First media goal is to be a must-read

http://battellemedia.com/archives/2014/12/media-must-succeed.php

To me, just one qeustion matters when it comes to a publication and whether it has a chance of long term success: Is it a must read?

For me, the true test of a publication’s endurance is its convening power – does it bring together the most important people in a given community? If it does, it has the best chance of success, regardless of its overall reach or number of pageviews.

Certainly it’s no guarantee of success – you still have to be deft and thoughtful when it comes to making money. But it all starts with that one simple question: Is it a must read? All else flows from that.

If a publication is going to succeed, it must be required reading for a core of influential people in a given market. At the end of the day, that is what matters most.

It’s why Wired worked – lots of people may have wanted to read Wired, but a core group of them felt they had to.

If an article in the Journal or the Times was really important, someone would tell me about it in email or on the Web. I interrupted Louis and I asked him: “How can you afford to take the time to do this every day?” I’ll never forget his response. He looked up, genuinely nonplussed, and said “How can you afford not to?”