I love magazines. I love the look and the feel. I know that in most cases I can find the same information online, but the experience is not the same.

With that said, let me also say that I stopped reading magazines for a while. The price kept getting higher for less and less information. Instead of more content the ads were taking over.

This is a result of a cycle. Less people read the mags and revenue falls–so the mags increase the advertising which brings in less revenue from individual ads as the readership lowers–so the magazine sells more ads with less content until the end finally comes and the magazine goes under. How is that for a run-on sentence?

At times, especially now with the economy so uncertain, it seems like this is an unbreakable cycle. Blogs and news sites run stories about the troubles of the print media. People like Rupert Murdoch talk about the shift and suggest charging for online content that was once free. It is the start of a whole new cycle.

Well, I have an idea, and it involves everyone’s favorite price point, free. I put forth that the new paradigm of print is free. For free, people will accept more ads and less content. For free, more people will subscribe to magazines previously abandoned. More eyeballs means that the mags can charge a higher premium for the advertising content. A whole new cycle breaks the old.

Now, before you bolt from this blog calling me an idiot, let me give you some background on how I came up with this idea. It comes from the most frugal person I know, my better half, Effie.

Effie is the type of shopper that spends hours each week searching out deals, coupons, and offers. She sets out strategies, which she calls scenarios, and then hits the stores. It is not uncommon for her to come back from CVS pharmacy with up to $50 worth of stuff paying between pocket change to a couple of dollars out of pocket. She can hit the grocery stores and come home with $100 worth of stuff for around $25. She regularly makes Target and Wal Mart her bitch.

She does great in store, that is for sure, but on top of that, she has learned to find deals online as well. She is always getting free stuff in the mail, everything from free samples to actual product to–get ready for it, magazine subscriptions.

We get Forbes, Muscle and Fitness, O, Rachel Ray, Town and Country, Sports Illustrated, Good housekeeping, and more, all free. What I have noticed is that I don’t mind reading these mags, higher ads and lower content, when I don’t pay for them.

Now, sometimes these subscriptions are just introductory and a short run, sometimes it is a full year, but it is nice reading mags again.

This is where my thought comes from. My eyes are valuable, not just to me, but to those advertisers. If a mag goes under, so does all of that advertising real estate. I won’t even begin to say that I have the logistics of how this shift can work, but I still think it can be worked out to a winning situation.

The thing is, I don’t think anyone wants to work it out. The people on top of these industries have always looked for the money. The idea of a shift of this magnitude is scary for them. I mean, the subs we get do eventually end and the purchase forms eventually come. But think differently for a minute. How many people like to separate their reading from the internet and the computer screen? How many still prefer a book or magazine to a screen? How many people love FREE?

By offering the subscriptions for free, the sub rate would probably jump by double or triple or more. This is where the ad revenue picks up. No longer do the mags have to look to subscription purchases to make it, those extra eyes are like gold!

Some mags already do this. Most cities have local mags that are totally ad supported. Imagine that on a national scale. There are many more eyeballs on the national scale, every one an advertiser target. Of course, some changes would have to be made to the format and such, and more space would go to the ads. Maybe the mags would have to go bi-monthly, whatever. But still, FREE speaks to people.

Well, that is just my take. It works locally, it works for broadcast TV. The numbers are there for free. The numbers have eyes that can lead to greater advertising revenue. The print media world does not have to go under.

It would be a shift, but some shifts are a good thing. Still, the probability of this shift is unlikely, unfortunately,

What do you think?

Technorati Tags: Print Media, Magazines, Subscriptions, new ideas, advertisers, paradigm, change, shift, periodicals, online, media

Alright, you know that I hate marketing spam on Twitter.You know I think the people that think Twitter is the greatest thing since sliced bread are a bit loopy. You know I think the people that think Twitter is a community are well off their rockers.

So, what could I be griping about today?

People. That is what I am griping about today, people. And this gripe plays in to the myth of the community, conversation, or whatever else crazy kumbaya stuff people say about Twitter.

**redundant alert**
Before I get to what bothers me, let me say this, Twitter is a numbers game for most that are on and active. Let me also say that a lot of folks that have accounts are not active. Let me also say one more time that with the growth of third party apps, a lot of people ghost follow a large portion of folks on their list. Okay, one more time, and yes it is redundant. For most people, Twitter is a numbers game more than a conversation or a community.
**redundancy off**

Now to what is bothering me.

