The Kiplinger Letter is a master class in writing succinctly, clearly, and so readers can easily scan the text — even though it’s only four pages long. I admire that style. Jim Patterson of Kiplinger explains that you can get the gist of any section, and any page, just by reading the underlined parts. It’s…
In the world of publishing, AI can be a powerful tool to improve your content creation process. However, it is essential to use it with caution and verify its results. Bo Sacks distributed a cautionary tale from the world of artificial intelligence that everyone in the publishing industry should read. A German weekly used AI…
I’ve heard it both ways. My friend Janet Granger says there are big differences, but I’ve also seen old quotes about Baby Boomers that sound suspiciously like recent quotes about Gen. Z, which makes me wonder if the differences are just a matter of getting older. We have a funny relationship with generalizations. Or can…
That’s one of my favorite sayings, but it begs an interesting question. What does “perfect” mean? “Perfect is the enemy of done” should not mean, “publish that amateurish first draft.” On the other hand, if my kayak is in the middle of a school of fish, the perfect fishing lure is the one I can…
While everyone is debating remote vs. in-office work, I recommend something that could be far more consequential. Get people out of their routines! Some of the most productive thinking time I’ve had has been on train rides to New York. Here’s the basic schedule. Pick a topic to research, print out relevant white papers and…
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…
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’s easy to assume that everyone else knows what you know. In this article, I provide some examples of where this bias can crop up and how to deal with it. Read my latest over on the martech.org site.
A lot of people deride the idea of New Year’s resolutions because so many people make them and don’t keep them. Even if that’s true, it seems to me there is some virtue in trying. But in any event, I looked up some (allegedly) science-based ways to keep your resolutions. Make them … Specific and…
How deeply should you micro-manage people? Do you treat them like competent professionals, or do you get into their business and check their work? I’m not sure there’s a one-size-fits-all answer. What do you think? If you want to understand contemporary issues, read old books. You have to get your mind outside the trap of…
A lot of publishers who have podcasts or webinars are not effectively re-using that content in other mediums. Is it possible to use artificial intelligence to make this easier? I gave it a try. As I mention here, I used Descript to create a video version of the latest Krehbiel Letter. Descript automatically generates a…
My friend Donna Peterson told me about a new way to edit videos called Descript. It uses AI to create a transcript of your video, then you edit the video by looking through the script. It’s an interesting way to do it. I gave it a try on my most recent podcast. I’m no genius…
When software doesn’t do exactly what you need it to do, you’re faced with a choice of buying something that’s not exactly what you want, building your own custom system, or buying something you can customize. There are a lot of dangers in either of those custom options. You need to think long and hard…
A few years ago a publishing colleague asked about some of the simple subscription management plugins that work with WordPress. The question took me back to the days when I was first learning how incredibly complicated circulation systems can get, which also reminded me of the early days of iPad. When Apple first got into…
After I sent my Krehbiel Report on how Krehbiel’s Razor can help smooth your operations, I realized I was basically saying “go thou and think properly” — which is not very helpful for practical operations in a business. If I may draw a lesson from my seminary training, the law is made for the sinner….