RE: smart-people-reps - 2 new messages in 1 topic - abridged

[Joanna Goodman]

Hi Jerry,

But lots of people are readers! Websites need images, sound and multimedia
as well as updated content to keep them dynamic. They also need links and
link backs, but people who read magazines and newspapers like words too,
even when reading online. It explains why so many people (you see them in
every office) read newspaper articles online.

Text also saves time. I think I speak for a lot of
writers/researchers/academics/others when I say that I like text because I
can skim through it. If its comment, I'm also not distracted by the
presenter's tone and mannerisms and can think about what they're saying, not
who they are (i.e. not judge, even unconsciously by their appearance etc).

When I'm doing research online, if something is presented in audio or video
format, I need to hear/watch the whole thing and note down points of
interest, but if it's a text article, I can re-read the stuff that interests
me.

Hope this is of some use

Joanna

-----Original Message-----
From: smart-people-reps group [mailto:nor...@googlegroups.com]
Sent: 26 July 2009 09:24
To: smart-people-reps abridged email subscribers
Subject: smart-people-reps - 2 new messages in 1 topic - abridged

Smart People Reps
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Today's most active topics:

* Too many stories? - 2 new
http://groups.google.com/group/smart-people-reps/t/18dca77486076003?hl=en

Active Topics
-------------

Too many stories? - 2 new
-------------------------
Jerry, We are arriving 'where we always do'... rediscovering that people
today
are not 'readers'. They would rather have pictures and video of something...

With all of the 'noise' on the 'net and everywhere else, let alone people's
daily tasks... we live in a very challenging environment... It - Fri, Jul 24

2009 5:30 am
2 messages , 2 authors
http://groups.google.com/group/smart-people-reps/t/18dca77486076003?hl=en

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[Jerry Ash]

Thanks Joanna.

Joanna, I really appreciate the feedback from you and others, but I'm
not getting specific advice on whether I'm delivering too many stories
-- 32 in the upcoming Aug issue in 37 PDF feature pages (total of 40
pages plus covers). The number of stories per issue varies depending
on length of stories. I'm working to keep stories to two pages or
less. Lots of one-pagers. Some 1.5± pages plus half pages or less.

In the PDF format readers have to browse through each page, while the
pdf version one can browse through the first few paragraphs of each
story and open the full story when they want to. On the upside, this
gives a lot of choice. On the downside, a reader has a lot of browsing
to do.

I like Alice's offer to run a Monkey survey of the readers rather than
rely on our internal guts. Boris ... Alice will need a list of the
email addresses and she and I can develop the survey questions. Any
thoughts?

Jerry

P.S. We should also keep in mind that the content (including number of
pages) is important as a demonstration of the quality and thrust of
the magazine when we present it to potential partners and advertisers.
Unfortunately we can't poll them because we don't have any of them yet.

[Ski...@aol.com]

Jerry,

 

Maybe it is just me...   but '32' is too many of anything...     especially in a monthly periodical.  As always, Focus is the big 'key' for any successful publication.

 

Skip

======================================================

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[Jerry Ash]

Thanks Skip.

That's what I wanted to know. Any other opinions?

Jerry

P.S. I still think we ought to poll our subscribers. What about it
Boris?

[boris jaeger]

Till now I have no problem with the # of articles but 37 for a 40 page
magazine may be too much. Round about 30 would be fine. I would not
reduce the length of the magazine, round about 40 pages is fine.

In a world characterized by speed, information overload, and lack of
time people appreciate to get messages in a short and compact format -
they don't have to go through numbers of pages to get the info they
need. Having a certain number of articles is also essential to cover
the interests of different target groups. You all probably have a
subscription of something like Smart People magazine but you don't
read every article, right?

I'm not sure but from a twitter conversation with Jack Vision, I guess
when he's talking about "too many" articles he is thinking about the
following:

"jackvinson@Smart_People Suggestion: instead of dumping all new
articles to web / RSS at once, why not dole them out throughout the
month?"

He is talking about arwareness. Dumping all articles at once is too
much (information overload) for those who subscribed to the Smart
People website updates via the new media channels like RSS, twitter,
and friendfeed. Doling them out through the month would be better.

Example: Content available on the
- publishing date: PDF version and the HTML articles of one section
- several dates throughout the month: HTML articles of the other
sections

People will come back to the website on a regular basis (not only to
read the free articles, hopefully:))

As people will go there regularly (not only once a month when the new
issue is published) this is also godd to generate traffic on the Smart
People website. Increasing website traffic is essential for
prospective advertisers ...

