This week was a pretty significant week in the [short] history of The Solitary Life. For one, we again got over a thousand readers this week. An astronomical achievement, considering that a mere two months ago I was completely astounded to find that we had a whopping 58 readers. I remember my reaction being something along the lines of "Holy shit! Fifty-eight readers?! What in the hell have I done...?!" When we hit 500 readers a few weeks later, I damn near had a heart attack. When we got to four digits, I was pretty sure that I was gonna burn in hell for something or another. I was convinced that my life was over. So, what did I do?! Well, there was nothing left to do but to keep on moving forward. It's all I've ever known, and I'm probably not gonna get any smarter any time soon.
The other earth-shattering occurrence, was to have a would-be advertiser call me up, and ask how much it is to advertise in The Solitary Life. Apparently this guy hasn't been keeping very good notes lately, because everybody knows that advertising is totally free at The Life. So either this dude hasn't been paying attention, can't read good, or maybe he just thought that I was bullshitting everybody all this time. In any rate, he was wrong.
The advertiser told me that he knew the policy just fine. But, he wanted to pay for advertising anyway. To support what we were doing with it. Which was really nice, and sort of flattering. But still, I didn't like the idea.
Here's the weird part: When I asked him why he was all about advertising at The Life... to the point of insisting that they pay for it (against our rules and wishes, mind you)... he gave me two answers that I thought were pretty notable:
1. They really wanted to support what we're doing here at The Life. And,
2. We're saying the things that they wish they could say, but can't. Why they "can't say whatever they want", is way beyond me. And, I honestly didn't even get around to asking what they wanted to say, and why they felt like they couldn't say it. Point was, they wanted to help us say the stuff that they weren't comfortable saying, themselves.
Although those were both pretty cool arguments, at the end of the day I felt like I really had to stand my ground. So, I told 'em: "Look, man. You can have all the ad space you wanna have, broham. You just can't pay for any of it. That's all. Sorry, man. Those are the rules. And if you wanna play in this court, then you're playing by the rules. Got it?!"
I went on and on about editorial freedom, and all that stuff. Money's great, if you want to be a slave to "the machine". But I'd rather be free to speak my mind, completely unfettered. Being broke is one thing. But being told to play "nice", and constantly owing my existence to the Profits Police? That's another matter entirely. That's a road that I'd rather not travel any time soon. If, ever.
Here's the clincher, though: The blunt and unrecognized truth of the matter is that The Solitary Life is immensely and uniquely "profitable" already. You see, this is really just a huge experiment that I've got cooking over here. And the payoffs... in terms of knowledge, understanding, insight, and practical experience... are humongous. Like a lot of shit that I undertake, I didn't really have "a well-defined plan" going into this. The best thing that I had, was "a hunch". But, I do have a nasty tendency to believe in myself. And thus, I also have a tendency to follow my "hunches"... wherever they may take me. Which is really good advice, by the way. If you haven't tried it yet, you're totally missing out.
In this particular case, I could clearly see that the future of media was going to be online. But, the details were sort of elusive. Foggy, indistinct. What would it look like? How would it be navigated, and archived? How much was it gonna cost? How much shit could I fuck with? Who was I gonna piss off, and how fun was that gonna be? Who was gonna lose, who was gonna win, and why were we doing it all in the first place?
And maybe most importantly: Could we find a way for everybody to win...? After all, isn't that what the media is there for? To take everything around it, and move it "up"...?
The amazing thing about online advertising is that it's an incredibly cost-effective way to quickly spread messages, and well within the technical reach of anyone with basic computer software. This 3dm mock-up was done using stock "paint" and Microsoft Photo Editor programs (standard on most, if not all, PC's these days), and took all of ten minutes to create.
Well, here's what I've learned: The future looks pretty bright. It's not nearly as hard as it looks. Pissing people off is way funner than I would've thought. And yes, everybody can win. It barely costs anything at all. Yet, the "value" is pretty enormous. If you play your cards right. That's sort of the key to making it all work. Just like anything else in life, really.
Here's the first thing that I figured out: "The media" is essentially a forum for idea and inspiration exchange. As it has always been. Duh. The problem in the past was that media moved too slow, and had practical restrictions holding it back. For example, the time it takes to print a magazine. Or, the number of pages available. Or, the fact that there are "better" ad slots than others (front covers, back covers, you get the picture), which causes friction and jealousy between advertisers.
The profit motive itself can be corrupting, and corrosive... and, media is generally (but, not always) all about turning a profit. Publishers are usually pretty powerful people that bring advertisers and readers together in this forum, and cultivate the debate. Everyone pays immensely for this.. both in ad dollars, and subscription rates/newsstand prices.
But still, the restrictions are obvious, and inevitable. And they're largely governed by revenues, versus costs. Revenues from advertisers and readers, versus costs of making, printing, and moving paper. And both sides want it their way: The advertisers want cheaper ads ("free" would be the ideal). Yet the readers want gigantic magazines that cover, quite literally, the world. And of course, they'd prefer that it be "free", as well. But because reality sucks so damn hard, neither side gets everything that they want. So, nobody ends up totally happy.
