Will Layoffs Slow Publishers’ Digital Initiatives?

It’s too depressing to enumerate the layoffs that magazines have experienced in the past month or so. [If you’re looking for them, just scroll through FOLIO:’s latest news headlines.]

As print publishing has been hit hard, many companies have made the move to reorganize its resources with an online focus. As Lloyd Trufelman, the president of Trylon SMR, noted in a recent PRWeek story:

“I'm not aware of a single major magazine, especially a trade magazine, that hasn't realized that its future is on the Web, and [publishers] are grappling with how to make that transition,” adding that while many consumers were alarmed when Hearst decided to fold CosmoGIRL in October and continue in a Web-only presence, the publisher was acting in a forward-looking manner. “[The reaction] should have been the other way around, because [the Internet is] where the kids are and [Hearst] made a very smart magazine decision.”

In addition to CosmoGIRL’s continued web-only presence, Radar’s shuttering left its Web remains, Radaronline.com, to American Media, Inc., while Hearst’s Quick and Simple folded with the intention of shifting its focus to the 300,000-circulation magazine’s “newly-enhanced Web site.” B-to-b publishers like Source, Nielsen and F+W have also reorganized edit staffs to revolve around online.

While it’s clear that publishers recognize online as the next frontier, could staff cutbacks end up slowing digital growth? Layoffs at Mansueto Ventures, publisher of Fast Company, forced its standalone online group to merge with its print department. With Mansueto digital president Ed Sussman departing the company to form a social publishing firm based on open source content management system Drupal, it appears that even a leading, progressive publisher may find it difficult—if not impossible—to allocate sufficient resources to expanding and executing Web-specific initiatives.

By Vanessa Voltolina --

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Web Can Be A Savior In Tough Times

Submitted by Sean Fulton on Thu, 11/13/2008 - 12:24.

Web sales--when priced correctly--are the most profitable sales a publisher can have. Once the infrastructure is in place, the incremental cost to produce and distribute new ad units is practically nothing, especially when compared to paper, printing and mailing costs. What's more, advertisers are looking to maximize their dollars, so anything a publisher can do online that is different and competitively priced has a great chance of being sold as advertising budgets become tighter and tighter. But again, web advertising must be priced properly. Too many publishers still give online advertising away for pennies on the dollar, instead of selling custom sponsorships worth real money. In addition to building online properties, our company works with clients to build integrated online sponsorship packages worth anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000 or more. It is not unusual for our clients--many of whom are small, b2b publishers--to put $100,000 or $200,000 in new revenue on the boards during the first year of operating their new sites. And the cost to build those sites is usually about the same as the cost to print and mail a single issue of their print publication. It's not magic, it's simply a matter of putting together worthwhile opportunities and packaging them in ways your advertisers will find valuable. With those kind of revenues in place, and a negligible incremental cost cost of sale, I would argue that Interactive could be the one bright spot in these tough economic times. It costs little to produce, can generate real income, and establishes your publishing brand as a competitive leader. Now is not the time to retreat. Now is the time to innovate and get creative!

How print cutbacks could threaten online growth.

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