Daniel Verrells Data Services

2012-01-06T08:04:00.000-08:00

uh-oh. Been three months since i was last here. Have excuses but nothing you want to hear about. I'm back in the saddle with Cuz the Studs on Sunday. He seems to have a faster riding style than me and I'm not sure why. Not sure he's any fitter (although not a smoker)...aha - think i've just hit the nail on the head. He's got a Cannondale racer which is a real ball crusher. Me - I prefer the gentleman style of a sit-up-and-beg.

Target for this month is to hit 25 miles in a serious session and go more than once a week. Brighton is looming and at the current rate it'll take me 5 hours - not including pub breaks.

Whay? You cleaned your bike? yesiree - gave it a once over with a damp cloth and it's sparkling like a goodun

Record week

2011-10-12T09:10:00.000-07:00

Now, I know to you athletes out there it's not very impressive but I covered 50 miles last week - on my own, with Leon and with Studs Cuz. Made it to Groombridge with Leon and another road ride around Cowden Lingfield and back to East Grinstead

Have realised that Leon needs a new bike instead of the solid iron one I bought him a couple of birthdays ago - Ebay here we come.

2011-10-05T01:16:00.000-07:00

OK, bikes back and it's feeling athletic and taut. Celebrated with a 15 mile round trip along the Worth Way to Three Bridges. I've done over 50 miles this week (my cycling week starts on Saturday)

I have noticed some bicycle etiquette and I'm not sure i want to join in. It seems 95% of cyclists acknowledge each other - but only if one thinks the other is doing it for more than transport reasons. Hard one to judge sometimes so am not going to bother. People walking don't acknowledge other walkers and people in cars don't go round beeping to each other to say hello.

London to Brighton

2011-10-03T09:39:00.000-07:00

Interspersed with nuggets of wisdom mostly gained from time spent on the WWW I want to diarise my efforts to get my ne and my boy (Leon) from London to Brighton using nothing but pedal power. Many years ago (actually many, many years ago) I completed the course with my cousin - half a life time of cigarettes and beer since isn't going to help.

So I bought a bike - a fairly genteel road-going hybrid which feels like a Rolls compared to anything I have ever ridden before. It's only an entry level Specialized but surely good enough to get my 13 stone of wheezy body to the end of the course.

Four weeks in and we've been out and about most weekends. The Worth Way is a handy cycle track - mostly flat with some pubs along the way - local to here and 2o miles from one end to the other. I love this time with Leon and, I think, he likes it too.

I've even done some road work with my friend the cycle geek - Studs Cuz. Last week we did 20 miles around the Gatwick area - beautiful. Some great hills that reward your efforts to get up them with some wind-in-the-hair downhill freewheeling.

My bikes in for it's first service now - spongy brakes need attending to - can't wait to get it back.

Some interesting research results on which publishers have got to grips with mobile content delivery.

2011-05-27T08:01:00.001-07:00

Less than 10% of UK print media publishers have their content correctly re-purposed for mobile delivery - whether that be as a mobile app or a mobile web site that can be viewed effectively on a smart phone. B2B publishers fall well behind this figure (exceptions at Incisive and WR). Two pieces of information make me think the time is now.

1) 10-15% of Google searches come from mobile phones and therefore the results of those searches are viewed on a phone.

2) There are over 11 million smart phone users in the UK and this is undoubtedly growing apace At what point do you decide to make the most of this content delivery technology?

When do publishers decide that the time is right to make this investment?

2011-05-06T02:37:00.000-07:00

great newspaper ad here which i think captures the spirit of "let's not get carrried away with all things digital"

http://bit.ly/mkAfvJ

Demise of CC?

2011-04-05T03:39:00.000-07:00

Some interesting publisher survey results from The Specialist Media Show... * 34% are charging for online content now – and another 15% have plans to do so in the next two years * One-third of those can charge several hundred pounds for annual subscriptions * 16% already charge for web-based digital editions, and a further 12% bundle with a print subscription * 22% already have a mobile app or are about to launch – a further 15% plan a launch in the next year. * 34% plan a digital archive – either subs-driven or ad-funded * 42% are planning a tablet edition * 53% are planning to add video content And, perhaps most interestingly, they are bullish on the prospects for print, with 85% expecting consumer magazines to be in print beyond 2020, with specialist consumer titles the most resilient. However, 42% expect all printed business magazines to be subs only within 5 years. I'm not sure about the last set of figures - over 40% see the final demise of controlled circualtion? Surely there will be still room for a tightly targetted controlled circulation in the media mix. what do you think?

