Robert Niles: May 2011 archive
When should you quit your job to start your website? Try the 'just do it' model
May 27, 2011
What's your greatest failure in your career?I'm not talking about your greatest failure as a journalist. We all blow a story from time to time, and some newsroom errors, obviously, cause more harm than others. But I'd like you to think selfishly about my question. I'm not asking about your failures as a reporter or editor. I'm asking about a failure in managing your own career.
What did you do - or didn't do - that hurt your career most?
It's important to think about failure. Don't ignore it. People who do, lose opportunities to learn. Lost opportunities can be failures, too. It's important to think about those, as well, so that you might be better able to see new opportunities when they approach.
A missed opportunity might have been my biggest failure as a news publisher. Looking back, I wonder how my career would have turned out had a I walked into the Los Angeles Times with a resignation letter in hand the day after I got my first four-figure monthly check from Google back in 2003. (Or, at least, if I'd taken the next available buy-out at the Times, instead of waiting two more years to leave.)
While I was earning some good money from Google ads and hotel commissions back then, it was too easy for me to bank that as additional income, while not giving up my day job, with its regular paychecks, benefits and industry status. But my inaction cost me. In the years before I started working on my own sites full-time, competitors entered and grabbed a lot of market share - viewers that I might have been able to attract into the communities I managed, had I devoted more time and attention to them. Instead, I took the easy, secure extra paychecks from a dead-end job at a soon-to-be-bankrupt newspaper.
In short, I traded some extra money then for what could have been a lot more additional income today and into the future. More...
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More lessons from the News Entrepreneur Boot Camp, in 140 characters or less
May 24, 2011
For those who weren't there and not following in real time on Twitter, here are some of the top tweets that came out of last week's KDMC News Entrepreneur Boot Camp here at USC. They include some great nuggets of advice for anyone starting, running or looking to expand a news website publishing business.The tweets are drawn from coverage of five discussion sessions at the camp, one by me, two by Tom O'Malia of the USC Marshall School of Business, and two led by guest faculty at the camp: Mark Potts and Rusty Coats. You can find links to many of the presentations at the camp on the KDMC website.
Robert Niles on The News Publisher as Community Organizer:
"When the music stops, always have a chair" - @robertniles at #kdmccamp
@michelemclellan
#kdmccamp "I am an entrepreneur today because I am the only person who would hire me"--@robertniles
@susanmernit
#kdmccamp wise words from @robertniles on moving from reporter to publisher as journos develop web media projects
@susanmernit
#kdmccamp Great discussion on how to identify community needs and opportunities in local communities @robertniles
@susanmernit
"As an entrepreneur, the status quo is your enemy" -- You need community to turn to you and dump the status quo -- @RobertNiles #kdmccamp
@ojr
"Model the behavior you want from your community" emphasizes @RobertNiles #KDMCcamp
@kdmc
#kdmccamp @robertniles recommends every online publication have a #facebook page cc#mybxb
@michelemclellan
#KDMCcamp QA: What is the most important analytic? asks @robertniles. A: MONEY!! #mybxb
@susanmernit
Mark Potts on Show Me the Money:
Execution [is] more important [than] a good idea, talent attracts capital - Mark Potts #kdmccamp
@michelemclellan
What's your value proposition: What problem do u solve? You'd better be able to answer that - @pottsmark at #KDMCcamp.
@ojr
Non-profit is a tax status, not a business model, says @pottsmark. Thank god someone said it. #kdmccamp
@kimbui
Non-profit is not a magic bullet. You still need to go out and raise money. - @pottsmark #KDMCcamp
@ojr More...
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Lessons from the KDMC News Entrepreneur Boot Camp
May 16, 2011
All this week I will be teaching at the 2011 KDMC News Entrepreneur Boot Camp, being held at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business. This is the third year for the camp, and we have an exciting crew of 16 journalist-entrepreneurs in attendance. I won't introduce you to them just yet - we'll wait until they are ready for their debuts, then Michele McLellan over at KDMC's Leadership Blog will have the privilege of helping you to follow their emerging careers.Because these campers are in the process of developing their entrepreneurial ideas, we are not webcasting the proceedings. But there is one way to follow along, and share in some of the learning that's happening at the camp. Just follow the #KDMCcamp hashtag on Twitter. That's the tag we'll be using during the camp to tweet out interesting nuggets, lessons and wisdom that camp faculty and participants think will be of most use to the journalism community.
