Make the Right Hires

Publishers are struggling with hiring the right talent, especially in the realm of new media. However, if you're a young independent company looking for executive, and therefore expensive, talent, there are a few key hires you should make. In a recent Folio: Small Publisher Workshop Webinar, Michela O'Connor Abrams, publisher and president of the modern design and architecture magazine Dwell, recommended hiring talent with deep institutional knowledge for select positions, and then filling out the ranks with young, creative and highly enthusiastic individuals. "It is not about running out and finding all the marquee talent possible, because not only do you not have the financial capital, but you may actually find that those ﾑrock stars' aren't really in tune with what it is to run a small business around a brand," said O'Connor Abrams.

According to O'Connor Abrams, hire deep for these three positions:

Production and Manufacturing
"I knew that I wanted to have our production and manufacturing person be someone who had been in this industry a few decades, who understood paper buying around the world, who knew and had relationships with printers, who was very interested in making sure that this company's cost of goods, which is such a significant part of the bottom line expense, be absolutely the most efficient, and in our case because we're a design magazine, beautiful and effective as possible."

Circulation
"How do you find the bodies? That person had to be a veteran."

Corporate Communications
"My corporate communications director is the champion making sure that this brand resonates with all of the key media outlets;both trade and consumer;and making sure that our speaking opportunities and our presence as a brand with our consumers and clients and agencies is exactly what we need it to be."

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