Money in social?

2011-03-10T05:58:00.000-08:00

So, the rumour industry has it that the creators of both Twitter (for sale) and Linked In (IPO poposal) are attempting to realise some revenue from their products The same rumour fancies Twitter will go for something like £10billion - not bad for a product that doesn't make any money.

This is probably more what the suitors (Google? Facebook?) are prepared to pay to avoid anyone else getting hold of Twitter.

But my angle is this...whoever takes them over will be keen to monetise the brands very quickly. I'm not sure that these network users will take kindly to overt commercialisation of what they consider to be "their" network - this in turn will push them to look somewhere else for the next big thing.

Somehow they will have to keep audience and marketeers engaged - a tightrope if ever i saw one.

However, 130 million eyeballs a day on Twitter alone must be worth something if someone gets it right.

Digital Publishing Considerations

2011-02-17T03:36:00.000-08:00

So you've studied the market and your customers and decided to dive into delivering your content digitally. It's not hard to do - upload your PDF's to one of the free Digital Publishing Services and job done.

But your expectations of what this new media can do must be more than that - readers or revenue or both? Here are some questions you need to ask yourself.

What are you trying to achieve? Are you merely offering your readers a different channel for your content or something in addition to what they see now? Do you think you can derive advertising revenue in addition to your print version? Can you charge subscription prices for this without upsetting your current subscription revenue.
What's it going to look like? Can i get away with a simple copy of my print version on-line (probably not) or do I have to get the designers to have a look at making it more reader-friendly?
Can I include interactive content? Can I enhance my content using video, audio or web links?
Where's the revenue coming from? Are my advertisers going to increase their spend if I introduce another channel? Can I give a good reason for readers to pay on a subscription model? Is there some differentiation between current content and my proposed product?
How does it fit in with my other media and reader touch points. Is there an integrated strategy that looks at all communication media?
The future? Technology is changing all the time and the roadside is littered with those that have jumped in blind only to find their audience has moved on. Consider tablets, smartphones, print on demand, Flash, HTML 5 , native apps etc. etc. keep abreast of the technology and keep your strategy flexible

Big Issue of the Publishing Industry #1

2011-01-27T03:09:00.001-08:00

Advertising revenue in traditional print media is on the wane and for on-line - hasn't got off the ground yet. So, many publishers are finding ways to generate extra revenue and for many of those their focus falls on the reader and a paid subscription model.

But it's not a question of either/or a paid/free model - different levels of engagement can provide a different type of audience that satisfies advertiser and publisher alike.

Consider the three-tier strategy that allows for a free, registered and paid customer.

Free provides the audience numbers that your advertisers seek and the database numbers that you need.

Registered readers show a commitment and, at the same time, providing the quality data you need to maintain a healthy database.

Paid readers provides a finely tuned core audience that both you and your advertisers can develop into addition revenue streams.

It's very difficult, time consuming and expensive to try and persuade your existing audience to move up any of these tiers with the existing products. More likely your success will benefit from introducing new views, products, reports, specials etc etc.

Digital Publishing

2011-01-24T07:32:00.000-08:00

Some very encouraging on-line advertising research results from Adobe http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/01/24/adobe_survey_finds_readers_engaged_with_ads_on_apples_ipad.html

The bottom line is that the publishing industry still is trying to understand what it needs to do to take advantage of new media and content delivery devices such as tablets. It can't be ignored, however, that they represent a new opportunity to reach the early adopter customer base – those that are highly engaged and influential in social media. These digital publications also allow companies to use interactive and creative digital content to bring new life to a story.

2011-01-12T02:29:00.000-08:00

Even the most rigidly traditional publisher must be nosing around the digital industry and discovering potential new ways to deliver content.

Many publishers have incorporated digital in their publishing strategy but many more are teetering on the edge waiting to make a move.

There are many lessons to be learnt but maybe the most dangerous thing you can do is nothing. Somewhere, somehow and sometime soon the landscape is going to change radically and permanently.

Here are some of the issues you have to ask of your current business to at least give you the tools to make the decisions...

1) Know your readers? Are your readers' media consumption preferences changing? How many have I pads? How digital are they? You're going to have to know your customers a hell of a lot better than you do now.

2) Learn to think digitally. This is going to take a huge change in your culture and you're going to have to take your staff on a journey of changing thinking, skills and approach. Make sure you have someone on board who can lead this journey.

