Special Reports Highlight New SIPA Website
The new SIPA website houses a treasure trove of information on the industry. One of the best sections is the Resources where the Specialized Information Publishers Foundation Library sits. That’s where you’ll find the just-released Memorandum From Counsel, the Independent Publishers Legal Handbook, MarketingSherpa’s 2010 Social Media Marketing Benchmark Report and the Salary Survey (conducted by the University of Georgia).
Here are valuable takeouts from those special reports:
– In the Salary Survey, under Useful Tools to Find New Reporters and Editors, 30.8% of the respondents use Craigslist and an equal number use employee referrals. Next came JournalismJobs.com (17.3%) and local newspaper, local college and temp to permanent all at 15.4%. When it came to finding marketing professionals, Craigslist was the most useful tool at 30.8% followed by employee referrals at 21.2%
– From the Memorandum From Counsel: Can-Spam regulations apply to all emails whose primary purpose is commercial. Unlike regulation of other channels of communications, there is no “established business relationship” exception for existing customers. Put another way, under the Can-Spam Act, even existing customers have the right to opt out of receiving marketing messages.
Also, avoid deceptive subject lines, header information or other content that misleads a recipient about the nature of the email. This cannot be emphasized enough. Not only is deceptive email actionable by the FTC, state attorneys general and Internet access providers under the Can-Spam Act, but the Can-Spam Act’s preemption of state law does not apply to deceptive practices. This could lead to private lawsuits.
– From the SIPA Independent Publishers Legal Handbook:
What are five situations to cover in a work-for-hire agreement?
1. Specify the type of work the person being hired will perform.
2. Specify the number of pages or words being requested and the dates when the work is needed to be turned in by.
3. Identify what happens if the work is not turned in on deadline.
4. Identify the editing work that can be done after the job is completed. Does the writer have the right to review that?
5. Identify who gets the copyright and proprietary rights.
– From Building Subscription Websites that Sell: Newsletter publishers looking to go beyond the basic, downloadable-issue model must have a marketing plan, a retention plan, and a testing strategy to ensure that the added features and functionality, whether free or behind the paywall, will effectively drive site usage up and make it more likely that each issue will be read. “You want to step it up very thoughtfully, bearing in mind that your primary benefit is the downloadable issue,” cautions Don Nicholas of Mequoda Group.
– In the Salary Survey, the average salary for a marketing director is $90,852.63, for a marketing manager $60,583.33, for a director of web marketing $87,727.27, for an editor $58,445.45, for a web content specialist $60,625.00 and for a group publisher $106,285.71.
– From the Social Media Marketing Benchmark Report: You’ll find a Social Marketing ROAD Map – an acronym for four elements. It consists of:
1. Research – monitoring target audience dialogue about brands and competition.
2. Objectives – defining objectives aligned with target audiences and social metrics.
3. Actions – creating a social marketing strategy with a tactical plan of action.
4. Devices – select platforms that fit social marketing architecture and tactics.
Defining specific objectives for a social marketing initiative is only half the battle. The other half is aligning those objectives with corresponding metrics. This alignment is important because it enables an organization to measure its progress in achieving the objectives and proving ROI. While obvious, this step is often overlooked.
– And again from the Memorandum From Counsel: The FTC offers this take-away point: “If it’s been a while since you wrote your privacy policy, reconsider it in light of new technology you’ve put in place. What was true back in the day may not be the case if you’ve introduced a mobile app, switched service providers or made other changes to your business.” For example, another November 2011 FTC enforcement action alleged that a different company’s claim that users could block cookies was deceptive—because the site had started using “flash cookies” that could not always be blocked by browser settings.
So be sure to check out the new SIPA website and its wide world of resources!
