Rob Hendrickson

There are alot of neat and nifty things written about networking technology, such as Internet and Mobile. And if your business has deemed these new techs as necessary for growth, perhaps even survival, then this thread of insights might be of interest to you.

A while back I was contracted by a magazine publishing company to review ways they could improve performance with their Internet initiatives. Not a difficult task as the performance was leaking water like a cruise ship.

After a presentation outlining the necessary actions they would need to take in order to be successful, and after a few confused and glassy eyed glances around the room, they asked how they were to enact these ideas.

I hesitated and then said, “Total commitment to it. If not, go find something else to do.”

This article is heavy on the publishing industry, but much can be applied to any industry.

Step 1: Commit

The company and individuals ALL have to commit to the common goal. The goal should be simple and clearly spelled out. A goal for digital or network technologies might be… 25% of ALL revenues generated through digital initiatives. or… Operational cost savings of 12% using web based automation and customer communication such as email renewal notification.

Notice I use the words digital and networks. I tend to steer clear of word Internet or Web because there are so many new technologies available and our goal is to be platform agnostic.

At many companies, I estimate that 1 out of every 5 leaders do not want to or will not commit. People (especially magazine people) tend to love their delivery vehicle. They view the Internet as a support mechanism, the website as a repository for old articles and email newsletters are to inform what is coming up in other media.

I preach that their ability to create good content about niche topics is the true value and that we need to push it out using any vehicle our customers want and is the essence of their product and thus the essence of their brand. It’s a matter of rethinking the content gathering process combined with an understanding of the medium.

I find it funny that many magazines changed their layout to reflect the Internet, short bursts of information such as how-tos, top tens and little or no in-depth coverage over a particular topic. “That’s what people want now.” is a common comment I hear. That’s like saying “We removed the car’s windshield because motorcycle sales have gone way up and it’s because people like the wind in their hair.”

Some publishers have been waiting for this change, some understand it and others fight the new goals. The latter need to go use their talents elsewhere as we have lots of work to do and little time to do it without an internal fight about whether pushing our content online is a good idea.

Commitment to the goals of using digital and network technology is essential to the success of the endeavor and therefore, I have placed it as Step 1.