“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated”
— Mark Twain

ALERT **We interrupt this broadcast for the following… Quick Editor’s Note**  This is post is the first in a six part series that promises to give you the goods on five print media tools with the heat to start a fire (or at least fan the flames) raging behind your small business marketing efforts. The goodies breakdown over six posts as:

• Part I – Overview
• Part II – Business Cards
• Part III – Brochures
• Part IV – Post Cards (Direct Mail)
• Part V – Sales Letters
• Part VI – Print Ads

And now back to our scheduled programing…

Print is Dead

Oh, it’s just too true. Let me count the ways…

• Business cards. So passé.
• Brochures. Totally archaic.
• Post Cards. As in direct mail? Ever heard of “going green” you tree hating cretin!?!
• Sales Letters. Gee whiz, Granddad, they have this really awesome invention, it’s called: email. (you should really try it)
• Print ads. Like ads that appear in newspapers and magazines? Oh, please don’t get me started in the media publication biz!

Print newspapers are rancid and rotting away on the vine, to nothing – oh wait…no…yeah…they’re gone.
Listen closely. Can you hear that? Yeah, that’s the sound of the print magazine industry flushing down the eau de toilet (that’s French for the crapper, right?) – WOOSH! Bye-bye.

But Wait! Could I Have Spoken Too Soon?

Much like the “news” of Mark Twain’s death, the proclamations of Print Media’s demise have been much exaggerated. In fact, all of these supposed dinosaurs of a fast dying age are seemingly everywhere.

Business Cards

Been to a trade show lately? The biz cards are flowing freely. Moreover, every salesperson, account rep, vendor, and business owners I meet with on a daily in the process of handling my bid’nas (which is quite a few, I might add) are all more than eager to hand off business cards aplenty.

Brochures

The same esteemed individuals mentioned above on the biz card tip also offer up all manner of flyers, brochures and the like – doggedly pressing them into your hands with ferocious intensity and the promise of life changing revelations (reveled inside).

Postcards

Green or not, dead or alive, postcards show up in my (US POSTAL Snailmail) mailbox by the ton – hawking everything from political candidates to the restaurant down the street to non-toxic carpet shampoo services and so much, much more. And if you’re anything like me (and most people are, according to the Direct Mail Association’s stats), you read (most of) ‘em.

Sales Letters

Get a load’a this: In just the past week alone I got sales letters from…
Time Warner – who provides my internet, but would like to take my TV biz away from DirecTV and sell me phone service I got rid of
AT&T – who would like to wipe both Time Warner and DirecTV off the board and give me their full complement of TV, internet and phone services, and they’ll even throw in a wireless discount for good measure
Sprint – who wants to take my wireless phone biz from Verzion
T-Mobile – who’s looking to do the same as Sprint
Staples – reminding me of my “rewards” account, and sweeten’ the deal with a $25 discount on my next purchase
Money Magazine – begging me to renew my soon to expire subscription
And the list goes on (and on and on) – I’m sure you get the idea.
So guess what? That’s right: I gave all of ‘em at lease a cursory glance. Who knows, I may just grow tired of getting raped by Time Warner Digital just because I refuse to “bundle” their services, and give ole AT&T Uvers a shot.

Print Ads

I don’t know about you, but I still read magazines – I’ve got six active subscriptions at this very moment. And though circulation has fallen, it’s by no means extinct – far from it, in fact.
According to media engagement studies, typical media consumers spend 75% more time reading a reviewing physical publications than they do with their digital counter-parts or even blogs and other online media outlets.
And the long readers fondle newspapers and magazines, the more likely they are to read your ad — get it!?!

Not Quite Dead Yet

In the ensuing installments of this series we’ll get into the real juicy meat of the power and impact behind each of the print media vehicles referenced and the opening of this post. So buckle up, brace yourself, and stay tuned – it’s time to party like it’s 1989 (when nobody, but a few geeks, ever heard of the internet)

What About You?

What has print media – in either it’s abundance or lack thereof – meant to your business?
Talkback: As always, please share your thoughts, feelings and experiences.