The Death of the Sales Magazine

By Jeff Blackwell

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Has yet another traditional information source forever been changed via the World Wide Web? Specifically, are printed sales magazines becoming obsolete? The following new realities appear to be signaling the death of the sales magazine:

* Content - The World Wide Web is teeming with fresh, informative and relevant sales content (i.e., articles, stories and illustrations) covering selling, prospecting, and every other subject or area of interest to sales practitioners. No longer is the printed sales magazine the go-to source for sales and related content.

* Sources - The large pool of unique sales content available on the World Wide Web comes from a variety of sources from around the world and is not limited to the same small group of sales experts routinely published in a sales magazine.

* Availability - Unlike content printed in a sales magazine (periodic publication) sales content published on the World Wide Web is made available to readers instantly without the traditional delays associated with print media (e.g., printing, distribution).

* Pricing - In some cases, if not most cases, the same sales content found in a printed sales magazine can be found on the World Wide Web at little to no cost. It has been suggested that trends show consumers are moving away from traditional subscription services (fee-based) to free information sources.

For many these new realities serve as trigger events leading to change. Trends in traditional print media advertising suggest that savvy advertisers have seen the writing on the wall for some time now and are currently in the process or have already moved their advertising dollars elsewhere accordingly.

What does this mean for the future of the printed sales magazine? It means publishers had better come up with something of value in their print publications other than the same sales content (e.g., articles, stories, illustrations) that can be found faster and cheaper elsewhere if they want to maintain and/or grow their subscriber base.

Is the death of the sales magazine (i.e., print magazines) nothing more than hyperbole and/or misinformation circulating around the World Wide Web? You tell me! Where do you get your sales content? I have not subscribed to a printed sales magazine in quite some time and have no plans to do so in the near future for all of the realities listed above.

I would be remiss if I did not point out that in our search for websites offering information about selling we discovered that much of the information we found was outdated and/or inaccurate. The likelihood of encountering low quality information highlights the need for readers to seek out (1) quality (i.e., timely, accurate, complete) information, with (2) qualified interpretation and then (3) apply critical thinking skills to the information being presented.

These three information search and processing activities should not be overlooked in either personal or professional use. When working from misinformation, lack of information and/or inaccurate interpretation of information readers run the risk of misunderstandings and erroneous conclusions resulting in faulty decisions, poor choices and potentially negative consequences.