Jeff, one point of clarification and one comment. First the clarification: Blogger & Podcaster is actually published in 3 formats: Print, digital and podcast. Print is $79 per year, digital and podcast editions are free.
Now my comment: There are many valuable benefits a robust trade magazine can bring to an early adopter industry like ours, at the top of the list are these two: 1) Providing practitioners with credible, quick and easy-to-find guidance on how to maximize their chances at success in their blogging/podcasting efforts (which they commit so much time and energy) is necessary to improve both the number of individuals succeeding and overall industry wide growth. 2) This may seem crass, but if vendors can't cost-effectively sell their products/services they will stop investing in our industry. A trade magazine allows them to reach significant numbers of prospects for modest amounts of $. Before the launch of Blogger & Podcaster, companies had to painstakingly engage in the costly and inefficient process of identifying and selling prospects one-by-one. This hurts both the vendors bottom lines and the practitioners who could benefit from what they provide. If you want a vibrant market, you have to have the communications mechanisms that allows buyers to connect with sellers. Without it you'll see capital go to other sectors where the companies can generate enough sales to pay their bills.
- Larry Publisher Blogger & Podcaster Magazine www.bloggerandpodcaster.com
Larry, thanks for commenting on my post! As a new blogger, I still get a kick when anyone actually posts a comment.
As a B2B PR professional, I completely understand your value proposition and the role you wish to play in the industry. However, I think that there might be tension from those, like you, who approach the problem of selling with a proven "old school" strategy and those, perhaps more purist, who will demand that bloggers be marketed to on their own "web 2.0" terms.
I'm not saying you're wrong. It will be interesting to see how the mix of media in the integrated marketing model changes over time. After all, I found out about your publication from a blog!
USAToday turns itself into a giant blog, so these folks turn around and head in the other direction. Hmmmm.
I'm all in favor of niche-y trade mags (I work for a B2B PR agency!) but is this pub really necessary. Aren't all the really active bloggers already conversing with each other?
Hmmmm.
posted by Straight to the Point at 4:46 PM on Apr 30, 2007
Untitled
2 Comments -
Jeff, one point of clarification and one comment. First the clarification: Blogger & Podcaster is actually published in 3 formats: Print, digital and podcast. Print is $79 per year, digital and podcast editions are free.
Now my comment: There are many valuable benefits a robust trade magazine can bring to an early adopter industry like ours, at the top of the list are these two: 1) Providing practitioners with credible, quick and easy-to-find guidance on how to maximize their chances at success in their blogging/podcasting efforts (which they commit so much time and energy) is necessary to improve both the number of individuals succeeding and overall industry wide growth. 2) This may seem crass, but if vendors can't cost-effectively sell their products/services they will stop investing in our industry. A trade magazine allows them to reach significant numbers of prospects for modest amounts of $. Before the launch of Blogger & Podcaster, companies had to painstakingly engage in the costly and inefficient process of identifying and selling prospects one-by-one. This hurts both the vendors bottom lines and the practitioners who could benefit from what they provide. If you want a vibrant market, you have to have the communications mechanisms that allows buyers to connect with sellers. Without it you'll see capital go to other sectors where the companies can generate enough sales to pay their bills.
- Larry
Publisher
Blogger & Podcaster Magazine
www.bloggerandpodcaster.com
May 1, 2007 at 4:52 PM
Larry, thanks for commenting on my post! As a new blogger, I still get a kick when anyone actually posts a comment.
As a B2B PR professional, I completely understand your value proposition and the role you wish to play in the industry. However, I think that there might be tension from those, like you, who approach the problem of selling with a proven "old school" strategy and those, perhaps more purist, who will demand that bloggers be marketed to on their own "web 2.0" terms.
I'm not saying you're wrong. It will be interesting to see how the mix of media in the integrated marketing model changes over time. After all, I found out about your publication from a blog!
Thanks again for the comment!
J
May 3, 2007 at 9:19 AM