Do it for love

Our friend Ken Blum has hit on the secret of success.
He’s writing a novel about a hometown paper in the ‘60s.
It’s a story Ken lived with a community newspaper group.
He’s also doing a book on photojournalism’s mental side.
He’s using award-winning photos he shot himself.
All will be printed in sepia for a unique touch.
“It’s a book that I’m doing for myself,” Ken writes.
That’s the secret of doing it — and finishing it.
Write them for yourself and people like yourself,
I know some con artists do it just for the bucks.
But they miss the fun of writing the books.
It’s just work to them. That’s no way to live.
Most of the writers I know do it for themselves first.
Then they share with people like themselves:
1. The great stories they’ve heard.
2. The intriguing things that happen to them.
3. The lessons both have taught them.
If you don’t do it for the love of it, it’s work.
Our friend Joe Pinner says he’s never worked a day in his life.
Of course, Joe loves what he does for a living.
I hope you’re doing what you love, too.
Please leave your own thoughts on this.
Just click on Post a Comment below.
For more success strategies, click here.

Ride the wave, swim or drown

Once upon a time, the music business had a license to print money.
Radio promoted their music free. Competition was limited.
Production costs were high. Profit margins were higher.
The LP couldn’t be copied. Record clubs thrived.
Owning a record label gave you the Midas touch.
Then technology came along and changed everything.
Seth Godin tells this story in his book, "Tribes".
Technology changed my industry, newspaper publishing, too.
The suburbs made cheap child delivery impractical.
The price of paper went up. News was free on the Internet.
Advertisers found multiple ways to advertise.
Publishing companies borrowed their way into bankruptcy.
Change will drown you. Your options: Ride the wave or swim.
If you decide to float, you'll starve to death.
What’s going on in your industry? I’ll bet it’s changing fast.
Look at health care, a recession-resistant industry.
Are you practicing the way you did five years ago? Not hardly.
A medical degree once gave you a license to print money.
No longer. Many doctors don’t even own their own practices now.
Here’s some homework: Make a list of the changes in your industry.
Write out all of your options. Do a Ben Franklin analysis.
Which options have more benefits than costs?
Bring your team together and decide what all of you must do.
You won’t be able to do this over the weekend.
This is an annual planning event. Start your planning . . NOW.
To post your response, click on "comment" below.
For more on succeeding in business and in life, click here.
P.S. A big book sale is coming up. Details next week.

Do newspapers have a future?

Yesterday we talked about learning from our experiences.
Today we’ll talk about something close to many of our hearts:
What lies ahead for newspapers and the publishing industry?
As you’re reading this, my wife and I will be in Atlanta.
I’ll talk with Ruth King on the ProfitabilityChannel.com at 10 a.m.
Then we will meet for the weekend with other consultants.
These include some familiar names you will recognize:
Ed Henninger, Ken Blum, Bob Bobber and Kevin Slimp.
We will discuss the future of newspapers in print and online.
I’ll share our insights with you in next week’s blog.
My take on newspapers’ future? It’s simple and optimistic.
The obituaries are premature. Community newspapers are robust.
They fill a need for local news and information like nothing else.
They tell about your taxes. What your local officials are up to.
About the education your children get. The safety of your town.
Who scored the winning points in the local high school game.
Who was born, got married or died. What’s on at the movies.
We don’t try to cover the world. We cover what we do best.
We should not try to be all things to all people. That’s suicidal.
Local news and sports is our franchise. Our reason for existence.
We should strive to do it better than anyone else ever could.
I hope you have time to watch Ruth and me. To do it, click here.