Here are a few of the lessons offered, from the first day of the camp:
- Advertising isn't simply a source of revenue to you, the publisher; it should provide a benefit to the advertiser.
- If you can't define the benefit to the advertiser - your customer - then you'll never make a sale.
- Non-profits must be able to define deliverables to a sponsor or supporter, just as for-profit news sites define deliverables to their advertisers.
- Selling isn't the act of presenting something, it's the act of qualification.
- You're not pushing something unneeded onto an advertiser when you sell, you are finding the advertisers who need the benefit you provide.
- You should listen two times as much as you talk to find out what someone's willing to pay.
- "Tell me one thing to do that would make your life better." Make that a required line in any pitch to an potential advertiser or supporter.
- If you meet customer needs, the money will find you.
If these are the sort of items of advice you'd like to hear more of, then, please, do follow the #KDMCcamp all this week. We've got a great line-up of faculty and alumni panel speakers coming - including Susan Mernit, Mark Potts and Rusty Coats. We're having some great conversations at the samp, and we'd love to welcome you into them via Twitter. More...
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What not to say in a commencement speech
May 13, 2011
I'm no expert on commencement speeches. Not only have I never been invited to give one, I've never even heard one. (After both undergraduate and graduate schools, I skipped the ceremony to start working, instead.) But I know enough about motivating students to realize that what Rick Reilly told the graduates at the University of Colorado this month is the wrong message for professional journalists.Reilly, an ESPN commentator and former Sports Illustrated columnist, gave the speech for his alma mater, the University of Colorado School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Like many sports columnists, Reilly's a bit of a comedian, and he loaded his CU speech with his usual schtick, including jokes about favorite targets such as Tiger Woods. But commencement speeches are supposed to provide a moment of inspiration and motivation to new graduates, as well. Instead, Reilly gave the graduates advice on what they shouldn't do.
"When you get out there, all I ask is that you don't write for free," Reilly said. "Nobody asks strippers to strip for free, doctors to doctor for free or professors to profess for free. Have some pride!"
Sure, he's trying to be funny, but effective humor contains elements of truth. Unfortunately, writers don't form very effective cartels. The threat of withholding your words from the rest of the world won't convince anyone to start writing checks. All that will accomplish is to silence your voice.
But that would mean one less voice for Reilly to compete with, of course.
Want better advice? Write to create value in the world, instead. More...
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Twenty questions for a struggling business
May 9, 2011
When a business struggles, or fails, who is to blame?Is it the customer, for failing to support the business?
Or is it the business, for failing to serve the customer?
When music fans start downloading music instead of buying CDs, is it the fault of the fans for not respecting copyrights?
Or is it the fault of the record companies, for not moving more quickly to make their recordings available in digital formats?
Is it the fault of the fans for wanting something for free?
Or is it the fault of the record companies for making fans buy entire albums, when all they really wanted was a few songs?
When people start placing ads on Craigslist instead of in newspapers, is it the fault of readers for not supporting the bona fide classifieds?
Or is it the fault of newspapers, for refusing to offer their own service with free, immediate-run online ads?
When readers spend only a few minutes a month on newspaper websites, is it the fault of readers' too-short attention spans?
Or is that the fault of newspapers, for finding ways to make the stories they want to tell more engaging?
When newspaper online comment sections degenerate into insults and flame wars, is that the fault of the public for acting poorly?
Or is it the fault of newspaper management, for misinterpreting the law and prohibiting employees from engaging and leading their commenting communities?
When newsrooms lay off reporters, is it the fault of readers for not buying enough newspapers?
Or is it the fault of the newsroom, for not giving readers enough reasons to buy the paper?
When advertisers switch their campaigns from print to the Web, is it the fault of advertisers for seeking a cheaper alternative?
Or is it the fault of newspapers, for selling overpriced advertising for too long?
When readers refuse to pay for news online, is it their fault for not respecting the expense of reporting?
Or is it the news publishers' fault, for not recognizing how little that they offer is truly unique?
So, allow me to ask again: When your newsroom struggles of fails, whom do you blame - your customers or your management? More...
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What's the ideal length for an online news article?
