By Keith Dawn
I’m back. Not that I ever really left, but I’m back on a more permanent basis.
Some of you may remember me as the guy who ran The Press of Atlantic City for more than 12 years as publisher in the early 2000s. I left to work for different media companies in New York and then in central Pennsylvania. A total of nine years of dreadful commuting.
Some of you may also remember that I was the pain in the A– boss who was relentless for growth year after year, even in recessionary times. And some of you don’t know who I am and probably don’t care. Fair enough.
I was the guy leading a company in what some would call a “dying industry.” In fact, the last 20-plus years have not been kind to the newspaper business.
Change has happened all around us. Locally there are many businesses that have been around for decades and remain resilient through tough times. There are new ones that have opened, and sadly, there are some that went out of business.
The ones that remain open had to reinvent themselves and the ones that opened up all understand that to grow through uncertain times means that change is inevitable.
When times are tough, businesses are forced to adapt to the changing marketplace. Think of all the changes that have occurred in this marketplace in the past 15 to 20 years ago.
It makes many of us look back and remember the “good old days.” Twelve casinos were thriving and small to mid-size businesses were beginning to transform. This all around the time a major recession was about to disrupt most of us.
A disruption can either be an opportunity or a threat, depending on how one responds to it. It reminds me of the famous quote from Eric Shinseki who said, “If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.” Employees used to hate hearing me say this, but business owners need to hear it.
The job of the publisher is like that of a CEO; they run the business side of things. The editor (the intellectual one) is the person in charge of the news and content.
At most newspapers this is usually a very unique and sometimes continuous relationship. However, the owners of Shore Local pull it off perfectly. Bob Fertsch is the publisher (guy in charge) and his wife, Cindy is the editor (brains behind the operation). So why does this business work?
Primarily because the Fertschs know the value of local. It’s even part of their name. It’s something that many large media companies have forgotten.
It’s such a strong value to them that everything from their ads to their content and columnists is local. I’m proud to be a contributor to Shore Local joining other Press alumni such as Scott Cronick, Chuck Eberson, David Weinberg, and Dan Skeldon.
Currently I’m a business coach/advisor and CEO of my own consulting firm called Strategic Growth Partners. I work with businesses to help them improve their bottom lines.
We begin with a deep dive assessment of the overall operation. I then present a customized roadmap that identifies various initiatives and strategies that will contribute to their success.
My objective for this column is to share some insights for locally owned businesses. I also hope to help local consumers understand what businesses go through and why it’s important to support them.
Business is tough enough without the obstacles of inflation, recession, world-wide pandemics, staffing and other challenges.
Through each of my columns, I’ll try to educate and offer some fairly simplified solutions to problems that businesses need to face head on.
Some examples of topics I’ll cover will be:
- Sales/Marketing
- Generating leads
- Market Dominating Position (unique selling proposition)
- Strategic Planning
- Compounding
- Training/Education
- Customer Retention
- Start ups
- Financials
If you’re interested in a particular subject drop me a line at keith.dawn@sgpCoach.com. If you’d like to give feedback, feel free to hit me up.
Until the next issue, keep in mind this quote from Jim Rohn, “Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.”
Keith is a seasoned media executive and former publisher for The Press of Atlantic City.
Keith is now a business coach/advisor and CEO of his own consulting firm called Strategic Growth Partners. He’s passionate about helping businesses grow. He can be reached at keith.dawn@sgpCoach.com or you can visit his website for more detailed information at https://www.sgpcoach.com.