I get a lot of emails telling me of new followers. So much in fact, that if I were to respond to them all when they come in, I would be working Twitter all day.  I usually let these notices build up and then handle a bunch at once. Still, if you look at my Twitter account, you will notice that my numbers don’t change much. This is for two reasons.

1. I check out your account and find marketing spam or other reasons not to follow you back, and thus get unfollwed eventually.

2. You have pissed me off by making it known that I am not interesting enough to follow, you just wanted another reciprocating follower.

One is self explanatory. Two may need some explaining.

As I said above, I usually wait to go through my new follow notifications after they build up for a few days. I look through them every five or six days on average. Guess what I usually find. These nutcases have unfollowed me by the time I go through the notices. I am talking days, most definitely less than a week. I did not immediately follow them back, so they dumped me. How do I know this? After I do follow them, I get a notification saying they are now following me back. They did not follow for content, or interest, or just because they liked my mug in the avatar. (who does?) No they were fishing for follower numbers, and when I did not immediately give them another follow, they dumped me like a bad habit.

Yeah, that is community. That is definitely a conversation. That is most definitely good networking.

NOT!

I tend to unfollow these folks fast. In turn, as I am no longer stroking their ego, they unfollow back, for the second time. This is one of the reasons I often say I will put my 1700-1800 followers up against a lot of those with many thousands or more. My list may not be perfect, but it is cultivated to a certain degree. Cultivation is usually a good thing.

If you use Twitter this way, I have to ask why? Is it ego? If it is then it is false ego. Get some self esteem or get some help. Maybe get some real flesh and blood friends, seriously.

Is it to sell things? Do you honestly think that the list you build this way is a list built on authority or trust? If you are going to market, authority and trust are the two things that must be established first, no exceptions. There is a reason Kevin Kelly says you need 1000 People, or as he says, true fans. You need the right 1000, as they are way more powerful than many thousands who are just chaff.

Every day Twitter loses me a bit more. The tipping point is the day it is no longer fun. Right now, Twitter still amuses me. Let’s see how long that lasts.

Anyone know of a good sports talk station that streams at this time that does not have Colin Cowherd as the host?

I got only one response–which says something I have always believed about Twitter, but that is another post. The response I got is below.

adamdavs @RfL_Productions, I recommend http://su.pr/1aAKj1, where you can compare the top 10 web hosting services.

Alright, that is obviously an automated response. Someone is using the Twitter API to scour the postings for certain keywords, which upon finding such words, in this case ‘host,’ they spam with an advert of some type. Who knows if adamdavs is even a real person. If he is, he now looks very stupid.

I doubt he cares one bit. People like this are a big reason I have shifted how I use Twitter. The ‘conversation’ aspect that was so touted at the beginning is just ridiculous now, unless you are one of the anointed. Even then, it is mostly one way. Services like Tweetdeck and the other third party apps make it possible to follow thousands but ignore all but a few, which means your wonderful groundbreaking tweets are heard by practically no one.

That works to the advantage of the types above. Using auto-anything on Twitter usually makes you look stupid. So stop, please.

I am now going top block adamdevs. His bad.

This goes to show you, you really can see anything on the net. I wonder how proud his, or her, mom is.

Another question pops into mind. Who will respond to this posting? Real creepy thought there.

(click image for larger view)

Cheers,
Eban

I checked my Gmail this morning and found something funny. A marketing ‘fail’ of sorts. Here is what I found.

(click image for larger version)

Can you say “mixed message?”

I like compete. I go there often to compare penises stats with other folks that do the things that I do. Still, I think their team could be a little more on the ball with the messages they send out. Especially since these two messages came in one after the other. The even funnier part is that the 20% off came in after the 30% off offer. These are the folks you want in front of you when negotiating a salary, they don’t get the game.

So what is it? Is it 20% or 30%?

Is it that hard to stay on message today?

I guess it is.

Cheers,

Eban

Hmmmmmmmm, ya think?

Here is the link.

Mashable, Social Media is for Narcissiststs

Cheers,
Eban

What the hell are you waiting for? Really.

Cheers, or whatever,

Eban

It drives me insane when a news website can’t maintain a consistent link structure.

It drives me insane when any form of media loads without my consent. I mean, really, is it that hard to put up media with the default on false when it comes to autoplay? No, it is not, to answer my own question.

I really only ask two things of a news website, and these two things have to do with the way I consume my news. I go to the site and scan the headlines, which I then open several at a time in separate tabs. This way I get my browsing done at once and then I can read each piece in turn.

