Don’t ‘redesign a website’ - invest in your business
Steve Safran April 16th, 2007
When you decided to build your TV station (well, not you - but the figurative you), it was a great idea. You saw where the technology was going - away from radio and toward pictures and sound. You were very smart. You invested in the project. There was a ton of new and unfamiliar technology and a lot of leaps of faith. There were plenty of people who said “TV is a fad.” But you knew better. So you didn’t let the naysayers stop you. And you became a huge success. At no point did you say, “We going to start a TV station, but nobody install so much as a door until we get some good ad revenue coming in!”
But that’s what we’re seeing with the web now. Sites are getting built by the lowest bidder. They’re being run by the cheapest employees. They’re a mess and everyone knows it. Is there any wonder TV website sales are underperforming? You didn’t start the TV station with nothing but promos for the TV station and shows about what your anchors are doing in the community. You can do better. Start from scratch. Ask yourself: “If I were to start a local media company today, how would it look?” Change the model. Change the way you gather and spread information, change (don’t add to) the requirements of your staff, and stop throwing away 95% of the information you gather every day. Reinvention isn’t about “spending more money.” It’s about changing the workflow and building your business around what the customer wants.
8 Comments Add your own
1. Jason Salas | April 17th, 2007 at 12:49 am
Damn straight. Maybe Steve’s inspired by the NAB buzz, maybe the glad recipient of an industrial epiphany, whatever the reason, this is sound advice. Good job, Steve.
If you’re going to do something, do it right.
2. Michael Rosenblum | April 17th, 2007 at 3:02 am
nice.
3. invitedmedia | April 17th, 2007 at 5:41 am
i hate to give away ideas but i find it counterproductive to totally re-de your web channel anyways… unless it’s your intention to piss off your audience.
how about taking/breaking off features that work into their own property. LINK to them. advertisers so like to get on the homepage…doesn’t matter which one, just a homepage. somewhere.
sure, delete some of the crap that does nothing but take up valuable real estate.
but to think your alexa graph that depicts you’ll have zero visitors if the trend continues unabated for another 6 months will be solved by a cool looking blue colored background is absurd.
“the public” understands these things.
4. Chump | April 17th, 2007 at 6:46 am
What do they want? its becoming obvious that one areas is we all need to look into live and ondemand MOBILE video. We really need to wake up to this and start delivering.
5. Stephen Warley | April 17th, 2007 at 6:51 am
It goes without saying that I agree . . . however the folks today are far removed from the entrepreneurs that launched television. Visionary websites will never be born inside corporations. They are born outside them in dormitories, basements, and garages. It is those people who are incentivised to be truly innovative because they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. They have a sense of ownership, a sense of passion. Sure corporations have tons of cash and well-known brands, but how many of their employees are really willing to stick their neck out for them. So why wait for the corporations . . . .we ALL have the tools (and quite cheaply too) to execute our own visions?
6. Angela | April 17th, 2007 at 7:10 am
Amen to that. It’s as if some managers, are afraid to tweak job descriptions or add/eliminate duties. If you’re going to change, then CHANGE.
I say figure out what you need, reevaluate what you have, identify people’s strengths and utilize staff to the fullest.
And if training is needed, train people to become actual do’ers.
7. Rob | April 17th, 2007 at 7:39 am
Frakking A.
8. unsurelok | April 17th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Steve your addressing half the problem, mindset, the other half is expertise and skills.
With all due respect to Stephen, where are the cheap tools? Stringing together a bunch of stuff to kluge together a serious community website is no small task and what do you have in the end?
A del.icio.us blogger youtube till it flickr’s and dies?
Of course there has to be a demand and the stations aren’t demanding it.
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