The Printing Press

The Printing Press
By: Billy E. Cole

For many years I have gripped about newspapers and especially local owned which are controlled by the conglomerates.
As a business man running a small business in Hickory, NC, The cost of advertising it in the paper got to the point where there were no small business ads. It cost me the same as it would cost Wal-Mart or Target. One might say that a half page ad place has a certain cost and if you want to buy that space then pay this much for it. And I suppose that is fair because when I worked on a business truck ( I ran a repair shop ) I had a flat rate that I charged everyone the same. My rates were less than my competitors and I was thriving.
I am retired now and just loaf, travel, blog and create a few websites for small local owned businesses around the southeast. I loved my work back then, but now I really love this loafing thing. Retirement is terrific.
Along about the mid 90's I built my first website for my business and I realized that I didn't need to advertise with any longer with the papers or any other media for that matter. The Internet was the only tool I needed to get all the business I wanted for my small crew. I could have grown substantially then but I was 60 and had prepared for my retirement.
I got more and more involved in the Internet and began making websites for my other business friends. I started a co-operative advertising campaign on radio, TV, direct mailings and of course my local newspapers, at that the newspapers cut me off because I was their competitor. That pissed me off and suddenly I found myself building a new career so I quit and retired sold my businesses and now spending the money. If I were young again.
The Internet has had a big effect on newspapers and they are losing a lot of power. I have read the paper for years and it is just part of my routine to have a cup of coffee in the am and read the paper and I still do it simple because that is what I like to do. I know I can find any thing any time with the click of my rat. mouse
It seems a good thing to me that something is bringing down that powerful institution. Don't take me wrong because I think the greatest invention of all time has been the printing press. Now think about that.
Newspapers are borrowing elements from popular Internet hangouts like Face Book, You Tube as it seeks to boost usage. WSJ one of the few news sites to restrict many of its stories to paying subscribers. Although news organizations have started to embrace blogs and tools to share and view content, they have lagged behind companies that originated on the Internet, the newspaper industry has gone slowly in this interactivity thing.
I believe, social networks are going to be an important means of distributing content and of spreading news, and and newspapers just cannot be a part of network. What a great job for a young web master. I am mad at newspapers and they ain't got enough money to hire me. I don't work anymore, anyway.
However I sure am glad to hear the newspapers whine for a change. The World Association of Newspapers says it opposes a pending deal on advertising between Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc. A Paris-based group wants European and U.S. regulators to block the deal on antitrust grounds. That will reduce the cost of paid search advertising and lower revenues for newspapers' and others' Web sites, which receive payment from the online giants. The U.S. Justice Department is investigating the deal. So whine on Gannet.
I guess my own keyboard has modernized the printing press. And it got GREEN and spell check
May God Bless

billyecole@gmail.com
www.ourbiz.us