I posted this article on facebook about the Tallahassee Democrat’s launch of paid online content, under which Larry posted this great response. It’s re-posted here with his permission. Thanks, Larry:

As someone who worked in newspapers for most of my career, with the latter part helping pioneer the online version of one of the country’s top newspaper sites, I can say (and have been saying) that this is a bad move. Half of the newspaper site’s traffic comes from google. A large portion comes from referral site links. They are effectively snipping off a majority of their traffic. I do wonder how the current web advertisers have reworked their deals to reflect the drastically reduced number of eyeballs that the democrat will provide.

This is not to mention the recent research that shows nearly 8 out of 10 adults said they will not pay for online news sites. That ad revenue (assuming it is significant) will not be recouped by online subscriptions. What they are doing is telling current print subscribers that their rate will double, but they’ll be getting an online sub. I know many subscribers who are dumping their subscription — and many others who will grumpily pay it, even though they never go online. The democrat will count those as online subscribers.

The real shame in all of this, to me, is that the Democrat is damaging their brand as a ubiquitous news leader in the capital region of one of the largest states.

The old newspaperfolk will cheer this move (and they have), but that only further proves that traditional newspaper companies fail to understand the Internet. They continue to slide down the slope created by underestimating eBay and craigslist and overestimating the value of their product. People don’t pay for news these days, and if you aks for money, most will turn away and find another source for news. What those people will find, much to traditional newspaperland’s disappointment, is that they can live perfectly fine without the daily newspaper. They will have more free time and their heads will be less cluttered by not having sensational headlines and non-news stories forced upon them. They will find much more relevance in their immediate world, the people they interact with each day.

If there is something newsworthy, the television stations or radio stations or magazines or other online news sites or even their friends and co-workers can fill them in.

Trust me. I know. I was a newspaperman through and through. Ink flowed through my veins. But I am sickened by how far newspapers have fallen, especially my hometown paper. I still have many friends in newspapers and I love and respect them dearly. I despise what their corporate leaders’ mismanagement has put them through the past few years. It’s been absolutely awful how their staffs and budgets have been shredded.

Maybe one day we will again have a truly local newspaper — locally owned and operated. That’s a paper I can support.

Today, Starbucks moves to free wi-fi while the Tallahassee Democrat moves to paid online content. More coffee and less reading may not be a great combination, but it just might be how most of Tallahassee will roll until the ruling is overturned.

Of course, that’s only a prediction. I’ve been wrong before — ask my wife.

Here’s another prediction: I give it less than 15 days before web traffic plummets, 60 days before online advertisers find new places to sink their still meager budgets, and 90 days before staff begin soiling their pants daily, bring a dry cleaner in house so they can remain moderately fresh, and reconsider jumping back on the free train.

But hey, maybe the mother ship, Gannett, have convinced Dorsey and Gabordi that they’ve got this in the bag. Maybe they conducted their research and are just waiting to uncork champagne bottles and break them on the heads of us skeptics. Maybe they’ve gazed into their crystal balls and released of purple flying subscription monkeys knowing they’ll return with the wallets of eager local readers. (If that turns out to be true, expect to see a few dead purple monkeys strewn about town (How’d that be for a lead story?).)

Who knows what will happen starting tomorrow, but we’ll find out soon enough.

I-10 east
I95 north
traffic on 278
Hilton Head South Carolina
Beachside Tennis
meat lovers pizza
booboos & band-aids
shrimp & grits
crabbing
biking on the beach
swimming
biking to harbor town
lighthouse climb
114 steps
smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, chopped onions
Savannah, GA
Paula “not eatin there” Deen
river street
dockside southern style buffet
cornbread fried chicken collard greens mac and cheese stuffing
a salad
tiny beers with tiny limes — yes, coronitas
Claire Ben Ashley Julie Brandon
Myra Virgil
Jen Ruby Michael
Nicki — and Josh via text
stacy’s pita chips
ahi tuna salad
salty dog
missing Rodney
green ice cream with chocolate chips
chocolate ice cream
you really want cotton candy ice cream?
cool water currents
happy dolphins
shark!!
low tide rivulets
like walking in a dryer full of wet clothes
tandem bike drag
Italian night
grampa
stroganoff
effen raspberry vodka
canceled golf
early departures
i’ll-fitting merrells
low country boil
she’s eating broccoli & hot dogs?
beach walks
crabbin’
crab hats
hello kitty kite
butterfly kite
bi-plane kite
mushy sand
pizza flavored pretzels? yea, gross.
hummus
Italian night
fried calamari
diet sunkist & vodka? really?
bananagrams
cranium
harbour town
signe’s heaven bound bakery
traffic on 278
I95 north
I-10 east
get the dogs at MoJo’s
i don’t wanna cook either — Lucy Ho’s, please
that was a great vacation.
good night.
love you ruby.
love you mommy and daddy.
love you too.
can’t wait till next year.

