Content is not king, you are
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007I realise this is not very new or perhaps that exciting; but I think it’s important. Most publishing businesses believe you have to provide great content that is relevant to the reader to be successful. Don’t get me wrong, this is important, BUT it is not why these companies exist and it is not the key to their long term success.
Publishers, and here I’m talking mainly about news and magazine publishers, are like every business. They exist for one reason and that is to make money. The way publishers do this is by ’selling access’ to their readers - that’s YOU.
OK, some publishers are good enough to provide ’subscription only’ journals, but the majority rely on advertising to survive. This is equally true for local newspapers, glossy magazines, and trade journals as it is for commercial websites. If the publisher cannot convince advertisers that they can deliver the audience the advertisers want to reach, their publication will not survive, regardless of how good its content.
Which comes to my point. YOU are what’s really important, and not the content.
Most publishing houses, however, have very little idea of WHO YOU ARE and know very little about you. This will change!
The question you will be soon asked is which publishers do you have a close enough relationship with to share those important personal details, such as your name, income, place of work, home address, email, buying preferences and your personal, career and social aspirations.
If you want to see the future, take a good look at your Facebook profile and compare the amount of information known about you here to that held by your local newspaper or broadcasters.
Who really knows ‘you’ best and is able to deliver the content that you want to see?
