Things get ugly at Cygnus

There's some depressing news out of Cygnus Business Media. The B2B publisher is slashing workers' pay by 7.5 percent and cutting hours for hourly workers. Cygnus says senior executives will also have their pay cut. But the company -- seemingly deaf to the public-relations implications of not being transparent -- won't say how much of a cut the big boys will take.
The cost reductions may be related to debt covenants, according to Folio magazine. Cygnus, like many a B2B publisher these days, is controlled by a private equity firm. And as anyone who follows B2B publishing knows, such investors often find themselves owing more than they can pay.
And as we've seen before at Primedia, Ziff Davis and elsewhere -- it's the workers who bear the burden of poorly structured investment deals.

When I launched my consulting business several years ago, Cygnus was one of my first clients. And although I haven't done business with them for a few years now, the company retains a place in my heart. So when I heard the news about the salary cuts, it hit me sort of hard.
The story broke late on Friday as I ended a multiday trip in which I gave two presentations on the future of B2B publishing. And, as I often do, I suggested in both presentations that journalists would need to work harder than ever before to succeed in the fiercely competitive new world of new media.
But as I read the Folio article about Cygnus I was struck by three rather remarkable items that suggest that hard work -- perhaps even extraordinarily hard work -- may not be enough at some companies.

Consider this:
First, it appears Cygnus has seen online ad sales rise year-over-year by more than 50 percent.
Second, the co-CEOs of Cygnus told workers that a decline in print advertising"has accelerated and is significantly larger than we projected during our business reviews, held less than three months ago."
Third, one source expressed dismay that the company's management and owners would be "willing to make the company go through this trauma in order to avoid the modest costs and pain of a bank amendment."
Or in other words:
1. There is evidence that the staff at Cygnus is working harder online than before.
2. Senior management made an error in their projections.
3. The staff is being asked to cover the costs of senior management's mistake -- even though there is another option (reworking the bank agreements.)

I have little doubt that the situation at Cygnus is more complicated than I have portrayed it. Perhaps the debt covenants are unusually tough. Perhaps the creditors are unusually cruel. There are probably dozens of things that I know nothing about that contributed to the decision to cut wages.
Nonetheless, I'm comfortable agreeing with the source in the Folio story who called the salary cuts a "desperate and short-sighted move."
This isn't going to end well.

(Footnote: Speaking of working "harder than ever before to succeed in the fiercely competitive new world of new media," it's worth noting that Folio published its story after the close of business on Friday. But Folio's primary competitors -- BtoB Magazine and min -- still don't have anything on their sites some two days later. )

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media

At the Folio:Show next week

Some of the best and brightest folks in the magazine world will be at the Folio:Show next week in New York City.
I'll be there too.

If you're attending, make sure you say hello. I'm co-hosting a session on Wednesday morning titled "Who Should You Hire: Journalists, Market Pros or E-Wizards? Come on by and introduce yourself.

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media

Advertising in the near future

If you read the New York Times today, you'll see a number of articles that point to massive changes in the way we in the media will generate revenue in the near future. Each of the articles touches on different subjects. But combined they tell a tale that points to a whole new world.
And, as is often the case, I'm worried that B2B media isn't ready.

The first article reports that social-networking powerhouse MySpace "says that after experimenting with technology over the last six months it can (now) tailor ads to the personal information that its 110 million active users leave on their profile pages."
The second article reports that AOL is relocating its corporate headquarters to New York City and combining its advertising sales into an operation run by Curtis G. Viebranz, the former chief executive of Tacoda. Tacoda, the king of behavioral targeting, was purchased by AOL earlier this year.

So think about this for a minute: two of the largest players on the Web are throwing their weight behind technology that delivers advertising that is targeted to an individual, rather than to a demographic. MySpace will deliver ads based on what a user tells the company about himself. AOL, using behavioral targeting, will deliver ads based on how a user acts online.
In B2B, we have long touted that our products --either on the Web or in print -- can target ads to a specialized and engaged audience. But it would seem to me that our traditional ad recipe -- the same ad to everyone in an industry -- cannot compete against technology that delivers unique ads to each reader.
Consider, for example, the power of delivering an ad about business-finance software to the CFO, while delivering an ad about storage facilities to the folks in the logistics department.
And consider, for a moment, that the new technologies that AOL and MySpace are adopting mean that those specific ads can be delivered to those specific B2B readers in places other than B2B products.
Soon, very soon, that CFO will be seeing business-finance software ads even when he's reading about sports on some mainstream Web site.

There is, of course, also an opportunity here for online B2B publications. Opening up our readership to these targeted ads would prove attractive to marketers. There's no reason why an advertiser wouldn't want to show an individually targeted ad to the reader of a B2B publication. If one of our readers is in the market for a new car, or is obsessed with video games, or is shopping for a new suit, we should be willing to serve him an appropriate ad even on the pages of Avionics Engineer Monthly.

There are two other articles in today's Times that also point toward this new future. I'll link to them here without further comment.
First, Google has announced plans to offer ads tailored for mobile phones.
Second, the Times has announced it is pulling down the pay wall on its Web site.

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, advertising

I'm back online ... sort of

The worst of yesterday's crisis has passed.
I've moved my domain to a new host. Email is up and running again.
I will, however, have to rebuild PaulConley.com.

I have all my files backed up in several places. But I'm trying to decide if I want to use this disaster as an opportunity to redesign the site. I'll made the decision by tomorrow. Either way, I'll have a working site again by the end of the weekend.

In the meantime, thanks again for your patience. And if you've sent me an email anytime in the past few days and haven't received a response, please resend.

Thanks!

Criminals, content and competition

A longtime reader of this blog wrote an email to tell me that in my recent series of posts on content marketers I should have mentioned what he called "the first and maybe the best B2B site published by nonpublishers."
And he's right, I should have.

