Oh no, not at all.
This boss (and his son) are the people who try to make themselves look like martyrs because “we don’t get paychecks”.
Yeah, pay for my house, car, 401K, non-working wife, kids in private school, other life expensive, a boat, and a new car every six months and you can skip writing my paycheck, too.
-Joe
Do let me reiterate that I’ve been here 9 months. If, somehow the last three years were my fault I’d be astonished. I know Lady Chance can blame me for things I wasn’t anywhere near but I thought that power was reserved to her alone.
What I pointed out to them yesterday was that the marketing they had been DOING for the last year (prior to my arrival) wasn’t sufficient to even replace the anticipated drop off.
That is, it is perfectly possible to look at the number of people who will expire in the next year and say, “30% of these people will not renew. Therefore we need to market sufficient to get that many new people.”
And they never considered it. So when they spent money last year it was to generate X number of subs when they need x time 3.
And pointing that out is apparently a wrong thing.
That’s too bad, Jonathan. Wrong by the owners, or wrong by the accountant whose every word is apparently golden?
Aeschines has it in a nutshell.
You’re working in an environment where the decision makers are taking an accountant mentality.
So fight fire with fire.
Work up figures on what a particular marketing plan would cost.
Then make an informed guess on what proportion of those exposed to the marketing plan will act to subscribe.
Then indicate what increased revenues they can expect to derive from the new subscribers. (Don’t forget that a larger subscriber base means that ad rates can be increased successfully – that can be a much higher figure than the actual income-from-subscriptions.)
For example, it will cost $X to do a targeted mailing to list X, including the cost of buying list X. We can expect 8% of those on list X to subscribe. That will increase our subscription base by $Y amount – and based on going rates, we can charge rate B rather than rate A for our ads. Our income from ads has been $C – that increased rate will move it to $D.
Net increased income: $Y plus ($D-$C), minus $X to run the marketing campaign.
Adapt to the marketing methodology you recommend, but give them hard estimate figures, and the reasons for your assumptions to arrive at those figures.
JC I feel for you.
By all means try to get your ideas through to these people. You sound genuinely interested in growing the company. I don’t know what job you were hired to do, but if had anything to do with improving circulation, then your boss is ignoring advice he is paying for.
Not your fault he’s a dumbass, but certainly your problem.
Things to consider;
If they are blaming you for things that happened before you arrived, it’s not hard to imagine that you might be the fall guy for shit that takes place within nine months of today.
No one likes to be wrong. Unfortunately, the easiest way to be right is if someone else is at fault. I truly hope the people you work for haven’t decided that this is you. Arrogant people can be difficult to sway.
I had more, but it’s crap you already know. Your wife likes it there and I know what a pain in the ass it is to move.
I give you my best wishes for you and your family. Hell, a smart guy like you is bound to come out on top.
Oh, I know I will. I have an enormous cushion here in that it essentially costs nothing to live here (you wouldn’t believe the housing prices). Toss in that my side project is now generating a couple grand a month or so and I’ll get by even if they decide to toss me in.
I have presented a plan.
First I was told we needed to grow circulation by about 25%. So I put together that plan. Too expensive.
Then I was told that we needed to grow circulation by about 10% so I put together that plan. Too expensive.
Then I was told that we wanted to stop the bleeding and tread water where we are so I put that plan together. In my opinion it’s risky trying to do this but they’re the boss. I’m being told it’s too expensive.
Then I tell them maybe there’s not enough money to tread water and BOOM the shit hits the fan.
In short, I told them that what they did last year was insufficient and asked them what plan they’d based it on. This is a mailing that did VERY well. We grossed 4.5% and netted almost 3%…ask a marketer about direct mail percentages and you’ll be told those are very good.
The problem is they only did 50,000 pieces. So their entire plan only netted about 1500 new subs when they needed to plan to get three times that to stay flat and stop losing ground.
So there I am informing them that this mailing, which results make them very proud, was actually inadequate to the task. Ugh. Cassandra again.
The accountants problem is that there is very few marketing efforts in publishing that show short-term (one year) profitability. One generally hopes for 2-4 year profitability and develops a program based on that fact. And if we don’t have the dough to make that sort of long-term plan then I’m stuck.
And their stuck…they just don’t acknowledge that fact.
Thought I’d share a bit more.
The family I work for is one of the mover and shaker types in my small town. They’ve run several businesses (now passed down to the children). Many hands in many pies.
Get this.
No…really…GET THIS.
The daughter started a restaurant with her (REALLY GOOD) chef husband a year or two ago. It failed last spring. They paid 7 figures for the buildings and existing business right in the heart of downtown. I was told when it failed that the upscale restaurant just never quite brought in enough traffic.
Well, I was over at my bosses place last weekend for a get together and what do I hear?
“Turns out that even if we’d sold every table constantly it wouldn’t have been enough to make ends meet.”
AGH!!! DOES NO ONE IN THIS BENIGHTED FAMILY ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND BUSINESS?
I suffered a twinge in one of my calf muscles after riding my bike today. And now that I know Jonathan Chance is responsible for that twinge, I feel a lot better! It wasn’t me riding without warming up first at all.
You know, it’s people like you who don’t understand things. Had you just sat on the bike and not pedaled, you would have been fine. The important thing is not exercise, not getting somewhere, but being on the bike.
Why don’t you understand that.
Oh, if anyone’s interested, my husband, the chef isn’t working at our restaurant any more (closed wouldn’t you know) and will be cooking at our barbeque tonight. You’re all invited and I’ll show you the new boat.
Jonathan, why didn’t you tell me the period should have been a question mark?
Seriously though, it doesn’t sound like you’re going to get through to these people. Good luck in the job search.
It doesn’t sound like it, but the money had to come from somewhere, didn’t it? Or is there so much (from an ancestor who did understand business) that they just can’t piss it away faster than it comes in?
Just remember…one generation to make it, the second to maintain it, and the third to lose it!!
Don’t you read Dilbert? Marketing departments are worse than useless. 
As someone who despises them, I have to disagree.
A Marketing Department is the ultimate useless evil…unless you don’t have one. Then they’re everything.
-Joe