I was driving the other day when my 13 year old said, "Mom, what is black and white and red around? A newspaper!" My initial thought was ...well not anymore...
It's refreshing to learn an uproar on blogs, and healthy as well.
So, journalists, you got the couch whooped by innovative marketing that disrupted your industry status quo; stuff happens, and now it is time and energy to do something 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're enamored 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 to help you build more widgets https://takerootandwrite.com/.
Google, Yahoo and others are in the business 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 to you setting a defacto standard; they are not in operation to earn money on news.
As soon as you commit to developing business models you will progress forward. As soon as you step from the homogenous rut, you will never consider your widgets exactly the same way again. As an example, think of the intelligent, motivated blog readers as a resource. Consider the next rules of engagement for strategic planning sessions:
1. Building business models is all about working ON your organization, 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 number of other components. Strategic planning sessions conducted by a skilled professional will not solve all issues tomorrow, but will give attention to the achievable and deliver action items, set goals for the next session, establish feedback mechanisms, etc.
3. Harvard's session the other day, "How exactly to Make Money in News: New Business Models for the 21st Century" had 48 attendees, 3.5 dozen too many. A productive team is made up of 6 people, no more than 7, plus a period 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 should really be on the original strategic planning team. Have two lists (one example raised on a weblog comment was an associate from the Huffington Post) 1> who should really be on the team and 2> who should really be guest speakers willing to own candid discussions.Not everyone will have the ability 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 submit 'The Best Of" reports as well.
Perhaps blog readers can volunteer to accomplish research. This may keep journalists involved in the sessions, be the main solution and keep carefully the pace moving. As an example, if 1 out of 4 people who read journalism blogs commit to help 2 hours every three weeks, we are able to evaluate some interesting results. This is simply not time intensive, but incredibly beneficial. Some research, like the next example, would give attention to a specific market, specific customer segments; other requests will undoubtedly be different.
Example research request: Call 5 companies in the to-be-defined industry in your house town and inquire further exactly the same 5 questions to give an, albeit loosely coupled but a sampling of data. Interview the business enterprise owner. Listen. Appreciate this world from the owners' shoes. Example questions are:
What results perhaps you have seen from newspaper advertising?
How long did you run ads, what were your original expectations, and were your expectations met?
Were you able to differentiate your organization with newspaper advertising, why or why not?
What's the absolute most successful way you gain new business?
Have you been advertising in other venues and how successful is that for you personally?
Ask people that don't advertise today and who do advertise today. Engage them in conversation. Probe. Feedback will undoubtedly be consolidated and results posted.
Journalists, innovative leaders of strategic planning sessions assist intelligent professionals immersed in the present model to think out of the box. When companies desire to re-brand and open new lines of business or when innovative marketing disrupts the industry status quo establishing new competition, many choose strategic planning professionals. Consider dealing with a period leader that has never worked in your industry, an expert strategist may question perceptions and find marketable assets where none were visible before.
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