There was always fire in Laurel Blackburn’s eyes and belly (aka abs). Alongside the passion for fitness, however, there also existed a timidity for business. Lately, that timidity has turned into outright tenacity. A recent Facebook posts read like this: Signing 2 leases this week. One for our 5,000 sqft facility and 1 for a new location in Crawfordville. Life is good!

Laurel Blackburn’s BootCamps to Go is definitely a Tallahassee small business success story. A few years ago, she contacted me to help refresh her logo. She then hired me to create a brochure and business cards — the typical stuff a new business needs to get off its feet — or as Laurel would probably say, “get it off its ass.”

Truth be told, Laurel was a self-sufficient business person. She was never was someone to call me for every little thing she needed — or thought she needed. If she had questions about marketing, she’d call for advice; but most of the time, she was on her own, running her business with the same intensity that fueled her workouts.

She posted signs on the side of the road. She sent emails. She blogged. She posted testimonials. She shot and posted pictures and video. She printed shirts with headlines even seasoned copywriters would have a tough time coming up with. Most importantly, though, she connected with her customers on a human level. She asked what they wanted from their experience with her business, and she delivered on their requests. Dietician? Sure. Alternate workouts? Sure. Nutritionist? Of course!

How’d she do it all? Laurel understood her business, her brand, her tone of voice, and her customers (whom also became friends over time). Once any business understands those basics, executing tactics successfully comes much more easily.

Over time, she gained a following and earned people’s trust. Now, she’s opening in new locations during the toughest economic times we’ve seen. This is the new breed of business in our brave new world. Small, hungry, passionate, engaged, and unwilling to let anything stand in its path (I pity anyone that does).

Way to go, Laurel Blackburn, Mike Alvarez, and the entire BootCamps to Go team and fan base. Continue to kick ass and take names. Tallahassee is in better shape because of you.

Disclosure: As stated above, BootCamps to Go has been a client of transplant. I have also been a client of BootCamps to Go (though it may not show it). Neither myself nor my business is being compensated in any way for this post.

Though I’ll never refer to myself as a social media expert or guru or shaman or any other faddish buzzword, I can happily use the term certified.

If you’re looking for someone to help you explore new ways to market your business, shoot me an email. Onward and upward.

The Conversation Factory is now open and helping clients and partners like BrackenChase Builders, Premier Bank, Florida Medical Association, and artist Paul Tamanian, explore the possibilities of non-traditional marketing strategies based on today’s ever-evolving media landscape.

The Conversation Factory is also working with really smart local students (currently 20 total) interested in learning about and working in advertising and marketing through a project called the Real Work Group. If you’re a student interested in exploring this brave new world of marketing, think about joining us here. If you’re on twitter, you can contact me directly for more information.

Currently, The Conversation Factory’s online presence is only on Facebook, but get this, not you or anyone you know will receive a request to become a fan. Why? We think that should happen naturally based on the things we do rather than an invitation we send.

Regardless, we hope you’ll check in from time to time to see what we’re up to. If you like what we’re doing, leave a message — or heck, become a fan. We’d love it even more if you’d tell us what kind of content we could provide or areas that we could explore that you’d find valuable. After all, we started The Conversation Factory to engage in honest conversations about current business and marketing issues.

Where in the world is The Conversation Factory?
Right here in Tallahassee, Florida. So if you’re in the neighborhood, you are cordially invited to stop in for a cup of coffee — no reservations necessary. If we’re in a meeting, just have a seat and we’ll be with you as soon as we can. If you don’t want to take a chance, call Michael Calienes at (850) 459.8192.

What’s happening to Michael Calienes’ company, transplant?
Nothing at all. transplant is alive and well and doing business within The Conversation Factory space. We’re still picking up new clients and projects that will benefit from our strategic and exploratory work at The Conversation Factory.

Want to know anything else?
Just ask away. Leave a comment below or message me through our Facebook page.

(Thanks to Miami’s Michelle Garcia-Corcoran who became our first official “un-asked” fan. Must be that Miami “edge.” :)

Hope you’re all doing well.

Every email is not important and urgent.

The same with every phone call and voice mail.

