Are Newspapers like Reprographers?

As many of you have seen in the media, newspapers who continue to hold on to paper methods of delivery are dying. In a recent interview, News Corp chairman Robert Murdoch discussed the viability of paper newspapers. He had three major observations on the newspaper industry.

1. The only newspapers that will survive will be those that adjust electronically.

2. Newspapers will need to charge for news on the web.

3. It will take 10-15 years for readers to totally convert to electronic news.

Hey reprographers? Any of this sound familiar? Let's look at his three points.

(1) Totally agree. Reprographers WILL NOT SURVIVE if they do not adjust to the digital age.

(2) I don't agree with 2 UNLESS the newspapers are able to offer more than traditional news. I am a firm believer in Freeconomics. (AKA the "once the cat is out of the bag it's hard to get it back in bag theory") I think traditional news will not and cannot be sold online. (Magazines maybe, Newspapers no.) 

(3) I agree with 3. 

Great are two great articles The Danger of Free  and Beware of Freeconomics.

Leadership in a tough economy

Chuck Gremillion recently sent me a terrific article on George Buckley, CEO of 3M. The topic was leadership during the tough economy. Buckley had many great comments but one that really hit me was this following exchange.

Q : In this economy, can companies afford the cost of leadership development? 

A : Year's ago, when I worked at Brunswick, I was asked, "George, it's a tough time right now. Should we be spending money on training?" What if these people leave the company?" My answer was "What if we don't and they stay?"

It's a shame that some companies are considering training as a discretionary expense. In these times of consolidation— with people being asked to take on more tasks— learning programs are more important than ever. This is especially important for our leaders who are being asked to do so much more, with so much less. 

The Blue Ocean Launches

The launch of "The Blue Ocean," a revolutionary new web-communication tool that utilizes social networking, film, video conferencing, document management and much more.

CSI, a Memory, & the Talking Head

When we design our learning programs we follow a philosophy of reaching people's emotion before we reach for their intellect. That means creating learning sessions that begin with a memory.

"If you don't make a memory it's like it never happened."

Recently, we added a new channel on our TRtv.tv site called The Billing Channel. In all candor, watching 14 films about how to bill is hard to make interesting and memorable. At this point, 13 of the films are primarily screen captures — BORING.

So our strategy was to get things started with a humorous film parody on the popular TV show C.S.I. By having a little fun wrapped in a serious message it's amazing the memory you create. A lot better than a talking head yapping for 40 minutes the importance of following invoicing standard operating procedures. ;-)

iTunes, Long Tail, & Rerographics [RePost from Dec 2006]

As our industry moves to selling less of more, complexity follows as communication channels intertwine, quality flaws are exposed and customer service is tested. Ironically, our customers are experiencing a similar dilemma. The race is to become “the source” for solutions within the construction industry. Those that can create a web-based portal to provide these solutions will win the prize.

“The Reprographics industry is currently experiencing what the music industry faced ten years ago with Napster. Products flow free in a confusing marketplace waiting for someone to establish an iTunes-like portal. Whoever can offer an easy-to-use, customizable, hip and psychological liberating solution will dominate the marketplace.”

I've prepared an illustration to demonstrate the how important establishing “the portal” is, and how The Long Tail theory can help us understand the marketplace we compete. I believe the music industry is a foreshadowing indicator for what we can expect in the Reprographic industry.

The phrase The Long Tail was first coined by Chris Anderson in a 2004 article in Wired magazine to describe certain business and economic models such as Amazon.com or Netflix. “The Long Tail” defines the current shift from selling large volume of smaller quantities to selling a much wider variety of products sold in low quantities. The low-quantity items stretch out on the x-axis of the graph, creating a very long tail that generates more revenue overall. John Cronin’s blog tipped me off to this book.

Now is the time to seize the opportunity to establish an "iTunes" like portal that is I will specifically detail how I think Thomas Reprograhpics can position itself as an industry leader in work flow processes, efficiency, marketing, sales methodology, innovation, quality, and most important — unparalleled customer service.

Email me at curtist@thomasrepro.com for the color illustration of this post.

The Universe

The universe is not made up of atoms, but stories.
– Muriel Rukesyser