Why Newspaper Job Ads are Dead pt. 3: Not Local

This is the third part in a  series of four articles on how newspapers fell from being the king of the help wanted ads to nothing today.
Other parts:
pt. 2 Revenue and Pricing
pt. 1: A Local Perspective

In 1997 I was the third person hired at a start up internet company called Job Connection.
Job Connection took a look at the national job boards that were just beginning at that time (remember the internet really didn't start hitting the public till 1995). They decided that internet recruitment was going to be the big thing of the employment world. Something that would fundamentally change the way people found a job. They, and lots of others nationwide, were right. Newspapers lost revenue for three reasons: local competition which was a loss of a key differentiating factor, rise of mobile and online technologies, and price per ad. This article explores the issue from a loss of the local competitive edge.

The niche that local job board owners saw was that while there were several national job boards like Monster, HotJobs, and Career Builder, there were not local focused sites. That changed quickly as Job Connection, WiJobs, and CareerBoard hit the market in 1997 followed by MilwaukeeJobs in 2000. These four sites along with a few others that came and went would accelerate the decline of newspapers faster than anyone expected by taking away the biggest strength a newspaper has, the fact it is local. 

I was told by my bosses at Job Connection that classified advertising at the local Milwaukee newspaper, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, made up  about $100 million in revenue for the paper in 1997. About $85 million was coming from employment ads.
I would like to point out that I have no 1997 numbers to prove that either way, however it is a reasonable conclusion for them at the time given that in 2000 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel classified advertising revenue was $85.4 million and employment classifieds were responsible for $70.2 million (source: http://www.putnampit.com/milwaukeepress/jssuit.htm).
The Job Connection owners wanted to tap into two tenths of that revenue ($200,000) as a goal for our company.

As the only salesman I accomplished that goal and then doubled it in 1999. Our team expanded to an additional salesperson and we were able to double that goal again in 2000 and were coming close to beating that goal in 2001. At the time Job Connection was the biggest local job board in terms of postings and clients (MilwaukeeJobs took over the top spot in 2001). Given what I know of the competition at the time, I would assume that the three job boards took between $500,000-$1,000,000 in revenue from the newspaper each year from 1998-2000. That figure probably doubled in 2001 with MilwaukeeJobs coming into the picture. $2 million doesn't seem like much compared to $85 million, but that number grew as $2-4 million in annual revenue was being taken by local job boards. Add on top of that the monies spent on national job boards like Monster and CareerBuilder, and nice job boards like LatPro, Dice, and Jobs4Sales, and you're looking closer to $10 million being lost to internet job boards in the area. These are just educated guesses on my part.

Why were so many companies trying the internet and taking budget away from the newspaper? The internet boom was on! Remember all the DotCom companies that were popping up? The fuel they provided for the economic boom of the late 1990's? Now days we look back and wonder how did we ever live without our internet connections? Companies were searching for other ideas to reach job seekers. There was a talent shortage going on (and still is). Companies were willing to try anything to find the employees they needed.
Local internet job boards like WiJobs and Job Connection were able to position themselves as local alternatives to the local newspaper.

Poor customer service was a big part of the problem newspapers had in losing clients. A big chunk of the clients I sold in those days were fed up with the mistakes in the layout or billing. The mistakes they could have forgiven if they were given an ounce of cooperation by the paper, however the newspaper thought it was the monster in the room and could do whatever they wanted and always be profitable. The poor customer service caught up to them.The old expression "fool me once shame on me, fool me twice shame on you" applied as more and more companies chose to spend money on a method where they got to make instant changes and speak to a sympathetic figure.

When companies decided to try Job Connection they told me the number one reason was that if they had a problem with their newspaper ads, they never got good customer service. If they multiple problems they got different newspaper reps each time. Companies liked the fact that if they had a problem they could call "Ev" who was located in the same city just a few minutes away. Since I was there for years they got to know "Ev" as a face of the company.
As long as what "Ev" said made sense and they liked who "Ev" was as a person and salesman they were willing to give the job board a try.

Being local gives you a distinct advantage in the market you are in. Sometimes this means you can't compete with the giant mega companies that can cut you in price or product availability, however the edge you have locally is that you can respond instantly to a problem or an opportunity. You should know your customers and they know you. Provide that comfort that the client you have sold can sleep easy because if a situation arises they can "call Ev" and he'll take care of it, you will get your share of the business even at higher rates, small stores, less choice of product, etc. The newspapers forgot this. By having a revolving door of customer service/sales reps and the attitude that companies would always need them and people would always read them, they sealed their own fate. They were slow to change in this digital age where we do business by email, texting, and social media. By the time they reacted customers had moved away from newspapers to e-readers, online, and mobile devices. 

It is easy to forget that businesses still need to face their customers in person (sometimes video conferencing works too). We live in an age where shopping online is common, but there will always be a space for someone local to provide a service or product. As a salesperson or recruiter find that niche that will allow you to compete and be seen as an expert by your customers and you won't go the way of the newspapers.

Thanks for reading!
Ev
A Heck of A Nice Guy