Jason Kristufek's We Media Blog

We in the media industry are not asking one right question often enough at a time where it could not be more critical.

There seems to be many random, impulsive ideas about how media companies can generate revenue quickly in a time of economic decline and a where the century-old business model no longer applies.

Let me ask this question, and many of you will recognize it because it is not new. What is the job to be done?

If the answer is just to make money, you will fail. Making money does nothing to provide a product or service that adds value to a user or customer. It does nothing to build audience or connect to a community.

Those facts are often too easily overlooked, especially in hard economic times. But doing those things will lead to money.

I am all for experimentation, failing fast and taking risks. But if the product, service or change to an existing product is not done in a way that solves a problem, fills a void or clearly adds a desired value for a user or customer than it is not worth doing until you can answer the jobs-to-be-done question.

This is a new era. Ideas have never been cheaper, and taking a product or service to market has never been easier. But the time to act smartly could not be more important, and a great way to do that is to come with a concise and demonstrable answer to the jobs-to-be-done question.

So, how many jobs-to-be-done interviews has your organization completed in the last six months? How many will it do in the next month?

Related articles

• What are the business models for attention allocators? (ac-idealog.blogspot.com)
• Zemanta for Email – But Why? (cloudave.com)
• Free SEO Training: Improve Your Google Search Engine Rankings… (ronmedlin.com)