I’ve been slacking on posting to this blog, but not at work. Dumping my sales tasks and jumping to marketing has taken longer than I had hoped. I’ve really wanted to get a more in-depth review of the status of Thomas Publishing Company (TPC) now that we know the Green Books are dead.
First off, the Books aren’t dead yet. The announcement was that the 2006 edition (yet to be published) would be the last. TPC is promoting the longevity of this last edition, which I think is just an attempt to keep print advertisers from jumping ship. Yes, they will last longer, but will anyone look at them—As Linda Rigano of TPC admits, “All of our buyers are online.” Even still, they have about 6,000 print advertisers in the 2005 issue.
Published court documents regarding the ownership of TPC document the change in revenue sources between 1993 and 2002. Its surprising how their income continued to grow until 2001. What is most important for advertisers is that their subscription income (from businesses, colleges, etc.) dropped from 17M to 1M in a span of 5 years. Even at a low $50 a subscription, that would be just 20,000 sets of Green Books in 2002.
So, we can all agree that the print directory deserves the death it faces. But what about TPC? Can they survive selling their online directory? The gossipy types can listen to buzz and snipes, but it doesn’t really prove anything. Overall, I think that each online directory/service has its own major flaws, and Thomas has now escaped their biggest one—but they now have to sharply address how their other flaws before their business quickly shrinks. What other flaws: The god-awful number of product categories and their lack of direct control of listings, for a start.
I personally think that TPC’s greatest opportunity is to develop websites for their clients. A lot of these smaller industrial companies are still so clueless about running a website. But TPC isn’t geared for doing this, as far as I can tell. Ms. Rigano’s comments alludes to this need, too: “If a client doesn’t have a good Web site, it won’t do us any good to sell them a traffic-based program.”
Great article Dave, but could you do another one on the flaws of GlobalSpec and IQS to be “fair and balanced”? Also, could you elaborate more on Thomas’s remaining flaws? Thanks.
Great article Dave, but could you do another one on the flaws of GlobalSpec and IQS to be “fair and balanced”? Also, could you elaborate more on Thomas’s remaining flaws? Thanks.
Thanks for the comment. Yes, I was thinking of doing a review of all the major directory sites, too. I’ve also been trying out KellySearch and DirectIndustry, which I want to review. I’d look for this in a couple weeks.
Thanks for the comment. Yes, I was thinking of doing a review of all the major directory sites, too. I’ve also been trying out KellySearch and DirectIndustry, which I want to review. I’d look for this in a couple weeks.
Thanks for your response RE: “marketing.” I make mini digital films. I am entering them in film festivals 2006 – 2007. I’m curious about what one needs to do to get started with marketing the films to as large of an international marketplace as the traffic will bear.Thomas Penick Hollywood, CA.
Thanks for your response RE: “marketing.” I make mini digital films. I am entering them in film festivals 2006 – 2007. I’m curious about what one needs to do to get started with marketing the films to as large of an international marketplace as the traffic will bear.Thomas Penick Hollywood, CA.