Will your company be successful in the year 2208?

I spent an enjoyable day this week with my editor and his colleagues on the marketing, editorial, and PR teams at my publisher, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. to discuss new initiatives for my current book, The New Rules of Marketing & PR and ideas for future book projects. For example, there will be an Amazon Kindle version of New Rules shortly. And yes, I've got two more books in the works—one to come out in 2008 and one in 2009. It is just a little early to announce anything now, but you'll be the first to know.

Amazingly, Wiley has been publishing books for 200 years. Can you imagine—Wiley was founded in New York City when Thomas Jefferson was president! And Wiley has been a significant player in the publishing industry for two centuries.

How can a company be around for that long? Simple, the only way is to be tuned in and develop products and services that people want to buy and markets them in the ways that people find information or solve problems.

Here are a three examples of the new rules at work at Wiley:

1. When I wrote New Rules, the professionals at Wiley embraced my new publishing model of blogging the book as I wrote it. They encouraged me to give away a large percentage of the book for free on my blog. Other publishers would freak out if an author wanted to put bits of the book out for comment and solicit ideas online. Wiley encouraged it.

2. Wiley has a group of passionate employee bloggers. One of them is my friend Joe Wikert (who introduced me to Wiley). He writes the terrific Joe Wikert's 2020 Publishing blog: A Book Publisher's Future Visions of Print, Online, Video and All Media Formats Not Yet Invented.

3. Wiley Europe has a cool online media room where they educate and inform reviewers, the media, and consumers.

To mark the company's bicentennial, Wiley has just published a terrific coffee table book to mark the occasion Knowledge for Generations: Wiley and the Global Publishing Industry.

Think about your business. Will your company be around in the year 2208?

Comments

[Arthur Petty]

David, I love the blog and keep the books coming! I worked for a great company, Matsushita Electric (Panasonic), during the 80s and 90s, and I recall being shocked when I learned that the company operated with a 200 year plan. This was unheard of given the challenges that many companies had and still have planning and living quarter to quarter.

It seemed ridiculous at the time, but I eventually recognized that that long-range perspective provided vision and direction for boom times and tough times. I was proud to play a small part in helping refresh the vision. This was and I hope still is a Tuned-In company.

Kudos to Wiley for their longevity, their vision and their being so well tuned-in. Regards-Art Petty

[Michael Ray Hopkin]

David, It's great read about Wiley and its longevity. I'm amazed that the company has been around for 200 years and is still tuned in to its customers and market. I don't know much about Wiley, but they no-doubt had great leaders over the years who put their pride aside and made decisions that helped their customers (both authors and readers) for the long-term. Hats off to those who really get it! Michael

[Steve Yastrow]

David - this is a great post. Even if we won't be around for 200 years, it is a great chellenge to think about what could make it happen.