Do you have to do every part of every project yourself? Or can you delegate?

Are you spending too much time on stuff that’s neither urgent or important? Like worrying about things you don’t have any control over? Or making mountain ranges out of mole hills?

In this era of 24 hour connectedness, time-management isn’t what’s needed. It’s you-management. The more the clock ticks and tocks, I sense it’s not about attacking a to-do list but about writing out a want-to-do list, and figuring out how to delegate or spread out the to-do list so that the want-to-do list gets done.

After all, spending more time on the things you want you to do versus the things other people want you to do is way more important. Those are the things re-fuel, energize us, and keep us going. Most importantly, they allow us to give more to the people who count on us.

So, how’s today looking?

An agency? Choosing an agency would be extremely unCurrent.

CurrentTV has built its brand and following by thinking beyond what’s current and executing in the now, because quite obviously, the time-space continuum prevents it from executing at any future point — where it actually belongs. (Perhaps CurrentTV will be the brand that obliterates this pesky obstacle.)

CurrentTV already owns massive media space, online space, mind space, and most impressively, attracts the kind of passionate  viewers who create its content. And you need an agency? I’m not buyin’ it.

CurrentTV simply needs to invest in best-of-breed individuals who are as passionate as the viewers are to generate ideas that fulfill the vision. CurrentTV already broke ground by releasing the RFP via twitter. Why go backwards and choose an agency?

You don’t need an agency. You need to remain Current.

What do you think?

From time to time, I’ve placed ads in the Miami Herald newspaper for clients. To them, transplant (my company) is an advertising agency, so you can understand why I’m more than a little annoyed to have received the email below yesterday afternoon. In it, the Miami Herald openly offers businesses the very same guidance my company offers, placing them in direct competition with local and regional agencies like mine.

Aside from the body of the message, the email also included an article titled “PR Outranks Advertising in Improving Consumer Confidence in Banks” (both are shown below this post).

Problems:

1. the Miami Herald sent an article about PR outranking advertising to an ad agency
2. the Miami Herald included advertising functions like branding, direct mail, and print advertising as part of their offerings
3. the Miami Herald uses the words “confused and ignorant” to describe “most people” (I can only assume they’re referring to readers)
4. this email was sent to me by the very person I do (or more accurately, did) business with
5. considering that advertising is in trouble alongside newspapers, perhaps partnering with agencies like mine to figure out a solution may be a better strategy

Below is the email message followed by the article. Love to hear your comments. Love to hear the Miami Herald’s too.

Hope you’re well.

———-

Let me know how we at The Miami Herald Media Company can partner with you to bring confidence to the local community by getting your message out with an intelligent marketing campaign utilizing a combination of print , Direct Marketing (email blast & direct mail) and our interactive network to include Yahoo! The Miami Herald Interactive Network partnership with Yahoo! provides choices to promote your brand in the Miami-Ft Lauderdale area through banner sponsorships and Behavioral Targeting in Yahoo!

How best to use us:

• change perception with new message
• promote products and services specific to your targeted audience
• provide sound financial advice during this financial crisis…most people are confused and ignorant when it comes to finance
• message can include testimonials from satisfied clients

When asked about their banks, insurance companies and investment firms, the study found that 55% of consumers who say they had seen more advertising for their financial institution reported having “complete confidence” in the financial health and soundness of their financial company. Among those who said they had seen less advertising, only 18% had “complete confidence” in their financial company and a significant 45% said they had “little or no confidence” in their company.

The report concludes that this supports the theory that companies that do not advertise are risking widespread public perception that they have failed or are on their way out, at a time when many financial companies are pulling back on their advertising and marketing efforts to cut costs and avoid the appearance of wasteful spending.

Nielsen also found that confidence was linked to age and affluence, as well as the amount of risk associated with the financial institution. Older adults ages 55+ and those with assets of more than $100K were more confident than the average. Overall, a minority of respondents said they had “complete confidence” in their financial institutions:

• Less than 38% had confidence in their checking and savings bank
• 28% were confident of the company that manages their investment or retirement accounts
• 28% had confidence in their life insurance company

In response to what factors would increase confidence in the safety and soundness of their financial institution, respondents cited:

• Reading positive stories in the press about that institution (44%)
• Seeing regular advertising for that institution (25%)
• Receiving regular mail or email offers from that institution (25%)
• Regularly seeing internet offers/advertising from that institution (21%)
• Year-over-year ad spending on financial services and insurance was down 13.4% in 2008 compared with 2007. The drop-off was even sharper for Q4 2008 vs. the same period in 2007.