Boris

On Jul 27, 3:45 pm, Jerry Ash <gerald....@verizon.net> wrote:
> Thanks Skip.
>
> That's what I wanted to know. Any other opinions?
>
> Jerry
>
> P.S. I still think we ought to poll our subscribers. What about it  
> Boris?
>

> On Jul 27, 2009, at 9:14 AM, Skip...@aol.com wrote:
>
>
>
> > Jerry,
>
> > Maybe it is just me...   but '32' is too many of anything...      
> > especially in a monthly periodical.  As always, Focus is the big  
> > 'key' for any successful publication.
>
> > Skip
> > ======================================================

> > In a message dated 7/26/2009 9:44:35 P.M. Central Daylight Time, gerald....@verizon.net

> > >  http://groups.google.com/group/smart-people-reps/t/18dca77486076003?h...

>
> > > Active Topics
> > > -------------
>
> > > Too many stories? - 2 new
> > > -------------------------
> > > Jerry, We are arriving 'where we always do'... rediscovering that
> > > people
> > > today
> > > are not 'readers'. They would rather have pictures and video of
> > > something...
>
> > > With all of the 'noise' on the 'net and everywhere else, let alone
> > > people's
> > > daily tasks... we live in a very challenging environment... It -
> > > Fri, Jul 24
>
> > > 2009 5:30 am
> > > 2 messages , 2 authors

> > >http://groups.google.com/group/smart-people-reps/t/18dca77486076003?h...

>
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> - Show quoted text -

[boris jaeger]

Good point Joanna!

I think we should have a good mix of text, audio, and video. So what
about the radio shows and webinars? ...

Boris

On Jul 26, 9:13 pm, "Joanna Goodman" <joanna.good...@btinternet.com>
wrote:

>  http://groups.google.com/group/smart-people-reps/t/18dca77486076003?h...

>
> Active Topics
> -------------
>
> Too many stories? - 2 new
> -------------------------
> Jerry, We are arriving 'where we always do'... rediscovering that people
> today
> are not 'readers'. They would rather have pictures and video of something...
>
> With all of the 'noise' on the 'net and everywhere else, let alone people's
> daily tasks... we live in a very challenging environment... It - Fri, Jul 24
>
> 2009 5:30 am

> 2 messages , 2 authorshttp://groups.google.com/group/smart-people-reps/t/18dca77486076003?h...
>
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[Jerry Ash]

Hey Boris.

I've been AWOL for a few days and amiss in reading and responding to
your several emails. Meanwhile, I've taken Alan's message out of turn
and in response mentioned that I plan on reducing the September issue
to 30 pages. But it's not that absolute. I respect your thought that
30 stories (rather than pages) is best but in 40 pages.

That means I would be using longer stories when, in fact, I've been
striving to make the SHORTER. And, following the example of the
Motorcar website Alan has sent, I'm thinking to the extreme --
reducing the length of articles even further -- to a few paragraphs
per page as in the Motorcar magazine. I am convinced that people these
days want to be well informed but they don't have time or patience for
reading long articles.

A complement to these shorter stories (laid out in magazine style)
could be the full text a click away. The full text would NOT be
formally laid out, but simple documents for the person who wants to
know more.

Now the point is, if the magazine pages are all quick reads, then the
question of numbers of pages and articles becomes moot. Anyone can zip
through the magazine in just a few minutes, pause to read a full
document or two, or come back later to follow up on interesting
articles.

But then I'm thinking, is the problem also how difficult it is to surf
these pages.

The flip page Motorcar magazine is quite easy to flip through and the
pages are live so that one can click on a video or (in our case) a
link to the full article as a document.

Our HTML version displays just a paragraph or two and then links to
the full story, but I find the navigation to be laborious and
confusing and it's because we selected a blog format -- against Boris'
better judgment, but here we are). What really throws me is when you
click to page two, a new screen comes up with exactly the same stuff
as the 1st page -- except, if I scroll down I see there are new
stories below called "recent articles". The end result is that our
HTML version doesn't feel like a distinct month magazine.

Well, we really need to think about a better format because I think
the navigation, more than the number of pages or stories, is what
makes browsing through the HTML version of the magazine unfriendly.

Perhaps we ought to talk about one problem at a time, but if we were
to change the format of the Magazine Style format it would be ideal if
we could match it to a better HTML version.

In both cases, there is the matter of expense. We are limited to free
online software. Alan, you say you plan on using the Motorcar magazine
approach on your Web site. Then you must know if, or how much, it
costs. Please let us know.

+++++++++

Boris, I really like your thoughts about sending the magazine to
subscribers a bit at a time. That way they are not overwhelmed by the
bulk of the magazine all at once. I wonder what subscribers would
think about that -- a flow of articles by email, rather than one
notice the magazine is fully available online? I'm also wondering if
we might publish the whole thing online followed by a flow of articles
to subscribers -- much as if in a print version, a person receives the
magazine, it lies on the desk, the subscriber picks it up now and
then. Boris' idea could work somewhat the same way. Then I wonder,
should the flow of stories be an opt in or opt out for the subscriber.

