Popular magazines and their websites

Hi, this is David Borla from Borla Exhaust in Oxnard, California (www.borla.com) .

I was wondering if you guys could give me some insight and help me with a question I have been struggling with recently? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I am wondering whether historically popular print titles like "Car and Driver", "Road and Track", "Motor Trend", "Roundel", "Automobile" etc. have been able to transfer their success to online venues.

What do you guys think of these websites (if anything)? For example, do you go to Car and Driver's dot com site regularly just as you would have read the magazine regularly ten years ago? Autoweek? Or, have other non-magazine related websites (like this one) taken over?

Do "Roundel" or other popular BMW magazines hold any weight online?

Do these titles maintain the same credibility in the online world that they did in the print world?

Thanks again,

db

Online is the future. Print is a dying breed. Print publications have no choice BUT to make themselves relevant online as subscription levels are dropping precipitously. Even the publisher of the vaunted New York Times is saying he envisions a day when the paper will only publish electronically. The only time I ever read a paper magazine now is when I'm at the barber or doctor.

Thanks for the feedback!

I used to subscribe to several car magazines, and even keep all my back issues. I'd read 'em cover to cover, too. These days, I just use the websites, although I don't tend to read articles about vehicles I'm not interested in as I did when I had the magazines laying around the house. I actually really prefer Edmunds.com now, which never even had a monthly publication. Car & Driver.com is good, too.

I look at the Car and Driver website frequently. I don't subscribe to any hardcopy magazines anymore. Periodicals like The Economist, Barron's, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and others that I used to subscribe to are struggling with the new reality. Some of these are trying to charge almost as much for full online access as for a hardcopy subscription which isn't going to fly. On a side note, there is a disturbing trend toward auto-renewal websites. Some, like consumer reports require auto-renewal. I won't subscribe to anything with it.

Originally Posted by Hound Passer

Online is the future. Print is a dying breed.

+1

I am a Marketing VP at a software co and we've watched the trend from print to online over the last 10 years. Print is dead if not dying quickly. The online challenge is not just where (there are plenty of sites that will tout their visitor stats and charge a hefty price), but being able to target the visitor's need based on web content. (e.g. - there's currently a banner ad for a network co-location company on the page while I'm typing - HUH? Why would I be looking for dedicated servers and co-location when I'm lookiing up info on a Bimmer???)

Your best outlets are now:
* Search Engine Marketing (SEM) - google, yahoo, live, ask, etc
- use the content network to expand your reach to sites like a bimmerfest type of site where your ads will be served based on web page content
* Search Engine Optimization (so you rank naturally for searched terms)
* Some direct advertising on various websites, their newsletters, etc.

Good luck - it's a tough and big marketplace out there.

To answer your question about visiting the website for various car mags - I only go there if I'm looking for a review, etc. For real how-to info, I stay on the forum sites (mostly Bimmerfest.com!!!)

You're lucky you sell software since there is practically no incremental cost for additional units. I spent 30+ years in the trenches writing the stuff. I can tell you a lot about the right folks for this task. When software salesman called on me I used to tell them "just give me your product and I'll pay the annual maintenance charge which will make you very healthy". Sometimes they or their sales manager saw the logic.

The only mag I read it bavauto.com and the only reason I do is because its free.
But I'd rather just look online then a mag.

p.s. David do you know Zak from Malibu? he use to drive a white honda civic back a while ago or could still have it. I can't remember his last name...

The auto mags I have subcriptions to are Car and Driver, Automobile, Motor Trend, and Road & Track. As another poster stated, I have all the issues stored, and read them cover to cover. I won't be renewing my subscriptions when the time comes. I look at Car and Driver's website maybe 3-5 times/months, and the others less (more in auto show season). Once my subscriptions run out, I'll be hitting up their websites more frequently.

I would say Car and Driver definitely maintains their credibility online. This is the magazine in which I've had the longest subscription, so I won't comment on the others print vs online.

I've never visited Roundel online. I prefer to read that one on my couch, my porch, or back patio.

I don't read the print magazines you listed (or any print magazines anymore), but WILL go to those websites to download articles about specific cars when i'm looking to buy.