eStrategy: Changing Course

People make mistakes. Strategies therefore can be imperfect. If you have ever crafted one that is not working or likely to fail then it is your responsibility to change course. Staying the course is for idiots who play with other people’s money and lives. In an excellent example of changing course when needed, New York Times today dropped TimesSelect their paid subscription service for online content. They, correctly, assessed that the online world had changed and so should their business model. Online content is designed to be free. Unfettered access to content then increases its use and propagation through the most effective mechanism – word of mouth. Except word of mouth – or viral marketing as some have called it - in the online world is done through emails, linking and blogs. Locked content prevents these mechanisms to operate. If you lock up content you lose readers and the advertising revenue . This revenue is not only greater than the subscription revenue but also is self perpetuating. Readers come back and bring their friends and family. Subscribers do not or cannot. Read the NYtimes article>>