END

Yesterday afternoon, Lamar Advertising Tallahassee informed me and other local business owners that tonight, at 6:00pm, several proposals regarding outdoor advertising will be voted on during a county commission meeting.

The email sent was in reaction to this article in the Tallahassee Democrat by retired attorney, Rip Caleen, who writes, “Let’s not cave in to the demands of these out-of-town billboard corporations and squander this rare opportunity to begin restoring the natural beauty of this community.”

The email from Lamar also included a letter (included at the end of this post) from Sales Manager, Ana Sutherland, who cites that “Ninety percent of our advertisers are local business, clients who want to get their message out to the general public and grow our business community.” She also tells of their yearly donations in the neighborhood of $500,000 to non-profit entities.

After reading both, I remembered this article written by advertising great, Howard Gossage. The article originally appeared in Harper’s Magazine, February, 1960. Among his musings, Mr. Gossage wonders “what in the hell billboards are doing anywhere.”

So what do you think about it all? Love to hear your thoughts, and have a great day. I’ve posted commentary from facebook and twitter friends below the letter.

—–

The letter from Lamar Advertising:

March 18, 2009

Dear Friends and Business Partners,

I don’t know how much you read the local newspaper these days, but in today’s Tallahassee Democrat there was an article called “We can clean up our bad case of billboard clutter” written by Rip Caleen.

In his article Mr. Caleen argues that billboards diminish the natural beauty of Tallahassee and calls for a reduction in so called “billboard clutter”. What Mr. Caleen may not know is that:
• Lamar Advertising of Tallahassee provides at least $500,000 per year in free and or reduced cost space to Non Profit Organizations and Public Service Announcements.
• Lamar has committed our digital network to Local Law Enforcement to help locate Missing Children, Most Wanted Criminals, and Emergency Management for messaging regarding hurricanes, flooding and other severe weather.
• Ninety percent of our advertisers are Local business, clients who want to get their message out to the general public and grow our business community.

These are just a few highlights of what Lamar Advertising is and represents in our community. Mr. Caleen wants to paint us as a large out-of- State Corporation. However, Lamar Advertising of Tallahassee has been here for almost 50 years and the people who work here have lived and worked in this community for years, even generations. Obviously, we are all committed to Tallahassee and Leon County.

Today I am asking for your assistance. We would greatly appreciate any help you can give us in letting Mr. Caleen know that your organization and or business has partnered with Lamar Advertising currently or in the past, and what the benefit of that partnership has been. I have attached a copy of today’s article that also includes Mr. Caleen’s contact information.

We thank you in advance for your assistance and look forward to working with you again in the near future,

Ana Sutherland
Sales Manager
Lamar Advertising, Tallahassee
850-877-4184

——-

Facebook Comments:

Tom Hall at 10:59am March 19: Get rid of all those big billboards!! You mean that kind of perspective?

Jim Mitchem at 11:20am March 19: as a copywriter, I love the challenge of outdoor (http://tinyurl.com/cfn35x) BUT – I hate the idea of billboards. Perhaps this is the beginning of the end of another form of traditional media.

Rudy Terrada at 11:54am March 19: Outdoor is fun, but sadly save for a few spots (maybe the top 5 markets) the only practical form of outdoor adv. are billboards… and I’m a disciple of the Book of Gossage

Rudy Terrada at 11:56am March 19: IMO a billboard should be no taller that the buildings around it.

John H Webb at 12:11pm March 19: I didn’t realize we have a billboard “problem”. Lamar gave a board for Brewfest last year, plus has dontated billboards for 2-1-1 Big Bend. They have several boards for the Film Festival, so I’m guessing that’s donated as well. If you do billboards right, it’s a great branding tool. Unfortunately, I don’t see many local billboards done right. Too many people treat them like it’s a print ad.

——-

twitter comments to a question posed prior to my publishing the post: “What’s your gut reaction on the subject of billboards and/or outdoor advertising?”

@jleray writes: Don’t like it, but I look at it uncontrollably. Does that mean it works?

@herbert68 writes: If it’s cool, hip, clever, entertaining – I like it. If it’s boring or annoying – I hate it.

@joshmunsee writes: personally i love outdoor. But all to often they lack and are not utilized fully. Long live the Mini Cooper campaign.

@micahdonahue writes: I grew up in Maine without billbds, so my POV is biased. But I love the way OOH media encourages creativity thru brevity.

@ryanthegray writes: expensive for traditional media but fun to do