Re: MODERATOR NOTE: The Future of this List

From: Adam Boettiger <boettiger_at_pobox.com>
Date: Tue 31 Aug 2004 07:45:39 -0500

David Yancey wrote:

> Cliff, the future of *all* online business discussion lists is at issue. The
> cessation of Adam Boettiger_s I-Advertising list, and the end of the I-Sales
> list (after numerous attempts to find a way to monetize it) are handwriting
> on the wall.
>
> It is instructive that the three oldest and most respected ebusiness discussion
> lists which dealt specifically and primarily with advertising have more or less
> dried up insofar as poster interest is concerned.

I wrote Cliff a note off-list to the same effect of David's post.
  I prefer to think of my list as "in hibernation", however. :)
I may restart it at some point, but you hit the nail on the head
David:

The problem is not the Online-Ads list, nor is it you all, the
members.

The problem is that back when Cliff, John Audette and I started
our online communities circa 1996 the information load was far
less than it is today. The sheer volume of email has increased
more than four-fold, all of us are busy. None of us has "free"
time anymore.

Traditionally the summer months are dead or experience a lull on
most discussion lists due to people being out and about and
having family commitments, but yes there is a deeper lull in
effect and it's due primarily I think to the fact that the
landscape has changed dramatically over the past few years.

We saw a period of years when the online ad industry got brutally
hammered - pummeled in fact. Many people left voluntarily. Many
others got laid off as companies downsized. Still others left
involuntarily as they found their positions within companies
being eliminated and their duties consolidated under the title of
a marketing manager or director, encompassing all efforts not
just online.

So what we have is a trend where you see marketers having to don
two or three more hats and work harder, with less time to spend
theorizing in professional forums and on top of that you take
their email load and increase it tremendously.

And that's just the marketers. The publishers I imagine are
faring equally poorly. Here they've seen a booming market where
even in good years the top 95% of the ad-spend pie went to less
than 100 properties, leaving the rest scrambling for their share
of 5% (maybe less). So publishers are having to spend more time
and effort than they did back in the 90's to generate the same
level of sales. Gone are the days of triple digit CPMs and 35%
clickthrough rates, LOL.

In any case, I've found value in private, closed, by invitation,
smaller online communities where participation is a requirement
for membership. I'm not saying that this should be a rule here,
but David's right - people invest their time in areas they feel
they will get a return, and if 95% of a list is lurkers, there's
not much return for those who actively post and a huge return for
the lurkers. (Not that lurking is bad - it is a great way to learn!)

In any case, it's not the list at all. It is a combination of
exponential information overload combined with additional work
duties and a changing advertising landscape. I'm still active on
many discussion lists and have a few small groups that I run. I
recently started an ezine that is specifically focused on the
trend of information overload, email overload etc. called Digital
Ocean @ http://www.digitalocean.cc/

It is a huge problem that is not specific to Cliff and his fine
job of moderating this list. It affects everyone in every
industry and there is no holy grail that will fix it, only small
solutions and tactics.

Warmest regards,

Adam Boettiger
boettiger_at_pobox.com








Received on Tue Aug 31 2004 - 07:45:39 CDT