About Influence And The Willing Suspension Of Disbelief

When I am speaking with brands I always get the "How Much" question.  

This is a two part question.  

The first "How Much" question is in relation to how much I would charge to write about their brand or watch.  I tell them - ZERO.  Tempus Fugit provides Freemium coverage! This is often a cause for much bewilderment. Well, I guess I'm just a bit different ; )

Now you never know, I might bring back the good-old fashioned banner ad, but apart from that I will not be cranking out "in partnership with" content any sooner than I will be writing glowing feedback on Invicta, or attending any NOMOS events.

With that said, the second "How Much" question related to traffic on Tempus Fugit.  I patiently explain that first and foremost, a deeper dive into the analytics will reveal that my typical traffic is about 1,000 - 2,000 hits per day, and that as I am posting less frequently these days, a day when I have an exceptionally large readership is most likely when a click farm gets the wrong website to "ping". And an even deeper dive will indicate that 3,500 or so of those 5,000 good-traffic-day clicks all come (for example) from Russia. Which considering that my traffic from there is usually less than 100 total on a good day,  you might wonder why I was suddenly so popular in the former seat of the CCCP.  

So I feel, well, compelled to reiterate that while I am certain that there are a few digital watch outlets out there that have as many as 30,000 unique (and more importantly) legitimate visitors per day, I doubt that this is the case for the vast number of outlets making that claim when they share their rate sheets in the hope of scoring some easy money. So as a public service announcement, I would share this clip from the television series Silicon Valley. And let it be a cautionary tale to every watch brand that drops tens of thousands of dollars on coverage in the hopes that even 1,000 customers will be lining up to buy their watch based on a paid appearance with some of the self-proclaimed big dogs. To be clear, this is a fictional tv show, but the reality of click farms is for "realsies".

Now ultimately, I like to think that if you are reading Tempus Fugit, you didn't come for the photography and you are not afraid of sitting at the unpopular table with the less attractive kids in the school cafeteria. And in fairness, I realize that it is a hard world, people need to work, and they need to eat and pay rent. But to quote that other great commentator on the watch business, Robert Townsend in Hollywood Shuffle?

"There's always work at the Post Office."

The Price of Relevance and Symbiotic Relationships

Shamelessly borrowed from the worldwide info-web

Times have gotten pretty tough in Watch Town.  So tough that the old illusion of trying to call payola nothing more than an urban legend has blown by the wayside, and pay to play is now out dancing in the daylight in front of God and everyone, like it has no shame ; )

The larger outlets have charming ways to describe it:

Sponsored Content

Editorial Products 

Partner Content

There are, of course, financial considerations for the people who produce content. For many, this is a business. It is how they support themselves, pay the bills, keep going. And in a normal world, where everyone was playing by the same rules, it would probably work out.

In a normal world, if you wrote for a commercial (read fan/consumer) market, and brands felt that you had a solid (real) readership base, they would pay to advertise with you. Everyone's happy!  Hooray!

But then cunning and avarice reared their ugly twin-hydra heads and we were (all of us) collectively off to the races! With print media, distribution and estimated reach and readership is a somewhat knowable quantity. Digital is harder to accurately (and honestly) quantify. When click farmers are constantly promising thousands of followers and viewers in exchange for $10 US, and outlets are tracking MILLIONS of "unique" viewers, the water becomes beyond muddy. Up until 2 years ago, the big outlets were riding high. Advertising revenues were strong, and enough aspiring brands were willing to roll the dice to increase their exposure with the "editorial investment" of $500 or so. 

How do I know this?  As a brand representative I would contact the big outlets from time to time with a press release, and be told either "We don't cover this price point" (even though they would later cover something within $0.50 of what I sent them), or "It's not something we have time to cover, but maybe you could consider a sponsored post?".

And inevitably, just as the brands had to discover that there were too many other brands out there with not enough customers to buy their watches... the outlets covering them now have to learn that there are not enough brands with money to spend on their services for promotion. The problem with symbiotic relationships is that while one of the species benefits (the outlet), for the brand (in this instance the other species), the relationship may be positive, negative, or neutral. And sooner or later, if it is not viewed as necessary, that marketing expense will wither away.

Fair and Honest...

Not exactly!

Okay pals and gals, we have already gone into the entire click-farm phenomenon, but the pay to play model goes much further and operates on a far more entrenched level of chicanery and skullduggery.