3) Educate your staff. They must be able to understand the future you're building in both strategic and technical terms. Encourage sharing of their experiences of working with different aspects of digital publishing - this goes through marketing , editorial, sales and IT.

4) Look at the IT systems you are going to need. You're going to have to have systems that can manage and measure your multi-channel world and deliver a more consistent customer experience that involves on- and off- line.

5) Everything is measurable n the digital world - what content is popular, where people arrived from, where they went to, where they entered your content etc etc. Keep it simple and keep it relevant.

Viral marketing, Mobile Media and Social Networks

2010-12-01T05:38:00.000-08:00

Some clever companies are adept at using the power of viral marketing and the dynamics of social media to facilitate this.

Audio and video content, if handled well, is an extremely effective way to draw people to your site and keep them there.

It can so easily go viral - introducing newcomers to your brand and reinforcing brand awareness in a way that text rarely does. Within minutes of being uploaded to YouTube a brand can see its efforts all over Twitter, Facebook and other social networks.

Consider those orchestrated outbursts of song that appear on TV adverts loosely linked to a chocolate bar or mobile network. Again within minutes, mobile media and camera phones enable the brand and message to start the viral journey.

Of course Facebook gets a look in as well - Take the fan page option. Ikea recently promoted the launch of a new store through its fan page. It uploaded pictures of Ikea rooms and the first customer to tag their name in the picture won the product.

Cisco and IBM are two B2B firms committed to addressing customer concerns and comments through Facebook fan pages. Meanwhile, Dell’s fan page provides information on product launches, but also doubles up as a support forum, where customers can post questions and download how-to and set-up guides.

On Line news

2010-11-18T04:15:00.000-08:00

The Daily Mail on-line offering (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/) has become the most popular newspaper site in the UK with some pretty impressive figures. Launching as recently as 2007, it now boasts 17.8 million monthly users with 1.8 million visiting 10 times a month or more. It's also the world's second largest English language newspaper web site (after The New York Times).

Their free-to air strategy is at odds with the attempts of The Times Online who are aiming at the paid-for niche markets - albeit at vastly reduced introductory prices.

However their digital revenues are said to be very small and may never be large enough to fund the Mail newsroom however they are growing and there are suggestions that this is NOT at the expense of the traditional print version. Their print version figures are at the most steady at 2.1 million despite the fact that over half the 1.2 million daily UK users do not buy the paper.

This might well be because as the editorial policy is slap-bang in the middle. This allows them to spread out both ways and still engage their core readers.

However, it's not all roses. Traditional print providers of news who have gone on-line are not the first port of call for people wanting news content. 6.5% of web visitors are looking for new content with under 1% of UK internet traffic going to British newspapers. The BBC, Yahoo and MSN are way in the lead of the Mail site.

My thoughts are that the subscription money is in delivering this content in a more mobile way (phones and e-readers) whilst maintaining the basic on-line visitors to keep advertisers happy.

Digital Delivery

2010-10-14T04:29:00.001-07:00

How readers want to receive their content is changing and new technology is working hard to keep up. Digital and Mobile media is past the early adopters stage and becoming mainstream.

Currently publishers of print media cover this option by exactly reproducing their print on-line but that's the lazy way out - digital offers so much more for advertisers and readers alike.

I manage circulations for "traditional"publishers and an increasing large sector are opting to receive the digital content over the print issue.

Take a look - http://www.danielverrellsdigital.co.uk/

Friends Reunited Facebook Revisited

2010-08-31T09:09:00.000-07:00

Interesting to see the plans that Brightsolid have for Friends Reunited after they bought it (including Friends Reunited Dating and Genes Reunited - they already own a heritage site) for £25m last year. ITV rushed out and bought it 4 years before for £175 million like a child after Xmas who has some money from his aunty to spend.

Intent on ensuring the brand is not just a footnote in the ascent of Social Media, they admit the site needs to become stickier to interest advertisers and want to create a social destination that focuses on real relationships rather then the "friends" model of Facebook.

They are quoted as saying that they want to introduce "quirky features such as social games" but in the hyper dynamic world of Social Media I reckon that following the Facebook model is not enough - in Seth Godin's world, this isn't Purple Cow thinking.

2010-08-10T22:35:00.000-07:00

Skeptisism at its very best...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e-3nILrROU

Beautiful, scary and awesome!

