A major paper - The Seattle Post-Intelligencer - is put up for sale as a last-ditch attempt to see if it has any future at all. I don't live in Seattle or read the P-I, but I can't imagine their situation is much different from other struggling media properties. Nor are the explanations unusal or creative: revenues are down, expenses are up, the internet is draining away readership.
Funny, I didn't see "failure of vision" on the list anywhere.
The P-I's owners (currently the Hearst Corp.) might want to read this post from Seth Godin. In just six concise recommendations, he outlines a strategy for the New York Times that could work on the left coast, too. Built around enabling users to spread messages, using accumulated influence in new ways, building permission assets, keeping score, using stringers by the thousands, and creating new platforms for advertising, it all sounds so easy and obvious when Godin says it.
In Godin's words,
Yes, they do have a web site, usually one they're content to ignore so long as it's "no worse than the competition's" and the belief persists that THEIR patients are too old or too trusting in their physician to spell 'WWW.' Meanwhile, smaller, hungrier, more nimble organizations are following Godin's formula and creating the next generation of customer value...the networks, the functionality, the information flows, the collaboration.
And darn those customers for following the value, never caring very much what the CEO thinks. Is health care such a protected guild that none of this matters? I don't think so. And when does it become too late to save a business model built on protecting the edifice complex? Ah, now there's a question...
Meanwhile, I think I'll send a resume to the P-I.
UPDATE: Today, Godin followed up with a post titled "When newspapers are gone, what will you miss?" His answer: not much. Its a good question to ask about your industry, too. What would be missed if you disappeared tomorrow? Could you be replaced by someone cheaper, smarter, faster?
Funny, I didn't see "failure of vision" on the list anywhere.
The P-I's owners (currently the Hearst Corp.) might want to read this post from Seth Godin. In just six concise recommendations, he outlines a strategy for the New York Times that could work on the left coast, too. Built around enabling users to spread messages, using accumulated influence in new ways, building permission assets, keeping score, using stringers by the thousands, and creating new platforms for advertising, it all sounds so easy and obvious when Godin says it.
In Godin's words,
"Lots of organizations go through this analysis. How do you leverage your brand or your customer base to get to the next level, to enter new markets or new technologies--and do it while running your old business. And almost without exception, organizations are run by people who want to protect the old business, not develop the new one."Think about Godin's ideas for a moment. Might they apply to other industries too, say health care? Many health care CEOs say "What's the problem? We've got a web site don't we?"
Yes, they do have a web site, usually one they're content to ignore so long as it's "no worse than the competition's" and the belief persists that THEIR patients are too old or too trusting in their physician to spell 'WWW.' Meanwhile, smaller, hungrier, more nimble organizations are following Godin's formula and creating the next generation of customer value...the networks, the functionality, the information flows, the collaboration.
And darn those customers for following the value, never caring very much what the CEO thinks. Is health care such a protected guild that none of this matters? I don't think so. And when does it become too late to save a business model built on protecting the edifice complex? Ah, now there's a question...
Meanwhile, I think I'll send a resume to the P-I.
UPDATE: Today, Godin followed up with a post titled "When newspapers are gone, what will you miss?" His answer: not much. Its a good question to ask about your industry, too. What would be missed if you disappeared tomorrow? Could you be replaced by someone cheaper, smarter, faster?
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