The site he refers to is Security Focus, the self-described "vendor-neutral site" owned by Symantec Corp., makers of Norton anti-virus software. Security Focus covers the world of hackers, viruses and other security issues -- a world where its parent company is a major player. But Security Focus offers news and information without the obvious bias that many journalists would expect to find in a site run by someone from outside the world of media.

Security Focus' has a rather unusual history in the world of publishing. It was made famous by the work of notorious black-hat hacker Kevin Poulsen, who turned to journalism when he turned away from crime. Symantec acquired Security Focus in 2002 (and Poulsen moved on to Wired in 2005. ) Today Security Focus is a premier, online-only publication that has maintained a reputation for reputable reporting "that is not influenced by Symantec corporate policies or products."

It's worth noting that Security Focus does accept ads -- making it different from the classic content-marketing site. As a result, Security Focus competes with traditional publishers for dollars as well as readers.
So it's worth asking -- what company in your space has the prestige and reputation that, if it opted to become a publisher, your readers and/or advertisers would trust it as a source of bias-free information?

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, content marketing

Eddies and Ozzies

I don't have much time to give the details, so you'll have to follow the link -- but Folio magazine has released the list of nominees for its Eddie and Ozzie awards.

I want to offer my congratulations to all the nominees. Sometimes it is an honor just to be nominated.

I'm also going to take this opportunity to cast my vote in one of my favorite categories -- the Ozzie for best design of a new B2B magazine.
Take a look at McGraw-Hill's Greensource, and see if you agree that it's one of the most gorgeous magazines the B2B world has ever produced.

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, design

Reading for a long weekend

I, like a good portion of the country, am trying to finish off a few projects today so I can begin the long holiday weekend.
I won't be posting to this blog until sometime next week, unless something truly remarkable happens in the world of B2B.
But if you're the type who will spend this weekend reading on the computer rather than reading by the beach, allow me to share some of the blogs that I've recently added to my newsreader.

Longtime readers of this blog know I'm still in mourning over the closure of CMO Magazine. If you shared my love of that publication, you may want to follow the work of Rob O'Regan, founding Editor in Chief of CMO. Check out his blog, called Magnosticism.

I spent a good portion of this summer waging a battle against the use of annoying and unethical ads in the world of B2B publishing. Now Ryan Block, editor in chief of Engadget, one of my favorite online-only publications, has taken up the fight. You can read his open letter to the industry here, and check out the rest of his blog here.

Just last week I wrote at length about the rise of content marketing. And I get the feeling I'll be writing more about this subject soon. There are opportunities here for B2B. But there are challenges too. If you want to follow this trend, check out the Junta42 Blog.

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, content marketing

Turning readers into publishers

Yesterday I blogged about the rise of "content marketing," in which retailers, manufacturers and others have dived into the world of publishing. This new form of editorial has some distinct advantages over traditional publishing -- primarily that content marketers aren't worried about making money from the content itself. Content isn't their business. Rather, content is an expense aimed at building their business.
Today I want to talk about the opportunity I see in content marketing for B2B publishers.

I'll ask that you bear with me. My thoughts on this issue aren't completely formed. So, as I often do, I'm blogging as a way of thinking.

Much of B2B publishing works on the controlled circulation model. Sure, we sell data. And of course, we charge people to attend our trade shows. But our content is free to our readers. Unlike our brothers and sisters in consumer magazines and newspapers, most of us in B2B don't have to worry about newsstand sales and subscription revenue.
We do, however, have to worry about advertising.
But imagine if we could find a way to make money without advertising or subscriptions.

Driving new business
Suppose you're the publisher of one of the dozens of trucking magazines in the B2B world. Your readers work at trucking companies; Your advertisers are companies that sell stuff to trucking companies -- tires and logistics software and rear-view mirrors.
Now suppose that your boss has told you he wants to see revenue growth this year of X percent. Traditionally, you have several options. You can raise ad rates, ask your existing advertisers to buy more ads, find new advertisers, or launch a new product and find advertisers for that.
But instead of looking at advertisers, what would happen if you looked at one of your readers.

Suppose one of your readers is Joe Schmoe, owner of Refrigerated Liquid Transport Corp., provider of climate-controlled, cross-country transport of dairy products. Joe's company is big. Joe is the king of milk movement. He has a 40% share of the U.S. market. And he has a marketing budget of hundreds of thousand dollars a year. But he doesn't spend any of that with you. He's a reader, not an advertiser. He doesn't need to get his brand in front of other trucking companies.
But he does need to get his message in front of dairy producers.
Joe advertises in dairy magazines. His ads run in B2B publications and Web sites such as "Dairy Cow Monthly" and "Chief Milk Officer."
Could you convince Joe that the way to get his message out was to become a content marketer? Could you help him become one?

It's not customary to do it that way
Most large B2B publishers have a custom publishing unit. In a nutshell, their job is to create content for advertisers. Most of the time this involves producing limited-run, print publications that go to a magazine's existing readers. Sometimes it involves creating a microsite or some other advertiser-driven Web product. But in essence, custom publishing is about creating a product for an advertiser.
But I'm talking about something different here. I'm not talking about turning Joe from a reader into an advertiser. I'm not even talking about turning Joe from a reader into a customer of your custom-publishing unit.
I'm talking about turning Joe from a reader into a real-life publisher.

Here's the pitch:
In exchange for X amount of money, (cash that he now spends on ads in magazines you don't own), you'll help Joe become a content marketer.
Joe becomes the publisher of "Milking the Market," an online news site about dairy futures and milk production. It's not about transport. Joe doesn't have to cover himself or his competitors. Rather, he's offering valuable information to his target audience for free. There are no ads on "Milking the Market," although each page is branded with Joe's Refrigerated Liquid Transport Corp. logo. There are no subscription fees. Rather, it is a purely editorial site that helps milk producers make money.
What you give Joe is expertise in online publishing (I don't think this idea would work well at all in print, where the expenses are much higher.)
In particular, you help Joe with:
a) hiring skilled journalists to produce aggregated content and "evergreen" how-to articles (daily news is too expensive, and he'd need a fulltime staff), and
b) using search-engine optimization to get his product in front of his target audience.

