TechWag

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As my little startup continues to show growth, the need to start working with some of the groups in the industry is an important part of the landscape. The sad part is that there are still people in the books and other media industries that will not let people play in their ball park because the store is internet only. The reason is that I am an internet store only, and I have no compelling reason to go Bricks and Mortar yet. The numbers for opening up a B&M right now do not jive; I cannot make those numbers work with a happy outcome.

Some members of the book industry still do not get the idea that the internet and using all the channels available to a physical product seller are required to continue to grow and reach a global audience. The focus of book industry groups and some book/media suppliers on bricks and mortar physical stores in the longer run is a rapidly dying business model. Not quite dead yet, but rapidly approaching the time where the hybrid or pure play internet store is the best business model to follow in the media industry. If you are not online, you are losing money, and you are probably wondering what is happening to your profit and loss (P&L) statement right now.

If I was not on the internet, then all my sales of American comic books and graphic novels overseas would be a dead issue, I would not be making those sales. Depending on the day, overseas sales can be as much as 20% of the day’s sales.

I love our troops, their families, their friends, and themselves all purchase from my online store. On average 30% of my sales go to support our troops in one form or another, either through direct shipping to them, or to a military base where their families live. Thank you friends and family of our troops, we ship priority to anywhere military, books are important.

I make a lot of sales to Japan; American comic books are very popular over there, which can be as much as 10% of my monthly sales (already up to 40% of my sales going overseas).

I love my friends in Europe who also purchase on average 10% of my physical goods (and now up to 50% of my sales are international, thanks to the internet).

That leaves ½ of my business dependent upon the American market, if I was not on the internet, I could just simply lop off ½ of my business overnight. Something I am disinclined to do, in this case, sales are sales and money is money. I see nothing that would be socially irredeemable by selling half of my monthly sales overseas for any reason.

The focus though of some support groups and some suppliers to deal with B&M’s only puts a damper on their own sales and their own ability to support the industry. While I am biased in favor of being an internet store because the overhead is minimal and I can still support the store with what it makes, if I was a B&M right now today, with no internet sales, I would probably be closing down. My sales on the internet are those sales that have a global reach, a global audience, and I have global sales all out of the comfort of my living room and a computer on Amazon Web Services.

The book industry, including their support groups and social networking groups have to accept the idea that the internet, or at the very least a hybrid on/off line model is what is going to help the book industry survive. The next big round of survival is going to come with digital downloads but we are not there yet. When 20% of the population gets their books via e-books and immediate download, then we have to worry about it. Right now as an industry we should be making plans on how this is going to work, and what tools/technology/support the all ebook model is going to bring in terms of sales and changes to the industry.

The book industry cannot afford to become the next RIAA or MPAA desperately trying to find a business model that works.

The good part is that there are already models for the book industry that work, check out Powell’s books in Portland, a good solid hybrid on/off line book store. While they are still having issues, they are not as deep or as far reaching as they could be if they were a B&M only. Check out my own store; show me where 300% Y/Y growth is a bad thing. Check out the good social networks like Shelfari and others where we talk about books and the industry. Check out Amazon, check out Barnes and Nobel, check out Borders, and then tell me why the internet is a bad thing.

Check out every success story from mid 2008 through to today for pure play internet and hybrid sales models. Then tell the world why the preference for a B&M is the only way to go, and that the internet is not a valid sales channel.