Michael R. Tucker

I was asked the other day, if I were starting a new media company today, what are the key considerations I'd think about?

From an operations standpoint, starting out right and lean, my top three:

1. Brand first, distribution second.
In addition to print, the web, mobile, and events should be a part of your business plan. Ideally, web and mobile would be managed from the same web admin backend. (joomla can't do that) Always think "brand" first, distribution second. How does your brand reach its audience via web, mobile, print, and in person?

2. Data. Data. Data.
From the beginning, develop an IT strategy that is heavy on data gathering and processing. For ANY media company to survive and thrive these days, you need to be no stranger to gathering data digitally, processing it, and acting strategically upon your analyses. You can't rely on what the advertising director's gut says or anyone's gut feeling for that matter. If your advertising suspects, prospects, and clients are not all in the same database along with communication history, financial history, and buying habits, you have a problem. Obviously, the way to get the data is to use systems that collect this info during the business process. Audience members? Ditto. Gather as much data as you can get them to give you. Then, analyze across multiple dimensions and across both segments.

3. Minimize Infrastructure
Work towards distributed assets with minimal office footprint. There's no reason why your staff can't be distributed and work from their location most of the time. There's also no reason to invest in multiple hardware servers, and the prerequisite sysadmin support multiple servers require. Get one box, or better yet, rent a fast box at a reliable hosting facility. Set your network up so that no one has to be in the office to access business resources. The traditional media mindset has been to build "a factory" for production, then wire it up and staff it up. Throw that idea out the window. If you build a distributed model and run it tightly, you will save a ton of capital and operating expense.

Create your own brand ecosystem. Use text, audio, video, contests, events; anything you can think of that makes sense. This defines your world. Send bits of your world across multiple distribution channels. This stuff is valuable, so if you want or need to, you have the right to ask people for money for it, but I'd also give a fair amount of it away. You'll have to find the right mixes for you.

Engage with audiences where they hang out. Cultivate their appreciation with usefulness and relevance. Treat them with respect. Get to know them. Learn what they like- chances are they like the same things you do. Bring your "A" game to your audience time and time again. Always let them talk back publicly. And always, without fail, listen.

If advertising is part of your model, then invite some of these people to participate, but select only those that you know your audience will appreciate. Develop clever and insightful invitations. They should do more than talk about rates and sizes. These are your brand's personal invitations to the ecosystem. Be a clever matchmaker instead of a knock-on-every-door kind of guy. Everyone will appreciate it and both constituencies will benefit.