There are dozens of variations to this business model. Maybe you work as a consultant to Joe as he gets his content marketing site off the ground. Or perhaps you do all the work yourself, hiring freelancers as needed, and charging Joe a monthly fee. Maybe he buys back-end services from you (server space, access to a CMS, etc.), maybe not.

But however you do it, what you're doing is very different from what you have done in the past.
Because now you're working for a fee, not for ad dollars.
And your client isn't an advertiser, he's a publisher ... just like you.

(Note: It will be clear to many readers that the closest thing to content marketing in B2B is the world of association publishing. That market has been very lucrative for a number of specialized publishers who produce print magazines for trade associations. The associations serve as publishers and provide the subscriber list, but the work of writing, design, etc. is often done by an outside company with editorial expertise. A similar model has emerged online where companies such as SmartBrief, a former consulting client of mine, and rival U.S. News Custom Briefings, aggregate content for associations. But the core of those businesses remains advertising.)

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, content marketing

Meet the new boss, different from the old boss

Much of my time these days is spent working on a new B2B site for About.com, now a unit of the New York Times. The site covers the online advertising industry. And I'd urge anyone who works online to take a look. Everyone in the industry -- including those of us on the editorial side -- would do well to understand the money part of the content game.
You can check out the site here.

We launched a few days ago, and things have been going well. We got some press coverage (here and here). And we're getting the sort of search-engine placement at which About excels.

But the thing that excites me most about the new site is that it's a chance to work on a product that is similar to -- although not exactly part of -- a growing trend in online content. And I expect many of you will also soon find yourselves part of this trend.
Allow me to explain.

The About Online Advertising site has two business purposes. First, just like any other commercial site, it exists to make money. We sell ads on the site to generate revenue. But far more interesting is the site's second purpose. About Online Advertising is aimed at entry-level media buyers -- the people who buy ad space for a living. By offering a guide to the industry for newcomers, About hopes to build awareness of its larger brand. In other words, the hope is that media buyers who become readers of About's Online Advertising site will some day become customers of About's hundreds of consumer-focused sites.

Here's why you should care
In the August issue of Folio magazine, Joe Pulizzi, chief content officer for Junta42, wrote a guest column called "Are Corporations the New Kings of Content?"
Joe is talking about the rise of "content marketing" -- in which manufacturers, retailers and others "are jumping with both feet into the province once deemed the sacred right of publishing houses."
Content marketing, as Joe points out, has its roots in custom publishing and branded content. But there is a notable, fundamental difference. When done correctly, "content marketing" involves the creation of exactly the sort of material that is the traditional domain of journalists, not public relations folks.
Or, as Joe puts it, content marketers have "have hired some of the best journalists around, looked for, found and paid for authoritative experts to inform their audiences, set editorial and graphic standards that surpass those of many publications. And, perhaps one of the most critical components, have launched stringent measurement analysis to both determine and improve the content they are sending out.
More importantly, many content marketers seem to have mastered some of the basics of Web publishing -- search-engine optimization, evergreen content and user communities.

Didn't we used to do that?
In another article in that same issue of Folio, Chuck Cordray, general manager of Hearst Magazine's digital media unit, talks about the difficult competitive environment his magazines face online. He mentions two of the kings of content marketing -- a retailer and a manufacturer that have morphed into publishers. "The Kraft foods site is a great site and The Home Depot has the number-one home improvement site,"Cordray said.
And he ain't kidding. Take a look at Kraft's product, and compare it with Good Housekeeping. Then look at any of the buyers guides on HomeDepot.com, and see if you can find anything better written, better designed or just plain better on Better Homes & Gardens.
In the world of consumer publishing, content marketers are proving again and again that they can create Web sites that are just as compelling as anything produced by editors from traditional publishing companies.
And of course the content marketers have a remarkable advantage over the rest of us -- they don't need to make a profit from their sites. A content marketer site isn't a profit center, it's a marketing expense. It exists to serve the larger brand.
In other words, although content marketers are content creators, they are not in the content business.
Want to see some other examples? Check out WeightWatchers.com -- a content- and community-filled site aimed at promoting the WeightWatchers brand. The cooking and exercise material on the site is every bit as well done as what you'd find on the site of any traditional magazine.
Then take a look at Waterfront Media, which has more than a dozen sites in the exercise/health field -- each of them tied to a well-known brand such as the South Beach Diet or fitness guru Denise Austin.

It should be clear that content marketers have mastered the consumer space. And it would surprise me to no end if this part of the Web world doesn't continue to expand. There are jobs here, and opportunity, and I expect many of today's journalism students will find themselves working in this subset of the industry.

To read why I see opportunity in content marketing for B2B publishers, read Part II of this article.

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, content marketing

Getting religion about being agnostic

Nothing excites me as much as learning that a B2B journalist has become re-excited about our profession.
So you can imagine how pleased I was to read a piece from the editor of Healthcare IT News, in which she talks about how the Web allowed her and the rest of the staff to reconnect with the joy of breaking daily news. "We started acting like daily journalists again – eager to be first and best with the story. The shift has done us good. I guess we’ve become “media agnostic.” But, it’s more than that. We picked up the pace. We read more, we called more CIOs and doctors, health insurers and policy makers, we wrote more, we understood better. We dug deeper."

I have tried -- and have often failed -- to convince my fellow B2B reporters and editors that the world of new media offers us a chance to reconnect with the reasons we first picked up a notebook.
And I'm going to take this opportunity to try one more time.
Journalism isn't a job. It is a calling. There are a thousand other professions that are more stable and more lucrative. This field will often break your heart. And being a journalist almost certainly means that you will always struggle financially.
But we got into this game because of who we are. We need this. We need to tell stories and break news. And we need to do it better and faster today than we did yesterday. That's who we are.

