Category: Media news

What do you think?

Find more photos like this on The New Orlando Sentinel

Todd Andrlik, creator of the Advertising Age Power 150, recently wrote up a quick blurb about me on his page.

If only he knew what’s in store…

Hello, all.

I recently took a gig as a social media strategist (my title is still in the works) for the Chicago Tribune. In the role, I’ll help manage and oversee new social media initiatives for the Trib. I start next Monday.

While I’m there, I’ll be working with Bill Adee, the paper’s innovation editor, and others to help make ChicagoTribune.com a hub for local, national and international journalism and a great resource to anyone who checks out the page.

Good things are already in the works, but even better things are to come, and I look forward to the challenges I’ll undoubtedly face!

Think back to the last time you got fired. (Hopefully you haven’t gotten fired more than once. Or better yet, never.) Remember how bad it felt?

Well, it probably doesn’t compare to the nice folks at the Chicago Sun-Times, who are being laid off over the phone.

Phil Rosenthal over at the Chicago Tribune reported last night that Sun-Times Media Group Inc., which owns the ST and dozens of other local newspapers, is making cuts at all of its publications. The STNG, according to the article, is looking to cut $3 million in payroll by eliminating 32 positions.

So far, the latest report is that the Sun-Times has cut 17 reporters/editors and another dozen newsroom jobs. Just three more to go.

Now, let’s see if Jay Mariotti jumps ship to ESPN. I mean, he’s on it enough…

Anyway, I digress. Who’s for a GapersBlock Magazine? How about a Chicagoist Weekly?

What’s wrong with this picture:

When’s the last time you paid attention to and were prompted to visit a Web site by an ad you saw on public transportation?

I was on the bus last night coming back from the Chicago IxDA when I had a revelation. Many of these ads, like this one here, are chock-full of information. After this information, usually, is a Web site you can check out for more information.

It’s not that I don’t like these ads, don’t get me wrong. My main beef with them is I just don’t think they’re actionable. It’s like, great, you actually have a Web site. It’s not 1998; you should have one already.

So I can go to a great vacation spot, or I can go to a cool new Web site if I:

a) See the ad enough to remember it in the future.
b) Actually write down the URL.
c) Care enough to follow through and go to the page.

Maybe these ads aren’t about getting someone to do something. Maybe it’s just about bombarding folks with repeated messages so that they maybe recall your brand in the future. My suggestion: Show potential customers why they should listen to you. You’ll probably benefit from giving them something immediate.

(Disclaimer: I’m a huge Radiohead fan. Sue me.)

I was watching a bit of television on New Year’s Eve shortly before the fireworks display here in Chicago when I stumbled across Radiohead’s Scotch Mist concert on Current TV. (It’s a great show, by the way. Check it out.) It was clear to me then that Radiohead, already secure of its place in rock history, is continuing to blaze new trails for music artists while rewarding its fans…and the television channel’s socially conscious viewers.

A few months ago, the band released a pay-what-you-want, downloadble version of its new album, In Rainbows, on its Web site. Sales numbers for the album actually were pretty good, despite the fact 62% of downloaders didn’t pay. According to ComScore, Radiohead made an average of $2.26 per album, but a whopping $6 from people who paid for the album. (I wrote a news brief about this in the 12/15 issue of Marketing News.)

By doing this, Radiohead proved that good, established bands don’t need major labels to make money. In a Wired interview with Talking Head David Byrne, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke said that labels inhibit not only the artistic process, but only really allow bands to make money from touring.

And through its concert on Current, Radiohead proved once again it doesn’t need backing to create tremendous buzz; just a love for music and respect for listeners.

I was doing a search earlier for my name on Google (did I ever mention I’m quite vain?) when I saw it.

The first link, as always, was my Web site, DanielHonigman.com. The next, a page with some old articles I wrote when I interned at The Forward in New York.

The third result, however, I’d never seen before. It was my old Facebook profile page from when I was a graduate student at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.

I knew that Facebook planned to do this awhile back, but I don’t think it really hit me until I actually saw my name and profile in Google’s listings.

Now where’s that privacy setting…?

(This post originally appeared on the Marketing News blog.)

I was checking out my Technorati rank earlier this week (I’m now in the top 50K blogs listed, thanks to my viral link exchange!) when I noticed that I received a link from NBC 5 Chicago.

It turns out that they listed the official Chicago 2016 page, the Chicagoist and me as its only three external links to Chicago 2016 bid news.

This must be due to my search engine optimization and tireless blogging efforts – I’ve actually been a bit behind lately – and a bit of buzz here and there. Hopefully I’ll get some exclusive content up soon, as I’m working on some other things now.

Other than that, stay tuned. My dad’s flying into town for my graduation from the Medill School of Journalism tomorrow, so it should be fun taking him around the city.

Cheers!