Where has all the print advertising gone?

This morning while waiting for a colleague at my local bagel shop, Big Apple Bagels, in Dacula I picked up the most recent Real Estate print advertising book. This is not something I have done in forever, but I figured I would take a look at it and see who was doing the advertising.

What amazed me was how small the book was. I mean, two or three years ago this thing was at least 150 pages. This book was a mere 23 pages and most of the content was not what it was a couple of years ago. Before any of my friends in the print advertising industry shoot me, hear me out. I have in the past done a bunch of print advertising but recently with all the other "free" options and media outlets I have at my disposal why choose to pay a bunch of my hard earned money on print when I know that only a small handful of people are still using it.

We now have all types of internet marketing we can do that creates immediate interest, a call to action and is available 24/7. Granted, each of these publications have their own websites they point to and I am sure that they garner traffic but to me print is really a dying brand. Kind of like the "bag phone" I used to have. It worked for a while but after new technology came along, why not switch to the newest and most effective option.

Recently I was asked to be interviewed for our local newspaper, the Gwinnett Daily Post which I was happy to do. They even threw in the bottom page of the home section to advertise my local listings. I waited anxiosuly by the phone for the stream of buyers and sellers to read the article and call on the listings. What happened. Not a call, except for a few of my friends who called to tell me my photo made me look too old.

My point is this folks. Internet is where it is. Plain and simple. Keep up the blogging, and social networking and make it a great day.

Matt