What a year we are closing out! With 2009 just hours young in some parts of the world, I am going to go out on a limb to say all of us digital publishers out there are on the precipice of prosperity.
No, I haven't started the festivities early. I am serious. Undoubtedly there are a few hurdles to overcome, but if you are still in business when dawn breaks in the morning, then you have a very good chance of having a ground-breaking new year. Not yet believing?
It's a given, 2008 was wretched. After years of gorging on hubris and debt, we were forced to see our silhouettes in the mirror to see nothing but fat and sloth. We’re closer to rigor mortis than to agile. But at least we are still alive.
Former General Electric guru Jack Welsh once said, “change before you have to.” Okay, we missed that boat, so let's his words to “change -- before everyone else does.” Start dropping the ballast and abandon the traditions that have kept you moored in place. And start reinventing the processes that will allow you to take advantage of the incredible fire-sales that are sure to start happening shortly.
Been in the print business for over a century? Okay but remember you are not in the print business, you are in the news business, and news is channel agnostic. So hug a tree and shed the paper. Go slowly -- maybe a few days a week like Detroit – or go all in like the CS Monitor.
Author Robert Fulghum realized that much of what he learned in kindergarten applies to him today, so channel your inner 5-year old and learn to share. As Arturo Duran, CEO ImpreMedia Digital says, with the web we don’t own eyeballs any more — we share them. It’s a big world, so find some folks you like to work with and figure out away to share. You’ll reduce some overhead while you're at it too.
Stuck on yourself because of your ability to turn a phrase? Well lots of us can write, but mortgages and kids and snot having someone to subsidize an apartment in New York forced some of us into different careers. Now blogs and comments are our outlets! Figure out a way to sift through the cacophony and add value to the voices.
Want to think bigger? So let's talk about increasing your market share. Plenty of publishers will be looking to stop banging their heads against a wall (unless they are truly insane – and stay away from them) and will be looking to unload some titles that have underperformed. Some even will be idiotic enough to not realize that six years worth of archives are actually worth something – and will just abandon their property outright. Be ready to pounce!
The key capitalizing on any of these opportunities is to be digitally agile. The analog world was all about being rooted and routinized. Digital means flexibility, playing with others, and being able to adapt on a dime. Doubling down on digital after years of ignoring the future is not going to be easy. But if you play your cards right, it will certainly yield high payoffs!
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The Times is broken
5 days ago
1 comment:
Right on! The future is in playing with each other I like that! And like Arturo says it's all about sharing, that's definitely what the digital world is bringing! We will be sharing on such a level that tons of opportunities will open up for those who were in the shadows for decades while the few where standing in the spot light!
Highways of freedom are being formed in this new digital realm and there is nothing that can be done to stop it, it's a collective dream to come true :)
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