Ed, it does cost money and time to make up press releases and the photos to accompany the release. Of course, if done correcly the rewards should be vastly increased sales of products. However, the magazine is not obligated to run the release. John Verser, of Pacific Rail shops, and I talked several times about not getting any 'press' for his products. He sent the magazine kits to review but never saw the results from the majors. When I used to shoot his ads back in the 3/16's Magazine day (where he normally had the inside or back cover--one of the best spots to be) he couldn't really see a surge in sales when they ran. Of course, when he stopped running those ads (and the magazine died) he pretty much stopped advertising and I think individual and dealer sales dropped to the point where he gave up.
Regarding paid advertising, during the middle of the week I was on assignment in the 'piney woods of East Texas' working at one of the many prison farms. On the trip up there my favorite radio station finally faded so I did a search for another station. During the 3 hours in that new station's area, I heard several ad's for a local bookstore. Now we're talking small communities filled with people who probably don't read anymore than the average, so the stores' volume of sales couldn't be all that great. Remember also that the little store is also competing on-line with Amazon and others. However, to stay alive in a tough competitive world, this little store chose to be aggressive in looking for customers. It's always a gamble but without constant marketing to the right people most companys profits will shrink to nothing. Regarding being computer savy, I belong to several yahoo lists both for my profession and modeling. I will not join any more lists and most of my local S friends don't tune into this list--these are big time burners. I personally have time to tune in while my main computer is working--burning CD's etc. Having a web site can help a tiny S manufactuer reach the whole world but only if someone takes the time to look. I find it interesting that folks in rural areas often rely on the internet more than city folks. In our hobby if I need to look at some product (other than S,unfortunately) I have two very good train shops within 6 miles, another smaller general hobby shop 6 miles and two other train stores about 20 miles away. At this time none of the shops carry S, where two carried a moderate amount in the past. Bob Werre BobWphoto.com Ed Kozlowsky wrote: > You may have something there about advertisers. It could be that the > larger S suppliers think its a waste of time and money to advertise in > MR & RMC, but I think it would do a lot for exposure to the wider > community. I don't think it costs anything to list new products, so I > don't see why this avenue isn't more utilized. > > > Model railroaders are among the most technically sophisticated members > of society. It would really surprise me to learn that what you say > about computer ownwership and usage is correct. Of course, if you are > refering to the 90% of S folks who are not "scale" oriented, and whom > I would not call model railroaders, you may have something. > > Ed Koz > > Keith Blanchard <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:pinecanyon%40comcast.net>> wrote: > Yep.. Seems your right about the past. > On the bright side, the MR has published most or all of the news about > our new releases. Thank goodness! We where the only mention of S in > many issues. Sorry for not sending more into them. I just get tied up > and forget to get the news to the mags. We have actually had people > tell us that we where the factor in their move to S. I was glad to hear > i > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
