I was driving last week when my 13 year old said, "Mom, what's black and white and red all over? A newspaper!" My initial thought was ...well not anymore...
It's refreshing to see an uproar on blogs, and healthy as well.
So, journalists, you got your butt whooped by innovative marketing that disrupted your industry status quo; stuff happens, and now it is time for you to do something positive about it.
Professionally managed strategic planning sessions channel brainstorming and drive topics to defined action items, in just a well-paced, productive environment.
Journalists, consider that you build widgets. In your case it is news, and like many engineers and other developers, you are enamored together with your widget. However, like every widget, your widget must be marketed, sold, and supported etc, to generate cash flow and a long-term healthy balance sheet so you can build more widgets https://takerootandwrite.com/.
Google, Yahoo and others are in the commercial of generating web traffic for profit; they distribute your widgets to generate more traffic to their sites. They distribute your widgets totally free without payment for you setting a defacto standard; they're not in operation to make money on news.
When you commit to developing business models you'll progress forward. When you step out of your homogenous safe place, you'll never think about your widgets the exact same way again. As an example, think of the intelligent, motivated blog readers as a resource. Consider these rules of engagement for strategic planning sessions:
1. Building business models is all about working ON your company, not IN your business. Be objective, and open-minded; study on history without dwelling on the past http://trendynews4u.com/.
2. The team will evaluate markets and customer segments, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis, value propositions, price elasticity, competition and a great many other components. Strategic planning sessions conducted by an experienced professional won't solve all issues tomorrow, but will focus on the achievable and deliver action items, set goals for another session, establish feedback mechanisms, etc.
3. Harvard's session the other day, "How to Make Profit News: New Business Models for the 21st Century" had 48 attendees, 3.5 dozen too many. A productive team is comprised of 6 people, a maximum of 7, plus a treatment leader providing agenda, content and infrastructure, along with setting the pace and keeping the session on track https://afic.co/.
Perhaps blog readers should weigh in on who ought to be on the first strategic planning team. Have two lists (one example raised on a web log comment was a part from the Huffington Post) 1> who ought to be on the team and 2> who ought to be guest speakers willing to possess candid discussions.Not everyone will have a way or prepared to participate; have alternates.
4. Team meets one 8-hour day every 3 weeks, finish session 1 in 12 weeks, final report in 15 weeks.
5. Team suggests reports to be evaluated e.g., consumer research. Blog readers outline 'The Best Of" reports as well.
Perhaps blog readers can volunteer to do research. This may keep journalists involved in the sessions, be the main solution and keep consitently the pace moving. As an example, if 1 out of 4 those who read journalism blogs commit to greatly help 2 hours every three weeks, we could evaluate some interesting results. This is simply not frustrating, but incredibly beneficial. Some research, like these example, would focus on a certain market, specific customer segments; other requests will be different.
Example research request: Call 5 companies in the to-be-defined industry in your home town and inquire further the exact same 5 questions to give an, albeit loosely coupled but a sampling of data. Interview the company owner. Listen. Understand this world from the owners' shoes. Example questions are:
What results perhaps you have seen from newspaper advertising?
The length of time did you run ads, what were your original expectations, and were your expectations met?
Were you in a position to differentiate your company with newspaper advertising, why or you will want to?
What is the most successful way you gain new business?
Have you been advertising in other venues and how successful is that for you?
Ask folks who don't advertise today and who do advertise today. Engage them in conversation. Probe. Feedback will be consolidated and results posted.
Journalists, innovative leaders of strategic planning sessions assist intelligent professionals immersed in today's model to consider from the box. When companies wish to re-brand and open new lines of business or when innovative marketing disrupts the status quo establishing new competition, many choose strategic planning professionals. Consider working with a treatment leader that's never worked in your industry, an expert strategist may question perceptions and find marketable assets where none were visible before.
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