This podcast summarizes the key takeaways from the Feb 2023 issue of The Krehbiel Letter. The first two articles focus on how artificial intelligence will affect publishers, and what they can do about it. Greg reflects on what publishers can learn from the Pareto principle, how publishers should be wary of conclusions and advice based…
There’s no single answer to this problem because everybody’s needs are different, but here are some general guidelines. 1. Ask if technology is really the answer. Technology is great and allows us to do amazing things. But remember that when your only tool is a hammer, you want to bang on every problem, and when…
Marketing and IT staff are very different — in their training, talents, personalities, and how their performance is measured. In this first of a series of three articles, I will give some guidelines on how these very different groups can work together successfully. Part 1 – Marketing and IT professionals have very different personalities and…
In Part 1 of this 3-part series on how to get marketing to work with IT I discussed how different the marketing and IT perspectives can be, and I gave a few suggestions on how to bridge the gap. The most important, in my opinion, is that a marketing department needs a “marketing technologist” —…
This is the last of my 3-part series on what marketing needs to know about IT. Here are links to part 1 and part 2. Be Diplomatic There’s a huge cultural gap between marketing and IT, and the sort of things that work in a sales or marketing environment might not work in a techie…
[This is from July 2015, but it’s still relevant.] I read on my iPad every day, but the experience frequently reminds me how much better it can be to read a real book. Sooner or later, somebody is going to solve (at least some of) these issues on the digital side, and the experience will…
I’m sure you’ve played with ChatGPT, or something like it, and I’m sure you’ve come across situations where it demurs. It wants you to think it’s being objective, even though we all know that’s silly. It has the bias of its programmers, just like M5 did. It reminds me a little of the silly keyboard-clicking…
After reading a suggestion that audio content makes readers more loyal, I started thinking about alternatives to words on a page. Here’s a partial list. Try to incorporate these and other concepts into your content creation. Other ways to convey information – beyond text. Audio Infographics Surveys Video Outlines Podcasts Charts Checklists Micro-learning Graphs Forms…
Takeaway: It doesn’t matter what “audiences” want. It matters what your audience wants. Publishers should be wary of trend analysis that doesn’t take demographics into account because it can lead to a skewed understanding of the audience and their preferences. For example, Booktok might seem like a great way to get “crowdsourced” information about what…
Vilfredo Pareto tells us that 20 percent of causes account for 80 percent of effects. It’s eerie how often that ratio applies, but rather than worrying about the metaphysics of it, publishers should consider how to modify their strategies based on how this might play out in their businesses, like … 80% of revenue may…
It seems most of the world is experiencing some combination of astonishment, hope, and terror over the recent developments in artificial intelligence. One of the main concerns is whether AI will eliminate jobs. The smartest thing I’ve seen on that subject came from a meme on LinkedIn that said “AI won’t take your job. A…
Takeaways: The areas where publishers can add value are shrinking. Don’t look for diminishing niches. Think more broadly. There’s an old argument called “the God of the gaps” that says we used to need gods to explain thunder and famine and life, but as we advance in our knowledge of the world, God is required…
Premise: Publishers hastened their own demise when they put their content on the internet for free. Artificial intelligence is one more nail in the coffin. To follow along with the argument, think of the history of the internet in these broad stages. 1. The worldwide web. Independent websites were connected by an informal and disorganized…
A couple newspapers have. Noozhawk and Cap Times prove that for-profits can have strong membership programs. (Thanks to Bo Sacks for the link.) Most of Noozhawk’s revenue comes from advertising and sponsorships, but reader contributions have been a growing source of income since soon after the site’s launch. In 2008, after a handful of readers…
The latest edition of The Krehbiel Letter Podcast is available. Two New Year’s resolutions for publishers regarding customer data and micropayments. Thoughts on paywalls. Front-end vs. back-end CDPs, and why you should let your use cases drive your decisions about customer data. How to use AI to create additional content from your webinar. Print vs….