Even though Outskirts Press publishes roughly 150 new books each month and boasts an author satisfaction rate of over 99%, it’s not all work and no play around here. Recently, the girls of summer caught some rays after work:
From left to right: Cheri (Director of Production), Wendy (Director of Author Support),
Kelly (Vice President), Lynn (CFO/CTO)
In the category of “You can’t believe everything you read on the Internet” have been my past several postings about what I call the Google Scam, or more officially, the “Google Suggestions” functionality. In previous postings I displayed some screen shots that indicate that, according to Google’s new functionality, everything on the Internet is a scam. Regardless of whether your Google search involves Inc. 500 #1 company Ambit Energy, bottled water, chiropractors, Google, Zappos, or even Outskirts Press, scam display results in Google are misleading.
No need to describe it yet again (this posting does a good job of it), but my previous several postings about apparent “scams” on the Internet caused me to mention a recent correspondence I had with one of our new authors. Even with our 99% satisfaction rate at Outskirts Press, I touch base with all of our new authors to see if things are going smoothly with their self-publishing process and if I can do anything to assist them.
One of our recent authors mentioned “negative stuff” on the Internet when I reached out to her:
So I replied:
Hi Catherine,
You’re right, the Internet is a double-edged sword. It is filled with valuable and useful information. It is also so unregulated that anyone, with any opinion, can post anything they want without repercussion, no matter how inaccurate it is. If it would help comfort you, I would be happy to provide my perspective on the “negative stuff,” if you feel like sharing the exact location of what you are referring to.
I’m happy to hear things are going smoothly. Thank you for saying “hello.” We look forward to working with you.
Sincerely,
Brent
Her response in turn:
Hi Brent –
And you are exactly right – it’s our responsibility to sift through the unedited information, weigh what may be behind it and make our own decisions, listening to our inner feelings. If we don’t, we’re just sheep being led. I look forward to working with you, also.
Catherine
—
Hi Catherine,
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Say, with your permission, would you mind if I posted this email exchange on my blog?
Sincerely,
Brent
Brent – No problem….permission granted. Catherine
And there you have it. The system works. In spite of Google’s attempt to display controversial, irrelevant information, most people are knowledgeable enough to know that there are two sides to every story; one does not simply believe everything one reads on the Internet without thinking for one’s self. And for those who do…. Well, maybe you don’t want them for clients anyway.
Every year Inc. Magazine recognizes the 5000 fastest growing private companies in America. Last month they published their findings. Outskirts Press was ranked #1266. Getting on the list once is hard enough — the majority of companies don’t appear on the list twice. Well, actually, most companies don’t appear on the list even once, but that’s a different story.
Lists such as these average a company’s growth percentage across a number of years. What makes this interesting is that a company’s annual revenue can actually increase year after year and at the same time, their overall average growth percentage will naturally decline. This is what happened at my company, Outskirts Press. 2009 revenue was the highest it has ever been but the exponential leap in revenue over previous years was smaller. Not surprising really when an average company is considered successful if it increases revenue by 10% year over year and companies appearing on the Inc 500 in 2010 have average revenue increases between 20,000% (#1 Ambit Energy) and 600% (#500 AtTask).
20,000% ?!? How is that even possible, you may ask. Well, a growth percentage like this is usually the combination of 2 things:
1) A new company that barely qualifies for the Inc 5000’s minimum revenue threshold in the first year, and
2) Receives an infusion of cash from investor(s), bank(s), or venture capitalist(s) in the remaining years.
This is what happened for Ambit, which earned $1.6 million in 2006 (their first year in business) and then received substantial investments which brought their 2009 annual revenue to $325 million. In fact, their whole business model is based upon finding rich people to invest in their company. Whether or not that is a sustainable business model is a topic for a later day.
But this is what makes repeating an appearance on the Inc 5000 list so difficult. It’s difficult to continue inticing investors into giving you money. Eventually those investors are going to expect companies to earn it. A company must continue growing at exponential rates either by receiving money or earning it.
In fact, if you look at this year’s Inc. 500 list in the September 2010 issue of Inc. Magazine, you have to scan all the way down to #18 to find a company that was on the list previously. Of the 500 companies listed, only 101 appeared on the list previously — 20%. These are probably the companies that are actually making money from customers, rather than having money handed to them by investors. I wonder what the Inc. 500 would look like if these companies were ranked according to the actual amount of money they earned from their customers, and not from their investors…
But that’s a topic I’ve spoken about in the past, so I won’t dwell on it much here, although I might dwell on it more next time.
Another reason I’ve personally been reticent about blogging is due to the dilemma I have with preserving confidentiality, and this is probably something any CEO, or company employee can understand. In other words, what is okay to say, and what isn’t?
On one hand, the more personal, confidential, or private something is, the more “interesting” it is, so part of me wants to divulge stuff that will make this blog popular, or at the very least, interesting.
On the other hand, I have a responsibility to our authors, our people, and our board of directors to avoid saying anything that would jeopardize them (and by that, I mean, anything that could “cost them money”). In my position I learn things about the industry that isn’t common knowledge. I know about deals before they happen. I have an intimate knowledge of our own trade secrets and unique competitive advantages – the things that make Outskirts Press the fastest-growing self-publishing company and the only Inc. 500 company in our industry. Revealing ‘insider-y” information on those topics would make this blog fascinating to other entrepreneurs and CEOs, and certainly our competitors, and maybe even our authors, but revealing them could also jeopardize our value proposition.
If a CEO doesn’t reveal SOME of that stuff, what’s the point of reading the blog? I mean, the whole point of reading a blog by a CEO is that you expect SOME level of details not attainable elsewhere, right? But, on the other hand, how does a CEO blogger reveal interesting things that aren’t TOO confidential?
I’m not saying I have the answer. I’m just saying it’s something about blogging that troubles me…
What better day to launch a new endeavor than on New Year’s Day, when New Year’s Resolutions are top of mind? One of my personal New Year’s Resolutions in 2010 is to get more involved in “social media” and find the time to participate more actively on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.
The great thing about holidays is that you don’t have to provide much blog content, other than to say “Happy New Year!” Check and see: “Happy New Year” is the most prevalent subject header for blogs and tweets today, because it’s a fast and easy “tweet” or blog posting. Well, I won’t look a gift-horse in the mouth, so “Happy New Year!”
President of Outskirts Press 