The internet is exactly the opposite. Which actually poses its own strange set of unique probems. "Internet forums", as we know them, are filled with jackasses that can barely put two moronic sentences together at one time. The internet is blazingly fast, which allows stupidity to spread far and wide at breakneck speeds. The space to fill with lunacy is literally limitless...so, limitless lunacy is usually the immediate, if unintended result. Ad space is entirely democratic, and limited in size... but this means that everybody looks more or less alike, the messages are much harder to articulate, and the ads are oftentimes overlooked (even, entirely avoided) by the readers. There's very little profit in any of this, because the "value" of herding a bunch of internet shitheads into one vast intellectual toilet is somewhere between zero and none. And "publishers" (or as it may be, "moderators") are generally pretty powerless to stop the stupid spiral from spinning out of control.
So. The question became, "Where to go from here?" Again, the answer is easy. "Forward". And thus, The Solitary Life.
The internet is also a great place to "market test" new ad campaigns. This could be done for several reasons. Maybe it's to gauge reader response to an ad before committing that ad to a much more "permanent" (and costly) magazine run. Maybe, it's to spread a message that the magazine powers-that-be might deem too "offensive", "controversial", or "inappropriate". Or, maybe you just want to try something a little bit "out of the box". Whatever the case, the 'Net allows you to all of these things quickly, and cheaply. Our "Public Service Announcement" campaigns were designed, in part, to gauge the effectiveness of internet "message" ads.
What we've essentially built here, is the very possible best of both worlds. While minimizing... even eliminating... the worst of 'em. The 'Net is still fast, and the practical concerns of space and time have largely been tossed aside. The question is no longer, "What will fit into the space available?". But rather, "How many words do people really wanna read about this shit...?!" The ad slots are still highly "democratized", but aided and abetted by other content that adds value and depth for both the advertisers, and the readers. The expansive and in-depth product reviews are a good case in point. The profit motive was pretty much kicked to the curb, so that's a non-issue. The "publisher" (me) is a fucking bastard that exerts both total control... but yet, also allows almost total freedom in balance. Morons are banned outright, while people with something valuable to say are actively sought out, brought in, plopped under the spotlight, and let loose to do what they do best: Talk Great Shit.
And lastly, it's a relatively open forum where both the advertisers, and the readers have a hell of a lot of leeway (and power) to actively steer The Solitary Life wherever they want it to go. Within reason, of course. "Reason" being the guiding principle that ultimately moves this whole thing forward, glues it together, and makes it work pretty smoothly.
The most significant outcome of all of this, as I see it, is the changing role of the Publisher. The Publisher no longer has to burden himself with the tedious details of laying out, printing, bundling, and shipping paper around. All of that is thankfully obsolete. Instead, the new role of The Publisher is to be the eyes, the ears, the heart, the conscience, and the mouth for of the movements that they're covering. The Publisher is also "The Grand Mediator" between the interests of the readership, and the advertisers. The Publisher's job is to find ways to watch out for everyone's better interests, while at the same time caving in to neither of them. And lastly, the Publisher exists to find the scoops, sniff out the stories, track down the trends, and generally stay at least a few steps ahead of everybody else. Maybe even, to pinpoint the meaning and significance in these stories and developments. That last one's pretty damned challenging. But, it's also- by far- the very best part of the job.
In this business then, the Publisher has to have the same sorts of skills, talents, and sensibilities as a good, hard journalist. This might have always been the case, even with "traditional media". Even if it was... the expectations have been kicked up a couple of notches. The world moves pretty fast these days, as does the news cycle. Just like anything else: If you're not ahead, then you're probably behind.
This week, I had a series of conversations with some of our advertisers... I'll get to all of them, eventually... regarding where all of this is going. I was asking them questions like, "What should we be covering? What are we doing right? What are we totally blowing? How can we better serve the readers? How can we better serve the advertisers? Is the advertising paradigm effective? Do the readers even give a shit about advertising? Should we nix it? And if so, what will take its place...? What can we do to promote skateboarding locally, regionally, nationally, and globally? Who's got the plan, and what is it? How can we at The Life help the cause? Who's on board, who's on the fence, and who's ass do we have to kick to get something going over here...? What's IASC up to, and how can we do a better job than they've done...?" You know: The stuff that any good publisher might ask.
The funny thing was, the advertisers were sort of at a loss to answer some of these questions. I got the feeling it was because, nobody's ever asked them this sort of shit before. Well, it's a whole new world out there, guys (and gals). That means: Entirely New Questions To Ask.
Internet advertising needs to incorporate the perfect balance between size, color, message, and reader value. "Reader Value" is something that historically hasn't been considered. The reality here is simple: Readers will only engage with stuff that benefits them. Or, rather: They'll only engage with stuff that they perceive will benefit them in some way. In the future, we're going to increasingly look at advertising in terms of, "What does the reader get out of this?!" So wave goodbye to the good 'ol days of you spreading whatever message suits you. These days, you're only half (maybe even less) of the discussion.
