Time for Online?

When trying to understand publishers and where they're going, it always makes sense to watch the usual business leaders - like Time Inc. It's not necessarily the most cutting-edge or experimental, but the organization is one of the most prestigious in the industry, and others look when it moves.

So it's interesting to see a couple of items about the company's commitment to online publishing. About a week ago, Gawker reported that Time Magazine was "shoving its reluctant writers online." As managing editor Rick Stengel wrote in a memo:

I suspect that some of you regard writing for TIME.com as an obligation, and not what you came to TIME to do. But times have changed, and we have to change with them. If you care about what you do - and I know you do - then you need to display your talent, your expertise, and your dedication online as well as in the magazine. That goes for editors as well as writers. Everyone should now have beats and areas of responsibility (Ratu has the list), and you should talk to Josh as well as your editors about what your contribution to TIME.com should be.

And now Advertising Age has an article about how 1.2 million subscribers to the company's publications are getting emails pointing them to People's first digi-mag - a 30 page magazine/website hybrid found only online with an animated cover. The print version of People (notice how we adjust our language almost unconsciously to address the changing circumstances) will also promote the site.

The online world is already business as usual, but emphasis will continuously shift there. Now is not the time to bemoan print magazines folding or how the world is changing. Yes, it is - and it always does. Now is the time to position yourself to become an expert at online work. If you asked most writers now, I'd wager that they'd say it's just a matter of writing.

That will change. You'll see a growing push for additional skills that make the lives of the publishers easier. At least some degree of HTML coding. Knowledge of popular web software. These and others will become what business calls barriers to entry. Then there will be the additional skills - multimedia, use of specialty programming languages, comfort with databases - that will be the additional value making some people worth paying more than others.

So how are your skills?

No Coverage Outsourcing to India ... for Now

I had mentioned the story about a web site outsourcing Pasadena city council coverage to India. Now it appears that public attention has kept the site owner from doing the outsourcing. Some writers have been passing the word triumphantly, but if anything the problem for writers is simply postponed:

"We've been prevented from doing that due to the attention that we've received," Macpherson said Monday.

What happens when the attention focuses elsewhere? Or when the next web site, or magazine or paper, does it more quietly? Polish up those skills and increase the value now. Wait, and it may be too late.

Indian Outsourcing Teaches Business Lessons

I've seen a number of writers on writers' boards upset by news that a web site called Pasadena Now is outsourcing coverage of the Pasadena, Calif. city council to a couple of reporters in India. They are concerned that over time more reporting jobs will move overseas, putting them out of work. Their concern about the movement of work overseas is well founded. This is the way of the world, folks, and if what you do is purely intellectual in nature, there's a good chance that under the right conditions it could be done by someone in another country willing to charge much less than you. But the question is what makes up the right conditions?

In this story, you can learn three things about your business today. One is a concept called barrier to entry. That means something necessary to do a job and the difficulty of being able to supply it. In this case, the only barriers to entry for this reporting job were the ability to speak and write in English, a basic knowledge of news writing, the ability to see and hear the council meetings, and the willingness to work cheaply. What has taken people by surprise is that they assumed viewing the meetings could only happen in person.

But look at that list again. The barriers to entry were always absurdly low. Anyone who could write halfway decently and had read a beginning book on news writing would have been capable of doing the job. So ask yourself what barriers of entry there are for the types of writing you do. At writers' conferences, editors often say that they want to know what makes one freelancer the best person for the job. I think the formulation is a bit overblown, but still important. What value do you bring in terms of special knowledge, contacts developed over time, or abilities that would be difficult to duplicate? If all you offer is a willingness to make some phone calls and maybe an idea or two, your business is highly insecure. Smart writers keep improving their skills and areas of expertise and learning new ones as well as finding new ways to build relationships with clients and continually adding value that they bring to the table.

The second lesson is that you have to keep examining your current assumptions. Don't become a buggy whip manufacturer who scoffs at these new fangled horseless carriages. In the case of this story, people don't realize just what Internet distributed video makes possible. Instead of becoming a victim of technology, put it to work for you. Then you can go back to the first lesson and consider what extra value technology might let you bring. Maybe it's time to learn how to create your own photos, audio, and video so you can offer a full selection of media choices to your clients. Then you have the added benefit of additional revenue streams.

Third lesson is that value is a relative thing. I'd argue that being unable to question people both before and after the meetings meant that the coverage would be inferior. But the web site publisher in this case disagreed. Something is only of economic and business value if someone is willing to pay for it. While you're upgrading your skills and knowledge, it's time to upgrade your clients. Don't chase the cheapskates who think that there is no difference between the work of different writers. Leave them to writers who are apparently happy to work for little, because that's what they keep doing. Look for a better type of client, and when you find them, offer knowledge, skill, value, and professionalism that will keep them coming back.