May 6, 2011
What's the best length for an article on the Internet? I've been asked that question more than a few times, by journalism students and fellow writers looking to boost their traffic.I always tell people that the best word count for an article is… just a few words short of how many your audience is willing to read on that topic.
Is that 50 words? 500? 5,000? 50,000? That's up to your audience, and to you, with your ability to make the topic interesting to the audience.
I was so encouraged reading my OJR colleague Robert Hernandez's Q&A with Evan Ratliff of The Atavist. In the post, Ratliff rejected the straw-man argument that some content is simply too long for people to read. (Go ahead and click back to read it if you haven't yet. It's well worth your time, and I'll wait here for you.)
If you're itching to trying writing in longer format, I think it's important that you take some time to understand the changing dynamic of long-form writing in the Internet era from the readers' perspective. Yes, I know that I've encouraged you to keep it tight, but if you can write in a way that sustains your reader's attention, you can keep going far past what most copy editors would consider a maximum acceptable word count.
Let me state upfront my beliefs that readers' attention spans are not declining. What is declining is the amount of time that readers have for each piece of content that comes their way.
Think back 20 years, if you're old enough. How many items did you encounter that you could read in a given day? One newspaper? Maybe a magazine a few times month? Perhaps you read books, but probably no more than one at a time. Maybe you listened to the radio. Or watched TV. How many cable channels did your service deliver then? Think back before cable (if you can). How many TV channels did you have to choose from then? Five? Ten, if you lived in a big city?
Now, think about today. Maybe the number of print newspapers you read is down. (Sigh.) But how many websites do you see on a given day now? What about Facebook and Twitter? How many links come across your computer or phone each day? Do you listen to podcasts? What about satellite radio? Digital TV? Do read e-books? How many more options do you have to read or listen (or play) in a given day, compared with 10 years ago? Or 20? Or 30?
How many more hours do you have in the day to consume that content? Just the same 24, right? I was a math student, and I know that many journalists aren't fans of the subject. But basic math tells us that when you try to divide many more content opportunities into the same number of hours of the day, the amount of time you have for each opportunity gets smaller and smaller.
That's what many of us are seeing when we complain about short attention spans. It's not that we can't pay attention to longer forms. It's that we have less time to make a decision about whether we should pay attention at all. More...
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Breaking news doesn't work best on broken mobile sites
May 2, 2011
How did you find out about Osama bin Laden last night?I found out checking my Twitter feed on my iPhone. I suspect that many people first heard the same way, though tweets, mobile alerts, text messages and Facebook posts. The news was 15 minutes old on Twitter before I saw the first TV network break in to report that President Obama was about to make a statement, then soon after confirming that bin Laden, the man behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks, was dead.
(And if you'd really been paying attention, you might have read earlier in the day this Twitter user live-blogging the attack in Pakistan that killed bin Laden.)
I hadn't planned, obviously, to write about bin Laden for today. (Nor had any of the journalists around the world who were tearing up old budgets and remaking their pages late last night.) But I had planned to write what I fear will become a recurring nag to online journalists to pay closer attention to how their work comes across on mobile devices.
Given how I - and millions others, I suspect - first heard the news last night, that advice seems all the more relevant to me now. So now we join our regularly scheduled post. Mobile must not be left an afterthought in a news organization; it must become the first thought. It's the first thought already for our audience - the way that more and more people are first hearing about breaking news, or even non-breaking viral news, online.
And yet, news organizations continue to make the mistakes I complained about last year, and the year before that.
If there's one item of advice I wish that all news organizations would be embrace, it would be this: Please, if you tweet a link to a story on your website, and I click that link on my mobile device, do not then redirect me to your mobile home page, instead of sending me to the article you tweeted.
Home page redirection is the lazy programmer's way of ensuring that mobile users see your optimized site. Stop it, please. Stop it now. Any programmer worth employing ought to be able to create a device-sniffing script that redirects readers to the mobile version of the specific article instead.
Beyond that, most of the frustrations I have as a mobile user stem from an apparent belief in some news organizations that "mobile = text." While I encourage news organizations to remember the millions of would-be readers out there with feature phones, we're long past the era when anyone could assume that "mobile = " any one thing. Mobile's as diverse as the Internet itself now, and designers and editors must be ready to craft presentations that meet individual readers' needs, regardless of the device that they are using. More...
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