I Am a Nobleman in England

The countryside surrounds the city!

To be honest, as a former network codewriter, a beneficiary and a staunch supporter of the Internet, he "disdains" traditional paper media, and has also laughed at the operating models of newspapers that still exist.

In fact, this is also the case. Readers are turning to new media such as the Internet. Publishers are losing profits rapidly, and newspapers are an outdated model that will continue to lose money and will no longer survive!

However, after owning the "Southern Daily Echo" handed down in his family, after some reforms and adjustments to the operation strategy, he found that the losses have been well controlled and reduced, and it is even expected to turn losses into profits this year. The facts before him forced him to face up to the value of regional newspapers.

Although the Internet has had a big impact on newspapers, newspapers will continue to dominate community news. Newspapers deliver comprehensive and trustworthy information to tight-knit communities. Coupled with a smart Internet strategy, newspapers will be in the long run. maintain competitiveness within.

"The overall circulation, advertising and profits of the newspaper industry will definitely decline. I don't think this trend will change. However, I like newspapers, including some of my colleagues, and I still like to read newspapers, so if you are optimistic about newspapers If the economic situation is satisfactory, they can be bought, even if their scale does not meet the so-called acquisition standards at all, such as some pocket-sized newspapers.

If you can find a way to make them realize their potential, then it will really become a big force of public opinion. . . "

Chatting with smart people is really easy. After listening to Arthur's brief introduction, Aimo Alamuddin quickly figured out the business opportunity and Arthur's real purpose.

"Hehe, that's right, the circulation and influence of a mainstream newspaper are strong, but the combined circulation and influence of ten regional newspapers may not be inferior, and the advantage in quantity is actually the biggest advantage. !

There is a saying in China called "Three people make a tiger, and one mouth makes money". It originally means that three people falsely report that there is a tiger in the market, and the listeners believe it. It is a metaphor that rumors can be believed to be true after being repeated by many people. As for the words "Cold mouths make gold", it originally means that everyone accuses and criticizes together, even if it is gold, it can be melted! said Arthur, laughing.

And Aymo's beautiful eyes could not help but narrowed slightly, and the eyes sparkled. As a lawyer who has studied international law, she naturally knows the powerful role and power of public opinion. She also saw from Arthur's plan that if it succeeds, then Arthur will The right to speak in Sir's hands will not be much worse than that of the news king Rupert Murdoch, at least in the UK.

"Honey, I support you!"

"Thank you, cheers!" Arthur raised his glass with a bright smile,

The two looked at each other and drank a sip of red wine with a smile.

News, simply put, is what people don't know but want to know about. Considering timeliness, convenience, reliability, comprehensiveness and cost, people will seek the news they want, the news that is important to them, from the source that achieves the best combination. The importance of these factors varies with the nature of the news and the needs of the audience.

Before television and the Internet, the fact that newspapers were the primary source of information for all kinds of news made them an indispensable product for most people.

Whether you focus on international, domestic, or local time, or sports or financial news, the newspapers you subscribe to are usually the fastest source of information.

Even if there are only a few pages in the entire newspaper that satisfy everyone's interests, the information contained in the newspaper still makes people's subscription worthwhile. Even better, advertisers usually pay nearly all of the printing costs, leaving readers a free ride.

Not only that, the advertisement itself also provides a lot of information to interested readers, which is actually equivalent to providing more "news". Editors rack their brains on ideas and opinions, but for many readers, a job posting, where to rent a house, which supermarket has a weekend sale, or which movie will be released where and when is more important than the opinion conveyed in an editorial page. Much more meaningful.

In terms of advertising, it is also one of the keys to Arthur's emphasis on regional newspapers. Regional newspapers are also indispensable for companies that need to advertise.

For example, if a new shopping mall or supermarket opens a new store in Southampton, they need a loudspeaker to tell the residents of the city why they should visit their store today.

In fact, large department stores and jewelry stores rushed to advertise in newspapers overnight because they knew that the products they advertised would be sold out immediately. There is no other form of publicity like newspapers. Advertising is itself advertising.

And as long as it is the only newspaper in the local area, it must be profitable, and the quality of its management does not matter much.

According to Arthur's knowledge, in recent years, most cities have only one newspaper, or two competing newspapers left. There are even cities that don’t even have a newspaper, and are even forced by reality. Two competing newspapers merged into one, and the newspaper group survived. However, this reduction is inevitable. Most people are only willing to subscribe and subscribe. Read a newspaper.

When competition exists, the newspaper with the leading circulation will almost automatically get the majority of advertising. So the advertisement attracts the reader, and the reader attracts the advertisement. A symbiotic process weeds out weak newspapers, the so-called "survival of the fat".

Now the situation has changed. Information about stock prices and national sports programs is old news by the time newspapers start printing. The Internet provides a wealth of job and rental information. Televisions broadcast political, national and international news at all times. Newspapers are losing ground one by one. As the audience shrinks, so does the advertising.

But in any case, newspapers still maintain their dominance in delivering local news. If you want to know what's going on in your community, whether it's gossip about area contenders, revenue, or news about your local team. . . Nothing can replace a community newspaper.

Readers will feel sleepy when they see pictures of Downing Street, or read about the political development of a certain country, but a piece of news related to the reader or his neighbors will be read carefully from beginning to end. As long as the sense of community prevails, a newspaper that meets a specific news need will be indispensable to most of the community's residents.

Even a valuable product can self-destruct with the wrong business model. Newspapers large and small have gotten it wrong for decades. For example, in order to cater to the changes, many mainstream newspapers even provide their newspapers for free on the Internet, while charging for paper newspapers. . .

How could this not lead to a drastic drop in print newspaper circulation? Reduced circulation further reduces the significance of newspapers to advertisers. So the vicious cycle keeps repeating.

"Regional newspapers provide comprehensive and reliable information in a tight-knit community that, with the right Internet strategy, will remain viable for a long time to come.

Likewise, I don't think cutting back on content and release frequency will lead to success. In effect, a narrow reach leads to a narrow customer base. Sub-daily circulation has also been tried in some larger towns and cities, and while it may increase profits in the short term, it will reduce the frequency of newspaper exposure in the long run.

My goal in acquiring a large number of regional newspapers is to fill them with content that is of interest to readers and that people who find it useful are willing to pay a reasonable fee, whether in print or online. "

After the candlelight dinner, Arthur and Aymo snuggled up in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows with red wine. While sipping red wine and looking at the night lights of London outside the window, they continued to chat about newspapers.

"A dozen, or even twenty, is the scale too large? This requires an excellent management team. This team must be able to manage so many newspapers well. Moreover, it is also necessary to ensure that each newspaper is well-known in terms of news gathering and editing. Stay independent!" Aimo's beautiful eyes flickered, and she frowned slightly and asked the most critical question.

"Yeah, this is exactly a headache for me. These small newspapers are easy to acquire, and they don't cost much. The key is to be able to integrate and operate this new force well. If they can't form an effective integration, they will still be like a mess. Usually each fights on his own, so the goal I was thinking of is not much of a joke!"

The question raised by Aimo is exactly what Arthur has been thinking about. Newspapers are easy to acquire, but it is not so easy to form a mature team. Only those who really run a business will understand how important talents are. !