If you don't love this profession as you once did, it's not because the profession has changed. You have lost your love because you have lost your way.
But I promise you, the Web can you lead you back home.
Just ask the folks at Healthcare IT News.

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media

Is turnaround fair play?

Two recent incidents in journalism have left me feeling both disturbed and pleased. In both cases, reporters acting in a less-than-professional manner found themselves on the receiving end of their own offensive practices.

First is the public outing and hazing of the NBC Dateline reporter who apparently declined press credentials at Defcon 15. Check out the video here. What you'll see is a bunch of Defcon attendees acting like Dateline reporters, chasing after her and saying "We only want to ask you a few questions" as she flees to her car. It is both scary and funny.

Second is what may be Facebook's first major journalism scandal. Slate recently published a story saying that Rudy Giuliani's daughter had joined a Facebook group of Barack Obama supporters. That story received enormous coverage in the rest of the press. But what many mainstream reporters have missed (or, perhaps, ignored) is that Guliani's daughter is a minor and that her Facebook page wasn't open to the public. She is not a public figure, and she did nothing to put herself into the spotlight. Rather, Slate simply violated the privacy of a minor. It's also worth noting that the reporter violated the terms of her own Facebook account by lifting material from Ms. Giuliani's page, and that the story and photo that Slate ran are misleading. Now the reporter's personal life -- including her email address and phone number -- are being spread around the Web by angry bloggers. Check out the details here.

As a journalist, I cannot help but be disturbed by the video image of an angry crowd following a reporter. Nor can I help but be disturbed by the implication that the way to respond to poor reporting is to harass the reporter.
But as a news consumer, I also cannot help but find these incidents in which reporters became the victims of their own worst practices -- entrapment, chasing people down the street with cameras, invading privacy, etc. -- as right and just.

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, journalism ethics

Old and hip

I awoke this morning, feeling sore and cranky. And I realized that today is Aug. 7, which means it was 18 years ago today I was discharged from the Army.
The idea that so much time has passed since I was a young, highly motivated knucklehead with an M-16, always depresses me. It makes me feel old. And this morning I sat on the couch drinking coffee and feeling sorry for myself, when my wife, who is 15 years younger than I, asked me a question that changed my mood:
"You ever hear of a thing called Facebook?"

She has no interest in my work. And she doesn't read this blog. So of course she had never seen any of the things I've written about Facebook. But that's fine. Because today when she asked that question, I felt, for just a minute, younger and more hip than she.
And lord knows I needed that today.

Speaking of young and hip, if you're reading this post on my blog (rather than through an RSS feed), you'll see a new link on the right that says "Follow me on Twitter."
Twitter is a "micro-blogging" platform. And in my never-ending quest to remain digitally connected, I started using it last week.
I have quickly become addicted. I'm sure I'll write more about Twitter (as well as rival Pownce, which I just started using) soon.

And next August, when I'm yet another year further away from the young soldier I once was, I'm hoping that my wife will turn to me and ask "You ever hear of a thing called Twitter?"

To read the news story that brought Facebook to my wife's attention today, click here.
To read more about micro-blogging, click here.

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media

Congratulations to the ASBPE winners

I didn't attend the ASBPE banquet last week (although I did attend one day of the convention), so I only learned the names of this year's award winners a few moments ago.

Congratulations to Public CIO and Builder, which won Magazine of the Year honors in their respective circulation categories. I also want to offer a special and heartfelt "well done" to CFO, CIO and PCWorld, which won the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals for multiplatform journalism (PCWorld also won Web Site Publication of the Year.)

And speaking on behalf of the entire blogosphere, I offer my congratulations to Brian's Brain, which won for Best Overall B2B Blog.

You can see all the winners on ASBPE's Web site.

(Disclosure: I was a judge in this year's ASBPE competition.)

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media

Editor in ads; Ads in editorial

I attended the ASBPE conference here in New York yesterday, where the final session covered ethics in our industry. No one in the room seemed to have any problem in drawing the line between editorial and advertising. And the presence of such clarity about what is right and what is wrong left me feeling encouraged. Even more pleasing was that throughout the day people kept coming up to me, introducing themselves, and thanking me for the work I've done on ethics on this blog. So when I left the hotel last night, I was feeling positively gleeful.

Then I checked my email.

I opened a newsletter from Folio and read an article that reminded me that things aren't always what they should be in magazine publishing, and that many people in our industry do not make us proud.
Folio reported on a scandal in which the editor-in-chief of XXL Magazine appeared in an ad in his magazine.
Take a look here.

Clyde Smith at prohiphop.com first broke the news about the inappropriate ad. And Folio quotes from comments I made that appear on Clyde's site.
But it's not just me, Clyde and the folks at Folio who question the actions of XXL's editor. Marlene Kahan, executive director of ASME, told Folio that "No person on an editorial staff should ever be involved in producing or participating in advertising."

I was pleased to see that ASME was willing to weigh in on this issue. XXL's editor-in-chief was wrong. And ASME had an obligation to say so.
However, I cannot hide my continued disappointment that ASME (and ABM) have failed to weigh in on the IntelliTXT scandal. As of today, we've been waiting three months for word from either group.
In other words, ABM and ASME have failed to do in three months what ASBPE managed to do in a day -- issue a statement saying that IntelliTXT ads violate our industry's ethics rules.

(Addendum: Regular readers of this blog, and most anyone who has heard me speak in recent months, know that I generally sing the praises of XXL -- or at least of its Web site. It was back in November that I first became aware of the work of Jason Brightman on xxlmag.com. You can read here how impressed I was. Jason recently left XXL to join IDG, a client of mine. )

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, journalism ethics, advertising

Can I have a hug?

Late last year I ended a brief experiment in running a blog called Wind Farm News, which covered the wind-power industry. The site is long gone, but bits of it have been preserved by the Way-Back Machine.

I found myself thinking about that site today when I read that Treehugger had been sold for somewhere between $10 million and $15 million.

