Articles Tagged with publishing

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hope streetThese are grim days for the world of education. Funding cuts past, present, and future loom over schools and districts. Class sizes are swelling, essential services are being trimmed, and any spending decision that can be delayed is sitting in limbo.

The companies that serve schools are feeling the pinch even deeper – while school budgets are down roughly 10%-15% scuttlebutt around the industry has most education companies down 20%-40% from 2011. Data systems, some technology niches, and companies with strong international presence are doing better, but those are the exceptions not the rule.

Relatively speaking schools have bad colds, we have pneumonia.

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Diversion EndsI’ve been on a bit of a blogcation since June. It has been a crazy summer both personally and professionally* and something had to give.

I’m back.

The K12 market has been in full meltdown since last November. Schools are struggling with state finances post stimulus, the Feds are not helping with threats of sequestration, and tablets are sucking up what little oxygen remains in the room. To top it off the uncertainty around the election is putting a pause on decisions.

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r67ye5tertgrgtreBooks, iPads, and the Kindle are changing the fundamental structure of the publishing industry. From a strategic perspective they are having the largest impact on the development and pricing of products. In other words it is affecting the “what” deeply. The “how” has not changed all that much, regardless of whether you are selling print and/or technology.

There are four fundamental strategies for a growing a company in the K12 sector because even in the best of times K12 is (mostly) a zero sum game. In 2008 I wrote a post about this competitive dynamic:

In normal times education budgets grow at 2%-5% a year. Most start-ups or new products need to grow at a huge multiple of that – 30% to 300% or even more. Mathematically in order for you to grow someone else is must lose out.

We are most definitely not living in “normal times” these days. Any growth strategy in today’s market is fighting gravity as school budgets are expected to fall next year after the stimulus has expired.

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level-32-nerdThere are bad ideas that become iconic for every era because they were popular fads. Pet Rocks, the Pacer, Supply Side Economics, and .com groceries all come to mind.

Looking back we all scratch our heads and wonder – why?

Gamification, ripping the reward and recognition systems out of video games and applying them to behavioral modification is likely to stand in for our current times in the future.

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Success SignWhen educators choose new classroom materials their first challenge is to sift through dozens of options and narrow the search down to four to five options. In other words before they say “yes” to one solution they need to find reasons to say “no” to a host of other options.

Prior to Common Core the most significant filter was “alignment to state standards.” If a company couldn’t provide a correlation that showed substantial or complete compliance with a particular state’s requirements it never got past the first meeting. No one really used the correlations once the product was purchased, but it was a useful filter to help narrow the field of choices.

In the last six months I have noticed a significant shift in this process. Most districts now require some flavor of “technology” in any curriculum resource they purchase. Like standards correlations they don’t particularly care what it is – but they won’t consider products that don’t have a technology component.

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NFImageImportWhat are the missing skills needed in education publishing to create 21st Century products for 21st Century learners? I penned a thought experiment for EdNet on this topic.

Education Publishing’s Own 21st Century Skills Gap – Change Begins At-Home Edition

Fun Architects, Content Marines, Talent Wranglers, and Shibboleth Hunters all get shout outs.

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778689_grillA fresh batch of piping hot links that may be of interest to those in educational materials.

Are game mechanics the key to great social media marketing? The following link weaves some fascinating connections between the world of gaming and the world of encouraging people to try new things (the essence of marketing).

Everything I ever learned about marketing I learned from Dungeons and Dragons by Ian Lurie at Conversation Marketing.

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tableskaterWhat is the best way to break into education publishing? If you are young and starting out what launching pads set you up well for a career in the world of instructional materials and software?

I’m bullish in the industry and think we are in one of the most creative and fascinating eras as traditional print publishing blends with digital production and distribution. There is going to be a huge amount of disruption but there will be an enormous amount of opportunity in the midst of all the changes.

In the first part of this series I focused on the best ways to prepare and organize your search. Today I turn the focus on what kinds of jobs industry entrants should consider.

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card953How do you find a job in education publishing or technology?

Recently I was asked for my thoughts on entering our industry by a mid-twenties alum of my high school. In the course of the conversation I found myself getting re-excited by all the great prospects in our industry. It also spurred me to turn my own experience over and reflect on what worked for me 25 years ago when I was in his shoes.

I’m grateful I was asked to help because it brought my focus back to why we do what we do.

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broken_glassToday’s walkabout focuses on a fundamental shift in the instructional materials industry away from the scale economics of the big textbook publishers to the value of niche focused expertise. I believe this is the future of our business.

In a world where Home Depot crushes the local hardware store only themselves to be crushed by Lowes this probably sounds foolish. Why shouldn’t Pearson and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt do the same in education? In their business model everything becomes a commodity and low prices rule. Indeed – that is precisely what has happened over the past couple of decades in education.

But there are fundamental and intersecting trends that are leading us away from this model and in a fresh new direction.

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