How's the year been for you? Are your sub files holding up? Did the last renewal campaign work out OK? Are your social feeds generating revenue and engagement? What happened when you relaunched live events? How about newsstand sales?OK, that last questions was probably not necessary.In surveying my clients recently, nearly every one that responded reported that this year has not been easy. Retention rates are slipping. Ad revenue is unstable. It's been hard to maintain circulation. Paper costs are up. Several have been vocally questioning the efficacy of remaining on the newsstand.Yeah...I didn't need to hear that last one either. In other words, publishers are under pressure in 2022. I've always maintained that in the world of business, it's super easy to seem like a great business leader - when times are good. The real test of what sort of manager you are is when the times are not so good. And by that, I don't mean some stereotypical hard nosed, take no prisoners, lay off that division, sell off those assets, load up the spin off with debt kind of leader.Do you endure the same difficulties as your team? If you cut their pay, did you cut your pay (Like, really cut it, not just stop the stock options)? Are you transparent with them or do you just like buzzword bingo?You see where I'm going with this.Are you under pressure as we wind our way through the final quarter of the year? How are you handling it? Do you lead a team? What kind of leader are you? What kind of leader do you want to be?
Share this post
It's Tuesday: Under Pressure: Publishing in…
Share this post
How's the year been for you? Are your sub files holding up? Did the last renewal campaign work out OK? Are your social feeds generating revenue and engagement? What happened when you relaunched live events? How about newsstand sales?OK, that last questions was probably not necessary.In surveying my clients recently, nearly every one that responded reported that this year has not been easy. Retention rates are slipping. Ad revenue is unstable. It's been hard to maintain circulation. Paper costs are up. Several have been vocally questioning the efficacy of remaining on the newsstand.Yeah...I didn't need to hear that last one either. In other words, publishers are under pressure in 2022. I've always maintained that in the world of business, it's super easy to seem like a great business leader - when times are good. The real test of what sort of manager you are is when the times are not so good. And by that, I don't mean some stereotypical hard nosed, take no prisoners, lay off that division, sell off those assets, load up the spin off with debt kind of leader.Do you endure the same difficulties as your team? If you cut their pay, did you cut your pay (Like, really cut it, not just stop the stock options)? Are you transparent with them or do you just like buzzword bingo?You see where I'm going with this.Are you under pressure as we wind our way through the final quarter of the year? How are you handling it? Do you lead a team? What kind of leader are you? What kind of leader do you want to be?