I was driving yesterday when my 13 year old said, "Mom, what's black and white and red throughout? A newspaper!" My initial thought was ...well not anymore...
It is refreshing to read 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's time for you to do something positive about it.
Professionally managed strategic planning sessions channel brainstorming and drive topics to defined action items, within a well-paced, productive environment.
Journalists, consider that you build widgets. In your case it is actually news, and like many engineers and other developers, you are enamored together with your widget. However, like every widget, your widget needs to 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 for their sites. They distribute your widgets totally free without payment for your requirements setting a defacto standard; they're not running a business to make money on news.
Once you commit to developing business models you'll progress forward. Once you step from the homogenous comfort zone, you'll never think about your widgets exactly the same way again. For example, consider the intelligent, motivated blog readers as a resource. Consider the following rules of engagement for strategic planning sessions:
1. Building business models is all about working ON your business, not IN your business. Be objective, and open-minded; study from 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 many other components. Strategic planning sessions conducted by an experienced professional will not solve all issues tomorrow, but will focus on the achievable and deliver action items, set goals for the following session, establish feedback mechanisms, etc.
3. Harvard's session a week ago, "Just how to Make Money in 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 period leader providing agenda, content and infrastructure, in addition to setting the pace and keeping the session on track https://afic.co/.
Perhaps blog readers should weigh in on who must certanly be on the first strategic planning team. Have two lists (one example raised on a website comment was a part from the Huffington Post) 1> who must certanly be on the team and 2> who must certanly be guest speakers willing to have candid discussions.Not everyone will be able or willing 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 send in 'The Best Of" reports as well.
Perhaps blog readers can volunteer to do research. This can keep journalists mixed up in sessions, be part of the solution and keep the pace moving. For example, if 1 out of 4 individuals who read journalism blogs commit to simply help 2 hours every three weeks, we are able to evaluate some interesting results. This isn't frustrating, but incredibly beneficial. Some research, like the following example, would focus on a particular market, specific customer segments; other requests will soon be different.
Example research request: Call 5 companies in the to-be-defined industry in your home town and ask them exactly the same 5 questions to give an, albeit loosely coupled but a sampling of data. Interview the business owner. Listen. Understand why world from the owners' shoes. Example questions are:
What results maybe you have seen from newspaper advertising?
Just how long did you run ads, what were your original expectations, and were your expectations met?
Were you in a position to differentiate your business with newspaper advertising, why or why don't you?
What's the absolute most successful way you gain new business?
Are you currently advertising in other venues and how successful is that for you?
Ask folks who do not advertise today and who do advertise today. Engage them in conversation. Probe. Feedback will soon be consolidated and results posted.
Journalists, innovative leaders of strategic planning sessions assist intelligent professionals immersed in the current model to believe from the box. When companies want to re-brand and open new lines of business or when innovative marketing disrupts a status quo establishing new competition, many choose strategic planning professionals. Consider working together with a period leader that has never worked in your industry, a professional strategist may question perceptions and find marketable assets where none were visible before.
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