Junta42 blog

The Passing of an Association Publishing Legend

I always promised myself I would never blog about my personal life, kids or dogs. Well, this blog post is relevant to my business, but definitely quite personal.

On Saturday, my good friend and association publishing colleague Peter Banks passed away. He was very young in age and much younger in spirit at the time of his passing.

We hired Peter as our VP of association publishing when I was at Penton Custom Media at the beginning of 2006. This was shortly after he left ADA and started his own business, Banks Publishing.

I called Peter "the genius." The man was simply brilliant...not just about Diabetes, the health care industry, or publishing, but pretty much about everything. My goal here is not to give a eulogy, but I do want to share one very important experience in my life.

On Peter's first visit with the Penton Custom Media staff in Cleveland, we stopped at a Starbucks on the way back to the airport. We talked about the business, his thoughts on the staff, and about life in general. Peter talked for a while about his decision to leave ADA and start his own business. Although he said that being an entrepreneur has "a stress level all its own," he believed it was one of the best decisions he had ever made. His eyes lit up with possibilities about being able to do things he never had the chance to do...about being his own boss...being able to help "his" clients...being free.

I'll never forget this conversation. It was after this point I began seriously contemplating going out on my own and launching a business. I remember the email he sent me after he found out I was leaving Penton. It simply stated, "one thing is for sure Joe, you will be a success."

What really gets me? Peter passed at almost the exact time that Junta42 went live. Now that's one that will keep you up at night.

Thank you Peter. You were an inspiration to me and to countless others.

On a final note, Peter did have the opportunity to blog for Penton in a series called "Peter's Pub." Here is a link to those blog posts. Once he became sick, he didn't have much time or energy to put into the blog, but as you'll see, he was one great writer.

Databases, Distribution and the Consumer

I had the pleasure of speaking at the Canadian Business Press yesterday at their Mags University Conference in Toronto. The seminar topic was called "Braving the New World: Custom Publishing." The audience was made up of mostly publishers looking to grow their custom publishing divisions or launch custom media properties.

Here were the three key points that are really playing into the role of content marketing.

1. There was much talk about the power of association and corporate databases.  In the past, corporations were powerless to target anyone. Today, corporations and associations have created powerful databases that in some cases are better than audited trade publications and web sites. This advancement takes out the distributor, and now corporations can communicate directly with customers AND prospects.

2. Distribution is changing the landscape of the content industry. Content can now be shared with key stakeholders through a variety of non-traditional mechanisms, including Digg, Del.icio.us, Stumble Upon, etc. These FREE distributors only care about one thing - good content that drives readership. Doesn't matter whether it comes from traditional publishers or the tooth fairy.

3. The consumer is in control.  And guess what: The consumer only cares about reading content that positively affects his/her life in some way...it doesn't matter where it comes from. This has been the case for a while in Europe where custom publishing is mainstream, and some of the largest newsstand magazines are custom. Well, now it is alive and well in North America. The mantra is "Give me good content...period."

Corporations are listening. Traditional publishers are sweating.

Content Distribution Only Business Left in Publishing?

I thoroughly enjoyed Scott Karp's recent post on his Publishing 2.0 blog...so much that I'm sharing it with you. This is really directed at publishing professionals and those that deliver content for revenue, but it's important to marketers in this respect: If the traditional publishing model is broken and publishers can't make money with their brand (and content), what opportunities present themselves for corporations and associations? Scott's belief is that the only true business model around on the web is that of distribution (Google, Digg, etc.)

Lot's of ideas come into my head, but here is the key...advances in technology have evened the playing field between traditional publishers and the future publishers (corporations) around the globe. Custom publishing can no longer afford to be second-rate content (or perceived as such).  The time for marketers (and responsibility) is now!

Custom Media Vs. Content Marketing

I conducted an informal survey to approximately 50 of my colleagues in the industry regarding content marketing.  About 35% were marketers and association professionals, with the remaining 65% being media or publishing professionals.

Here are the quick results:

To the question: "Which term best represents this definition: 'relevant and valuable information delivered by a company or association to a targeted audience, with the purpose of changing or fostering a behavior,'" I received the following answers.

32% - Custom Media
32% - Content Marketing
22% - Custom Content
14% - Custom Publishing

The last time I conducting this survey, it was split between custom publishing and custom media.  Content marketing was barely mentioned.  This tells me that the industry is moving closer to this term. This was particularly surprising since the majority of survey takers were media professionals, who tend to live in the world of custom publishing.

I'll try this again in 6 months.  Let's see if the trend continues.