The readers' mantra is simple: "It's all about me!" Give them ads that are all about them, and you'll win at getting your message across.
At the same time, the readers are also getting happily accustomed to having their voices heard, too. Take the Pricepoint Shoes Testing, for example. We actually had readers write in, suggesting that we try certain shoes on for size. One of those readers suggested Airspeed Nate Sherwoods. So, what did we do? We rushed right out, and bought Airspeed Nate Sherwoods. Great kicks, by the way. I'm wearing a pair as I type this, actually. Another pointed out the Shaun White kicks at Target, so those are next on the shopping list. More on that later, though. The point is, we're pretty damned responsive to what the readers tell us. Like, lightning-quick. Which is exactly the way that it should be, really.
At the end of the day, here's the crux of it all: Although I'm totally the guy in charge, this project really isn't about "me" at all. It's about building a better forum for the manufacturers on one side of the fence, and the readers on the other side. Ideally, that fence wouldn't even exist. After all, the manufacturers exist to serve the readers, and the readers ultimately support the manufacturers through their purchases. It's a two-way dynamic, which also shows us why "traditional advertising" doesn't work all that well... and really, maybe it never really did work as well as we all would have liked. After all, "traditional advertising" is essentially a one-way monologue from the manufacturers, yapping about whatever they want the readers to hear. But, the readers have very little say in what the manufacturers end up talking about. So, most "advertising" is hated, ignored, or simply tuned right out. And we all end up farting promotional dollars out of our butts for very little to nothing at all.
The only ads that really ever worked, are the ones that actually gave some sort of "value" to the reader. Namely: Entertainment Value. The old World Industries ads were awesome for that. Those things were fuckin' hysterical. Other manufacturers tried to "broaden the knowledge base" of the readers, or "enlighten their intelligence and understanding"... and those worked, maybe. But really, if you had a choice... which would you rather be? Dumb, and laughing? Or, smart and bored...?
Here's a perfect example of what used to work. You could almost imagine this airing on an old 411VM or something. Or: On the telly. Everybody will watch it once... maybe. Or, maybe not...
Compare this with the "ad" above. This, as we can see, works on so many more levels. It's a perfect balance between "content" (kids will watch it, just for the skating), and "message" (everyone knows that Deluxe makes good shit). It would have been cool to see the skated "after" deck, and maybe learn a bit about the particulars of the whys and hows (concave, thickness, construction, crap like that)... but whatever.
We clearly have some perfecting to do with these things, but this is a damn good start.
Whatever the case may be, The Solitary Life essentially turns this paradigm around from a monologue, to a dialogue. Where both sides are encouraged to contribute, and actively participate. Which probably goes a long way to explaining why the "traditional ads" at The Solitary Life aren't as engaging as we might have assumed they would be. It also explains why the readership skyrockets when we do an in-depth interview with a notable skateboard company owner. That's because we stand in for the readers, and ask them the sorts of questions that the readers want answers to. Then, we get those answers (we're fast becoming notorious for that one, by the way), and give them back to the readers that were asking the questions in the first place. As a bonus, those interviews are instantly archived on the 'Net, and infinitely available worldwide. So they're not here today, and gone tomorrow off to the recycler, or into somebody's private collection. They're here today, tomorrow, and forever. Available to anybody with an interest in this sort of shit.
Maybe to bring the whole bag full circle, we should make a point of interviewing some readers once in a while? Just to see what the average skater-on-the-street has to say about stuff...? After all, without those "everyday skaters", the manufacturers would immediately cease to exist. So, I'd have to say their opinions count just as much as the advertisers' do. I'll have to remind myself to remember that, because that's actually not a half-bad fucking idea...! (*I'm joking, of course! Because, we've already done it...! Look for those, soon...*)
I found this at YouTube... and it was so f'n funny that I just had to post it. Obviously, we have some really bad points with this one. Like, not remembering what trucks you bought. Pointing out the "brand" of stickers you bought. Buying it at Zumiez in the first place. Giving Zumiez three plugs in the review! Not remembering what you even paid for it...and, I might add that she's not really "reviewing" the product at all. Just sorta talkin' about it, really...but, she's just a kid. She's cute, and she's tryin' really, really hard. So, she totally gets an "E" for effort. Maybe even, a high-five.
On the other hand: This is truly "the future". Kids actually watch this stuff, and believe it. It does influence their buying decisions to some [greater or lesser] extent. In a few years, this girl's gonna be fully legit (experience will help tremendously). And then, watch out. Because this is the biggest threat to your bullshit that you're ever gonna see, Big Manus.
The "independent, experienced online media" is going to basically bridge the gap between the two videos above. Impartiality, plus experience (and knowledge), equals authority.
At the end of the day, what all of this comes down to is that I, as a publisher, am pretty damned lucky guy to be suddenly surrounded by all of these great people... readers, and advertisers alike... that are doing all of these super cool things. But really, this is your turf, not mine. I'm just the architect.
But, you guys (and gals)...? The readers? And, the advertisers? You're the ones that are actually building the house. No, wait: Make that, a home.
Make it a good one, and you'll all win out in the end.