Rapidly approaching the half-century mark, I have come to realize (and reluctantly accept) that I am now firmly in the category of people that occasionally need to be introduced to new ideas.  One such idea was to try submit Tempus Fugit to what appeared to be a ranking service that (on the service) stated that they were an unbiased source where "normal" people could come to subscribe to various watch blogs and outlets.  I will not name them here, because the point of this post is not to shame anyone or to hurt someone's business.  But interesting to relate, a business is exactly what it turns out to be ; )

Upon submitting the details for Tempus Fugit, I was then first asked, then required to subscribe to another watch blog's feed.  Odd as that seemed (why would I subscribe to a competitor's feed?), I went ahead and did so, being informed by the site ranking administrator that Tempus Fugit would be reviewed and added.

Well, not exactly...

What followed was a full-court press from a sales agent from the site ranker informing me that:
Tempus Fugit is really interesting and the content is great!  Subscribe to our service (i.e. PAY US) and we will place you in the top 100 rank!  To which I replied, 

"how will people visiting your page know what a legitimate rank really is when, in fact, the only requirement for being listed is to pay you?"  

Silence, then another pitch.

And then another pitch.

And then another pitch.

And then another pitch.

And then another pitch.

I finally responded that I was not interested.


I might add that I saw several big name watch blogs listed, and several that I had never heard of, and when I visited realized that they had not been updated for months, and in some instances, years.
So it seems that their check cleared long ago...
 
It is getting to a point where there is next to no legitimate way other than people physically showing their actual tracking numbers to REALLY know what the legitimate traffic numbers are, as opposed to the click farmed, paid follower, paid booster traffic that PR and marketing offices keep writing big checks for.  Don't get me wrong, I'd love to get nice big checks too.  But then again, I don't want to pay a dubious organization to hoodwink not only the marketing offices of watch brands, but also bamboozle the people interested in reading about watches.  There is plenty of deception in the watch business without my adding to it.

Here at Tempus Fugit, we're going to keep our traffic organic.

What Traffic, Influencers and Exclusives REALLY Mean

Is, in fact, any one's guess.  This is not a new theme here at Tempus Fugit, but it is apparently becoming a more relevant topic as more and more brands and media outlets are asking, and being asked some increasingly uncomfortable questions about how they are handling their pr, marketing and media.

So let's get one thing out of the way right from Jump Street -
Tempus Fugit does not accept any watch brand advertising.  You will note a Bell & Ross interactive clock on the site, and it is there because I personally like the feature (clock adjusts to whatever time you are tuning in from).  No money is charged in exchange for this.  Tempus Fugit does run approximately 3 fund raisers a year selling branded t-shirts and sweat shirts which brands and brand managers are certainly allowed to purchase (p.s. still time to order your Tempus Fugit Sweatshirt -

for only $45 US - Support Tempus Fugit - Get a Super-Dope Sweatshirt!)

Note how I smoothly snuck in a pitch ; )

So how do I make money?  I have consulting clients in the watch industry (ones that you will not read about here, as that would create an ethical conflict), and I work as a teacher and social worker (as I have discovered, that is also part of my calling).  And then why do I do it (I get this question a lot from PR folks), because I love it.  The point being, I found a way to make enough money at it to make it worthwhile while not having to park my ethics at the door.

Okay, so that's me, but let's have a quick whip-round to consider what is happening outside my little ecosystem.  In order to have an even passably interesting site (whether you call it a blog, an online magazine, etc.) you need to have content.  And all of us, from the mighty to the small get lots of press releases.  Interesting to relate, I noticed that more than a few brands and PR agencies would send releases in 2 waves - the first wave to outlets that the brands and PR agencies ALREADY PAID advertising money to.  In other words, the outlet not only sold the brand ad space, but as part of the deal, secured exclusive advance intel on new products in so-called exclusives.  And this really creates a false impression for the reader.  If you are the reader (or a potential advertiser) and you notice again and again how a certain outlet can manage to "scoop" the competition on a new release again and again.  You would think that outlet and their platoon of writers must have some amazing inside track.  Guess again.  Several of these sites do not write a sentence until coin of the realm has passed hands.  Ever wonder why a mid-tier group brand will suddenly be relevant exactly two times a year to one of the biggest digital outlets, and never during the rest of the year?  Yeah, I don't wonder either.  The "package" takes care of  your needs even if you are not a "known" advertiser.

Another goofy trend is the once-a-year outreach employed by some brands.  These are the brands that will never give you a BaselWorld appointment, never respond to any emails, never assist in ANY way for a story.  But out of the blue you get this warm, fuzzy, honey-laden entreaty to connect because:

"We have a story that we think your readers will be interested in..."

