It’s Not Just AI That Is Killing Off The Publishing Industry

Over the years I have worked with several large UK based information publishing and direct marketing companies.

These guys were big players.

They were raking in millions selling information products and running seminars.

I’ve sat at a desk and watched hundreds of thousands of dollars being processed in Infusionsoft (or whatever it is called these days) within a couple of days of an email or mailing being sent out.

At the end of a week over a million dollars had been made promoting seminars.

These guys made a lot of money.

But, today, I was told that one of them was really struggling lately.

That is the second one that I have worked for that is not having a great time lately.

The number of people buying from them is dropping each year.

I’m not surprised. It is to be expected, really.

AI is a huge factor.

Another is that there is a lot of competition around today.

As the internet evolved and blogging became popular, and social media platforms became the place to hang-out each day, ordinary people were able to start ‘publishing’ the information for free.

The doors to opportunity were blown off their hinges. The playing field was well and truly levelled!

Suddenly, ordinary everyday people all across the world started to grow large followings and build huge email lists.

They created their own products, courses, and programs.

They generated revenue through showing adverts on their websites or promoting other people’s products for affiliate commissions.

Some people started to make big money… and I do mean BIG money!

They then told others how to make money blogging, using social media, and publishing information.

More people followed their lead.

Platforms like Substack, Medium, Skool, PayHip, Gumroad, Patreon, and many more made it easier for people to share information, sell products, and earn money.

Social media channels also began to pay people for publishing a lot of popular content.

They also allowed users to charge a subscription for their content.

Every man woman and child was selling information… and sometimes their pets were cashing in, too!

And this is part of the problem.

The big guys who are used to having the attention of thousands of people through the use of direct mail, now have to compete with thousands of other ‘information publishers’ selling the same or similar information to their customers through emails, websites, and social media.

When technology allows us to connect with others and we can own and control that connection (to a degree) through publishing videos to social media, publishing newsletters on platforms, sending out emails, recording podcasts, doing live broadcasts… we thin-out the audience the big gurus have enjoyed over the years.

The whole audience is thinned out for everyone.

Think of Elvis.

He was HUGELY popular around the world between the 1950s and 1970s… but the chances of there being another Elvis is slim.

Why?

Because there was only one Elvis being promoted to the population back in the 1950s and 1960s through three specific corporate owned channels; television, radio, and newspapers and magazines.

Today we have hundreds of Elvis’ using multiple channels on the internet each day to reach their audience directly for free!

Where there was only one Elvis for millions of people to enjoy, there are now hundreds of Elvis’ that the entire population can choose from.

I am a huge believer that you only need 1,000 True Fans willing to pay you $100 or more per year to have a wonderful freedom income.

But for the big guys that means they potentially lose thousands of followers as they go following other people.

Coldplay may be the last big British band due to the fact they started just before the internet gave everyone the opportunity to find their fanbase.

Now, anyone and everyone is using the internet and that just means that audience numbers are dropping as they are being shared with a larger number of publishers, influencers, bands, artists, etc.

Yes, you can like more than one person at a time… but as customers we generally stick to one or two people we trust, and if there are more people to choose from that trust gets spread out more.

No longer do we have 1 million people choosing between 10 information publishing companies, we now have 1 million people choosing between 10,000+ people publishing and sharing information.

Then there is AI.

Why pay for information when you can now get it all for free from Google and tools such as Claude and ChatGPT?

Yes, population numbers have exploded, and yes more and more people are online so there is a larger pool of potential customers to target… but there is also a fecking huge number of people self-publishing information and selling courses and products.

It was always inevitable that the big guys would soon start to lose customers because the customers now have a much larger pool of people to buy from.

Until next time.

Have a great day.

Andi

PS. Why not come over and check out my community here: The Freedom Skills Academy, (must be time for a change of name, me thinks).

I focus on helping people find their 1,000 True Fans and build their freedom income with an Offline Online Hybrid Business.

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