10 Lame Excuses

Frank Anton, CEO of B2B publishing company Hanley Wood has produced a devastating list of 10 deadly sins that lead B2B companies into a spiral of purgatory in a challenging economic environment. The list is at Folio. Technophobia (along with "inferiority, complacency, coziness, stinginess, cluelessness, disorganization") is one of the sins:

Trade publishers that have underinvested in electronic media are now playing catch-up—and are paying the price, Anton said in reference to his ‘technophobia’ sin. Hanley Wood’s online advertising has seen growth over the last couple of years, and Anton expects that revenue to grow 40 percent this year.....

Magforum has asked us to compile our own list. Not so sure about the deadly sins, but here is a list of 10 lame excuses for doing nothing about digital editions:

A digital magazine will take away my print sales (and not having one will preserve your print sales?)

The decision about digital subscriptions rests with our IT department (not sure how, when or why IT departments became charged with strategic marketing decisions)

The decision about digital subscriptions rests with our Web Editor ( ditto above ...)

Our digital committee makes decisions about our digital strategy (or no decisions at all.....)

We are going to re-purpose all our editorial and make it freely available on our web site. ( but surely your editorial is your crown jewels..)

Our Repro house does not return our PDF's to us ...(and whose content is it?)

I am not sure that our customers would buy a digital sub. Isn't all content on the web free? (No, definitely not- quality editorial and searchable archives are not, in most cases, free)

We've asked all our current subscribers (print) and they say that they like to have the magazine in their hands. (yes, and they are your print subscribers but there's a whole new market out there)

We don't want to be seen next to our competitors ( isn't that how newsagents sell magazines?)

Our readers will see that we sometimes repeat the editorial........

BUT.....the majority of publishers are genuinely embracing digital editions and believe in the following revelations:

Digital Web Editions are a fantastic way of reaching a new audience

Digital Web Editions with searchable archives are complementary to the print edition

Digital Web Editions are a good way of marketing the print product

Digital Web Editions sold with a print subscription build subscriber loyalty

Digital Web Editions help sell advertisements

Digital Web Editions appeal to an increasingly eco-friendly society

Digital Web Editions assist with product development ( statistics of web activity show what is being read)