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September 16, 2005
Blogging Buzz and Magazine Rejuvenation
Whether or not your words are noticed by the public is largely dependent on how you publish those words.
Blogging as a writing form has gotten a lot of notice from the mainstream media in the past year - mostly because of its direct, immediate connection to readers which can be turned into advertising profits and tons of cash for political candidates.
I do not know how to crack into that upper echelon of the blogging elite. Perhaps it would help if I kept updating my blogs daily instead of allowing other things to consume my time (work, teevee, WILPF, etc).
According to a commentary by Jon Friedman at MarketWatch, blogs stoll the buzz thunder from magazines. And now magazines are trying to steal back their lost thunder by reminding us of the tactile importance of the medium. The American Society of Magazine Editors is holding a contest to find the best 40 covers of the last 40 years, something blogs will never be able to do. Despite jumping head first into the blogospher back in 2001, I firmly continue to believe in the importance, relevance, and staying power of print - especially magazines, books, and Sunday editions of newspapers. (I like the magazine quality of Sunday newspaper articles - how they wrap up a week of news and offer more analysis and back history than daily newspaper articles.)
In related news, the Magazine Publishers of America are trying to convince advertisers that it doesn't matter how much a person pays for the magazine she reads; that even a free magazine offers a point of connection with a consumer. I'm still trying to figure out what everyone means by Return On Investment (ROI). How do you accurately measure that? What makes any advertising good from an ROI perspective? Perhaps I should learn more about how experts are answering those questions. All I know is that monthly magazines really do hold a special place in the lives of their subscribers; and a fleeting place in the mind of their newsstand readers.
Posted by cj at September 16, 2005 07:46 AM