Within days of launching Wind Farm News, I found myself obsessed with Hugg.com, the Digg-style "source for user-generated green news" owned by TreeHugger. On Hugg, users share stories they like with the Hugg community. And then other users can vote their approval by "hugging" that story. The most-hugged stories move to the top of the home page.

On those rare days when one of my pieces was posted to Hugg, I felt tremendous satisfaction. And when other users "hugged" my story, it was a remarkably affirming experience. Never before in my journalistic career had I got such a kick out of reader feedback. It felt light years away from the letters to the editor of my newspaper days. And getting hugged felt even better than the links and comments that mark feedback here on this blog. A "Hugg" felt like a "hug."
And I really liked getting them. More importantly, I really liked giving them to stories I enjoyed.

The sale of TreeHugger comes just two weeks after MediaBistro was sold for $23 million. And I suspect that much of the media world -- even the new-media world -- will be perplexed by the value attached to TreeHugger in the same way they were perplexed by the price of MediaBistro.
But I don't share the cynics' disbelief.
I think that TreeHugger and MediaBistro were both worthwhile investments and for the same reason -- community.

When I published Wind Farm News, I felt that I belonged to Hugg. And I engaged with content on that site in a way that I had never engaged before or since -- by sharing my affection for an article by "hugging" it. Hugg was my community in a way that LinkedIn never has been but that Facebook may be becoming -- the place where I am online.
I had similar experiences with MediaBistro, although not as intense. I've taken a course at its New York office. I've turned down an opportunity to teach there. I use the site on a regular basis to look for freelancers. In other words, MediaBistro is one of the places that I "network."

It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that I value such communities in a way that I cannot value the staples of the B2B world -- print products and trade shows.
Print is something that I read. A trade show is someplace I go. But a community is a place where I belong.
And I suspect that in 2007 when media bankers and the like try to determine the value of a B2B company, they will decide -- correctly -- to give higher multiples to companies that offer a place to be, rather than just a magazine to read or a conference to attend.

Rex also thinks the MediaBistro sale is a "big deal" for B2B.

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media

ASBPE comes to New York

Take a look around your newsroom. If the place looks empty today, that's a good thing. Because it may mean your editorial staff is heading to New York City for the National Editorial Conference of the American Society of Business Publication Editors.

The conference runs on both Thursday and Friday of this week. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make both days. But I'll be at the conference on Thursday. If you see me walking around (I'll be the stunningly attractive man with short, gray hair), say hello. I'm not sure yet if I'll be able to stick around for the Azbee Awards Reception and Dinner (Full disclosure: I was a judge in this year's competition.) But save a seat for me just in case.

If you can't make ASBPE, you'll still have one more chance to try to convince your boss to pay for a trip to New York this year. The Folio Show runs from Sept. 23 to 26. I'll be there too. And I'll be joining Kevin Ireton of Fine Homebuilding magazine to lead a session on "Who Should You Hire: Journalists, Market Pros or E-Wizards?"

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media

Lessons from the new metrics

My recent post on the new metrics from Nielsen prompted a few emails from readers. Folks asked what, if any, changes in content might be prompted by the new measurements. And one reader in particular asked if I thought "trades should continue to invest time and resources to delivering email newsletters?"

I'm not a fan of email newsletters. As I've mentioned before, I think RSS is a superior product for users. So I think it's inevitable that as consumers become more familiar with news readers and related products, newsletters will come to be seen as too annoying to deal with.
It's also worth noting that e-mail newsletters are, as strange as it may seem, already quite old-fashioned. Young people don't like e-mail. And as just as print has begun to seem quaint even to folks in their 30s and 40s, e-mail looks like semaphore signals to the Facebook generation.

Yet as much as I have grown to dislike email newsletters, I think it's way too early for publishers to walk away from them. There's still money to be made there. In some cases there is a lot of money to made there. Advertisers like them. They are a fairly easy and inexpensive way to launch a new product. And most importantly, they are tied to a metric -- a list of email subscribers -- that won't be hurt by Nielsen's change.
So I advise publishers to:
a) begin offering RSS now, and
b) make improvements to your existing email newsletters, which are often the least professional product in any B2B line-up.
For more on this subject, take a look at this post from early last year.

There is, however, one more thing worth thinking about here.
Nielsen's new measurements -- which emphasize time, rather than page views -- decrease the value of products that don't have original content. In other words, a page (or e-mail newsletter) of outside links is worth less than a page of compelling and time-consuming content. In this model, a five-minute video clip is worth more than five clickable headlines to someone else's content. Content aggregation, which has been the easiest way for publishers to make money online, may not be so easy anymore.

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media

BusinessWeek on widgets

I've mentioned before that I've not had much luck getting B2B types interested in widgets, Facebook and the open API phenomenon.

But this weekend I stumbled upon something that may make it easier for me to get folks to share my excitement. BusinessWeek has published a lengthy piece on the rapid changes that have led "some technologists to conclude that these humble bits of code--or applications, as widgets are also known--could turbocharge a third phase in the Internet's development."

For more on the subject, check out Barry Graubart's piece on "Monetizing Facebook Aps."

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, widgets

Video interview with yours truly

I'm one of those vain people. There's nothing I like the more than sound of my own voice.

So when I checked out the video interview of me from the College Media Advisers convention, I put my headphones on and cranked up the volume. You may want to do the same. Because as Bryan at CMA says in his post, the "audio is kind of low, and Paul has a soft speaking voice."

If you want to hear more about what I think journalism students should be thinking about, I'll be speaking at the National College Media Convention in Washington, D.C., in October. I'll also be speaking at the Southeast Journalism Conference in February. I'll post more information about that meeting when it's available.
And I promise to speak loudly at both shows!

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, journalism education

Would you rather lose your job or your integrity?

As the argument over editorial integrity, the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch captures the attention of much of the journalism world, it pleases me to no end to see that one of the most sensible voices in the debate comes from the world of B2B.

