I thought it might be helpful, for people who are thinking about starting a new media project, to share some of the planning, as I prepare to produce this short-term community service series.
the Unofficial Netroots Nation Podcast

So, quoting the MMJ Services page

There are 3 basic steps to creating your New Media Strategy:
Describe your target audience.
Describe the story that you want to tell.
Determine what resources you will invest in your new media strategy.

1. Who Are They?

Daily Kos is a huge community, with over 160,000 members, millions of page views per month, and a dynamic off line component, called Netroots Nation. I wanted to help the members of the community reach their goals during and after Netroots Nation, in a way that doesn’t duplicate what’s already out there.

Lots of DK members use YouTube and similar services, plus photos, to prove their point, to entertain and to inspire. But there’s not much audio or video that’s dedicated to the brand. Being a long term member of the this community, I know there’s interest in audio or video tools, especially those that can be shared to help people connect with their family and friends. If I didn’t know the community, I’d search via Google, via iTunes, and related directory sites to see if there’s already material out there. Don’t want to duplicate: do want to complement.

To dig deeper into the ‘personality’ of the community, I’d spend some time reading the front page and related stories, follow links off the front page to understand more about related sites, see if there’s site history I can access to understand the players and the people. If it’s a community I’m not already a member of, I wouldn’t comment at all at this point: I’m just there to learn where they’re coming from.

Some of the details I’d like to understand about the community:
a. age group(s)
b. job status/annual salary (e.g: college students, freelancers, factory workers, middle-managers, entrepreneurs…)
c. gender
d. where they’re from: is it a board with long-term immigrants, expats, etc.
e. What subjects grab and retain their attention?
f. How do they handle humor?
g. What’s their taste in music, art, film, etc?
h. Do they share what they discuss on the site with their offline friends, family, & colleagues

Now, of course, a lot depends on the client & the questions will change after I’ve delved into the site, as well. I don’t know that humor would be relevant on a funereal director’s BBS, except that, oddly enough, it might serve to lift their spirits…anyway, the point is to understand the ‘color’ of the world they’ve created online.

Next up: What story do you want to tell? Or, to put it another way, what story do you want to help them to tell?

Here’s what Kent asked to help prepare for an upcoming presentation to major corporate ‘C’ level folks:

…what would you say (or do) to this audience that would hasten the future of small media? What big idea would you posit to get these very high level people to open up their checkbooks and start spending more in this space? How do you convince them it窶冱 not a fad?…

I think it’s awesome that Kent opened up the conversation: and the responses are all worth reading and thinking about.

Here’s my response:

that the rules of communication have changed: there are so many messages that even the most wired people have to walk away - when people walk away, don’t you want them to be carrying ‘you’ in their minds? don’t you want them to feel related? don’t you want them to sense that your product/service/message is a missing part of their life? don’t you want them to trust you?

thanks for the post and the comments - all great food for thought.

How would you answer the question? Please do head on over to Kent’s post and let him know.

and actually, the existence of this whole exchange is a symbol of the way things have changed. What I think remains the same is that it all starts with a story…