Well, one site I visit everyday can’t get their link structure together. Most of their links are set to open in another window or tab when clicked. I like that as it feeds into the way I read news stories. So, it really irks me when they occasionally don’t set the target to blank and I get shuttled off to another site, which then means I have to go back to the original page, find my place again, and then right click and chose another tab.

I know that seems like a silly thing to get worked up about, but I read a lot of news. As such, I came up with my system to help me get through it quickly. By not keeping a set standard, they eat up my minutes, and it drives me nuts.

Now, looking at the way I read news, you can probably guess why my second peeve gets to me. When loading multiple windows, and then one starts to play music or a video, it is aggravating. Heaven forbid it happens on a day where I was watching a movie online or something the night before and the volume is up. Nothing says morning like a blaring news story, which you don’t even know where it is coming from.

It gets worse, who ever had the great idea of embedding ads with sound and video was an idiot. When those start, and you have multiple tabs open, it often seems impossible to find the culprit as the ads are small and often far down on a page. Heaven forbid there may be more than one tab with autoplay content.

Haven’t we just about reached a consensus as web users and developers that autoplay is pretty much akin to murder? The murder in this case is against my sanity.

Just had to vent. I really wonder when people will start to get it. Everything online is a choice. You take my choice away, to play or not to play media in this case, I will choose not to visit your site. Fair enough?

Oh yeah, and fix the links as well.

Cheers!

This is a must read. I myself am dealing with a couple of folks who seem to be following this plan already, and no, it is not fun.

So check out the post and see just how many people seem to think this is really the way to go.

Funny stuff indeed!

Good one Chris.

Cheers,
Eban

So, this is cool. Evernote is a big name in the online notes/organization business. Thing is, many other platforms that do nearly the same thing have had community editing and sharing for a while, so it is good that Evernote took care of this feature.

I am not all that impressed, to be honest. I use Evernote and I like it, I am just getting a bit sick of everything having to be a community project.

I know that is not fair. You don’t have to make your account shared, it is  a choice. It is a choice I would not begrudge anyone. I guess I am just feeling a bit exposed. I am pulling back a bit from sharing everything, at all times. I am a bit tired of the term transparent.

The news yesterday that Facebook was going to change the default account setting of private to public started this. Even though it looks like the reports were a bit confused, it still made me think a bit. Facebook was the place I had on the web where I only shared with those I chose to have in my circle. Everywhere else was public Eban.

Yep, this is totally an “MP”, a “my problem.” Also, this feeling will pass, it always does. I guess it is good to question things every now and then. Who would have thought it would be a feature announcment from a web service that would trigger it.

Go figure.

Cheers,
Eban Technorati Tags: evernote, sharing, facebook, privacy, transparent

There have always been the guru types, or evangelists, experts, and so on lurking on Twitter. The types that somehow figure that communicating in 140 character phrases somehow makes them an expert at something. The new crowd is way more annoying.

I am not completely innocent here. I once used the term guru and expert to describe myself, and I tried to show people the way. (Luckily for me, I never descended to the use of “ROCKSTAR”, that is just stupid) I was going to take over the world with my podcasts and networking, and make big-bucks helping others do the same. Thankfully, the learning curve on this behavior was pretty quick. Quicker in fact than the learning curve of my internet marketing days.

The thing is, once I quit trying to be an expert and stopped trying to act like I was going to make a difference in the world and my own financial life by using all the cool, time wasting, internet social media services, I started to see my web and computer based income grow again.

Yep, the podcasts, even with my Mevio contract, never made me rich.  Trying to lead others guru-style not only never made me any money, but made me look and feel foolish in the end. I was playing at being successful online, all the while wasting the time I had available to do the things I am not only good at, but at one time did supply my income.

Well, dropping the pretenses and getting back to what I do well has paid off. I am now the E-commerce director at a golf retailer in Raleigh. And yes, that is a real, paying, internet and social media position. No fame, no idolatry from web folks, just a real job that is all in all pretty fun and plays to my areas of talent.

Also, Reaching for Lucidity Productions has been bringing in more income than ever, but not from the podcasting. I still get beer and entertainment money from my Mevio contract, but that is all. No, I changed the focus back to my strengths, design and media. Again, this all happens out of the big spotlight of internet fame, but it is fun as hell. Producing short audio, animation, and websites freelance is what RfL productions is all about now, and I am not hurting for jobs.