Take a look at this essay by Jim Prevor, published in the Journal earlier this week. Jim argues that great journalism is born of courage, not work rules. And that journalists' independence "comes always and simply from their willingness to be fired. "

Jim runs Florida-based Phoenix Media Network, which covers the perishable foods industry. For more from Jim, take a look at his blog, PerishablePundit.

If you want to learn how to be a courageous editor, make sure you attend the Folio Show in September. The first session is called "What Makes a Courageous Magazine Editor?" (Note: I'm also speaking at this year's Folio show. I'll be joining Kevin Ireton of Fine Homebuilding magazine to discuss "Who Should You Hire: Journalists, Market Pros or E-Wizards?")

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, journalism ethics

A new way to measure up

Way back in the day, when the Web was young, and I was less old, we lived for page views.
Everything seemed to revolve around them -- budgets, compensation, the number of pats on the back per employee from upper management, etc.
So we built products that revolved around that metric ... even when building products aimed at page views often meant that we built products that didn't serve readers.
For example, it was fairly common a few years ago to "force" readers to click through a story. Every article was divided into multiple pages. So someone who wanted to read a 500-word story might have to load five pages to get to the end.

In time, we got smarter. In time, we learned again to put readers first. And, in time, we got enough good data about how people actually used the Web that we could build products that met users' needs and reflected their surfing habits.

Now, years after smart Web journalists have abandoned the page view model, the advertising world has caught up. Nielsen has announced it is replacing the page view metric with a new measurement of how long someone stays on a site.

Nielsen and the advertising community are concerned that video -- which has changed how people consume online content -- isn't appropriately measured by page views. And they are right. Watching a video for 5 minutes does merit something more significant than a single page view. We simply can't equate that action -- and its time commitment -- with spending two seconds on a page of links and then clicking out.
But there is a problem here , too.
Because clicking to exit has become the goal of much of online marketing. The page view metric was replaced a long time ago by the cost-per-click metrics of Google.
(For more on this subject, check out Scott Karp's post.)

There's another problem too. If, as I've been arguing for awhile now, content is becoming containerless, then the time spent on any single site has grown less valuable, not more valuable. If I read your content through an RSS feed or use your data in a widget application without visiting your site, how will my time with your content be measured?

But despite how Google, RSS, widgets and the rest are changing the game, B2B journalists and publishers should be thrilled with Nielsen's decision. Here's why:
Nielsen is making an attempt to measure the things that we in B2B claim we do best -- engagement and community. Sure, this new metric isn't perfect. Time on a site isn't an exact measurement of how engaged a reader is by content, nor is it an exact measurement of how connected a reader feels to his industry and the B2B publications that cover it.
But it's close.
And it's a start.
And it's sure better than page views.

As is often the case with media news, I first heard about Nielsen's decision by reading Danny Sanchez' Journalistopia blog. Check out his post, where he talks about how the new metric will change the way journalists work.

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media

Congratulations to the TABPI winners

The global B2B association known as Trade, Association and Business Publications International has announced the winners of its 2007 TABPI awards (Full Disclosure: I was a judge in this year's competition.)

Among the notable winners are the U.K.'s Legal Business, which picked up best single issue for the third year in a row.
InfoWorld and Computerworld, both published by IDG, a client of mine, won the Gold and Silver awards for best Web site.
And 14 magazines picked up four or more awards -- The ACC Docket, Best's Review, TechTarget's CIO Decisions and Information Security, Computerworld, Fresh Cup, Inbound Logistics, InfoWorld, Modern Healthcare, NZ Retail, Physicians Practice, REALTOR Magazine and RT Image.

Congratulations to all the winners!

For a complete list of winners in 11 editorial categories, click here.

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media

Congratulations to Jan White

I'm in the process of moving. My little family has gotten too big for our little apartment. So we got a bigger place in Manhattan.
We won't make the final move until autumn. But bit by bit, piece by piece, things are going into boxes.
As luck would have it, I moved one of those boxes to my office in the city last week. It was filled with books that are related to my work. And when I unpacked, I placed one of those books at the top of the pile -- a sort of reminder to reread it when I get the chance.

That book is "Editing by Design," the masterpiece by Jan White about visual journalism.

Yesterday I read that ASBPE had announced that Jan White is the latest recipient of its lifetime achievement award.
And I cannot think of a more deserving winner.

Take a look at what ASBPE says about the 79-year-old visionary.
Then buy his book.

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media

Widget windfall

It was almost exactly one month ago when I posted something to this blog about Facebook's decision to open its API to any developer who wanted to build a widget for the site. I said then that Facebook's decision "is going to prompt a shift in the world of online content -- similar to the shifts that came with the rise of content aggregation and search. Once again the way that early adopters find, consume and share content is going to change. More importantly, an entire new class of entrepreneurs will emerge to build content companies on top of Facebook's API."

Now Google has thrown its support behind the widget phenomenon. Google has created a venture fund that will offer financial support to developers who build widgets for Google's Gadget API. (Thanks to Matthew for pointing me to the news.)

So if it wasn't clear before, it should be clear now -- something significant is happening.
And if I haven't been clear before, let me say it again -- B2B journalism isn't ready.

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, widgets

Taking a second look at ...

It's been a long time since I wrote about Second Life. Heck, it's been an even longer time since I visited Second Life.
But a reader of this blog sent me a link to a video that:
a) had me laughing out loud like a crazy man, and
b) had me missing the virtual world something terrible.
If you've been to Second Life, then you too will get a kick out of the video.
If you've never been there, I don't think the video will make much sense to you.
Take a look.

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, second life

Selling your reputation

I don't accept ads on this blog. There are lots of reasons for that, but the core one is this: I don't want readers to worry about bias. When I say that I like a particular magazine or Web site, I don't want anyone to think that I was paid to say so.
I view this blog as a service, not as a business. I write about things that interest me in the world of B2B journalism. And I try to offer insights, guidance and suggestions to my peers in this profession.

