Forum Moderators: skibum
I am advertising in a local Glossy Mag of the type that you find in health clubs and Doctors Surgeries etc.
I discussed the opportunity of improving their 1-page website with the Managing Editor. At the moment all it has is a poor page with a link to their monthly mag. It and could definitely do with more.
She's great fun and I tackled her from the perspective of "You're in Advertising.. why not draw more customers to your site and sell advertising space on your webspace?"
I'm highlighting that it's not an overnight thing attracting traffic, and that with several local glossy rival mags, that it would give her the added 'edge'.
I see it two ways; either people pay to advertise on the site, or it's sold that they get a 'free' advert on their website which recieves "x" no of hits. They can sell it either seperately on the site, or as a package of mag\website.
She's a traditionalist, but the rest of the office are pro-Internet.
How should I best tackle it when I go and see her later in the week? :-D
How can I clinch that deal? ;-)
Many thanks!
Her point was, what would a website offer that the print publication wouldn't. Also, as it's a local glossy, how can it work for her when Adverts are difficult enough to sell in the mag?
Many thanks, any more ideas welcome too. :-)
Paul
What would a website offer that the print publication wouldn't?
Why not have the same contents list of articles and features on the website as in the print publication?
Then, some of the links can link to the entire article, while other links bring up a page which show the first paragraph of the article followed by a notice which reads:
"The rest of this article is only available offline"
with a link to purchase the offline publication by mail order.
At a later date, when the site is more sophisticated, the link can go through to a subscription only section of the site (a la The Economist).
What are the benefits of a website for readers?
Well... you know those multiple choice questionaires which apparently tell you something revelatory about your character? When you do them online, you don't have to subsequently add up all the As, Bs and Cs - the computer does it for you.
Have a look at iVillage for more ideas of this kind.
What are the benefits of a website for publishers?
It is considerably easier to get feedback about the publication from an online readership. At the end of an article or a feature, you can ask the readers to rate the article out of ten. You can also ask the readership from time to time if they would like to see more coverage of a particular topic area. This kind of feedback is substantially more difficult to get from people when they have to write a letter or ring up to contact the publication.
Also, as it's a local glossy, how can it work for her when Adverts are difficult enough to sell in the mag?
The biggest advantage of online advertising over offline advertising is that it can be tracked.
So it becomes simultaneously more affordable and more effective for the advertiser who can see whether the advert is effective or not. It also gives more long-term security to the publisher who knows that if the adverts are giving the advertisers a profitable return, those advertisers are not going to cancel their adverts or suddenly go elsewhere.
All the best,
Paul
lower cost to produce it after it's up and running - no paper, no ink, etc.
also, interactivity. she could do things online that you can't do in print.
let us know if you land it, please, and what eventually won her over. ;)
thanks,
kpaul
It went well. I expected very little apart from the experience of the visit when I arrived.
With 5 women sat around me and 4 of them already Internet converts, it didn't take long to convince the Boss it would be a good move without honest talk and no salesmanship. In fact, she actually said at the end that she expected it to be a waste of time, and was surprised at what had come out of it.
Now it's time to wait until Jan when I hope she'll give the go-ahead. Jeez... the things we do to promote ourselves - I gave her a cut-price deal as it could give me a far wider exposure in their mag. ;-)
AB
Regards
-kpaul