So, that is something to ponder. Once I stopped trying to be an A-lister and make a fortune and have “fans”, I actually started to get my actual success back. Sometimes you have to get out of the way and let life happen. Trying to direct life against the flow is not always a good idea. Life is short, you have to live.

This is the second time I learned this lesson, just in different circumstances. The first time I learned this is when I stopped trying to be an internet marketing phenomenon. I was told by a person that was wiser than me at the time, that there are two types of people making money at internet marketing. Those that are selling the dream of marketing–unscrupulously–to others, and those that you will never hear of. Of those two types, the most successful are the anonymous.

It is true, you can sell the fake fantasy of internet marketing success and make some bucks, but the folks that do that are already in place and there is not really any more  room at the top. But the folks that really make the bucks are the people that sell beach chairs to vacationers. They are the folks that sell garden supplies to gardeners. You get the picture.

Remember, the people that made money in the gold rush were not the prospectors, it was the guys that sold the prospectors the picks, shovels, and donkeys.

So there, total honesty–humbling honesty actually– from a one-time guru wannabe. I am having a blast right now and I am making some money. Even better, I no longer feel the need to be validated by people that spend all their time trying to be somebody on the web.

Hell, I am just about sick of listening to the folks that actually did reach the upper echelon of web celebrity and guru-dom. These days I get more kicks by watching the guy known as Amanda Chapel and Loren Feldman knock the big egos around a bit.

I still use the services, but I will never again let the use get in the way of my real life.

Hell, I did name myself the “New Media Cynic.”

Go figure.

Cheers,
Eban

Gordon, Scott, and Pat acting the fool by Totallyangel

Everyone is new at something at first. I know, that is a redundant statement, but it makes sense to say considering what this post is about.

What is that, you ask?

Newbies and social media, or networking, or whatever.

The curse of the noob is not fun. Noobs come in and barnstorm where decorum is the name of the game. Where things are riotous, they come in and try to be authority.

They are, well, noobs.

Hell, we have all been there. My noob experience was filled with the dreams that come from “make money online” gurus. I had every free e-book, and I shelled out some serious cash for the programs. I was going to take over the world.

Well, that didn’t happen. Luckily I am quick with the learning curves. I learned the lay of the land and followed my passions. Design, media, research, and meeting new and interesting people that enhance my web networking experience.

But, noobs, they are always there. For every web user that elevates above noob status, three or more jump in to take their place.

The type of noob that is aggravating me right now is a bit personal, as I was close to that type of noob myself.

Luckily back in the old days when I was an aggravating noob, things like Twitter did not exist. Hell, AOL, Yahoo, LiveJournal, and forums were still the lay of the land. I had to work at aggravating others, and my reach was pretty dismal.

Unfortunately, Twitter, FriendFeed, Facebook, and the like do exist now, and the noobs are amplified.

I get friend and follow requests everyday from people that have nothing in their streams but adverts for the same stupid make money online programs from back in the day. No following community decorum, no real posting, just puked up, canned ads. It is crazy.

There is even a guy in England (I will keep the name out of it as who knows which name is real?) with several different accounts all offering the same crap “get rich quick” or “get new followers fast” products.

The thing that elevates this guy from aggravation that does not conform to community standards, to total asshole, is when you un-follow his accounts, he un-follows and re-follows, several times, trying to get you back.

Getting hit by a double-decker bus is too good for him. He is pure evil.

Listen folks, I get that you have this great program or script that got you 17,000 followers even though you only have 25 posts. Good for you. I would put my measly 1400-1500 followers up against yours any day. I have carefully cultivated this list and I get value from most of the people on it. Yes, some are filler, like those with forgotten and unused accounts, but I can guarantee your accounts are almost all filler.

And then comes the money schemes. Only morons are clicking on your links. I know there are morons out there, but come on, do you really want that online rep?

You did not make a fortune. You are not rich. You did not find the freakin secret program. You just did not! You are another noob, sitting at home with dreams of overnight internet wealth and the fame and adoration that goes with it.

Now, let’s go to that next level, the auto-responder. If I follow you, I am giving you the benefit of doubt. I am giving you a certain level of trust, but it is only a test. How do you fail that test, by hitting me up with an auto-respond direct message trying to “help me” or show me the way.

Hey, idiot! I was here before you. I know the way. You showing me your bad manners and lack of etiquette right from the go only shows you to be someone that needs to follow for a while, not lead, or “show the way.” You are an asshole. Seriously.

