Winners and losers in the new world of publishing

The big story of the last month or so has been The Times's decision to implement a paywall on their online content. The paper has confidently backed its decision predicting increased revenue based on a smaller but higher quality readership. Those who believe in the free-Internet, most vociferously the Guardian, are predicting a massive loss of readers and declining revenues.

The first month of activity has seen a 2/3rds drop in users (bigger than the 50% anticipated by The Times), with no evidence of the sought after increase in quality. But perhaps more importantly there is evidence that the online advertisers are steering clear during the transition, while they make up their minds on the value of the new proposition and whether is justifies the 100% increase in CPM (source Hard Times).

All of which suggests that it's hard to charge for online publishing. Or is it ...

Another story caught my eye. For the first time on Amazon, sales of ebooks outstripped sales of hardbacks! Re-kindled perhaps by a reduced price for a Kindle in response to the arrival of the iPad, ebooks are proving popular and are, I believe set to continue to grow as more iPad-esque products inevitable appear on the market.

So what can we learn from this?

Where users see value, they will pay. Predicting where they see that value though, still remains tricky!

Forgive me, for I have not blogged ....

Seems to me that blogging is a habit and it's one that I have got out of. It's 5 months since my last blog and that's not good.

Is it bad, though?

Blogging serves 2 key purposes for me: first, it helps me to get my thoughts in order and when I get my thoughts in order, it makes it more likely that I will be able to do something constructive with them. Secondly, and secondarily, it generates relevant content for SEO which helps to raise my profile.

So I think it's a good habit and one that I will try harder to keep up!

First 10 people get a free pizza

How can Twitter helps a small business?

Here's an for an idea I copied from an AdAge article.

1 - put a sign up saying "Follow us on Twitter and get special offers - Twitter.com/senrabmot"

2 - 20 mins before closing time Tweet "First 10 people to come to the shop and say "senrabmot" get a free pizza."

3 - get ready for the rush!

And I was thinking that Twitter marketing was complicated!

The end of the age of free - NOT!

There is no doubt that newspapers are struggling in the face of the dual challenge of the rescession and the Internet (see blogs below!). And it is certain that the reduction in ad revenue is crippling them and that they will have to change their business model if they are to survive.

Rupert Murdoch says that he is going to do just that. He is "considering charging for [content on] more of his internet sites". This would of course create a new revenue stream, but only if users are prepared to pay.

The challenge facing the newspaper industry (and many others) is that the Internet give everyone access to content from a myriad of sources. News is ubiqitous. And the core news is the same wherever you get it from.

Murdoch will only persuade people to pay if he can (a) differentiate his content from other sources and (b) deliver sufficient value.

But perhaps he is missing the point. Perhaps the change is bigger than that and it needs a bigger solution. Perhaps it is the very nature of the news product that is changing.

These days the big stories don't break first in the papers, or even on TV. They break on Twitter! Any top story is spread through a multitude of websites, including social networks and video and picture sites. Editorial is provided by your favourite blogger and everything is accessed through your mobile phone.

So where do newspapers really ad value in an oneline world?

I think Murdoch has got some serious thinking to do!

(Recommended article: The end of the age of Free.)

Lessons from Microsoft

Microsoft is having a hard time, but how much of it is down to the recession?

While the decline in PC sales is undoubtedly helped by the recession, is that the full story. Or is it that Microsoft's business model has become out-dated?

The Internet has caused 2 key changes that are impacting MS:

1 - Wikinomics would suggest the Internet has ushered in an era of mass collaboration which means that big business is no longer the most powerful force in R & D. The most obvious area in is the development of open-source software as a real alternative to expensive licences. Losing this advantage means that MS can no longer dominate as a monopoly supplier. (Related article.)

2 - Cloud computing is challenging the PC purchasing model where software developments drive the need for more powerful PCs.

Microsoft is certainly keenly aware of the challenge that it faces. It is developing it's own Cloud solutions, as well as diversifying into other Internet business. But at it's heart it is still built on a proprietary solution.

It will be fascinating to see whether it can defend this position, whether it can re-invent itself or whether it will ultimately wither.

Dominos - The power of social media in action

Two Dominos employess thought they'd have a bit of a laugh at the companies expense ...



They created a storm which Dominos needed to quell.

The response ...



By taking it head on and in the same channel, Dominos may have turned a PR disaster in to a success. They'll get plenty of air-time and their MD giving a clear message about the importance of hygene in their shops.

Did they manage to quell the storm effectively, or even turn it into a positive. I guess the question is ...

Are you more or less likely to go to Dominos now? (Personally I wouldn't eat there anyway!)