But it would be misleading for me to describe myself solely as a journalist. I'm also an entrepreneur. I run a consulting business. And this blog is most certainly a promotional tool for that business. In the world of B2B, I'm best known as Paul Conley, the blogger, not as Paul Conley who used to be Midwest Bureau Chief at the Journal of Commerce, or as that Conley guy, who used to be a v.p. at Primedia Business.

Nonetheless, on this blog I strive to keep a church/state wall between my business interests and my journalism passions. That's why posts on this blog often contain disclosures about my business relationships with companies such as IDG, Primedia/Prism/Penton, N.Y. Times Digital/About, SmartBrief, Cygnus, etc.

But every once in awhile, someone offers me a chance to "monetize" my blog through ads or pay-per-post or some other such scheme. And I've never had a hard time saying "no."

But in recent weeks, some of the bigger names in the blogging world have apparently succumbed to temptation. They took money to write positive things about an advertiser. And they failed to disclose the relationship.

Much of the blogging world is abuzz over the controversy. And as is often true when controversy moves through the blogosphere, Rex Hammock is the guy I'm most likely to agree with.
But I will add just one small point to the arguments over what is, and is not, permitted online.
As I said earlier, I am both an entrepreneur and a journalist. And it is in my role as a journalist that I can find all the guidance I need as I navigate the ethics debates.

Here's what ASBPE's ethics guidelines say about writing about advertisers: "Favorable editorial coverage or preferential treatment in an article must never hinge on the prospect of ad sales, financial gain, or other factors that are not related to editorial integrity." Here's what ABM says on the subject: "Advertisers and potential advertisers must never receive favorable editorial treatment because of their economic value to the publication."

For me -- and for all of us in B2B journalism -- the rules are clear. Whether we work in print, or online or both, we must behave as journalists. Or, as I have said more times than I can remember, the rules haven't changed online, and you shouldn't let them.

(Note: Longtime readers of this blog may remember the first time someone offered to pay me for my work here. Take a look at how I responded.)

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, journalism ethics, advertising

The best and the bankrupt

Allow me to offer my congratulations to the finalists in ASBPE's Magazine of the Year and Website of the Year competitions.
ASBPE announced the final cut earlier this week. There are 20 magazines (in two circulation categories) left in the running. While 10 Web sites still have a shot at the grand prize.
The full list of finalists is available on ASBPE's Web site.

It's worth noting that one of the Web finalists is eWeek, the same publication that outraged me when I found it was a finalist earlier this year in ABM's Neal Award. ABM later showed the good sense not to give the award to someone who violated the ethics rules of our profession.
eWeek also later came to its senses .
But I would still hate to see a publication that demonstrated such disregard for our standards be named the best B2B publication on the Web. So I'm hoping that ASBPE opts to snub eWeek as well.

Note: in the Jan. 29, 2007, post in which I first complained about eWeek's unethical practices, I also made note of the parent company's dismal financial situation and predicted that "regardless of how things turn out, it’s unlikely that Ziff Davis’ owners, private equity firm Willis Stein & Partners, will get back anything close to the $780 million they paid for the company in 1999."
Well today Ziff Davis announced it was selling its Enterprise Group, which includes eWeek, for $150 million. The company remains riddled with debt. So it now seems likely that bankruptcy court will be the next stop for Ziff Davis.

Click here to read min's coverage of the sale.
Click here to read Folio's coverage of the sale.

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, journalism ethics, advertising

Cygnus becomes a sinner

Whenever I think that B2B media has turned a corner and committed itself to the highest standards of journalism, something happens to remind me of why so many people look down their noses at trade publishers.
A reader of this blog sent an email to tell me that Cygnus, a former client of mine, has begun inserting ads in the editorial -- the exact same offensive practice that Ziff Davis and CMP recently abandoned.

If you want to see the ads, take a look at this article or this one.
If you have any doubts that this practice violates the ethics guidelines of our industry, please take a look at this earlier post in which I praise ASBPE for issuing a clear and definitive statement saying that such ads are inappropriate.

And if you have any doubts about where the bending of editorial rules can lead -- if you have any curiosity about what the bottom of the B2B ethics barrel looks like, then check out the Nuclear Power Journal, where news releases are run for a fee. Click on the media kit and read about "editorial participation."

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, journalism ethics, advertising

CMP goes Web first; closes three magazines

There's some tough news today in the world of B2B journalism. CMP is restructuring and laying off some 200 people. The move is predictable, and even wise. But it's still sad to think that so many of our comrades are out of work.

The move is prompted by CMP's realization that last year its non-print revenue surpassed its print revenue for the first time, Chief Executive Officer Steve Weitzner told Folio. And according to Weitzner, "that trend is continuing and the gap is actually growing. We want to realign internal resources around these growth areas and look at opportunities in the marketplace and really go after them."
Or, in other words, CMP is putting its online business at the fore.
According to BtoB Magazine, CMP is closing three print magazines and reducing the frequency of two others.

CMP's restructuring comes less than three months after IDG's InfoWorld announced that it was going Web-only. I said then that "no matter how we look at the changes in media, it's clear that part of what is happening must be described as loss ... but something is gained, too ... a trail to follow, and vindication for the trailblazers."

I'm a glass-half-full kind of guy. So today, despite the losses at CMP, I also feel better about our industry as a whole.
Bit by bit, day by day, we are getting to where we need to be.

For more info, check out min's blog.

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media

More on widgets

My recent post about widgets, Facebook, the future and B2B journalism generated a few emails. And two readers pointed out that there are now at least two widgets in our industry.

First, if you're attending the Circulation Management show in New York this week, you can check out the debut of a widget from NXTBook. I'm afraid I don't have any details yet. But I'm eager to see it.

Second, Penton has a widget of its SearchFinace tool, built with Yahoo's widget technology. Take a look at the lower left-hand corner of SearchFinance.com for info on how to download it.

