Playing it Safe - A Bad Strategy for Local Media

At LMA, we know a thing or two about transformation. 

In 2008, our association had $1.7M in revenue from our for-profit classified network. This funded everything that we did at LMA (then SNA) and represented 70%+ of our total revenue. We all know what happened to classified advertising since that time. By 2018, we shut down the classified network and that once lucrative revenue stream finally went completely away. 

It was a painful process to watch but we weren’t worried because we had a transformation plan. 

We set out to become an umbrella organization that would serve all local media. Once that was accomplished, we launched Accelerate Local to help the industry reinvent business models for news. 

Fast forward 11 years later, we just celebrated the best year in the history of LMA and LMF with combined revenue of over $2.7M. 

Was this reinvention easy? Absolutely not. Were there heated debates along the way? You bet. Did we lose members who didn’t like our new direction? Yep. Did we gain far more than we lost? Indeed, we did. 

As we work with the local media industry on transformation strategies, it’s important to remember how hard this is. It’s important to remember that risk taking is a necessary part of transformation. We had many critics when we changed our name and invited broadcasters and digital news sites to join our organization. We had critics when we elevated the membership of the R&D community to full members including positions on the board. At one gathering of association executives, one of them pointed their finger in my face and told me it was the worst decision we would ever make. 

I’m glad we weren’t influenced by the critics. 

In 2019, we’ve had the opportunity to work with 43 different local media companies across six Accelerate Local projects. This has given us an amazing “under the hood” look at the inner-workings of companies from small to large, from print to broadcast and more. Some have fully maximized their experience and some have not. 

In all cases, the determining factor came down to leadership and culture. When there is executive level buy-in, and involvement, the project has a greater chance of success. When the company supports a culture of experimentation, the outcomes are far better. 

Still, many companies are plagued by a fear of failure. In our various labs and projects, you can tell pretty early on which companies are going to push the envelope when it comes to thinking bigger and bolder, and which companies are going to play it safe. At the end of the lab, it's no wonder why one company shows incremental growth and one shows significant growth. 

Playing it safe is a losing strategy. If we played it safe at LMA, we would be out of business. 

My wish for the New Year is that more local media companies embrace experimentation. At Accelerate Local, we’ll be relentless in our pursuit to reinvent business models for news. We’ll go wherever that takes us and we hope that many of you will be part of that journey. Don't hesitate to contact us if you have an idea for Accelerate Local in 2020. The bigger the better.