One Trick Pony or Media Mogul

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There are two schools of thought in the publishing world:

-Master one thing and do it well.
-Be the master of your market.

I tend to lean toward the later. Unless you have been living under a rock, you might have noticed that there has been an evolution of communication. Readers are consuming media differently which has an immense impact on publishing.

Publishers who follow the one trick pony school of thought will be fading fast. Advertising dollars are slowly moving away from print and the heyday of print big revenues we all have fond memories of isn’t coming back. In truth, client’s budgets aren’t changing – the way they are being spent are. As communication outlets increase in number, ad dollars are becoming more diversified and a better reflection of today’s world than the one trick pony.

Don’t get me wrong. Publications are our brand leaders, our largest source of revenue and certainly the most important feature we offer. The bulk of our valuable subscriber profiles come from publication subscriptions. It is through our magazines that the industries and markets we serve knows who we are. It is important that publishers continue producing high quality content and present it in a well designed format. The health of our subscriber files is especially vital. With crap names, advertisers will receive crap results which will further cripple our print revenues.

While it is important to keep the print segment of our business solid and running strong, we need to start taking a look at our titles as “brands” and find the extensions of our brands as communication outlets to keep up with reader needs and advertising spends. Weather it is a web site, blog, enewsletters, in person events, mobile platforms, applications or social Networks, being where your readers are will help elevate market position and perceived value to readers and advertisers.

Not all markets are created equal. To create the ideal mix of media outlets, specific market needs have to be considered. We have to consider where audiences looking and what are they looking for. For example, your audience isn’t Facebooking, they might be on LinkedIn. Create a LinkedIn group! This is an easy way to get your audience networking with each other, interacting in discussions led by editors, distribute your content and market your other “brands” to this captive audience.

Once you have identified what communication tools apply to your audience, a strategy to connect each medium while creating differentiation in each facet is important. It won’t do anyone any good to slap the magazine on the web and then regurgitate the same information on the mobile site. Each part of the brand must fill a unique and specific need that integrates the goal of the overall brand.

Creating new ways to distribute content and engage with readers will open up the doors to new revenue opportunities and create a larger audience base from which to profit from. Why stay a trick pony?

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