Anyway, all good thinking.

Jerry

Maybe the HTML version ought to work the same way as the

[Jerry Ash]

Boris and all.

In order for radio shows and webinars to get off the ground, someone
has to take responsibility for it. The core team -- Boris, Michele and
Jerry -- has its hands full. The Social Network reps are doing their
jobs as their time allows. But, Tia seem to have lost interest --
possibly because she didn't have a Smart People rep to work with. Alan
has some contact with Tia (they're 40 minutes apart now), but .... We
need some new blood in this outfit! :-)

By the way, Joanna, I have failed to mention to the group that our
plan on having you as the Smart People editor didn't work out. This is
the second attempt we've made to have an outside editor, but the
problem is the unyielding demands of a schedule and deadlines. It's
almost impossible for a pro like Joanna to drop paying clients (who
also have deadlines) to serve the interests of mere passion. Joanna is
still writing for us and providing excellent advice and counsel.
Michele and I are able to be flexible enough to handle the editorial
chores alone.

And, while I'm at it, I apparently was mistaken when I announced that
Noreen Kelly would be our Smart People rep to HR and Learning SNs. She
meant to be available sporadically as a connector when needed.

Jerry

>> 2 messages , 2 authorshttp://groups.google.com/group/smart-people-reps/t/18dca77486076003?h

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[boris jaeger]

> Our HTML version displays just a paragraph or two and then links to  
> the full story, but I find the navigation to be laborious and  
> confusing and it's because we selected a blog format -- against Boris'  
> better judgment, but here we are). What really throws me is when you  
> click to page two, a new screen comes up with exactly the same stuff  
> as the 1st page -- except, if I scroll down I see there are new  
> stories below called "recent articles". The end result is that our  
> HTML version doesn't feel like a distinct month magazine.
>
> Well, we really need to think about a better format because I think
> the navigation, more than the number of pages or stories, is what
> makes browsing through the HTML version of the magazine unfriendly.

Uups, for any reason the page navigation isn't working properly. It
was but it isn't now. I have no clue why. There could be many reasons
for that (main page adjustment to our needs, plugin incompatibility,
etc.). I couldn't figure out why so I replaced it by a link, which
will lead you to page 1 of the current issue (I also replaced the list
of recent articles by the list of the most popular content/articles).
Through this you get a more magazine style homepage, Jerry.

You're right Jerry, turning pages on the homepage like in the PDF
version or in a flip reader version wasn't possible till now but not
because it is a blog. I just haven't added such a function. Now you
can - see the navigation on the bottom of each article but also on the
top right of each article (above the picture). Through the navigation
on the top right of each article people can browse the issue quickly.
When they find an article of interest they will read it and continue
browsing at the bottom of the article.

I guess through this your complaint about the navigation is smoothened
out, Jerry.

[Boris Jaeger]

Jerry,

 

as for the length and format of the magazine I have responded in an other thread (see http://tinyurl.com/mseskd). If you use links from the ToC to the articles in the PDF version it would be a sufficient substitute to the flip reader version you want to have (we'll have it one day but because of costs/workload ... Right now we definitely need to focus on marketing to make some money to cover costs at least). Further, I hope the changes to the navigation in the HTML/Blog version makes flipping through the pages more convenient.

 

As for informing readers about new magazine articles I'm talking about publishing the articles in the blog throughout the month (the PDF version and the HTML articles of a section on the publishing date, the other HTML articles/sections throughout the month) not about sending messages to subscribers a bit at a time (I guess you mean sending by email!?). No, sending several emails would be additional workload I don't wanna do. Anybody else? ...

 

Currently readers are informed about new articles when they are subscribed to RSS or to website updates by email. They are informed automatically everytime when a new article is published on the Smart People website. The Smart People networks are informed automatically, too (except the facebook group). So when I publish the whole magazine at once they are informed one time only. If we would publish as suggested above the readers would get several messages per month which would rise awareness of and traffic on the Smart People website. Publishing section by section will have the advantage that people who read free articles only will come back. Even if they don't subscribe website traffic will rise which is important to attract prospective advertisers we need to get yet (!!!).

 

The drawback would be that we could not provide an automatically generated table of contents with links to the single articles from the very beginning (see "Current Issue" @ http://www.smartpeoplemagazine.com/sp-magazine/). In order to circumvent this problem I could write e.g. "The full HTML version of the current issue will be available throughout the month" (Any other suggestions? Spellcheck!)

 

Boris