155: How many formats and platforms do you have to be on?

Publishing keeps getting more and more complicated

Publishing can be a good business model because you can write something once and sell it many times. But as people come to expect things their way, in their preferred format, publishers are facing an environment where they have to write something, then record it, then make it into a video, then a quiz, then create an infographic, then a comic book, and who knows what else.

Technology makes this possible, but it’s also because of technology that people have come to expect this sort of thing. Or to put it another way, YouTube, Instagram, and Spotify are great services that consumers love, but that means publishers have to be in all these places.

Back when I frequented online discussion groups, it always surprised me how many “lurkers” there were. That is, people who read the board, but never participated in the discussion.

I couldn’t do that. When I would see something stupid or wrong, I felt compelled to jump in. I learned that’s not sustainable, and that’s why I’m not on Facebook any more. I’d get sucked into discussions I hated, and it just made me mad.

But this aspect of personal preference adds another level of complexity. If I were to list all the complications that face content creators, it might be something like this.

Device
Desktop
Phone
Tablet
TV
Paper of various sorts

Format
Text
Video
Audio
Infographic
Quiz
Q&A (like ChatGPT)

Platform
LinkedIn
Facebook
X

Extroversion
Do they participate?

Payment options
Free with ads
Free with registration
Subscription
Pay per view

Even Location can even matter. People do different things in different places. And my friend Scott Janney created magazinejukebox as a way for people to read magazines on their phones when they’re at the barber shop or doctor’s office.

What do you do with all this chaos?

I don’t have the answer, because I’m dealing with it as much as you are. But here are some simple things to consider.

Check your analytics to see what people are actually doing. But realize your results are skewed because your audience has already self-selected based on what you’re providing. To understand what I mean, it would be stupid to ask people on YouTube if they like videos.

You can do surveys of your audience, and you can look up broader surveys of the population as a whole. They’re helpful, but take them with a grain of salt.

You can also just put a stake in the ground and say “no, this is what we do. If you want that other stuff, go away.”

You can do what you’re good at. And that’s probably the best answer. Cast your bread on the waters – try a bunch of things – and see what happens.

But – this highlights a big problem I’ve experienced in my career. Let’s say you try something and it fails. Now the CEO is against that forever and always. But times change, and something that didn’t work five years ago might work now.

So my best advice is to think very broadly about how people consume content, try what you can, and keep adjusting. Think of it as ready, fire, aim on a constant loop.