Okay, so you got the griping, now is there an answer? Nope.

I can hope that a noob reads this and self identifies and starts on the path to being a proper online citizen.

I mean, we could mass shun the gits, but then the gits would just flock together and organize. Could domination be far behind? Yeah, probably not.

Unfortunately, as the web gets easier to use, and the online services and apps get better, we will get more noobs and more aggravation. Hopefully the learning curves will get faster as well.

We can hope.

Cheers,
Eban

Let’s shift for a second. Remember that band you were totally into before everyone and their cat got into them? Remember the TV show? The whatever?

It is the same thing. Only, this Twitter explosion, we asked for it.

We wanted to actually believe it mattered. We had the Pistachios and other nuts telling us just how powerful it was as a tool. Thing is, it really was all choir, as in preaching to, all along. (As more than a few people pointed out)

Now we have people lamenting the loss of cool. We have people decrying the loss of indie in the Twitterverse. Screw you winers.

Twitter was, before A&O, (Ashton and Oprah), just an exercise in quick, go nowhere, social media masturbation. It was a trivial stream and silly conversation for the chamber, the echo chamber, with an occasional cool story or news piece.

Now that it is finally open, and the people everyone wanted so badly to reach out and touch with their message have arrived, we get the whining.

Twitter before A&O=closed system where everyone was as important as their trumped up profile titles. Of course it seemed powerful, everyone was on the same masturbatory page.

Twitter after A&O=an actual system of new people to reach, but no one actually having a clue how as it does not really work. It is 140 characters at the speed of light. Even in our age of short attention spans, that ain’t much.

Enjoy Twitter for what it was. Enjoy Twitter for what it is now. But in the name of all that is good, stop freakin whining.

Cheers,

Eban

—————–

C.C. Chapman and Chris Brogan by C.C. Chapman

Chris Brogan is the only person that never, ever pisses me off. Yes, that is a bold statement. You can learn from that. Especially coming from a media producer that labeled himself the “New Media Cynic.” But, with that in mind, the statement is 100% true. I don’t always agree with him, but agreement has nothing to do with emotions. To me Chris is a 100% stand up guy. Let’s dig into the why.

1. Unlike others in the world of social, new, or whatever media, or even  just the echo chamber, he never puts out anything that does not add value to someone or some group.

2. If he does add something that adds less value than other things, such as Digg baiting posts, he often admits to it in the post.

3. He not only does not know it all, he let’s you know he does not know it all and asks for input to help him, and his readers, grow in knowledge.

4. He never puts anyone down, except in jest.

5. As with #4, if he has nothing good to say, he tends not to say anything, or at least changes the subject.

6. Even the more opinionated echo chamber types that do all of the above can’t bring themselves to drag Chris through  the muck.

7. He is not afraid to leave things open for others to finish. This is a tactic he uses often on his blog. Thus he can start a dialog on subject in which he may not be an expert, but still gets to the heart of the matter at hand. Chris’ comment sections are just as active, and often as enlightening, as his original blog posts.

8. Even though I don’t personally make contact with Chris but maybe once or twice a year, he always engages me when I do. He makes time for everyone. I have learned more from this side of Chris than any other. I also have changed the way I deal with others due to this.

9. He is humble enough to think this post probably should not have been written.

10. He is bold enough to promote his work tirelessly. Not in the “Look at me” fashion as many others do, but from that confident place of someone that knows he is adding quality. He never seems to overstep his boundaries.

11. Repeat, he never seems to overstep his boundaries.

12. Chris leaves things open for all to see. When he was questioned about his use of Creative Commons photos in a presentation, and how he made attribution, instead of backing away and letting the criticism go, he posted about  it and started a conversation.

13. Chris loves his family. I have never met him personally, but I know this just by his writings and the way he carries himself.

14. Chris values his friends. See above for how I know this.

15. Chris can tame Julien Smith, nuff said.

16. Everything else I have forgotten to write.

That list is not complete, not by any means. I felt I needed to write this as things sometimes get negative here in the New Media Cynic world. I don’t mean for things to get negative, I just feel the need to talk about the 800 pound gorilla in the room that nobody, save a small minority, wants to address.

Chris is not part of that which I am out to expose. He is the exception that proves the rule. He is not alone either. There is Julien Smith, Paisano, Christopher Penn, C.C. Chapman, and many others. Chris though, sticks out to me the most.

So there, I can be nice.

Cheers,
Eban