What I have come to understand, is that this is code for:

"We have an influencer/instafamer/instagrammer under contract and we need to push this content".   

In such cases, I request other photos not from the influencer/instafamer/instagrammer and often never hear anything further.  So in the new year, a kind message for the PR office - I am happy to write about your brand and your releases.  I am not happy to blindly promote someone you already pay money to to promote your brand, which you are now trying to get me to promote by promoting the promoter... 

Confused?  I'm not.  You hired these folks, you paid them, they are supposed to be promoting you, not the other way around.  And please stop asking me and other people to promote them for you after you paid them.

Oh, and p.s. - the FTC is taking an increasingly dim view of paid promotion through instagrammers & influencers who fail to disclose the financial nature of their relationship with the brand/brands that are featured in their social media feeds.  So as a public service gesture, I'd like share this info from the Federal Trade Commission -

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking
 

And now that not-so-tiny elephant in the room - TRAFFIC.

Traffic as it relates to the Internet is really one of the most misunderstood metrics out there.  On the one hand, traffic is based
on a number.  Something that is quantifiable, something easily understood by salespeople - selling 100 is far better than 50.  The bigger the number, the better!  But as we are now seeing with watch sales numbers and export numbers getting a "flavor enhanced" boost via the Grey and Light Grey market, we can see that these do, in fact represent sales numbers, but not in the sense that demonstrate sales through the traditional outlets.  Grey and Light Grey Market sales are cover for product dumping.  Well, website traffic is really not that different.  A website can have millions of hits per month, but that does not mean that millions of people are actually visiting those sites -

Click Farms via Vice News

For many of us who run these outlets, it can be a very tempting option, we get nearly daily offers to pay $15.00 for 2,000 followers!  And as the competition among click farms increases, the rates charged will continue to fall.  Pretty soon it will be 10,000 followers for $5.00.  And in fairness to the guys and gals making ad buy decisions (or editorial package decisions) at watch brand HQ, this is really all that they have to go by.  They do not generally have the time (or sometimes even the interest) to read the actual articles and postings that are generated.  Let me put this in a different context, I think despite that fact that everyone reading this is probably pretty interested in watches, we can also agree that the number of people interested in fashion would far eclipse the numbers for watch interest.  Scott Schuman's the Sartorialist - www.thesartorialist.com fetches approximately 500,000 visitors per month.  Do you really think that more people are "clicking in" every month to read about watches than fashion?  

Ever wonder why nobody ever wrote a book called "The Devil Wears an Omega", and why nobody ever made a documentary movie titled Biver: The Last Emperor (although, in fairness, I did right an opinion piece the last time he announced his impending retirement back in 2012 - http://www.tempusfugit.watch/2012/01/last-emperor-has-left-party.html), as someone did about Valentino - Valentino: The Last Emperor IMDb?

Simple, watches are interesting, but they're not that interesting.  Or put more precisely as it relates to the whole traffic conundrum - there is traffic, and then there is traffic.

As with my food, I generally prefer to keep my website traffic organic.

So another year is in the books, and we all look forward to turning the page.  I thank everyone who participated in Tempus Fugit from the brands, to the PR folks to most importantly you, the readers.  I promise you that in 2018 you will continue to get content that is "free range" and hopefully some commentary that will give you a different perspective.  And while you will probably read and hear about some of the brands that I am working for/with, you will not be reading/hearing about them here ; )


With our very best wishes for you in 2018 -

Tallulah Henderson - Executive Publisher, Tempus Fugit Media
James Henderson - Chief Messenger, Tempus Fugit Media

 
 

The Click Farm - No I Was Not Kidding

You've heard it enough from me, so I will defer to the guys at VICE to underscore the reality of click farms (or even click plantations) and why the folks who sign the checks for influencers, bloggers and online advertising should maybe consider that a shit-ton of traffic does not necessarily equate to actual readership -

Massive Click Fraud Farm


We'll see if anyone is listening, or reading...

Influencers, Click Farms and Millennialitis

Now maybe about five years ago (sounds like a nice round number so I'm going with it), I was invited to participate in a group of what was then referred to as "watch experts".  The concept was (on the surface) pretty straight forward - a major watch magazine / publishing company wanted to band together a group of bloggers from different countries and share press opportunities with them, with the bloggers then benefiting from potential shared advertising revenues.  And in fairness, it seemed like a pretty good deal.  How this finally worked out I am not sure because I opted to remain a solo artist.  But that was perhaps one of the first moments that maybe digital was being taken seriously in the watch world.

Now about this same time, the idea of the "influencer" began to bleed into the watch industry.