#: 3743 S15/Hot Topics
    23-May-90  16:22:18
Sb: #3697-#Univ BBS Marketing
Fm: Wayne Day 76703,376
To: James D. Denboer 76226,2273

For what it's worth... it's my opinion that the day when a company or a
institution that's trying to sell something can set up a BBS and be relatively
assured of market penatration is past, long past.

So, perhaps you're not getting the word out as you might have some time in the
past.  That's problem #1.

Second problem is the fact that every mother and her sons and daughters are
offering seminars and "short courses" and the like.  If I get less than 25-30
advertisements from folks hawking everything from management seminars to
courses a month in how to plug in a computer, I consider asking the post office
to check on the health of my postal carrier!

As far as the free magazines go... who's got time to read all they get now,
free or subscription? I need one more?  If I did, the chances are that I've
already started the process to getting it.  Besides... "free magazines" is a
code word that marketers use meaning "let me send you some slick & glossy
advertisements that we tried to disguise as a magazine in the hopes that you'll
read it."  Even beloved CompuServe used that tactic for years with "Online
Today", and have since at least changed the name back to what it should have
been in the first place "CompuServe Magazine".  Is your "free magazine" that
different from what I've described?

Don't mean this to sound like a shotgun blast, James, but having been involved
in the videotext industry for a few years, it's interesting to watch how well,
and how poorly, marketing efforts attempt to use telecommunications media such
as videotext.

Wayne

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