I have read the biography of William Paley, the owner of CBS television from the 1930s on, several times. What he would like to have done was to own not only radio stations, a radio network, television stations, a television network, but also to own newspapers and news services. In short he would have liked to completely dominate all facets of the media current in his time. What was thwarting him was anti-trust legislation designed to prevent domination of media, within a given city, as well as across the nation.
Because of the proliferation of new forms of media, there are alternate media outlets, and the rules have been relaxed. In addition, there been a slicing up of ears and eyeballs and web visitors across very niche-specific topic areas.
With that changed scenario in mind, Indy Smallbiz is attempting three strategic components to focus and converge on the area of small business, specifically Indianapolis, but also other markets.
The first component is a broad array of media outlets. Besides the print edition, there is the website: www.indysmallbiz.com… There is also 55smallbusinessbloggers.com, a mega-blog site that has specialty expert information that targets small businesses. A recent addition is the monthly seminar at the Skyline Club, called The Business Survivors Series. Smallbizonair.com, a web-based live radio station, focusing on small business, will be on air soon. Besides the print and audio content, the web-based media will also have video offerings.
Additional outlets for the Indy Smallbiz content will be a book as well as social networking “outsourced content.” Finally, the enigmatic but powerful “Mastermind Theatre” will be available soon.
The second strategic component is the re-purposing of content. That which appears on one media conduit will be modified so that it can appear on another. For example, the presentations at The Business Survivors Series Seminars will be made available on www.indysmallbiz.com.
The third strategic component will be the development of automatic systems to elicit, receive, and place information into the various media outlets. For example, there will be a set of questions for a thumbnail business profile of a company that will be available online for a business owner to access, put in their relevant information, and submit to www.indysmallbiz.com. The information will be accessible online by business owner’s name, category of business, name of business, or date of entry. Other examples will be guidelines on audio press releases that would be sent to smallbizonair.com.
Breadth of media outlets, re-purposing of content, and automated systems are being pursued to make possible a small business content provider concept that can adapt to the current fast-paced and ever-changing market conditions.
