A Click Away

If you are wondering where the state of the industry is heading, it only takes two words to get you up-to-speed, the Internet. Everything in business is moving in this direction, from marketing and advertising to obtaining orders and getting client approvals. Lives and careers that once required full words have been reduced to a vast world of acronyms: SEO, FTP, PDF, JPG and the ever important MB. With each strange and new acronym, everything has changed and keeps changing at an incredible pace.

Even for me, the way I conduct business as a magazine editor is vastly different than it was when I first began. It has required me to adapt and adapt quickly, even when sometimes I didn’t want to. And today, my title as editorial director, doesn’t just encompass magazine content but all online content including, newsletters, new media, blogs and social media efforts to mention just a few. If you would have told me five years ago what I would be doing today, I would have said, “huh?” Because many of these communication outlets didn't even exist yet. Yes, life is all about adaptation. And in evolutionary terms, adaptation is the key element to survival.

This year’s state of the industry clearly defines this shift. Are forms dead? No. In fact, they continue to be the back-bone of the industry, albeit the one that continues to get beat up and chipped away at year in and year out.

However, if you are looking for the area of booming growth, the place to hang your hat far into the future, it must be in the dot com arena. Having the ability to offer your clients online solutions they can access quickly and easily today will have a far-reaching positive impact on your company tomorrow. Conversely, if online solution development is something that is put off until tomorrow, you may get left in the dust.