (In my own words,rd) many of us found it unusual when all the cable news channels went a frenzy when it was learned that Anna Nicole Smith was pronounced dead. Then he and his staff went on to not only have a live shot from Florida, but a fairly detailed report. Are we all embarrassed to admit our infatuation with celebrities and their lives?

At the news stand the number of celebrity driven magazines has risen to over 35 from only 7 some 10 years ago. Can you honestly say you have never read the National Enquirer while waiting in the line at the store only to put it back either when someone caught you reading or when you truly realized how much you were enjoying the article. Despite the tremendous advances in technology allowing us to play games beyond our childhood comprehensions and over 255 cable channels we still feel like we lead boring lives. Is this perhaps because we are all over medicated and over committed? We look toward celebrities for the bizarre, the macabre, maybe the life we wish we had the nerve to lead. I have found myself thinking about that life on many occasions.

Have you seen the TV show High Maintenance 90210 on E!? This is a reality based program where normal Joe's like you and me get jobs working for celebrities or the social elite in Beverly Hills. I think, how can these people waste this much money on such worthless things. I watched a woman drop $20,000 on a necklace and $1,000 on an ugly sweatshirt. YIKES. It is so easy for all of us to say, if I had that kind of money I would donate it to charity or do something good with it.... would you really? Cause, I would catch myself saying the same thing, but putting actions to those words when $20,000 is in my grubby little hands would be tough. Why is this show a hit? Simple. We "normal folk" like to see how the social elite live. We love to chatter about it at work. We wish the chance to live that life if for just one day.

I guess, the purpose of this entry in my blog is to say that I am not surprised at all over the attention that this story has gotten from the media. Fact is, we are drawn to the "odd" in life. Maybe in some ways, I feel for Anna. So, are there any lessons to be drawn from her death? Considering our national life expectancy is over 67 years, the old adage that you may be gone tomorrow, so live life to its fullest today is a bit over rated?

Since this is a blog on management growth, perhaps my advice is to get in touch with the things of today so we can better relate to our teams that seem to get younger each day. To be honest, Survivor and American Idol are pretty good shows. Other than that, perhaps as managers we need to work to create an environment that makes people feel secure and a part of something bigger. Perhaps then, people will not have to dream so far beyond their cubicle.