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Is "the phone book" dying, or dead?
I was at a meeting of small business owners recently where we shared our experiences and ideas about marketing effectiveness - what works and what doesn't. I was surprised at the vehement reaction against yellow page advertising - either the old hard copy kind, or the new online options. Neither, said this group at least, is worth the cost.
In thinking about this I tried to remember the last time I had turned to the phone book or directory listings online to find a number for somebody or something. I can't remember the last time I looked up a business number. When I need a business number I go to the web site for it, which I find through a Google search. I have, though, looked up personal numbers both in the hard copy book and online. But that's probably because I've been woefully behind the times in terms of capturing and saving numbers on my cell phone.
A MarketWire release from July, 2009 tells of the economic trials of two major publishers - Idearc Media and R.H. Donnelley. Yet, this article in WomenEntrepreneur suggests otherwise. And, a friend of mine seems to be doing quite well selling directory advertising to local businesses for both print and online placements. A couple of things strike me about this:
- As a communication consultant I stick by my foundational principles of not picking or discounting media based on "what everybody else thinks or is doing," but on whether or not the media attracts my audience. So, for some businesses, I might still recommend phone directly advertising. It depends on the audience and how the audience's behavior patterns.
- As a phone directory publisher (which I'm thankfully not), I'd be worried - and I'd be trying to come up with some new ideas to help me address the disruptive innovation that the Internet and, now mobile technology, has created.
- As a businessperson it just reminds me that we must all be constantly monitoring the environment and responding to changes that have the potential to impact how we do business. And, most importantly, we need to have the wisdom - and the humility - to respond to those changes before it's too late.
I'm interested in hearing from those of you who do - and don't - use phone directory advertising. Why/why not? I'm also interested in stories of how you may have responded to disruptive changes in your business environment. Email me with your stories. | |
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| Social networking is nothing new! |
A business colleague made a comment recently that I thought was rather profound. "Social networking is nothing new, and not at all related to technology," he said. My internal response after a second or two of feeling a bit perplexed was: "Well, yeah, duh!" While the term "social networking" has come to be integrally associated with the interactions some people are having on sites like Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, the fact of the matter is that any time we interact with someone we are engaged in social networking. And, most of us have always been engaged in social networking, whether we enjoy it (the extroverts among us) or avoid it (the introverts).
We tend to not think of it this way, but we should. I think if we did we would have more meaningful and successful online interactions in those "social networking" worlds that we now interact in. As I think about my online activities, this "aha moment" makes me want to do a better job of:
- Conveying a clear sense of my personality - who I am, what I'm interested in, what I believe - instead of trying so hard to create a persona or "online brand."
- Communicating with a purpose. I don't just randomly attend social events and strike up conversations with people, so why would I do that online?
- Ask more questions. In my "real life" I ask a lot of questions. I'm curious. I like to learn new things. Plus, I'm basically shy and over the years have learned that I tend to seem less shy if I can just get other people talking.
- Watching what I say. My family owned a small business and I vividly remember my father drilling into our heads that "you never say anything negative about someone to someone else - you never know who they know or how they might be related." Well, multiply the impact of this exponentially when you're interacting online!
- Being cautious about talking to strangers. I've been pretty open about "connecting with," "following," and "friending" people online - after all, I'm trying to create awareness for my business services. But, I don't necessarily want to be connected to everyone. And, as somebody once said, "the company we keep tells a lot about us."
What are you learning about technology-based social networking and how does it compare/contrast to the real-world social networking you've been doing for years?
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Can Duck Duck Go beat Google?
I've been researching and writing about the impact of content farms - organizations like Demand Media, AOL Seed and Suite 101 - on the journalism industry and on SEO (search engine optimization).
Did you know that when you conduct a search online many of the results you'll see on the first few pages actually take you to content generated through these "farms"? Whether that's a good or a bad thing remains to be seen and is really based on the perspectives of the searchers themselves.
If they find what they're looking for, they're happy. But, as someone who uses search a lot, and as a business owner who would like my website content, and the website content of my clients, to have a fighting chance against these SEO masters who are literally flooding cyberspace with their content, I'm finding it somewhat frustrating.
And, apparently, I'm not alone. One of the editors I work with recently forwarded me an interesting article about a new search engine - Duck Duck Go - that is going head-to-head with Google by offering search results that weed out the generic content generated by content farms. Not a battle for the weak of heart, certainly. But a worthy objective, nonetheless. I, for one, plan to check them out and will be interested to watch how the broader world of search may be impacted. |
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