Re: Newspapers are doomed?

From: Jim Thirkill <jimt_at_aeps.com>
Date: Thu 21 Sep 2000 15:06:31 -0500

MARGARITA <b_o_n_a_at_hotmail.com> WROTE:
> Hi, I've been doing research on Internet vs.
> newspaper advertising recently and I got a feeling that
> the world is not big enough for both of them. To quote
> Ted Turner from Time Warner: "I wouldn't want to be in
> the newspaper business. I think the Internet is going
> to eat them first" (Fortune, Jan 10,2000)

In response to this, I thought it would be helpful to
share with everyone a communication I had with an
ex-customer yesterday. We publish an aviation career
information website and newsletter, and have developed
a process of responding to "unsubscribe" requests with
an request for feedback on how we might improve the
product. The ex-customer concerned expressed his
position that although he had great respect for our
newsletter, he had simply decided to opt out of the
e-mail communications arena because he was being
overwhelmed with UCE, finding the content of much of it
personally offensive. He simply stated "I have
decided that if I can't find it in a magazine or a
newspaper, it probably isn't that important".

This communication re-awakened my awareness that when
it comes to e-comfort, all people are not created
equal. There remains a generation out there, many of
whom are now in a position of high authority in their
organizations, who have not bought in to the e-world
and may not within the course of their professional
careers. This again demonstrated to me that e-mail,
websites, and the rest of the electronic world is only
one facet of marketing to the bricks and mortar world.
Print media will be with us for quite a while.

A side note is, I couldn't be more pleased with the
response we get from asking the "unsubscibers" how we
could improve our product. You learn more from one
ex-customer than you will from 20 current customers.
This process gives the additional benefit of closing
the relationship on a positive note, and often
generates referrals as a result. Although there is no
new lesson here for experienced businesspeople, such
systems are easy to put in place in the electronic
arena and are a goldmine.

Sincerely,
Jim Thirkill
www.aviationcareer.net
"Your Online Aviation Career and Employment Information Resource"





Received on Thu Sep 21 2000 - 15:06:31 CDT