Scorching the Earth – for Orgs
I like change. Thankfully.
In this profession, if you’re not learning at a rapid rate, you decay. So you need to befriend change faster than anything else. Otherwise you cease to grow, or worst, miss a chance for an opportunity to grow.
That’s why I like Steve Rubel’s recent change of strategy in blogging. He calls it a scorched earth policy. Essentially, he blew up his two old blogs – one on Posterous and one on Typepad – in favor of his new Tumblr account. Both old domains redirect to this new site.
There, he posts a mix of long-form and short-form past, linking them naturally to his Twitter and Facebook accounts. He points to the future as one of the reasons for his move:
I fundamentally believe that we are entering the next great era of the web — The Validation Era. In this age of too much content and not enough time, the public will increasingly need to hear things validated across four interconnected media clovers that are converging across four different screens — phones, tablets, PCs and TVs. To be successful, businesses and individuals will need to continually ensure their engagement spans the media cloverleaf.
The move makes sense for Rubel. He makes a living off advising clients on how to excel (and take risks) in the digital media world. How can he stand behind his words if he’s not living them?
But for Organizations?
But would this make sense for a nonprofit or corporation?
For most: probably not, and Rubel says so in his post. But the whole strategy brings up a few interesting points worth mentioning:
- You shouldn’t put anything out there that you don’t want found or wouldn’t mind losing. No system is perfect. If it’s important, back it up. If it’s supplemental content, put your best stuff forward and let it ride.
- Have a unique strategy for each channel or “cloverleaf.” Make sure you’re taking advantage of the strengths of each channel or platform.
- Where’s your audience? Probably here and there. Listen to them. What do they need?
- Look at the data. What does it say? Maybe things are lagging. Perhaps a change this drastic is in order.
So can it or something like it make sense for you or your organization? Maybe. That depends if you’re willing to scorch the earth in true fashion – you do that and just mind lead to fresh, new growth.
That’s a change I can always get behind.
Image by Keith Hardy.