2010-07-23T02:50:00.000-07:00

The 2009 Census by the Association of Online Publishers highlights the following Digital Publishing Industry trends for 2010:
• 95% of those surveyed have said that publishers need to embrace social media
• Just under 12% of all online traffic in the UK (19%+yoy) comes from social media interactions/sites
• 10% of traffic to news websites is driven from social media platforms
• By the end of 2010, 95% of the online US audience will be consuming ‘Social’ content

Interesting stats about social media - 12% of traffic comes from social media sources! That's a lot not coming from traditional search.

Target the early adopters

2010-07-15T02:24:00.000-07:00

Seth Godin suggests it's the early adopters that marketeers need to influence. If you're targetting the mass market - it's too late.

People are just getting to grips with mobile media. It's use is farly near the beginning of a bell curve but mass market is just round the corner. Market to the innovators and early adopters who will use, adapt and influence the mass market.

Digital Magazines

2010-07-07T07:52:00.001-07:00

I'm getting increasingly impressed by the interactivity that digital publishing allows over traditional print media. Video, links etc allows the advertiser extra dynamism and, of course, allow the publisher to charge for that.

Are we near the point where digital magazines (b2b particularly) have value on their own and can create their own revenue?

B2B Magazine Industry

2010-07-01T03:32:00.001-07:00

Challenging and exciting times for the B2B magazine publishing industry. I've put together what I think are the top 6 issues that we have to embrace to advance - any more i can add?

Pay Walls

The simple formula of subscription magazines historically (you pay and I’ll give you everything) has now moved for the on-line channel. Pay walls are being erected all over the web allowing a user access to some free information but ensuring they pay for the “must have” or value added information you can supply.

Digital Magazines
Mainly used as a cheap distribution channel until technology can catch up and deliver a true reading experience. Understandably advertisers are not generally buying into this yet until the “real” readers or the core circulation are reading your magazine digitally

Free to Paid
Giving away your knowledge of the market in exchange for ensuring a targetted and relevant audience was a good idea at the time. Problem is now that people expect it to be free and can usually get it from somewhere. The skill is added value and niche knowledge to be able to convert a free reader. It takes time, money and patience and, for the most part, low expectation.

SCV
The holy grail of data management ever since computers evolved to handle large amounts of data. Simple in theory but many companies have spent many millions of £’s achieving absoloutely nothing. There needs to be clear strategy and benefits attached to the amalgamation of your data into one view – and not just a “wouldn’t it be nice” attitude.

Social Media Marketing
The number of social sites that have a large enough following to entice advertisers profitable can be counted on the fingers of one hand – but it is growing. Marketeers not only see the benefit in accessing these millions but have also realised that they need to be there to listen to, influence and act on the “buzz”.

Mobile Media
Less than 20 years since mobile phones appeared on the streets and last month we saw the launch of the first version of the Ipad. We have seen a distinct change in the way we communicate - both professionally and socially. Although I don’t own an IPad right now I know in the future I will (or some other manufacturer’s equivalent). Quite soon it will make the transition from being used by a small definable sector of people (much like Apple Macs) to mainstream - maybe the saviour of the magazine publishing industry.

B2B Magazine Industry

2010-06-28T05:16:00.000-07:00

One thing that interests me about my job is the amount of industries i have to get my head round - fast. It's only 18 months since i began my company and i am already Mastermind level at the hospitality, convenience store, investments and pensions, air cargo handling, wholesale, highways, off shore drilling, kitchen and bathroom design, fleet car and recycling ink and toner industries. There's a magazine for everything and the net has proved an invaluable resource. Is there any word (spelt right) that does not give you an answer in a search engine???

Social Media for Publishers

2010-06-18T03:22:00.001-07:00

Join my LinkedIn Network - Social Media for Publishers - to learn and share how publishers and other media owners use Social Media for their business.

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=2712421&trk=anet_ug_hm

Social Media for Business

2010-06-18T03:13:00.000-07:00

Fewer than one-half (45%) of B2B companies have only the basics of a social media presence—such as a Twitter and Facebook account, or a company blog—and only 32% are engaged in social media on a day-to-day basis, according to a surv Read more at marketingprofs.com »

Controlled Circulation and Subscription Marketing

2010-06-14T05:36:00.000-07:00

I'm managing controlled circulations and subscription marketing for B2B publishers at the moment and creating content for my new web site - coming soon! The site will have white papers from various angles within the data industry - Social Media for Business, Data Quality, Free to Paid process etc. etc.

Coming Soon ...

2010-06-13T10:11:00.001-07:00

Coming Soon ...