These days we don’t throw away tubes of toothpaste until we’ve squeezed them dry.
It’s amazing how much more we can crank out of them.
Long after we considered them done.
Here Ye, Here Ye
It seems each time I publish a post that offers my Blue Ocean view of print media, I stir up the conversation pot. Whereas most folks who write seek positive reinforcement, I find the bite of disagreement far more nourishing.
Back in January, I wrote Crumbs from real estate’s table after reading Bono’s first op-ed piece in the New York Times. I suggested that there are still viable grounds to build awareness and audience through newspapers. I know they appear done. But they aren’t dead yet. So why not squeeze them like the seemingly empty tube of Tom’s that sits in my bathroom. You’d be amazed at the possibilities that may ooze out.
Well the debates ensued. Some of it played out in the comments on the post. Some in my inbox. Still more took place on Twitter. That’s where I encountered Eric Stegemann, Managing Broker of River City Real Estate in St Louis.
Eric was cool. But not a believer. And he had every right to battle my logic. Long ago he removed his firm from the classified section of the Post-Dispatch that no one reads. A great move indeed.
But he was convinced that there would be no way this paper, or any, would entertain an editorial contribution from him or any other broker. Unless of course his name was Bono, Managing Broker of U2 Real Estate. And even then… maybe.
En Garde
I disagreed. I’ve worked with newspapers since 1984. First as a publicist, then as a full-fledged PR firm in the entertainment industry. In 1998 I a founded a media syndicate that was distributing real estate columns to 400 newspapers by 2001 – a concern that continues on today.
My riposte including the following logic: Papers are losing their paid reporters. Yet they need content to exist. Especially local, market-centric or consumer interest content that is well written.
“As a local broker, there is no way any paper would accept an advertorial piece without a commitment to buy ads,” Eric counter-riposted. “And that’s not going to happen.”
“Then don’t write an advertorial,” I parried. In fact, don’t even mention your brokerage. Write about what you know. What you are passionate about. Something you know for a fact others will be interested in reading. Something the newspapers won’t resist.”
I instructed Eric to write and send it to the paper Bono style. Op-ed.
I should have made him a money bet.
I’d be able to convince my wife to finally replace the scrunched up tube of Tom’s.
You can’t always get what you want, but sometimes, you get what you need
Eric didn’t get his article published. But the paper decided to write their own article on his topic — sourcing Eric. The reporter interviewed him for 45-minutes. The article – all about loan modification scams – made the front page of the local paper, circulation 19,000.
Ongoing, they view him as a source. It may take a while before he gets his own articles published. Or maybe that time may never come should this paper’s tube finally expire. But until then, they want to hear more from Eric. And he’s going to give it to them for as long as he can. Or until they squeeze him for ads.
Eric needs to also think about what’s next should the inevitable occur. When the 19,000 that subscribe no longer do. He’s on it. You can be sure of that.
This was great news Eric.
You put a smile on my face.
A Tom’s toothpaste smile at that.
- Davison
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Freaking...
I was definitely one of the first to pipe up. I’ve given countless speeches to agents “print is dead.” But Marc was right. It may be on its way out (or at least significantly changing), but it’s not dead yet. I was passionate about people getting taken by these scamming companies. The newspaper agreed it was a great story.
Appreciate the push to get me to write Marc!
The big news here in Ann Arbor on Monday was the Ann Arbor News is closing after 174 years July 09.
A new electronic paper will begin…called AnnArbor.com.
Now how did they get that domain has been my question.
Employees of the A2News can apply, not guaranteed a job.
They are aiming to include bloggers locally, social media, video etc…
Do you think I could get a press pass to the U of M football games?
I’ve been thinking all week what will all the Realtors and big brokerages do w/o their pages of print ads. I stopped in 2005.
They may need content but they don’t want us to think they want content. I’ve repeatedly submitted pieces to my paper and one actually got an email acknowlegement! Despite being an English/PoliSci major with a reasonable grasp of the language they wanted nothing to do with me even just for a topic. They persist at being a day (or two) late and a dollar short rather than include any piece from any real estate professional….even me who now appears regularly on radio and television in our market. Hmmmm….maybe that’s why they don’t want the assocation.
I ended up writing a weekly column with two local papers as a result of blogging. I am continually surprised at the amount of people that follow and read it. I took one week off and my email box was filled with “did you get fired’s” and “are you oks”.
There are a lot of people upset that “just a real estate agent” is a columnist. All they had to do was write and submit and it would likely have been included, too.
A lot of people I have talked to about the Kindle don’t understand what it is or why it is special. I will try to run down the high points quickly.
What is it? Kindle is an e-book reader. Sony and Samsung also make them.
What is an e-book reader? An e-book reader has a screen that is not an LCD. It uses something called e-ink or digital ink. LCDs wash out in bright sunlight. They also require a back light which wastes energy and drains the battery. Many people also believe the emitted light causes eye strain. E-ink only uses power to change the display (ie. turn the page). It uses no power to sustain the image, therefore the battery lasts a very long time.
How is the Kindle different from other e-book readers? It uses the Sprint cellular network to deliver content including all of the books in the Kindle store and some web sites, such as Wikipedia.
Do I have to have a subscription? No. Amazon pays Sprint for the use of the network. That fee is included in the price of the books you buy.
Can I only read books from Amazon? No. You can put any PRC format book on the Kindle and read it today.
What is a PRC file? It is the old Palm Pilot e-book format. It is sometimes called a MobiBook. There are many of these freely available on the internet.
Can I put my own content on the Kindle? Yes. It will not read most of it natively, but Amazon provides a free service to convert PDFs and Word DOCs, etc. It does not do a great job every time, but it is usable.
Is it in color? No. It will be eventually, after the costs come down. Right now it is 16 gray levels, which looks surprisingly good.
Why should I use this over regular books? Personally, I like books, but they are incredibly wasteful. Books require an enormous amount of resources to create and distribute. Many of them are also single use items that crowd your storage space. Save some trees and some gas by reading e-books.
Is it perfect? No. It is too expensive for most. I think the price will be much more attractive around $200. It should support PDFs natively, although I understand why they do not. (It has to do with being able to reflow text without the need to scroll.) It should use a mini-usb plug instead of this proprietary one. The OS lacks features that may make it much better in the near future.
Would you buy it again? I am about to buy one for my Mom right now.
I ended up writing a weekly column with two local papers as a result of blogging. I am continually surprised at the amount of people that follow and read it. I took one week off and my email box was filled with “did you get fired's” and “are you oks”.
There are a lot of people upset that “just a real estate agent” is a columnist. All they had to do was write and submit and it would likely have been included, too.