The Last Great Door-to-Door Sale

Trying to decide if there's anything that could possibly be sold door-to-door again, I came up with this. I might try it!

How's Your Paper?

It seems that each newspaper is handling the transition to the web differently. I have been reading AJC.com every day for a long time, with a free online subscription. I doubt I've clicked on any of their banner ads. I am not sure what content I am missing from the printed version, as it seems they put everything that's important in their online edition. While I am sure that my readership is of some value to the AJC, I don't know how they're making any money online.

In Florida, I read the Panama City Newsherald. I pay just over a quarter a day for an online subscription. They deliver the online version in pdf-like format with a software system called Olive. It's a weird interface. You get to see the paper laid out just as it is in print, which is kind of nice to see the placement of articles and photos. But you have to click on an article to read it, which opens up another window with larger text. It would be eaiser for the reader if they just did the entire site in web text (html, xml, whatever they use), and left out the Olive part.

It would also be easier on their print advertisers, because unless the ad is big, you can't read it in Olive software. And it's funny, because even though I don't click on the "classmates.com" or "Hitachi" banner ads online, I do sometimes want to see the printed ads in the newspaper. Because printed ads in the newspaper have deals and information locally in which I may be interested.

They have improved recently, making sure that breaking news is updated the same day instead of in tomorrow's edition. But they've added this weird video preview of tomorrow's stories every afternoon. What's weird about it? To me, I go to a paper for the journalism and writing. It would be easier to have their writers post small intros to what they're working on, instead of a video of an editor talking about tomorrow's stories. If they want to be videographers and video journalists, go work for the local tv station. I know video on the web is hot -- and actually a great way to demonstrate your products and services online -- but my newspaper is the last place I want to see it.

Bottom line: newspapers are obviously still evolving in the digital world, and it's interesting to see what the best models will be. My guess is that their online editions will be sponsored and free, and that any print editions will focus mainly on local stories and photography that you won't be able to find online and from the major news sources. National and World news online, Local News and Photos in print.

What do you want out of your newspaper?

Who Gets Paid to do This?

What is the point of this ad? Is it targeted to text-messaging young adults who don't worry about grammar? Is the goal of the ad to be so bad that it's talked about, getting much more exposure than just the billboard itself? How does this message make anyone want to check out the services of Superior Bank? How in the world did the person in charge of this billboard approve it?

New Name

I started writing articles about online marketing, but realize I'll have more to write about if I broaden my focus to marketing and business in general.

Here are just a few of the fun topics coming up...

• the cleanest restaurant in the world
• the future of the health club
• how is your newspaper handling the shift?
• home security and neighborhood watch: big big biz

and more of tomorrow's best business ideas!

MicroHoo? YaSoft?

If Microsoft does buy Yahoo, I just can't see any angle where this would benefit either company (except for the Yahooligans who take their millions and run, as Seth suggests.)

Microsoft already has a landing site (MSN) and search engine (Windows Live?) that works, it's simply just not as popular as Yahoo's. So what do they do? Kill MSN and Windows Live, and let Yahoo be the online property? Or do they shut down Yahoo and brand it all MSN? Or do they just keep the two brands separated, and expect every user to stay where they're at?

I just can't imagine this being a good idea. I bet a huge percentage of Yahoo fans use Yahoo in defiance of Microsoft to begin with.

Bill, please talk to me about using the $50 Billion to improve the Microsoft brand, not to kill an existing brand that does a pretty good job and looks to be in 2nd place for a long time.