Want to be a product-thinking journalist? Here's a round-up of practical product practice guides (many from @refindcom if you want a referral invitation, let me know)

August 19, 2022

Three years ago, I decided to pivot from digital editorial management to product management, and I did so because I had always worked at the intersection of editorial, commercial and technical. I found in my master's degree (especially my dissertation) that boundary-spanning is one of the core activities of product managers. In journalism, we have called these activities bridge roles. In a lot of firms, the activities sit with the marketing team because that team typically acts as a bridge between the firm and markets (or customers or prospective customers for new product development). I have been doing product work in some form since 2005, but I have only formally embraced it in the last three years. I'm voraciously learning about the critical role that product managers play in news organisations and the activities around that role. It's one of the reasons that I took the consulting services director role at Pugpig because I could see how I could take a lead in working with a super smart SaaS publishing platform company and their clients in publishing.

Below, in addition to the industry news that I normally flag up, I have included a lot of weekend reading about product activities including customer onboarding, how to create a social media calendar (or how to stop being reactive), lessons from marketing on how to build your email list and discovery issues around podcasting.

I found a lot of these through Refind.com, a great service that I have been teaching to find value-added content around my professional and personal interests. If you like the look of it, please let me know, and I'll set you up with a referral. I really like the service, and transparently, I'd like to use the referral system to unlock the premium service.

Google is making a series of updates to search that aim to tackle clickbait and improve the relevancy of search results, prioritizing original and authentic reviews.

More coverage that anyone running an affiliate-marketing strategy should read. I think that media companies can compete really effectively in this marketplace because it is about the quality of content and trust. However, I also think that companies that are looking for an easy strategy to grow revenue need to enter this space with integrity and intention.

Survey after survey tell us that people continue to discover podcasting every year. But is podcasting growth really a case of three steps forward, two steps back?

"Survey after survey tell us that people continue to discover podcasting every year. But is podcasting growth really a case of three steps forward, two steps back?" Tom Webster sums it up excellently in his introduction.

Email marketing has one of the highest ROI's around, with an average of $36 made for every $1 spent. In this post, we cut through the noise with a proven 3-step process to start growing your email list the right way, right now.

This is a great guide to bookmark. For product-thinking journalists, the value is clear even if the guide covers SaaS and e-commerce companies. In many ways, editorial newsletters are often content marketing, allowing people to have a taste of your content and building the brand to encourage people to subscribe. There are a lot of excellent techniques here.

They are usually not the most scintillating content in a newspaper: the small-print legal notices that state and federal governments are required to publish to inform constituents of what they are doing.

Paid legal notices are an idiosyncratic but important source of revenue for local newspapers in the US, and it looks like the political battles in the US are taking aim at this reliable source of cash as politicians conflate local media outlets with national outlets, which they believe are hostile to their conservative views.

Social Media Today

This is a really excellent quick, visual guide on how to stop being reactive and plan your social media with more intention and with more of an eye on the larger editorial and commercial goals of your media organisation.

A good thread on knowing if your product is doing well

Lisa is one of the many product leaders that I have added to a Twitter list of product managers and product thinkers both in and outside of journalism. Check it out.

I'm a big believer that in journalism and media we need to look at lessons about product thinking, development and management outside of our industries. When I was doing my master's dissertation, I found that a lot of things that folks in our industry has struggled with were common to many industries including:

• A lack of clarity about the role.

• A lack of senior management alignment about goals.

• The challenges of a role with a lot of responsibility but unclear authority on how to drive projects to completion.

There is nothing earth shattering here, but it's worth saying that media and journalism are not alone in these challenges. Role theory developed in the 1960s first discussed these issues, and product management research in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s all found these as issues that led to burn out.

Quick question. What’s the most important metric when it comes to converting sales through your SaaS product? It’s activated accounts, the number of new users that received value from your product…

OK, let me open my lateral thinking on this guide because most journalists might miss it. “When did you feel like you first got value from the product?” Ask that of your audiences. I would be incredibly curious to find out what they had to say.

Bonus: My COVID-haze Twitter rant about VR

My wife tested COVID positive a week ago, and up until yesterday, I have tested negative, but last night, I knew something was up when my throat got scratchy, and this morning, sure enough, a faint line appeared next to the T. Ugh.

When a friend posted something about VR, I went on a bit of an old school rant about a trend that I've seen come and at least a couple of times now. I remember how enthralled I was with VRML, and it was a professional highlight of mine when I got to share a BBC World Service discussion with Jason Lanier during my first sojourn through the UK. I had a lot of friends who were incredible boosters of Second Life, and now we have the Metaverse. Colour me sceptical, and here are a few highlights from a lively discussion I had.

And last bit of rant for your weekend. Have a good one.