From time to time a publisher will ask me how they can improve their business. I’m first and foremost an operations / tech guy, but I also have ideas about growth and business development. To help a publisher figure out where they can grow, it’s first necessary to find out what they’re doing — good and bad. That calls for a checklist, so I’ve created one. Here’s a short version of it that you can use to start the process. If you need help, give me a call.

Step 1: Identify your core strengths and your current revenue models

What do you do well? Is there something you do very well that you’re not currently monetizing? For example, if you’ve created a fantastic process for managing online ads, can you sell that service to others?

Who do you serve? Is there an opportunity to expand your current product offering to a new market, or to dig deeper into your current market?

What is your unique selling proposition? What sets you apart?

Review your revenue models and sources of revenue by percentage. For example …

We sell a monthly print magazine, sell related products in our store and have monthly sponsored webinars. Our revenue sources breakdown as follows:

• 35% print ad revenue
• 25% print subscription revenue
• 20% online ad revenue
• 15% online sales of products
• 5% events

You need this as a background to examine what you uncover below. For example, if you have two ideas, and one of them can increase your events by 10 percent, while the other can increase your print ad revenue by 10 percent, you need to focus on the latter.

Step 2: Have you covered the basics?

This is where you look for obvious holes or easy wins in your current operations. There probably won’t be any because you’re smart, but it’s still worth a check. Be very honest in your answers. It’s easy to say, “Oh yeah, we do that.” But do you really?

• Are you delivering content the way your market wants to consume content? How do you know? What have you tested?
• How are you collecting emails and how are you using them?
• How do you monetize your e-newsletters?
• Have you explored obvious ancillary business opportunities, like an online store? What other revenue streams have you considered or tried? Are you big enough to make money with a podcast?
• Have you tried online advertising? What are/were the results?
• Is your purchase process easy? Have you worked to optimize this process?
• Is your price reasonable in your market? Have you tested the price sensitivity of your market?
• How is your marketing and/or sales team reviewed and compensated?
• Are you focusing on engagement and renewals?
• Are you successfully hiring good workers and removing ineffective employees?
• What are the most common complaints you get from your customers?

In reviewing this list of basics, did any constraints or blockers come to mind? If so, that’s ideal. Rank them by their potential effect on revenue. If any of them look substantial, that’s a good place to start – without having to go into all the detail in Step 3.

Step 3: A more detailed review

If there are no obvious faults, a more in-depth review may be required. Here’s my big picture outline for such a review. This would be a difficult process that would require input from all your senior staff.

• Market / Customer Analysis
• Product positioning / competitive analysis
• Content strategy
• Audience development
• External factors affecting your business
• Monetization strategies
• Sales and Marketing
• Customer service
• Email strategy
• Website and SEO issues
• Analytics and performance tracking / reports
• Technology and Operations
• Legal compliance
• Staffing
• Corporate structure and organization

Each of these areas would have to be expanded considerably. For example, Market / Customer Analysis might include …

• Can you define who you’re trying to reach?
• What do your customers need?
• What do they want?
• When you think of your customers, do you have a few of them in mind?
• Have you created customer personas?
• How many of your customers do you speak with on a regular basis?
• Have you done both qualitative and quantitative studies of your market?
• Do your customer support reps have direct access to people who can solve customer problems?
• Are you using your CSRs to collect information about your customers?
• Are you collecting appropriate data on your customers (such as web, purchase, and email activity) and using it effectively?

An audit like this could form the outline for a management retreat. If you’d like help with that process, please give me a call.

If you find this kind of analysis helpful, you should check out The Krehbiel Letter.