Gameplan for Newspapers

The product for newspapers is its News brand, not method of delivery.

Once that is embraced by upper leadership, then the revenue doors will open. Some thoughts:

Problem 1:
90% of newspaper readership is online, yet print generates 90% of the revenues.

Solution:
1) Charge more for print product, lower production by ~40%, and invest the difference into the online product
2) Hire community bloggers. OWN local
3) Marry tech + ad sales groups, integrate AdReady
4) Form major strategic with KIRO or KOMO to provide video feeds on all news--result is the leading multimedia news network in the Seattle DMA.
5) Monetize RSS via per-call fee, no more non-monetized content. I love RSS, but until it can be monetized, it's killing the news industry.
6) Upgrade digital sales efforts and online delivery infrastructures.

It's highly likely the traditional (newspapers, local TV) local news industry converges into a single multimedia news network to continue owning the local news space for years to come.

Otherwise it's survival of the fittest and most traditional news co's are fatter than they are fit right now so it's a challenging reversal because of the 90/10 problem.

I believe in the future of newspapers. Their media brands will ultimately keep the industry alive, but not all will survive. Hopefully the P-I will.

Chris McCoy
www.yoursports.com

How it all started

As a freshmen, needed some money, so started teaching pitching lessons to a small group of 11 year olds. First lesson was in my fraternity's living room on a rainy Seattle day. That turned into a mini training guide which morphed into a 100 page e-book sold on eBay, which then morphed into A to Z Training on DVD. This is how it all started: student loan money, a passion for pitching, and a lot of extra time on my hands.

Living the dream

I am living a dream. Sometimes it seems to be the dream, but then the dream kicks my ass, so I settle down and see it as a dream. I think in 20 years it'll be The Dream, but for now, as I fight my way to success--at any level--it's a dream. But again, sometimes it is The Dream.

At the end of the day, I wouldn't change jobs for the world. This is a dream come true.

There I go again, calling it a dream.

Growing up, I did dream of doing something, something big. I guess, building the ESPN for amateur sports would qualify for that, so in that context, this is The Dream.

I'm at a point where success could swing this way or that. I'm not on the fence, that's for sure. Everything is being left on the field.

I'm living the American Dream. That's what it is.

In all seriousness, this is a dream come true, albeit an ass-kicking, humbling experience--I wouldn't change it for a world.

So here I go to pursue it.