Are newsletters dead? I say no. But ...

Yesterday I received the a note from a friend and long time SIPA member. He had just read the cover story about the June conference in this week's issue of Hotline. He said:

In reading the lead piece in Hotline quoting you, I'm not sure I would have chosen "optimism shining through" as the headline, but so be it. I'm just wondering -- is the subtext of what pretty much each of you said that subscription products as we know and love them are a dead issue? And if so, are you phasing them out of your product mix (other than custom/ad-supported/magazine-like)? I recently visited another publisher I hadn't seen in a number of years. When I sat down in her office, her first words were, "So newsletters are dead. What's new with you?" She wasn't joking, and she only has 1.

The dilemma is that those core newsletter subscribers, who are dwindling rapidly in number, are by far still the best buyers. Back in the DM days you/we always insisted on lists with proven purchasing power behind them. That's not really an option any more, especially if you're dealing with online marketing primarily. You can generate more leads, but it's a lot more expensive to turn those leads into buyers -- let alone buyers across multiple products.

So from a practical standpoint it seems like everyone is saying that at least for B2B (and Ed, I have separate questions about pubs such as the Harvard NLs; that's for another day), it isn't worth the effort/expense of trying to keep NLs alive -- too expensive in terms of opportunity cost, and futile to boot.

Am I reading you right?

Here's what I said to him:

We are looking closely at newsletters. I think there is still a place for them, and other print publications, but it’s more limited than it used to be. I do think there is a fundamental shift in the way most people want to consume information. Just-in-time information is in greater demand, and a periodical, in any form, doesn’t fit that need nicely.

Searchable databases, blog posts and tweets, and RSS headline feeds seem better suited. At the same time, I continue to believe that expert commentary is valued (although with the low barriers to entry, the premium value has diminished). For years we had the wonderful luxury of having communities committed through the expenditure of a substantial subscription fee. The paradigm has shifted substantially and many people are accustomed to getting the community for free. The challenge is to foster the same level of commitment.

The optimism at the conference was real to me. People seemed to think there is a viable path to success, and the feeling seemed to be that we can get there. I was pleasantly surprised. At the same time, I suspect there will be some who aren’t ready to make the effort required, or can’t figure it out, and they’re going to have a hard time over the next few years. But, the information needs won’t go away and someone will step in to fill the void, in the way the customers now expect, and SIPA will have a new prospective member, if we’re able to reach out to them effectively. That’s our challenge for the coming year – figuring out how to be relevant to the next wave of specialized information publishers

Twitter, Facebook and other social media and why cats land on their feet

Two years ago at the annual SIPA conference in Washington, I remember having a conversation about YouTube. One. In 2008 I bet I had a dozen conversations with people about their YouTube marketing plans and strategies. This year, none.

While I don't think YouTube has become irrelevant, the buzz has clearly shifted to the social networking parts of social media. Facebook, LinkedIn, and especially Twitter, were huge topics of conversation, in the sessions, the exhibit area, and in the hallways and receptions. It's a lot for most publishers to absorb, particularly in a challenging general economic environment.

If we had to personify (or perhaps felinify) our industry, there's no doubt, it would be a cat. We land on our feet.

Some people believe cats have some sort of internal ballast that swings them around in time for them to always land on their feet. They don't. What they have is a keen instinct. They know their survival depends on their ability to right themselves, regardless of the situation, so when they hit the ground their ready to face whatever they must.

But, if a falling cat gets complacent -- maybe it thinks it's too much effort to flip over, or there's plenty of time and it can flip over later -- it can land on her back, causing serious injury or death.

Don't be complacent. Wade into social media. Understand how your market wants to be interacting online, with you and with each other. Develop internal expertise in Twitter and LinkedIn, basic video editing, and other tools of the online world that may not have been part of your traditional publishers tool kit.

Like our member companies, SIPA can't be complacent. I'm working with the Executive Committee and SIPA staff to formulate a plan for reinventing SIPA. I'll bring you more information on this soon as I flesh it out. Be assured, SIPA is not going to land flat on its back.

And another myth about cats? 9 lives. They just have one. Cat's don't land on their feet automatically. They land on their feet because they make it happen, and whatever pain they feel in doing so, it beats the alternative.

Notes from the SIPA annual conference

I got home a couple hours ago from Washington so I had a whole flight to reflect on the past three days at the Mayflower. Here, in no particular order on some thoughts I had:

Wow. For an industry in the midst of an unprecedented transtion coinciding with an exceptional market downturn, this was an upbeat group. I have no doubt that we'd all be happy if it were 2007 or early 2008 again but it's not and as a group, we seem ready to take on the challenges coming at us.

It was great to see so many familiar faces -- my family members who I only get to see a handful of times a year. It was also a pleasure to meet so many new faces, from the US, and from countries around the world.

I brought home enough great ideas to make this conference worth FAR more than the price. I took away practical ideas from every session I attended. I can't begin to name them all, but one particular standout in my mind: Mark Ragan's (from Lawrence Ragan Communications) was a compelling story that ought to be required viewing for all (it was videotaped and is available for purchase). If you missed it, be sure to buy this session.

In the coming year I look forward to traveling to as many chapters as possible, in this country and abroad, to meet members and share more ideas to help us all profitably take advantage of emerging opportunities in the specialized information field.

If there were any lingering doubts in peoples' minds that social media is going to figure prominently in our future, they should be dispelled. Social media technologies -- Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn (and many other current and future sites), not to mention blogging, wikis, online video -- need to become core competencies. SIPA's Twittering is minimal at this point but that will be changing. And you can join the SIPA LinkedIn group (also Facebook, although I think LinkedIn is likely to be more useful from an association perspective). Also, let's LinkIn to each other. You'll find me on there and I welcome the chance to connect with you.

As I mentioned in my first speech as the new SIPA president today, I am convinced that SIPA is faced with the need for revolutionary change. As an association, we have the opportunity to lead our industry, and our members, by example, by embracing the need for new ways to package, price, and promote the great content that SIPA already creates, and to aggressively develop content (both copy and events) to address emerging areas of interest. It's a challenge, but no more of a challenge than what we all face in our day jobs. We'll get down to it. Stay tuned ...

Google speaks

Andrew Madden spoke to the SIPA conference today. More on this soon. What did you think?