For more on widgets, take a look at the Sexy Widget blog. (It's worth noting that Sexy Widget's Lawrence Coburn is considerably less pleased by Facebook's recent move than I am.)

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, widgets

A win for the ethical folks

Folio magazine has an article in its June edition about my recent battle with Ziff Davis over that company's unethical use of IntelliTXT ads inside editorial copy. And if Folio is correct, then this fight is over. Michael Vizard, editorial director and senior vice president for Ziff Davis’s Enterprise Group, tells Folio that Ziff Davis has removed the ads.

And as I take a look through Ziff Davis' sites tonight, I can find no evidence of the offensive ads. And I'm just thrilled.

If you're not familiar with this issue, you should be. These ads have become a plague in our industry. So please read the Folio article. Or take a look at my post that stared this fight.

Also, I'd like to once again thank ASBPE for taking a forceful stance on this issue. The support of that organization has been crucial.
At the same time I feel obliged to voice my great disappointment in American Business Media and the American Society of Magazine Editors. It was exactly a month ago tomorrow that I asked the three major trade associations to clarify their ethics policies in regard to IntelliTXT ads. And while ASBPE responded rapidly, both ABM and ASME have remained silent.
That is shameful.

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, journalism ethics, advertising

The next big thing isn't here, but it may be very, very close

I've had no luck getting journalists and B2B publishers interested in creating widgets.
I've tried. But I've failed.
I can think of at least a half dozen conversations and emails on the subject in the past few months. But no one I've talked to has reacted with anything even close to enthusiasm. It's my fault, I'm sure. I didn't create a sense of urgency about widgets ... because although I've viewed them as exceedingly cool things, I haven't thought of them as crucial to a B2B publication.
But that may have just changed.
In a related vein, in the past few years dozens of journalists and publishing executives have asked me what I think will be the next big thing in publishing. And although I've used that question to launch conversations on dozens of topics, I haven't given a definitive answer ... because I didn't think I knew the answer.
But that too may have just changed.

If you've heard the news about Facebook, you may know what I'm about to say. If you haven't heard the news, let me explain. Facebook, the social-networking site that dominates the online lives of millions of college and high-school students, has said it will allow outside companies to embed applications and widgets in its pages. Facebook is opening its API to the world. What that means is that anyone is now free to build entire online businesses -- including content businesses -- on top of Facebook.
Scott Karp says the move gives Facebook the opportunity to become the next Google.

The first widgets are coming from predictable sources such as Amazon and Digg. But the possibilities are endless.
Certainly some of the smartest folks in the media business have jumped on the Facebook train. Take a look at this post by Rob Curley of the Washington Post, which "secretly" developed three applications for Facebook (Note: Rob emphasizes that Facebook is doing more than accepting widgets, but is instead looking for applications that are "real social-networking tools." And he even makes a point of saying that a simple widget of headline feeds would be about the dumbest thing anyone could try to get the Facebook community excited about.)

So am I saying that Facebook is the next big thing? For B2B? Not really.
Look -- Facebook has clearly become the most exciting company in the online world. And unlike a year ago when I first tried to sign up for a Facebook account, now even gray-haired B2B types like me are free to join. But I don't see Facebook becoming a major factor in the working lives of people in their 30s and older.
Am I saying that widgets are the next big thing? in B2B? Not really, although it's clear that many of the most exciting online products we'll see in the next few months will be widgets built for Facebook.

What I'm saying is that Facebook's decision to open its API is going to prompt a shift in the world of online content -- similar to the shifts that came with the rise of content aggregation and search. Once again the way that early adopters find, consume and share content is going to change. More importantly, an entire new class of entrepreneurs will emerge to build content companies on top of Facebook's API.
What I'm saying is that the next big thing in B2B publishing will exist because of what Facebook is doing. What I'm saying is that after new entrepreneurs figure out how to make money from content on Facebook, they'll figure out how to make money in B2B using a similar, widget-like process of embedding applications on top of someone else's business.
And the place that I think that's most likely to happen is Salesforce.com.

If you're not familiar with Salesforce, take a walk over to the desk of the guy who sells your ads. Odds are he knows it. Odds are he uses it. Ask him to explain it to you. Or just take a look here for an explanation of how Salesforce's customers can pick and choose from applications.
What you'll find is that Salesforce already is what Facebook is trying to become -- a technology platform that allows users to build a place to be on the Web. And while Facebook is about life, Salesforce is about work. Just like B2B publishing.

So consider this: Earlier this year Salesforce launched a service aimed at financial-service professionals. Merrill Lynch has already signed up 25,000 of its employees. Those employees are now using market-data streams and other applications in the Salesforce environment. But what they are not using is content, data or anything else from a traditional B2B publisher. Because as near as I can tell, none of the dozens of financial-service magazines in B2B have thought of a single application to offer them.

When I look at Facebook and Salesforce and open APIs, I'm convinced that I see the outline of the next big thing. I'm not sure exactly what form this next big thing will take. I'm not sure exactly how it will work. But I know that it is being born.
And as I have warned before, the world of B2B publishing isn't ready for it.

Click here to read how the development community views Facebook and Salesforce.

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, widgets

The best and brightest among us

I've been too busy to post much to this blog this week. But I'm going to take a second or so now to offer my congratulations to some of my favorite new-media journalists for winning grants from the Knight Foundation.
First and foremost among the winners is Adrian Holovaty, who picked up $1 million. After winning the award, Adrian quit the Washington Post and announced that he's starting a business. I've been saying for a very long time that Adrian, programmer/journalist and creator of ChicagoCrime.org, is among the smartest people working in our field. I'm glad that the Knight Foundation agrees.
Also among the winners are Amy Gahran and Jay Rosen. Longtime readers of this blog know that I've been urging journalists to follow their work for a long time.
No one understands the future of journalism -- and what those of us in the trenches must do to succeed -- better than these three.

Click here to see the entire list of winners.

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, journalism education