In a session at Columbia Business School’s recent BRITE Conference, Luke Williams from Frog Design suggested innovation comes from taking people’s preconceptions and turning them on their head.
As part of the session attendees were split into groups to brainstorm ways to “save The New York Times“. One of the suggestions was as follows:
Observation: Readership generates revenue.
Provocation: The paper has no readers.
Ideas: “Lease out the paper’s writers and content creators to other corporations.”
Here’s my question: Is that such a crazy idea?
Traditional media outlets like the NYT are skilled at creating compelling content, telling stories and crafting arguments – it’s what they do. And while newspaper revenues are falling, these are the very same skills that content-savvy businesses need – and increasingly – will happily pay well for.
The problems faced by traditional media are not due to a lack of talent but rather a question of format and business model.
Short of renting out their reporters, editors and content creators to the highest bidder, traditional media organisations could build powerhouse custom content divisions – leveraging the strength of their editorial teams (and brands) to create compelling content for business.
As an alternative, they could utilise their strengths to develop niche content development units to feed news and editorial directly to business to, in turn, repurpose in their websites, blogs and customer magazines.
This may all be happening by the back door anyway. Skilled journalists and editors are being made redundant from traditional media outlets and a new wave of would-be journalists are struggling to get their foot in the door. If these professionals cannot find well paid, secure employment in print media they will no doubt turn to online media, business and custom content providers as alternatives.
The ideas generated in the BRITE session may have been more mental exercise than considered recommendations, but perhaps traditional media should take note nonetheless.
Original article via Fast Company
Pic: Flickr
Here’s a quick question, what kinds of content do you like to consume?
Do you like ‘How To’ type articles or are you more of a news buff? Do interviews do it for you or would you rather see reviews? Short vs. long. Print vs. web. Video vs. audio. Case studies vs. editorial.
When we create content as part of our marketing efforts, we have to make choices about style, format and err, content. How we answer those questions will have a huge impact on how effective our content is in achieving our marketing goals.
So how do you decide?
Probably the smartest option is to ask our customers and prospects. A second option might be to create content that we would like to read, view or listen to ourselves.
The worst option is to create content in a particular format, simply because it’s what everyone else is doing. In fact, presenting your content in a new format can help attract a new audience or make it easier to connect with your existing customers and prospects.
Would Wine Library TV be as popular if it were Wine Library Newsletter? Probably not.
You may not always make the right choice but it should be a decision based on some level of consideration. In other words, ask yourself:
- Why That Topic?
- Why That Style? and
- What That Format?
If you haven’t got a good answer you need to give it some more thought.
Suburbified.com uses the New York Times API to pull articles about New York’s many suburbs onto their own site and arrange them on a simple to use map of the area. So, if you’re looking for information about an area you simply click on the map and can read articles from the NY Times.
As a business, the logical move is to
- extend the reach beyond the suburbs and include areas in New York City
- pull in articles from other well-known sources
- hook up with real estate agents to provide services to them
- offer local advertising
By making smart use of other people’s content – and presenting it in a user-friendly fashion – Suburbified has created a potentially profitable content-based business model.
The NY Times must certainly be applauded for making this content available via their API. It’s an excellent way to drive traffic back to the site and shows an understanding of how the internet is changing. (Although you could argue that some of the ideas that are bound to come out of their newly released API should have been done in house.)
So, now, what about every other newspaper out there, jealously guarding their news and editorial content? What would happen if they opened up to, and even welcomed, the armies of developers who would gladly help share and promote their content – provided they could?
Via: KillerStartups
Everyone who creates content for their business will be familiar with the grinding feeling in the pit of their stomach as they agonise over what, exactly, to write about.
No matter how long you’ve been at it or how proficient you are, writer’s block comes to us all.
Plinky is a website that helps get you started by encouraging you to answer prompts like ‘name a book that changed your mind or opened your eyes’ or ‘name a movie character that reminded you or yourself or someone you know’.
It’s certainly worth a shot if you’re stuck, but …
How else can you find inspiration for your content?
- Read Widely: What are other people talking about? Online, in magazines, in books? I often find forums are useful places to find inspiration – based on the topics and questions being discussed there.
- Subscribe to RSS feeds outside your industry
- Sign up for news release services
- Read books outside your niche
- Read the newspaper or news magazine
- Talk to People: Have a conversation with someone new, ideally outside your field, about their business. How can you apply their insights to your business?
- Think Like Your Customer: What one thing would they love to know about X? What piece of insider information could you give away?
- Think Like a Newspaper: What’s new, what’s exciting, what new businesses are launching, how will news events affect your customers?
Have your say: What tricks and tips do you use to get inspiration? Share them with your fellow readers in the comments below.
