Two quotes from Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and the new owner of The Washington Post, stood out for me this week:
1) “We’ve had three big ideas at Amazon that we’ve stuck with for 18 years, and they’re the reason we’re successful: Put the customer first. Invent. And be patient. If you replace ‘customer’ with ‘reader,’ that approach, that point of view, can be successful at The Post, too.”
2) “You have to figure out: How can we make the new thing?”
Looking through the newspaper clippings on my desk—the physical print business may be in “structural decline,” according to Bezos, but you wouldn’t know it by my desk and living room—that “new thing” can be so many things. New products and services are debuting all the time, offering customers more choices for how they manage their personal and professional lives.
I am quite sure that most “inventions” did not happen without some kind of group discussion, either in flushing out the idea or helping to develop it. That’s also the idea behind SIPA’s upcoming Fall Publishers Roundtable, Monday, Sept. 30, here in Washington, D.C. The topic is Creating Profitable New Products, and the two leaders, David Foster of BVR and Don Nicholas of Mequoda, will attempt to harness the amazing group knowledge that will be present to help you make your “new thing.”
I read another article recently on this topic titled, “Are You Innovating With a Purpose?” by Marillyn Hewson, chief executive of Lockheed Martin. Her point is that innovation is much more likely to occur when there is a purpose driving it—besides money. “Have a goal that’s bigger than just meeting a deadline or closing a sale,” she writes. “…How can I innovate myself so that I’m achieving a purpose that benefits my organization and is fulfilling to me?” For her, it’s sharing ideas through social media.
For his part, Bezos’ passion has always been with “the printed word in all its forms.” So you could say that he invented a new way of bringing that to an audience. “The key thing about a book is that you lose yourself in the author’s world,” he said. “Great writers create an alternative world. It doesn’t matter if you enter that world” digitally or through print.
For the Post, he wants to bring back the “daily ritual” of reading the paper—and believes that he can do that through tablets more than on a website. He says that tablets can give readers a look and feel similar to a traditional printed paper. Websites remain important for the B2B world of SIPA, but looking at when and how your subscribers/members open your emails will give you better data to judge that.
And most importantly, Bezos says, “don’t be boring.” At first glance, we might think that he’s talking only to his newly acquired staff of writers, but I think he’s talking to the entire newspaper. In whatever role you play, engagement is key. If you’re a marketer, your next email should be a little different than the last. If you’re in sales, try a new bundle of products. And if you’re the person in charge, step back for a moment and think about what your new app might be.
And think about coming to that Sept. 30 roundtable. New things usually don’t happen without a push.
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Ronn Levine began his career as a reporter for The Washington Post and has won numerous writing and publications awards since. Most recently, he spent 12 years at the Newspaper Association of America covering a variety of topics before joining SIPA in 2009 as managing editor. Follow Ronn on Twitter at @SIPAOnline
Mark Schneiderman is Senior Director of Education Policy at SIIA.
Tracy Carlin is a Communications and Public Policy Intern at SIIA. She is also a first year graduate student at Georgetown University’s Communication, Culture and Technology program where she focuses on intersections in education, video games and gender.