When I was a publisher, I attended a ton of industry meetings – each with great ideas and insights to feed back into my publishing operation. And unfortunately, there’s a pernicious and paralyzing post-conference phenomenon that I’ve observed in myself and others throughout the years.
And since we are on the heels of the 2017 Super Niche conference, it is no coincidence that I’ve been thinking about how easy it is let the momentum, energy, and ideas you get from being at a great event slip away.
Here’s my working theory about how great ideas die on the vine, post-conference:
Does any of this sound familiar to you? Yup. It’s painful because it’s true. So what’s a niche publisher to do? How do you ensure that great conference ideas don’t wither up and blow away?
How do you move from idea to execution? The hardest part is to begin.
1. My Rule of 3: Ok, this is real. Yes, you may have come away with 14 incredible ideas that are going to transform your media business (and your life.) Most importantly, it will accelerate revenues. But the hard reality is that you can’t execute 14 great ideas – certainly not all at once. PICK 3 (and only 3) to work on in the 6 months following the conference.
2. Write it down. Last week, Dick Ryan’s post talked about how writing down your goals greatly increases the chance of achieving those goals. Do it. Write them down. Share them with your team. Make your commitment concrete.
3. Get your team together. (This is a two-for-one recommendation.)
4. Focus on the important, not the urgent. The hardest part of running a media enterprise is distractions from the pressing daily demands of your work. The reality is that if you allow the urgent to ride roughshod over your time, your new initiatives will never get off the ground. Instead, focus on the new projects as the priority, even in the face of other burning issues of the day that can suck up your time.
5. Quick wins and baby steps: Maybe you came away from the conference fired up to launch a multi-year, multi-platform publishing initiative that will completely transform your niche. Great! Break that up into small steps and celebrate your successes along the way!
Great conferences can play a critical role in building your media business.You interact with other publishers and make solid connections. Your publishing brain fills to bursting with new ideas to implement immediately when you get back to the office. And with focus and commitment you can use the experience and new knowledge to jump start your creative energies, feeding new life and new revenues into your publishing operation. Avoid post-conference, daily distractions and focus on these execution tips to transform your new ideas into successful reality (and revenues!)
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More about Bekah: Bekah Darksmith is President / Fearless Leader of Niche Media HQ, leading a strategic expansion of Niche Media in order to more broadly serve the niche publishing community. Her 20-year career in publishing spans consumer; B-to-B, scholarly and academic publishing. Most recently, Rebekah was the Deputy Director of University Press. She developed strategy and oversaw operations for all revenue-generating functions within the organization – marketing, sales, rights and licensing as well as fundraising.
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Niche Media has the best events, education, and training in media! Our super niched-out events & content give target-audience publishers in the B2C, hobbyist, B2B, city & regional, and association markets the tools they need to build revenue, audience, and more.
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