Firing One of Your Customers

Testing My Assumptions: Pulling Back the Curtain on My Business
The following is the third segment in a 4-part video series that documents the evolution of my young business, in the hopes that others can learn from my experience—my successes, my mistakes, and the process of applying a critical eye to your business as it develops.

Part 3: Publishers—Firing One of Your Customers

The world is hard on publishers today. I know because I was there when everything started to change. Things used to be really good for us. We were the last word. We had full control of all the channels, in and out. No writers “got in” unless we deemed it so—and it was us who turned them into authors. We controlled any and all production and distribution of books, until digital destroyed both. With that level of channel control, we called all the shots. Authors had no choice but us, and book retailers were nothing without our products.

Produce a good product, above all. That’s what I learned as an editor. It’s all that mattered.

Then the world changed. The power shifted. A young upstart online retailer saw a weakness in the system. It was willing to operate at a loss for years while cozying up to publishers, offering a solution to that pesky Shift to Digital. Publishers at the time really didn’t have a strategy to steer through the change, and seeing what happened to the music industry, it embraced the offer. Clinking of glasses, some hearty back-slapping. Problem solved.

This new distribution and sales model, however, hinged on the Long Tail. That was its core philosophy. While publishers are in a position to embrace this philosophy, the industry adheres to a strict Tentpole Strategy [There’s good reason for this—see Blockbusters by Anita Elberse for an examination of why this works for large media companies]. Meanwhile, the gates to production and distribution were being pried wide open. Anyone could participate now, and sure enough, anyone did.

We can argue all day about whether this is a good thing or not—whether the huge incursion of new “talent” is worthwhile. But the cold, hard facts are that among the flood, there is a group of authors who:

1. Got overlooked/ignored by the industry.
2. Made their own way without the help of a Gatekeeper.
3. Produced a really good product that people like.
4. Did the work of connecting directly with their readers/customers.

I love this. While I appreciate what a Gatekeeper brings to the table, I’m always on the side of the underdog. Those who didn’t stand a chance, but succeeded anyway—who doesn’t love a story like that?

So when I started my own business, I wanted to help people like that. Underdog authors, underdog publishers, and underdog entrepreneurs. Some of my clients are all three.

But nine months in, I’m realizing that it’s tough for me to help publishers, even the ones that are trying hard to embrace the Shift to Digital. Never mind the ones who won’t stop wishing that the Internet would go away. It makes sense that they want to hold on to their 20th century margins, but digital won’t allow it. Time to move on.

I’m not saying, “don’t call me.” I want to help, I really do. I’d certainly consider taking on a publisher client who’s trying to refactor their business. After all, I built the content side of a digital-first business from the ground up. I know all of the considerations around creating, designing, producing, validating, and maintaining content—in the print world and the digital world. I have a view of Old vs. New that few others have, given that I’ve actually lived on both sides. I know the cost structures, financial models, and baseline metrics of the industry. I ran the P&L’s on both sides. I know what you’re up against.

But really focusing on the core part of my business—helping people build an audience using a content strategy—that part’s tough for publishers. Why? It’s hard for publishers to connect directly with readers now. They ceded that relationship to bookstores years ago, and it made sense, to a certain degree. Now there’s one bookstore, and it’s not so generous (to say the least) about sharing that relationship. Not to mention all the valuable data around that relationship.

And what I’ve discovered in 9 months of my business? People don’t want to talk to a company. I don’t mean to make it sound absolute, because there are exceptions to this, of course. But for the most part, people want to talk to other people—not to an entity, a company, a publisher.

OK, so what do you do with that? Publishers are actually in a great position to run a content strategy. They have:

1. A ton of great content. After all, it’s at the core of what they do.
2. Really interesting employees. The industry attracts really smart people.

My advice to publishers is simple. Deputize someone as the “face” of your business. That can be an editor, a series editor—someone who’s insanely passionate about their list or genre. Your CEO is interesting, right? Get her out there talking about what matters to her and why she’s running this business.

If you want to do this, you are no longer “just” a publisher. You are now an author (or at least a writer/producer), and you might even be an entrepreneur. And if you want to embrace this new method, then we should talk. Then I can help you. In fact, I’d be psyched to help you. The new world is kind to creators—those who want to connect. But you’ve got to make the first move.

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To get started, I invite you to read my articles about content strategy—how it can help you, and how to implement it for yourself. You can find it all here on my site: http://michaelboezi.com, or you can join my mailing list.

If you find that you need specific help, contact me directly here: http://michaelboezi.com/contact.

I offer a wide variety of services, from coaching and strategizing to writing and editing. My goal is to train you so that you can do all this on your own and not be dependent on me. Most of all, I want to make you successful. It’s all available to you in today’s world—you just need a strategy.

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Copyright 2014 Control Mouse Media, LLC http://www.controlmousemedia.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use is a violation of applicable copyright laws. All views or opinions expressed in this video and its description are solely those of the author and do not represent those of the author’s employers, past or present.

Music credit: Cataclysmic Converter http://bit.ly/cataclysmic-converter.