I was talking to my friend who worked in a Classified company. His company is into producing an inche thick printed classified and distributed free to businesses. The revenue model is simple, to get more companies to advertise, the better. You can choose from point form listing to full-page color advertisement, as long as you can pay for it.
We both agreed that this industries won’t last long. My friend estimating it would last for another 10 years and will start to go down. Why?
1. Customers are getting smarter now. See, you can’t pay Google for a clean high listing, but you can do it in Classified. Google use several method to find out the most useful and popular website and list them high, in a more technical term, PageRank. Yet, Classified companies spent more time to recruit more sales rep to sell more ads than focusing in improving their Classified.
2. It wasn’t hany. Printed classifed is thick and heavy. It requires you to go through the whole Klang Valley to find one Plumber who is near your house. Search engines solved this problem, presenting you with a weight-less solution, as long as you are connected. You get information you need, most targetted and updated.
3. There are too many medias now. Google will not be as successful if they start their company as one that sell and allow people to subscribe to their pay per click model. See, you need a story, a story that is truly benefiting your visitors.
At least there are few things Classified companies can do to improve this
Colored and box listing are free for those who deserve it, those with lot of good testimonials, those offering responsible customer support service. Companies who advertised should somehow find a way to prove their are qualified for a listing of their rank. In fact, all listing should be free!
Then, how to keep this Classified company survive if not selling advertisement? I don’t know actually, it can be many ways. Think about how to make your product useful to your customers and the readers of the Classified. Who knows, one day, the revenue could be from the selling of the Classified? Subscription fee? Adsense?
If you’re sure what will happen in the 10 years time, why not change today? Afraid of short-term pains?
To add: Classified companies should help readers to make the best decision who to call. Now, it’s manipulated by monetary sponsorship, isn’t that sounds familiar like what is happening in our country?